In fact, so many people have shared in our joy that we wanted to give an opportunity to celebrate with us. Instead of hosting a party, we created a Facebook event and offered our loved ones an opportunity to support a cause we believe in.
What? Why in the world do we think asking our friends to give money to something they may never have heard of counts as celebrating with us?
If you are reading this, you probably know how much I love generosity, fundraising, and giving money. It brings me joy to live out my values by giving material support to things I say I believe in. Ever since we paid off all our debt last year, we have had the opportunity to give more and think more about what giving means in our lives.
Last September I introduced our annual stewardship campaign with a newsletter article that does a good job of explaining why stewardship is my basic framework for following Jesus.
September 2015
Change my heart, O God; make it ever
true.
Change my heart, O God; may I be like
you.
You are the potter; I am the clay.
Mold me and make me; this is what I
pray.
- Eddie Espinosa, “Change My Heart, O God,” ELW
551
Stewardship. Generosity. Discipleship.
Conversion.
How do these four words make you feel? Which
of them is confusing? Which of them scares you? Does any of them inspire you to
follow Jesus?
I only attended one Continuing Education event
this year, but it was a life-changing opportunity. The Executive Certificate in
Religious Fundraising from the Lake Institute on Faith and Giving, part of the
Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University/Purdue University
Indianapolis (now there’s a mouthful!) opened my eyes to see generosity as a
fundamental orientation toward the world.
Generosity, according to sociologist Christian
Smith, is “the virtue of giving good things to others freely and abundantly….
It is not a haphazard behavior but a basic orientation to life.” (“The
Generosity Project,” Notre Dame University, 2013) I have preached about the
generosity of this congregation, not just financially but in terms of
volunteering, relationships, neighborliness, and much more. I believe
generosity to be a core value of this congregation, and I invite you to join me
in recognizing and celebrating the generosity of this congregation.
Again this year we have the privilege of
joining in Lutheran Church of the Savior’s annual Stewardship drive. Again this
year we have the opportunity to recognize all that God has done for us, to
remember that all we have belongs to God, and respond to God’s grace by giving
to the church as we have received from God. That’s what stewardship is, giving
to God in thankful response to what we have received from God. And again, this
year, I worry because this basic message of stewardship seems not to connect
with everyone else the way it connects with me.
I love stewardship. It is my basic way of
understanding how to follow Jesus. God loves me so much that Jesus lived and
died and rose again, for me. I was baptized into Christ Jesus, into his death
and into new life in his name. I follow Jesus as a grateful response to this unbelievable
gift, loving God and loving neighbor, generously giving of myself because all
that I have comes from God. Stewardship, especially in the form of financial
giving to the church, is the means by which I practice generosity.
Discipleship is how we follow Jesus. It’s
about walking together, learning how to live out our faith so the love of God
can transform us and conform our lives to Jesus’ own way of loving and caring
living in this world. In our congregation, we follow Jesus in so many ways: by
gathering for worship, praying, serving our community, giving, serving in
church leadership, and caring for each other, to name a few.
Our annual stewardship drive is an opportunity
for everyone to make a commitment to how we will live out our discipleship for
the coming year. So many of us volunteer for so many projects and committees
throughout the year, but this is the one time when the whole church, together,
studies and prays and commits to following Jesus in the same way. Financial
giving is an important aspect of our discipleship.
Finally, conversion. This word is different
than the others, because it is the goal of stewardship, generosity, and
discipleship. As followers of Jesus we trust God to change us. As disciples we
remember how Jesus met Saul on the road, how the Spirit transformed both Philip
and the Ethiopian eunuch, as well as Peter and Cornelius. We remember that
baptized in Christ we are part of a new creation, that everything old has
passed away, everything is made new.
The call to generosity is always a call to
conversion. Our society tells us constantly to look out only for ourselves, to
store up our treasures and earn as much as we can for ourselves. Our society
sets money up as an idol to worship, everywhere we look. Generosity takes away
the power of money, because by generously giving our money we are placing our
trust not in money but in God. In our consumer culture, the practice of
generosity is itself an experience of conversion.
The old model of stewardship talked about the
“Three Ts”: time, talent, and treasure. These are the things we were to give.
Now we have three new Ts: thankfulness, trust, and transformation. Stewardship
begins with thankfulness for all that God has done for us. No more obligation.
Instead of talking about what we owe to God, which we could never repay,
instead we talk about how in Jesus Christ God has set us free from the power of
sin and death, free to love and serve and give generously. We place our trust
in God rather than in money. And this simple act of trusting God – so obvious
yet so challenging – transforms us.
This conversion is the goal of stewardship,
generosity, discipleship, and every other understanding of how we follow Jesus.
Again this year we will have the opportunity to commit to God through financial
giving. By making this commitment, we are asking God to transform us, to
convert us into ever more faithful followers of Jesus.
Thanks,
Pastor Andrew
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