I HAVE A DREAM*
I Corinthians 12:4-7, 12-20, 27
Acts 4: 32-37
Luke
21:1-4
Rev. Gary Paterson
October 25 2009
So often a sermon feels like a one-way street. I get to talk, you get to listen… or not, as the case may be. I don’t always know what’s happening with the sermon, but I do know that it dies in mid-air unless it connects with something interesting or important in your lives. I trust that the dialogue happens within each person, a silent conversation which I’m not usually privy to. So you can imagine my delight and excitement this past week as several people contacted me to talk about last Sunday’s sermon…. you remember, the one about money and stewardship; and discomfort – mine, at least, if not yours; and all the questions about core values and actions that a stewardship campaign raises. I was delighted to be in these conversations – really!! All the questions, insights, affirmations, disagreements, challenges -- maybe I’ll preach that kind of sermon more often… no, just kidding.
In an obvious way, there was an immediate response last week – when the offering was taken. Or maybe that was in spite of the sermon, eh? Envelopes sealed up; cheques written, one for ten dollars, one for a thousand… and everything in between. I remember the sixty-eight people who give by PAR…. Pre-Authorized Remittance, a monthly debit coming from their bank account, or from their VISA.; faithfully, month in and month out; and I was told that four new people talked to Judith Walker after the service, and asked to be signed up. It makes me think of that story of the Widow’s Mite, each of us giving as we are able – sometimes our abundance is limited by circumstance; and sometimes not; each gift precious, valued. There is a generosity of spirit in this congregation – I know that; I’ve seen it.
One person who spoke to me right after the service told me that finally she had “got it”, had understood what this stewardship talk was all about it. “It’s the gratitude; that’s what drives it. Recognizing that everything is a gift, everything; grace, that’s what sustains us. So how can I help but want to give back.” It was the Zaccheus story, I think, which highlighted an experience of grace – the “Zaccheus, I want to have supper with you.” – moment; which then flowed almost instantaneously into thankfulness and the joy of giving – “Lord, I will give away half of my money, and repay four times what I might have stolen from anyone.” It looks like it’s sequential, but the actions become so intertwined, that they lead into each other; the very act of being able to give in and of itself becomes another source of joy. It’s the moment when Jesus says, “Salvation has come to this house today.” It’s the place where most of us would like to find ourselves, the moment when gratitude and giving join hands, when we find it hard to distinguish between thanksgiving and generosity.
But others of you have let me know that in fact the stewardship programme, including the sermon, were feeling very unhelpful. Too much ask; too pushy; not enough recognition that some folk live with fixed incomes, are just making ends meet, did their very best last year to increase their pledge. I know some of you are uncomfortable and annoyed. But somehow we need to have the conversation; and we have to figure out how best to do that. I’ve heard Michael, our Stewardship Director, talk about the gift of those conversations, how much he is learning from each connection, regardless of whether he is receiving some critical feedback. This is how we are going to learn how to engage in this ministry of money.
Others of you are hurt by feeling that the invitation to offer time, talents and energy wasn’t receiving equal billing; it wasn’t being seen to be as important as the money. Which isn’t true, though it looks that way. Or maybe that’s part of what a sermon needs to acknowledge… how important this purple sheet truly is, with all the possibilities and invitation to connect, to engage with the community, to be a participant in the service and work of St. Andrew’s-Wesley. Probably a sermon needs to honour the empty space on the back, where you are encouraged to write down your own interests and passions, something that you could see happening here, an outreach, a ministry, a dream that you would want to help with; something new
On Tuesday I received an email with an attachment – an excellent article on Stewardship from the Alban Institute. I discovered I wasn’t alone in my clergy discomfort about money sermons; indeed, some ministers punt the whole thing to the chairperson of finance. The best part of the article was the recognition that any sermon about stewardship needs to acknowledge the complexity of issues, the ambiguity of the conversation, for we are touching taproot issues here. The writer suggested that money talk raises some pretty basic questions for a congregation, as well as for each individual. As a community we need to ask ourselves, “What special purpose do we serve?” “If there were no St. Andrew’s-Wesley here on the corner of Nelson and Burrard, would we be missed?” Another challenging question – “What other good might we accomplish with our money?” Stewardship… because it invites us to think about values – leads us into asking “What way of life are we inviting people into?” And, “Whose lives do we want to change, and in what way?” What we are really dealing with here, is the deep question of what it means to be church And why we support this particular embodiment of church? And in what new directions might we need to be headed? I was glad to read this article… each time I preach on stewardship, I learn a bit more; I grow a bit more.
