Good Stewardship

(Topical)

If you can remember back twenty-five years, you may recall my first

Stewardship Sunday Sermon here at St. James.  I told those here gathered that

I was not always comfortable talking about Christian stewardship, at least

not from the pulpit. To illustrate that fact I told about an event in my life

that was crucial to my development as a steward willing to talk to people

about good stewardship.

The event I spoke of was my appearance before the Wisconsin/Upper Michigan

Synod of the Lutheran Church in America's "Board of Certification for

Ordination"---in short, the group of clergy and lay leaders empowered to

decide whether I was fit to be a pastor!  The Bishop was Ted Mattson, my

sister Helen's baptismal sponsor and among the inquisitors was another old

friend of my parents, the Augustana Church's great patriarch O.V. Anderson. 

All went extremely well. I was able to answer all theological, doctrinal, and

biblical questions to their satisfaction.  In fact, Dr. Mattson was

dismissing me in complementary fashion when O.V. interrupted him to say:

        "Tony, when you are ordained and assigned to your own parish,

    will you be willing to speak to your people about MONEY."

There was the sound of restless shifting about in chairs.  No one was more

uncomfortable than I. I paused for what seemed like a very long time, took a

deep breath and said "No."  Then, feeling some explanation was necessary, I

quickly added:

"Well, I suppose, if one of the texts for a given Sunday said something about

stewardship I would certainly talk about our God given gifts of time and

talent and the church's need for our gifts.  But, speak of money,

specifically, from the pulpit?---never!"

Absolute silence followed. You could have heard the proverbial pin drop. No

one moved.  I looked at O.V. He was staring at me. At the very moment I began

to squirm just a little bit he said:

      "Tony, someday you will grow-up, better understand what it means to

preach "stewardship," and you will think and do differently. God certainly

has the patience to wait until you do!"

I saw and spoke with O.V. Anderson many times after that fateful day. Well

into his 80's he was everywhere---at synodical and church-wide conventions,

seminary colloquies and stewardship workshops. His passion was Christian

stewardship and "stewardship of money" was what he most enjoyed talking

about. And yet, he never embarrassed me by mentioning our exchange at my

"certification exam."

I was a parish pastor for almost four years before I ever talked to the

congregation I served about MONEY!  Again and again and again Darold

Stoermer, Lord of Life Lutheran Church's Stewardship Committee Chairman did

speak to our people about the stewardship of money, and did so eloquently and

powerfully.

Finally, on a Sunday afternoon, one week before Lord of Life's fourth

Stewardship Sunday, Darold came to our home, asked if he and I could chat for

just a minute. He sat down in our living room, set aside the small talk and

got right down to business, saying to me:

    "Tony, I'm grateful for the opportunity to serve as Stewardship Chairman

of the healthiest congregation Phyllis and I have ever belonged to.  Indeed,

I held the same position in Buffalo, New York and Tulsa, Oklahoma.  I'm happy

to say, no congregation I have ever served responds the way that the members

of Lord of Life do.  So, I can tell you that I don't have a moment's

hesitation talking about money to my church member friends; but, frankly

Tony, they want to hear it from you."

I accepted Darold's challenge and from that moment on I never looked back.

Twenty-eight Stewardship Sunday's have come and gone and I continue to

welcome the opportunity to talk to the people I serve about MONEY. 

I want to share with you a story" that might bring a little humor to a

subject that makes many feel uncomfortable:

        A very wealthy man rose, at a congregational meeting, to offer a

testimonial to his Christian faith.

        "I'm a millionaire," he said, "and I attribute it all to the rich

blessings of God in my life. I remember the turning point in my faith-life. I

had just earned my first dollar, and I went to a church meeting that night.

The speaker was a missionary who told about his work. I only had a dollar

bill and had to either give it all to God's work or nothing at all. So at

that moment I decided to give my whole dollar to God. I believe that God

blessed that decision, and that is why I am a rich man today."

 

The man finished, and there was an awed silence as he moved toward his seat.

As he sat down a little old lady sitting in the same pew leaned over and said

to him: "I dare you to do it again."

The theme for this year's Stewardship Appeal is "Legacy" and the biblical

text for that theme is from Paul's Second Letter to the Corinthians, the 8th

chapter:

"But just as you excel in everything. . .

 see that you also excel in this grace of giving."

