Season of harvest, season of giving

You may have noticed that the St. Paul's Memorial Church website has undergone a redesign recently with easy-to-use tabs that will take you to interesting places. The website is still a work in progress, and suggestions are welcome. Great thanks goes to Simeon Fitch for designing and maintaining it for many years, and to Bruce Carveth for the latest reincarnation. You can see the new homepage by clicking HERE.

This is the season of harvest and giving, and we are blessed by an amazing Giving Team. The team has revamped their corner of the website, and I highly recommend you have a look by clicking HERE, and be sure you scroll all the way to the bottom.

I am especially taken by a series of statements by some of our members about why they give, and they've entitled their page "How St. Paul's Changes Lives." You can read these short statements by clicking HERE.

Last Saturday's Stewards' Dinner was delightful, entertaining and fun, and more than 200 people attended. Thanks goes to many people led by Virginia Ritchie and Gwynn Crichton.

Please pray and consider how you can be a part of this amazing congregation with your financial support. All that we have, all that we do is God's. We are given a portion of God's abundance for the time we are on earth. How will you use yours to build God's Kingdom and leave the world a better place for your having been here?

You can make a pledge to St. Paul'sby filling out a card on Sunday, or you can go on-line to make a pledge by clicking HERE. We will bless all of our financial pledges at tomorrow's All Saints Sunday worship.

For the past several Sundays in our 10 am worship, we've heard a number of testimonials from St. Paul's people about what touches them the deepest about their parish and why they give.

All of them have been wonderful, and so I would like to leave you here with one, from Jonathan Schnyer:

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My name is Jonathan Schnyer and I have been attending St. Paul’s since 1996. It is the first and only church I have attended. 

The best way to explain how much St. Paul’s means to me is to recount a few of the countless, extraordinary experiences I have had here. 

Early on, looking into the loving, kind and Christ centered eyes of the woman who was to become my godmother—Betty McLernon. 

Being baptized at St. Paul’s in 1998 and confirmed a few months later. 

Attending the funeral of Art Greene and hearing Art’s challenge “Life is only worth living if you give it away.” 

Cooking thousands of pancakes, and mountains of spaghetti, always hoping Betsy Poist would have time to help me wash the dishes. 

Working with 22 members of St Paul’s, alongside Hondurans who had lost their homes in Hurricane Mitch, helping build their new community called Ameriteca. 

Celebrating the eucharist on cemetery hill on the Gettysburg battlefield, hearing Bill Bergen give a homily about his conscientious objection during the Vietnam war. 

Playing rowdy games of Gargoyles, in the Nave, at midnight, with my kids and many of St. Paul’s youth. 

Hanging sheetrock in the home of an 80 year old gentleman from Long Beach, MS whose FEMA trailer had been taken away, four years after Katrina flooded it. 

At Shrine Mont, Hiking North Mountain and telling little white lies to help encourage tired hikers--“that was the most difficult part of the trail; it’s just a few hundred more feet.” 

Watching the thoughtful, prayerful, thorough, and RIGHT process of a community taking positive steps in the direction of marriage equality. 

And Just a few months ago, at the ripe old age of 50, getting married to my wannabe high school sweetheart, in a ceremony rich in music, in the word of God, and surrounded by more love than I ever could have imagined. 

These experiences have truly transformed me—from an atheist Jew who used to wince upon hearing “Jesus’ name—to a man who is blessed with many, many examples of what Christians ought to be doing in the world. 

What more can I say—only at St. Paul’s.

To be an instrument of God's peace, to serve and to give to others

We are in the midst of our annual giving season ("stewardship" in church lingo). Gwynn Crichton, who is an amazing human being on so many levels, gave this talk at St. Paul's last Sunday and I share it with you:

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Hi, I’m Gwynn Crichton. I’ve had the great pleasure of serving on the stewardship committee led by Virginia Ritchie and I am honored to be up here today to talk to you about what St. Paul’s means to me and why I pledge and give my money to the church.