Another person phoned up and asked if we might connect over a cup of coffee. He had been intrigued by what I was trying to say about Mammon, about how we were all, daily, confronted by the wiles of this seductive God. He agreed with me that it really was about lifestyle, in the richest and deepest sense of that word. He believed that the appeal of any congregation was the invitation it offered to enter into community, to be with a group of people who were attempting to live differently… call it discipleship, counter-cultural; to follow the Christ is to be invited to become less attached to stuff, to feel easy about giving it away; to be committed to a vision of justice; to work at being more compassionate, forgiving. My friend said not to be worried about offending people if that’s what you were talking about, because, look, Jesus offended people all the time.
But, said my friend, “The reason I wanted to talk was that it felt like you were talking about one way of being, and then sort of acting a different way.” Last week’s question of congruence between what we say we believe, what we think we believe, and what we actually do. This person said that he felt that the “big ask” was lurking just underneath what I was saying… the letter, the forms, the demands. “Just like very other charity whose mailing crosses my desk.” “Maybe we need to do the ask differently as well,” said this person, who has been part of the community for three or four years. “Maybe we need to trust in the experience of community, to believe that generosity will be a natural response.” He wondered about giving people time to discover what the community is all about; to discover how it feels to be part of the work and service of this congregation… how good and right it feels. How important. It’s a question of trust – if people do connect with the Spirit here at St. Andrew’s-Wesley, if the community really is an embodiment of God’s dream, then trust that the gifts necessary to support the community will be forthcoming. It was a bit a humbling moment for the minister to be told to have a bit more trust… a good moment; and a reminder that we are, all of us, in this together.
“Yes,” said someone else who emailed me near the end of the week, “we give because of our connection and commitment to the community.” And she’s right. You see, the United Church suggests that we give 5% of our after-tax income to various charities in the world, recognizing that God’s Spirit is active in many places, not just the church, and we are called to add our stubborn ounces on the side of those working for peace and justice, who act with compassion and love, who are seeking to make a difference. As my correspondent wrote, “How people see themselves in the community of St. Andrew’s-Wesley will determine to a great degree their level of giving… I give to other groups and to the Church, and my gift to the church is not just a recognition of God’s provision and blessing in my life…..It is an act of commitment, of fellowship and of community. I get that to have this community, I must contribute to it.”
In some ways, this challenge has been with the church right from the beginning. That snippet of a story we heard from the Book of Acts is just the first experiment. There, people were giving everything to the community, selling their property, their worldly goods, and offering it all to God through the church. That model didn’t last long – but over and over, through all the different suggestions for giving, the inspiration of community has been central. We don’t experience “God” in a vacuum.
Now, the United Church also suggests that another 5% or our after-tax income be given to the church, a statement of belief that while God is clearly at work in the world, God is also doing a particular piece of work in and with the church. Now it’s easy to be self-serving about this – with a quick assumption that what God wants and what the church is doing are one and the same. Obviously not true, But, on the other hand, the cynical dismissal of the church – “All they ever do is ask for more money and dress it up in God language.” – well, that too is an easy way out. So what to do….
Well, first, maybe a little theology can be helpful. We need to recognize a fundamental truth, that to walk in the path of Jesus Christ, to engage in the Christian lifestyle, you need other people, you need community; it isn’t something you can do alone. I think that’s why Paul kept talking about the church being the body of Christ. Yes, you can experience the Holy within yourself; and yes, God is clearly revealed in the creation all around; but there is also something holy and revelatory that happens between people. I think of it as that arc of energy that jumps from one person to another – that’s another key locus for experiencing God. However you want to describe it… a holy spark, made in the image of God, a child of the Holy… there is something within us that seeks connection with others. I suspect that that’s why Jesus said, “When two or three are gathered in my name… I am there.” Why he said the Kingdom of God is among us, in our midst. The essence of Christianity is love; it’s relational – an interconnection of yourself with others, creation, with God, the One in whom we live, move and have our being. We are made to be interconnected; we need community to experience the fullness of God; we need the church, or something like it.
Secondly, being in community offers us the opportunity to practice what it means to live differently. You get a chance to learn how to love each other; to forgive – if not your enemies, then at least that irritating so-and-so who always disagrees with you at the Board meeting. This is place where love is made tangible, real – not just words, but walking the talk. This is the place where we discover what Jesus meant when he said if you offer clothing, food, shelter, water, relationship to the very least, you are offering it to him. This doesn’t come easily, I don’t think; we need lots of opportunities to practice, to fail, to try again.