(II Corinthians 8:7)

The key word here is "grace"---not "excel" or even "giving." Here at St.

James Lutheran Church, Lake Forest our "legacy," as Christian stewards, is

"excellence in giving;" and here, as elsewhere, both excelling and giving are

grace-filled acts.  That is as Christ intended excelling and giving should

be!  All that we have, all that we do---even our motivation for giving come

from God! 

Christian stewardship involves making difficult choices involving not only

what we do with our money but also what we do with the entirety of our lives.

And those choices are not always easy ones. But, they are grace-filled

decisions made in partnership with God.

Research in Catholic and Protestant churches finds that about 1/5 of church

members give nothing to their churches. The next 1/5 of members give an

average of $250 per year. Most of the money that churches receive comes from

only 20% of the membership.

The Gospel also tells us that while "gracious monetary giving" is never

obligatory and that God would rather have our commitment in service to him

than our money. . . money, or should I say whether or not we are willing to

be separated from our money, is one of today's strongest and best indicators

of "stewardship excellence!" It always has been! 

            Your gifts of time represent your Christian commitment!

            Your gifts of talent represent your Christian commitment!

            Your gifts of treasure represent your Christian commitment!

It happened (so the story goes) one day, after the pastor made an appeal for

contributions to meet a specific need---let's say: Seminary Education or, if

you prefer, our own Bishop's "Fund for Mission." A woman of considerable

means, a long-time member of the church in good standing, came to the pastor

and handed him a check for $50---asking at the same time if her gift was

satisfactory. The pastor immediately replied, "If it represents you."

There was a moment of soul-searching, and then she asked to have the check

returned to her. She left with it and, a day or two later, returned handing

the pastor a check for $5,000. Again she asked the same question, "Is my gift

satisfactory?" And, again, the pastor gave the same answer as before, "If it

represents you." After a few moments of hesitation she took back the check

and left.

Later in the week she came again with a check. This time it was for $50,000.

As she placed it in the pastor's hand, she said, "After earnest, prayerful

thought, I have come to the conclusion that this gift represents me and I am

happy to give it."

The Gospel tells us that we live not under the Law, but under grace.  As

contributors to St. James, we don't get a "quarterly bill" in the mail, we

get a detailed "statement" that provides an accounting of how we excelled in

grace-filled giving.  The statement doesn't tell us how much we owe God, the

statement tells us whether, in fact, we have excelled in our giving"---

whether we've given, generously and willingly, from our hearts, to the work

of God's kingdom here on earth.

Fortunately, what I found so difficult when I was 30 comes much easier when I

am 60. And, while on my journey toward this more confident feeling, it was

laity not clergy that helped most.  No, let's be honest, it was laity not

clergy that pushed me along the way. Two men in particular: Darold Stoermer,

of whom I spoke earlier, and Lloyd Konrad, long time member of St. James, now

living in Texas.

A year or so after Lloyd and Marian moved to Racine, before going on to

Texas, Lloyd drove down to have breakfast with me. It was the Tuesday before

Stewardship Sunday and evidently Lloyd sensed I needed some help because he

gave me a pep talk that went something like this:

        Tony, in preparation for a Stewardship Temple Talk I just gave up in

Racine I was referred by a friend to a biblical scholar he new in Atlanta,

Georgia. This gentleman had a reputation for going through the Bible,

beginning to end, and looking for obscure facts and statistics.  Well, in our

telephone conversation, in response to my request for help with my Temple

Talk, this Southern Baptist scholar said, "Lloyd, do you realize that the

only thing Jesus talked about more than "love" was "money!" Throughout

scriptures, Jesus mentions "money" no less than 700 times! Now, if Jesus

ministered for only 3 years, that's 20 times a month, or almost once every

day"

    I used that statistic in my Temple Talk, Lloyd said.  You might give it a

try as well.  And, if anyone objects to you bringing up the subject of

"money," just tell them you're only doing your job!"

Friends, I am only doing my job.  And, you know, although I have been

comfortable talking about the "Stewardship of Money" for quite some time,

just as I am about to retire, I am beginning to really enjoy it!  Maybe

that's one of the signs that enough is enough.  Thank you for 25 years of

gracious listening and gracious giving!