I started coming to St. Paul’s about 10 years ago after I first moved to Charlottesville and immediately felt at home. Soon after, I met Janean and she began to attend St. Paul’s with me, and we’ve been here every since. I really began to put roots down in this parish when I got involved in activities outside of just attending the Sunday service. I have enjoyed serving the parish as an usher, Eucharistic Minister, and member of the altar guild. I coordinate the Gay-Straight Concerns Group, am a member or Integrity, have participated and organized events for the Green Team, done CROP walks, helped with PACEM, and now serve on the Stewardship Committee.

Through my involvement at St. Paul’s over the years in activities such as these, the many gifts I have received far outweigh any of the time or energy I have committed. I have been blessed by coming to know and love many of the wonderful, talented, intelligent and kind people who attend St. Paul’s. I find myself part of a warm, vibrant, loving community where Janean and I feel safe, accepted and supported. I am grateful for the diversity of ministries, our able clergy, the educational and outreach programs, Community night, Shrinemont, and for the opportunity to come together in communion to worship with you all each Sunday.

So it is easy to tell you why I give money to St. Paul’s--I give money because I love St. Paul’s mission, ministries, and community and I believe that what we do here is central to our common purpose here on this planet. But it is not just my gratitude for St. Paul’s that motivates my giving. Sharing my abundance and my wealth is one of the princple ways God calls me to express my love and gratitude for all of the blessings of my life and to help others who have so much less than me.
Every week I return here, I am reminded of and humbled by God’s will for me which is to love as lavishly and generously as he loves the world. My purpose is to be an instrument of God’s peace, to serve and to give to others in order to make this world a better place. Giving my resources to St. Paul’s therefore is a key opportunity and discipline essential for my spiritual growth, one I must devoutly heed on my journey in Christ.

About 80% of my charitable giving goes to St. Paul’s because I believe I can make a biggest impact in this way rather than dividing my donations among many causes. Each year I increase my pledge to St Paul’s and try to also give on top of my pledge throughout the year in the Sunday offerings. I make sure to give of my first fruits when I budget rather than what is left over.

But make no mistake, giving is also a spiritual struggle for me--I struggle against the selfish desires to close my fist, to clutch and hold back, fearful I will not have enough or that my needs will not be met should I give too much money away.
However, God has shown me time and time again that I’ve never missed anything I’ve given away. Instead of being hard, in practice giving is remarkably easy. And by giving away even a tiny fraction of what I have, I am transformed and renewed. Giving makes my heart bigger, it frees me from fear and my own self-will. There is always enough.

Does this mean I give away enough? I am ashamed to say no, I doubt I ever will but I ask God to help me with this and pray about it because I know that giving away my money, as hard as it may be sometimes, brings me closer to the generous and loving person God calls me to be. That is why I am here and that is why I give to St. Paul’s “It is right, and a good and joyful thing, always and every-where to give thanks to you, Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.” Amen.

The One who comes to us as a servant, who is at our doorstep

My sermon today is based on Luke 17:5-10:

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Giving is living

As many of you know, I used to be a newspaper reporter. I spent nearly a quarter-century with pen and notebook in hand, pounding out newspaper stories on daily deadline.

The first newspaper I worked for was in a tough working-class town east of Los Angeles. The paper, the Riverside Press-Enterprise, was the boot camp of newspapers – no nonsense, demanding, get-it-done, do-it-now, and perfect accuracy expected in every story. No excuses.

I bring this up because this gospel story today reminds me of my first managing editor, a drill-sergeant-of-a-guy.

“Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded?”

And the correct response? “We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!”

Whew, what to do with that?

To compound my joy with the assigned readings, today is supposed to be the annual stewardship sermon.

This lesson comes off as “give us your money but don’t expect to be thanked.”
That might be how to run a newspaper but it doesn’t work well in the church. So I want to begin by thanking each of you for your generosity. I want to thank you for your faithfulness in your home, in the classroom, at work and all the places you go beyond these walls, and especially for your generosity with St. Paul’s.

Here at St. Paul’s, we cannot do anything without you. We exist because you give. A thousand thanks to each and every one of you today.

This morning I want to have a little straight talk about our ministry and mission that we share together, and let’s see if these lessons can lead us somewhere.

In the time that I have been here, we’ve talked a great deal about our role with the University of Virginia, creating a place of encouragement for students, faculty and staff.

We’ve talked about being a beacon of hope in the community through IMPACT, PACEM, Habitat for Humanity and other projects that assist the poorest among us.