Paul tried to catch a sense of this when he talked about our being the Body of Christ, each of us an essential part of this incarnation of Holiness in the here and now, in the midst of things. Different capacities, gifts and offerings; yes, talents and money, in differing degrees; but more importantly, each person a unique expression of the image of God, a hand, foot, eye, ear – and needing to be connected to each other if a true incarnation is to happen.
Now, this feels a little bit awkward, because it seems that I need to “sell” the church; I need to convince you how good and exciting this community is. But if you don’t already know this, from your own experience, I’m not sure my saying anything will make much of a difference. But I have to tell you, I really do believe that something exciting is happening here. I don’t know if the church is crawling, walking, running or flying – but there’s something special unfolding in the midst of this congregation. Something about the work of the Spirit.
And it’s not just me saying this. A couple of weeks ago a minister on the North Shore gave over a couple of pages of his sermon, lifting up this congregation as an example of a community that took a risk, that was open to new directions and possibilities, and that has flourished. It was a lovely thing to read. And just a short while ago we were contacted by staff from the Emerging Spirit programme of the national church – you know, that programme that is trying to strengthen congregational vitality and reach out to younger generations . Well, they have been trying to get in touch with about a dozen congregations from across the country, ones that they have identified as energized, vital, exciting, and they been asking questions of some of the people who are involved in those congregations, questions like, “How did it happen? What are you doing? What might the church learn from your experience?” Well, we were one of the congregations they wanted to talk to.
Something special is happening here, something of the Spirit that is touching and energizing open hearts and minds. I could tell you so many stories from just this past month… moments of worship that bring tears and laughter, where hearts are softened, touched, changed; with music that includes organ and choir and gospel and guitar and trumpet; where children feel at home, and help lead us in worship. I could talk about the big concert for Homelessness on October 14th, where 800 people gathered in this sanctuary for the launch of the CD “A Time to Heal,” when $13,000 was raised for the work at First United. And what about the opportunities with Kathryn and Tim, the invitation to “come, taste and see” as we develop ever richer possibilities for learning and formation. Then there’s the 18 people in the Exploring our Faith group; our reaching out to the community by offering programmes like Healthy Sexuality and Children, or Consuming Kids, or Parents and Tots drop-in. I could talk about the fledgling Environment group, the gathering of food for the hungry, or supplies for folk caught up in the sex trade. And then there’s the Men’s Breakfast, the Young Adult outings, Reel Spirituality, Healing Touch, Yoga as a Spiritual Practice, Buddhist Mindfulness, the Stitching Group and their Prayer Shawls….
I mean… something exciting is happening here, and maybe this is just another way of saying you’re invited to be part of this. Come as you can; come as you are; come as you might become. An invitation – is that really what stewardship is all about?
One final conversation, with a member of our congregation who is involved in doing a lot of work with non-profits. He was telling me about a recent challenge, where he had to raise 120 million dollars for a particular project working with First Nations and the business community. He believed in the project; he knew it would make a significant difference; and so he felt good about asking people to contribute. He said, “I wasn’t trying to fleece them, and take money out of their pockets; I was offering them an opportunity to be involved in something exciting, to be engaged in making a difference.” And that’s the secret, isn’t it. It’s not so much an obligation – a noblesse d’oblige; not charity; not really even a challenge; rather, it’s an invitation. An invitation to be part of something bigger than yourself, to embrace an expanded sense of self. It is a privilege to give to something important, worthwhile. So maybe what is happening here, right now, is an invitation to discover what it might mean to be the Body of Christ, and individually members of it, here in downtown Vancouver; here, in the midst of things. You… and you… and you… and me; and the Spirit that binds us together as one.
P.S.
About the title… after the sermon, later that afternoon, someone asked me about the title… “I Have a Dream” – “Didn’t really make any sense,” she said. And I had to agree… and pointed out that it had been chosen last Sunday, a necessary deadline to get the title up onto the Burrard Street sign. But by the time we got to this Sunday, the sermon had gone in a different direction. I mean, originally, back in September I had planned to preach on generosity, and what blocks the movement of those feelings into action. But then I wondered whether that was just beating around the bush; maybe we have to be more candid about Stewardship; talk about generosity might just be avoiding an opportunity for direct conversation. So, by last Sunday I had decided that the sermon would be a “Rah-Rah” kind of affair… I have a dream, we have a dream, God has a dream. Well, that was all before the various conversations started up; where it became clear that there was a lot of community wisdom on this issue; that more voices than mine needed to be heard at the round table. So… wrong title by the end of the week; probably should have been something like, “The Body Speaks;” or “We’re in This Together;” or maybe “What an Invitation – for Better and Worse”. Anyway… that’s what happened.