“Bring Them Here to Me” – Sermon for May 4, 2014
May 4, 2014
Scripture: Matthew 14: 13-20 Now when Jesus heard that John had been killed, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” Jesus said to them, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” They replied, “We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.” And he said, “Bring them here to me.” Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full.
“Bring Them Here to Me” – Sermon for May 4, 2014
by Rev. Doreen Oughton
Did everyone get their church newsletter this week? And what was in it? Yes, a stewardship letter and pledge card. It’s that time of year. In 2 weeks the Council will meet to plan a budget for the church year to come, and so we try to coordinate the planning with the pledging, with the hope that having some idea of what money is coming in, which may influence spending decisions. And so I take it upon myself to support the message from the stewardship committee about the blessings of pledging by offering a sermon on faith and finances, Jesus and money, etc. Now I don’t mind talking about faith and finances, Jesus and money, but I confess that it is difficult for me to stand up here year after year at stewardship time because it feels like it is not just about delivering a message. There is some pressure I feel to make sure the message is heard and understood and responded to. And there is a concrete measure of that – are people pledging, are more people pledging, are people pledging more.
Now I hope that your time at church influences you – impacts your behavior and thinking and interaction in the world. Whether it is the music, the scripture, the sermon, the prayers, the mission activities, or the fellowship, I hope your connection to this church makes a difference to you and the world for more than just one hour on Sunday morning. But I’m awfully glad that there is not a constant feedback loop about it, each week – how often did you love your enemy or turn the other cheek? Did you take time out to pray this week? How often did you remember that you were a child of God, beloved and precious? How often did you remember that the rude clerk is a child of God, beloved and precious? And so this sermon feels different. And not in a good way. If evaluation is based on results, my stewardship sermons have been failures. There are no more people pledging, the total amount pledged has decreased. I am at a loss, and wondering if it is not so much a time to preach as to listen.
This is my first call, the first church I have served. I came to you fresh from seminary, with limited church experience. The first time I heard a stewardship sermon, it clicked for me. I cared about the church, I felt responsible to it, and I understood how helpful it would be to people planning the budget to have some idea what money would be coming in. I pledged right off the bat, and increased my pledge whenever asked to do so. I committed not only my money, but my time as I served on committees and participated in spiritual formation activities like bible study. And look where all that landed me – in seminary! So obviously I am not “normal.” I did not serve on the stewardship committee of my home church, so I wasn’t all that attentive to what percentage of church members and friends pledged. I was aware of the “average amount pledged” and it influenced my pledging decisions. And then in seminary I learned a lot more about the spiritual side of stewardship and giving. I had classes, attended workshops, and wrote papers. All this formed me and shaped me, and instilled in me certain beliefs and assumptions, which I carried here to you. And, oh my, how you have challenged those assumptions.
Let me assure you that I have set aside judgment about all this. I am not saying that my beliefs and assumptions are / were right, and that if you care about the church or love God or Jesus, it will only be apparent if you respond to pledging requests the way I did. As I say, my assumptions have been challenged. Because I feel I know you, I know how much you care about this church, I know how much you love God and Jesus. I know you live out your faith in a hundred different ways.
I may be wrong, but I believe when I came that there hadn’t been much stewardship activity. Was there a sermon, usually? Did pledge cards and letters go out? I think people would give testimony, right, share in worship about why they pledged? I do remember being excited to get some more people on stewardship and use some of my learning, really inspire people, get to witness the wonder of new understanding of how God truly looks out for those who will take the risk to open their hands, their wallets, and purses. Because, again, that had been MY experience. When I gave, I reaped. Things always worked out financially – I always had enough. Not extra for a long time, but enough. And I felt more grateful in general, and closer to God. I wanted to give all that to you. But again, I am learning that my experience is not the experience of others. When people have responded to my questions about what their experiences have been of pledging and giving to the church I hear about feelings of guilt, resentment, embarrassment, and fear – fear of not having enough to support themselves, embarrassment over being confronted when missing a payment (which would NEVER happen now), guilt over not being able to keep a pledge, resentment at being constantly asked to give more.
I did an informal poll on FB, asking people if they give to church or charity, and if so why, and if not, why not. One woman said she had donated to a cause she cared about and really regretted it because she got on their mailing list. She felt inundated with appeals. She moved from being a supporter of this cause to having it leave a bad taste in her mouth. A few people noted this dynamic, being “hounded” to give more, more, more. Others resented be lectured to about how they should feel grateful for all they have compared to others in the world, and in their gratitude, ought to give more. So I ask, does this church stir up that feeling in you? Do you feel like you are being asked over and over again for more, more, more? Because really, we ask for a stewardship pledge once a year, that is it. Now there are other “opportunities for giving” through the church, and if that all gets lumped together in your minds and turns you off to this community, or to giving, we should know that and consider changing the way we ask.
Others responding to my poll were not bothered by on-going requests. One even welcomed the discomfort of giving more than she could easily afford because it reminded her that she was dependent on God. Personally, I don’t even mind getting requests to give from lots of charities because I like being known as a giver, a person who cares enough to support certain things. As another responded said, “I give because it takes money to make the things I care about happen.” Others shared the sense that in giving they receive, and some talked about the value they get out of sharing time and talent, not just money. People like to do things, and there is no shortage of that here.
And so I surrender. I want to let go of my assumptions about what people should do about pledging and giving. I am willing to stand on that holy ground of not knowing. I want to stop preaching at you about this. I do still want to preach sometimes about faith and finances, about Jesus and money, because I think it is spiritually important, and Jesus had a lot of wise and challenging teachings about money. Those things will come up in the lectionary. I just want to stop tying them in with filling out pledge cards.
I also want to acknowledge that we all stand together on that holy ground of not knowing when it comes to church as we have known it. Things are changing. Look around. You can’t miss it. People aren’t coming. Its not just that people aren’t pledging, they aren’t coming. They aren’t bringing their children. And its not just here at FCC. That is the general trend of houses of worship. People are reluctant to attach their spirituality to an institution. They are suspicious of authority. The question relevancy. And just as I have to accept that it is not wrong for people to decline to pledge, we must all consider that this trend is not wrong or bad. I believe there is still a great spiritual hunger out there. I believe that as Christians we are still called to share and be good news out in the world. But I don’t know what role the church will play, as it is, with a big building that is costly to remain, with a full-time professional pastor and other paid staff. And here, at last, I will tie things in with the scripture reading. No matter what happens, I believe we can bring what we have to Jesus, whatever meager slices of bread, tiny little bit of fish, and that he will give thanks, and bless it, and give back to us an abundance to share. More than we could ever have imagined. Whether it is your time, your money, your skills, your presence, your energy, or your prayers, bring them to him. They will feed his people, they will feed you. I invite you to share your thoughts on the new hot topic for this month: should we do away with stewardship campaigns – sermons and letters, and just send out a pledge card once a year with a little blurb in the newsletter? If not, any suggestions on what would be important to include in a stewardship campaign would be helpful. Thank you.
