Three things must ye know...

Trinity 8: Sunday 17th July 2005

Genesis 28.10-19a  |  Romans 8.12-25  |  Matthew 13.24-30, 36-43

Jacob's ladder, freedom in Christ; wheat and tares sown together

Today is the week of the year we’ve given over to thinking about Stewardship.

Now before you switch off, let me make three things clear:

1. I will not be shouting or ranting at you!

2. Yes, this is principally - but not exclusively - about money!

3. As a church we’re doing very well in moving towards our goal of paying our way, and in order to maintain that we need to take a regular look at how we’re doing and ask realistic questions about our support for St John’s.

It's what you do with what you've got

Christian Stewardship is all about how we use the resources which God has loaned to us... so in that sense Stewardship covers just about everything we do! - how we use our bodies and minds; ecology and farming; pollution and other Green Issues; justice and peace issues; our we use our time and our energy; and of course our possessions.

Ultimately it’s about attitudes and priorities. Do we see what we’ve got as being ours (my body, my time, my life, my future, my money...), or do we think of it as being God’s, but on loan to us for the duration of our time on planet earth? The Steward looks after the affairs or possessions of the Master. (They don’t belong to the Steward and the Master will require an account from the Steward...)

There’s an old Kenyan proverb which says: “the earth is not ours, we are looking after it for our grandchildren”. And there is sense in which all the resources we see around us - including our very selves - are on loan from God.

It’s about attitudes and priorities.

A few years ago when things were tight for us while we were in Oxford, out of the blue a friend sent us some money to pay for the car tax for that year. When we contacted the friend to say a huge thank you she simply shrugged and said “Well, it’s God’s money and every now and again He asks me to re-distribute around His bank accounts...”

Partnership: God & Us Inc.

As we look at the scriptures we see a pattern that God works in partnership with us. By now you’ll be bored to death of hearing about my Green House, but I’m really enjoying tending my tomatoes and herbs... my bit is actually very simple: I have to prune, to water, to stake out and to talk to my little plants... God does the rest - he makes them grow and produce the tomatoes... That’s the bit I can’t do...! There’s the old story about the new vicar in the village who is walking past a beautifully tended garden where old Bert is leaning on his spade.

“What a gorgeous garden!” says the new vicar

“Yep, I reckon as how I’ve worked real hard on that there plot” says Bert.

“Ah, you and the Lord!” chides the pious vicar.

“That’s all very well” replied Bert, “but you should have seen the state of it when the Lord had it on his own...”

The fantastic thing about the Christian faith is that God wants to work in partnership with us... we’re not to be kept as immature unquestioning children, unable to stand on our own feet, without the ability to think through God’s will and ways... God longs for us to grow in maturity of faith. There are lots of images in the bible about our relationship with God. We tend to focus almost exclusively on the parent-child relationship; but the scriptures also talk about us as fellow workers with Christ (e.g. 1 Corinthians 3.9); brothers and sisters of Jesus (e.g. Rom 8.29; Heb 2.11); Ambassadors (e.g. 2 Corinthians 5.20)... we’re not to be spiritual babies forever - we’re called to grow up and work with God in his mission. Part of that is in helping fund his work in the world. And part of that is is getting our priorities right about the place of possessions and wealth in our thinking.

People, priorities & possessions

Yes, possessions and money are important - you’ll not hear me say that they’re not - and we wouldn’t get very far without them!, but they are not, and never should become, the most important things. People are always more important than possessions.

Part of our attitude towards possessions and money also depends on how grateful we are as human beings. The response we make with the resources we have depends on our ability to say thank you, our ability to have a proper perspective of ourselves and ultimately on our worship...

Proper perspective

Grateful people are realistic people. We are aware of the tremendous way in which God has blessed us - God has given us so much more than we need... even if we do moan when we have to walk the length of the car park at Tesco’s; or when there’s a queue at the Post Office; or when we can only have two holidays a year...

We know how much God thinks of us... of the people God’s placed in our lives.. those whose lives touch and enrich ours... We may also be aware that there are bits of us we’d rather hide... there are things we’re ashamed of, there are regrets we have, there are choices we wish we’d never made, words we wish we could unsay... And we know too that if we look into our hearts there are some not very beautiful things lurking there... pride... self-centredness... greed... destructive habits... hatred and violence... you know what lurks within - sometimes not very far below the surface. And yet we also know that we are loved. We are loved by the people around us, we are loved by God.

That’s not to say that people are thoroughly rotten, completely without hope and totally depraved: as the old proverb says:

“There is a surprising amount of good in the worst of people, and there is a surprising amount of bad in the best of people...”

Yes we’ve made a mess of things (globally, nationally, locally and personally), yes, we have a tendency to live our way in preference to God’s way, but God’s move towards us is not of punishment or retribution; but of grace, love and forgiveness.