We’ve talked about being a spiritual home for families and children, where people of all ages can grow in faith and make connections with each other.

We’ve talked about being a place for healing, where people can bind their wounds and find comfort and solace in their grief or hurt.

We’ve talked about a filling our church with prayers that honor and uphold our Christian and Episcopalian traditions, and we hold worship services not only on Sundays but also on weekdays.

All of this describes how and what we do. They are the means; they are our tools of ministry.

But the tools are not the mission.

Our mission, I believe, is to be partners with God in bringing alive God’s dream of healing and wholeness among us, and in the world around us.

Our mission is to be partners with God in bringing alive God’s abundant grace-filled kingdom, God’s peace, God’s shalom.

The mission never changes even if the tools change from time to time.

Our mission requires that we see ourselves not as consumers of religion, but as partners – true participants – in our faith.

Participation, I believe, means reaching deep inside ourselves for the “better angels of our being.”

We can do that by our giving of our time, our talent, and yes, our money, as each of us has portions of each to give.

St. Paul’s is a wonderfully vibrant parish precisely because so many of you give so very much of yourselves, and in so many ways.

Our giving enables us to welcome everyone who walks in our door so that we can share God’s healing grace with them. Others before us lovingly passed this church onto us. Now it’s our turn to give this church to others through our own giving.

As the late- Archbishop of Canterbury William Temple once said, the Church is the only institution in the world that exists for people who are not its members.

Yet this giving business is deeper than an institution, as important as that is. We are called to live a life of giving so that others may live fully, and with them, that we may live more fully as human beings.

That’s why we give.

If you are a parent, you already give abundantly to your children; they are transformed by your giving, and so are you. Or maybe you share in the community, or in the workplace or in the classroom. All that giving builds up.

I am continually inspired by how many of you go the extra mile in your giving, not because you have to, but because something deep inside compels you.

Recently I’ve been awestruck by stories I’ve heard from some of you who work at the Haven, the new day shelter for homeless people in downtown Charlottesville.
I’ve heard stories about homeless people who seemingly have nothing at all, and how they give things to each other. If someone needs a sandwich, another gives half of theirs. If someone needs a pair of socks, another gives an extra pair.

Do you want to know where God’s grace – God’s shalom – shines into the open for all of us to see? It is in the giving by people with so little to give.

How much more of God’s grace could shine into the world through the giving of those of us who have so much more to give?

But what to make of these lessons today? Where is the grace? Is there a connection with our giving?

After scratching my head this week, I went to the biblical commentaries, and it was noted that this gospel lesson today ties back to the harsh sounding parable last week of the rich man punished in Hades while Lazarus, the poor man with sores, goes to heaven.

The parable is an allegory about Jesus – Jesus is the poor man with sores – and the rich man hadn’t noticed him while he lived.

The rich man’s stinginess got in his way – his selfishness blocked him from seeing who was living on his doorstep.

The lessons tie together because they are invitations from Jesus to look, to see God’s shalom all around us. He’s telling us we can expect to see it but we have to look.

But to see God’s shalom, we need to see not from the selfish vantage point of the stingy man who expect thanks, but from the vantage point of a giving servant who expects no thanks.

And Jesus beckons us to take what we see and step out in faith, to become partners with him in transforming the world: “Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
That partnership is the meaning of discipleship.

Yet those first disciples ask a question: How much faith do we need to be disciples? Does it take a lot? Because, really, we don’t have much.

Jesus replies, you don’t need much:

“If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.”

Then he turns the tables by saying, in effect, there’s a better question you haven’t asked: In whom do you have faith?

My answer:

Faith in the One who finds the lost sheep; the One who invites everyone to the dinner banquet. Faith in the One who will walk with you no matter what happens to you, and goes with you no matter where.

Faith in the One who comes to us as a lowly servant born in a stable, and is sitting on our doorstep even when we don’t notice.

He is the One who expects not even thanks. He is the prince of peace, Christ Jesus, who gives everything to us still. AMEN.

The dog days of summer and too much stuff in the garage

Today's sermon is based on Colossians 3:1-11 and Luke 12:13-21.