There’s a most strange verse in the first letter of John (1 Jn 1.9), that reminds us of the attitude God has towards us and it says:

“If we confess our sins he [God] is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness”

... it’s the “and just” bit which is the surprise there... In God’s economy forgiveness is about justice... It’s not a special favour we squeeze out of God by being extra good, by completing long service, by coming to mass every day, or reading the bible from cover to cover, or by giving up all the things we really enjoy... It’s the way God is. God is in the business of justice. And for God, forgiveness is about justice...

That means that Christians are not special people. We’re not morally better than anybody else. We’re not superior in knowledge, higher class or better educated... We are just blessed! We have discovered that God is wooing us... we’ve heard God call our name... we’ve been sought by the living God and dusted off, set on our feet, been forgiven a past and given a future...

So...

Saying thank you

Grateful people are worshipping people. Realising how much we are loved; how much we’ve been forgiven, our reaction to God’s love can only be awe and worship. We fall at the foot of the cross and gaze in gob-smacked wonder, to use a theological phrase... Grateful people are realistic; grateful people are worshipping people...

And...

Practical gratitude

Grateful people are generous people. As we allow God to turn our lives around, as we change and develop our attitudes and priorities change, we start to think about how we can say thank you, how we can give our time, our talents, share our possessions and our wealth.

Stewardship Sunday is an opportunity to review how we’re doing as Stewards, looking after the things of God. Part of our response to Stewardship Sunday might be to take up more exercise, or offer our car to give people lifts... but this morning I especially want us to think about money and St John’s.

You’ve each got a buff coloured A3 sheet all about this year’s Stewardship Sunday, and you’ll see there are three suggestions - long medium and short term actions which we could take as possibilities.

Long term plans: putting our house in order

In the longer term Clive and I have spend a considerable time with lots of consultation to produce a pack called “Putting our house in order”. It’s available at the back of church and it’s all about making a will, planning your funeral and leaving a legacy to St John’s.

It’s an important part of our stewardship to make sure that the things we can’t take with us when we die are sorted out. Many many people have left legacies to the Church in the past - and St John’s has been very grateful for the legacies which have been left to us. Some of you may remember Hazel Freedman, who died before I arrived at St John’s, but her legacy is beginning to filter through now and we are beginning to feel the tremendous benefit of her generosity... The choir has got new robes, which we are dedicating on 9 October - and those were a gift from a legacy...

We say that we believe in the resurrection of the dead and the communion of saints, and that when we worship heaven touches earth; we know that we are surrounded by a host of witnesses - those who have gone before us. If, in this life, you supported St John’s, why should you stop supporting St John’s when you change branches of the Church and get a different perspective?

So if you haven’t made a Will, or want to update your Will, or want to plan your funeral, this pack is for you. That’s the long term planning.

Medium term plans: 2.5% increase...

In the medium term we’re asking you to think about raising your giving to St John’s, those who give by Standing Order, or by putting money on the plate, or by envelopes.

We’re asking for only 2.5%, which is not a huge increase. If you would like to give more, or want to round it up to the nearest £5, then please do. You will see from the figures that this will really help us in our planning to pay our bills here at St John’s. What would help us even more would be if you decided to change your way of giving and donate to St John’s via Standing Order, rather than envelopes or putting money on the plate...

That’s the medium term planning.

Short term plans: Help! The heating system's dead!

In the short term you may be aware that the church heating system is on it’s last legs. It’s been going since the 1870s - it’s one of the bits which survived the German bomb (which was a mixed blessing...!) and we’re looking at about £120,000 to replace it. You won’t be able to see the difference when it’s been done, because it will be a blown air system; but you will feel the difference come the winter!

We are, of course, applying for grants left right and centre, we are also engaging with fund raising events - the Auction of Promises in September is the next big event (more anon...) - but the work can be done in sections, and just in case the grants don’t cover the total we are thinking about the way forward. So just in case somebody is sitting there thing morning thinking “I really don’t know what to do with that spare £120,000 I’ve got in my bank account...” then I might have the answer to your dilemma...

The challenge

So that’s the current situation. We’ve come a very long way in the last couple of years by tightening up the system: computerising the accounts helped enormously and people moving to paying by Standing Order was hugely significant. We are moving towards paying our way, but in a managed and planned fashion, and we are taking stock of our present to plan for our future.

The cunning plan!

St John’s has been here for 140 years so far: I want it to be here for at least another 140, but in order for that to happen we need to think and plan ahead, to make the best use of what we’ve got to ensure that the mission and ministry of Christ through St John’s thrives here in St Leonard’s... THAT’S stewardship!

Fr Andrew J Perry
Rector, St John the Evangelist, Pevensey Rd, St Leonards on Sea