Welcome to the “dog days of summer,” when the air is stagnant, the trees wilt, and as legend has it, humans become lethargic and dogs go mad.

The dog days of summer: that is my only explanation for why we get these cheery lessons today.

They are telling us to straighten up – no slouching through summer allowed with these lessons.

Paul gives us his list of complaints about his followers, and he pulls no punches: anger, gossip, abusive language, cheap sex, greediness.

And Jesus tells a parable that comes out like this: You can pile up all the toys you want in this life but you can’t take them with you. Not only that, you are piling up the wrong toys.

Selfishness and greed are really at the heart of these lessons. But before we go away feeling guilty-as-sin, let’s step back and look it this a little more deeply.

Some possessions are necessary to live – a roof over our heads, food on the table, and yes, enough money in our savings and retirement accounts for when we are no longer working. That’s not what Jesus and Paul are complaining about.

They are pointing out that some possessions drag us down -- like the un-opened boxes in our garage left over from our move two years ago.

Sometimes our stuff can possess us.

And not all of the stuff we hoard are things. We can hoard our grudges, nurse our prejudices, and stay addicted to all manner of unhealthy substances and behaviors.

Instead of hoarding stuff, Jesus is saying taste and share the abundance with others – the real abundance that comes only from God. Enjoy all the blessings God has given you, and be free enough with yourself to give the blessings away.

And everyone has something to give, everyone whatever the outward appearances.
Let me tell you about someone who gave me a gift recently:

There is a man, Michael, who comes by our church every few days. Outwardly he looks very poor; he might be homeless. He comes here to play the piano.
The other day, as I was sitting in my office working on a sermon for a funeral service, I could hear him upstairs playing Christmas carols. The notes of “Joy to the World” filled the building on a muggy July day.

He gave me a perfect gift in the moment I needed it most.

The more I walk this earth, the more I am convinced that the purpose of life is to give. None of this – none of it – is ours to keep. We get a share so that we can share.
Giving is a spiritual practice every bit as much as praying.

St. Paul’s is a wonderful vibrant parish precisely because we give by welcoming everyone here: people of all ages, students, singles, gay and straight, people of every race and background. We don’t check for a membership card at the door.

We are called to share this church, to give it away. We are the temporary stewards.
Others before us lovingly passed this church onto us. Now it’s our turn.

Our giving includes sharing our personal faith journey once in awhile with people who are not here.

I know that doesn’t sound very Episcopalian. But I am not talking about converting people to dogma.

I would venture that someone you know is in pain, or searching for something bigger than themselves, or a place to bring their children, or a place to ask the deepest most important questions of life.

Maybe someone you know is looking for a place to experience the Risen Christ like they never have before.

Invite them here. Give them the gift of this parish. They might surprise you and come.

Then slide over in the pew for someone new. Wear your nametag – it is a sign of welcome.

Allowing someone to know your name is an important gift. Or give by introducing yourself to someone you don’t know at our social hour after this service. And, yes, give of your money to this church so that others who come will find it as vibrant and vital as you find it.

The point of the parable told by Jesus is we can’t live into the fullness of God’s kingdom by hoarding our possessions.

Our intentions don’t mean much without our actions, and our actions are hollow without our generosity.

Giving can open us up to so much more of life than we can imagine. Giving makes us partners with Jesus Christ in the building of God’s kingdom here on earth – but it takes courage to live by giving, and courage is just another word for faith.

So my friends, have courage, have faith, and may Christ’s generosity bring you boundless blessings forever. AMEN

Giving everything you have

Today's sermon is based on Mark 12:38-44

"Beware of scribes who like to walk around in long robes."

I am not so sure I like the sound of that in the gospel today.

So, I’d like to tell you about a friend of mine. Her name is Caryl, and she celebrated her 90th birthday last night.

Caryl is not poor, but she is certainly not rich. She lives modestly, and she enjoys going to baseball games with her many friends. She has one of the greatest laughs you will ever hear and always has time to talk. She is someone you want to be around.

Caryl is one of the mainstays of the altar guild in hr church. Once or twice a month, she takes fresh baked pies to new members of the church. She also volunteers at a food closet in the community.

My friend Caryl leads a life of giving. Everything about her is about giving.

There are many Caryls here in this parish. They are people who give of themselves freely and fully, working on our altar guild, coaching our acolytes, working in the kitchen or arranging flowers, ushering, serving at communion, visiting people in hospitals, cooking dinner at the Salvation Army for homeless people, or leading discussion groups for university students who are trying to figure out life beyond their studies.

And the list Caryls and Bobs and Jeans and Bills is much, much longer than that.
The story in the gospel today is about one of these people, a woman who gives two copper pennies, and gives everything she has.

I am always struck by how people with so very much react to this story – you mean she gives everything?

Yes, everything.

But how will she survive?

But that is not the question Jesus would have us ask.

Jesus gives us this story for a reason: to show us that someone who outwardly has very little can give abundantly, and it will always be enough.

The poor woman gives knowing that there will be two more copper coins coming her way, and more after that. She trusts that God gives her everything she needs because it is all really God’s anyway.

Like my friend Caryl, and all of the Caryls in this world, her life is richer by her giving. There is freedom in her giving, freedom to stop worrying, to stop being anxious, and freedom to live life fully.

By her giving, she is fully present to everyone and everything around her. By her giving, she is a full participant in God’s miracle of creation, in God’s miracle of life.

This morning, I would like to encourage you to give everything you have to life itself. Everything.

And by doing so, I’d like to encourage you to think about how you can live your life as fully and completely as God would have you live.

What would that look like for you if you really lived fully? What do you have to give, and what do you need to give up, to lead such a life? What holds you back? Maybe you already are living this way – you are a Caryl – so what wisdom do you have for the rest of us? Give us that.

This kind of giving truly needs to start in prayer. Can you find a place this week to sit somewhere quietly and ask God to point you in a direction?

Listen for the answer. It might come loudly, or it might come as the small still voice that is inside you. The answer may take time to unfold, and it may not come immediately. Or it might be so obvious you don’t notice for a time.

But it will come.

And then act by giving everything of yourself to this project of life on earth.

Give abundantly of yourself in all you do, in your home, in the workplace, at school, to everyone you meet, and in everything you do. Be wealthy in your giving.

When you fall short, start over. Be generous to yourself, as you would have others be generous to you. Those who give sometimes have a hard time receiving; be gracious in receiving the gifts that come your way. We are never too poor to give, and never too rich to receive.

And then I’d like to invite you to give generously to the mission of St. Paul’s. Even if you give only 10 percent of yourself to this church, it will be enough.

I don’t think you should give merely because this institution needs to stay open as an institution.

I hope you might give because the mission of this church is important to your life, and this church lifts lives including your own.

I think it important that you know where the money goes, because the money follows the mission of healing, hope and redemption that this faith community serves.

Yet I strongly resist preaching a sermon about the budget, because none of this is really about numbers on a page.

It is about the mission.

The cost of our mission is about $900,000 a year. Seventy-five cents out of every dollar we spend comes directly from you as contributions.

Here are a few facts about how we spend our dollars on our mission: We will give $55,000 this year to organizations that are especially skilled in bringing our ministry beyond our walls to those in the greatest need in our community.

A hard working committee led by Marsha Trimble and Doug Little recently looked in detail at each of these organizations, and they will be speaking about their work after the 10 am service in the chapel.

We are also committed to our ministry with the University of Virginia community, and we will spend at least $50,000 on the costs related to that ministry this year, probably more depending how you add it up.

We are also hugely committed to our children and teenagers, and the cost of that ministry exceeds what we spend on university ministry.

Our participation in the mission and ministry of the wider Episcopal Church costs $67,000, which we give to the Diocese of Virginia, which in turn uses those dollars not just for a staff in Richmond but for work in Sudan and Haiti.

And perhaps largest of all is our commitment to the pastoral care of this congregation. People come here with many needs; they are young, old, rich and poor. Pain and hurt make no distinctions, and neither do we. Without our dedicated clergy and lay staff, the care of this congregation would be greatly diminished if not impossible.

All of these ministries are essential to our mission as the people of God in this time and place; as people called to be the hands and feet of Christ’s healing and hope in the world, and to each other. All of this happens only because there are people named Caryl, and people named Bill and Jean, Buck and Wayne – and people like you. AMEN.