“Stewardship:  What Do We Owe?”  – and on YouTube
Rev. Paul Sprecher, First Parish Bridgewater, Sunday March 20, 2016, 10:30 am

Thought for Contemplation: “Generosity with strings is not generosity; it is a deal.” ~Marya Mannes, (1904 – 1990)

Sermon “Stewardship: What Do We Owe?” Rev. Paul Sprecher
In the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus said [Matt. 5:3]
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” In this, the
annual Sermon on the Amount, one message would be “No one is too poor in
spirit to give.” As it happens, parts of the Sermon on the Mount – including these
Beatitudes – are also included in the Gospel of Luke. There, his words are given
a little differently, namely by omitting “in spirit”; so Luke’s account says, [Luke
6:20]
“Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God.
21 “Blessed are you who are hungry now,
for you will be filled.
And, again, in this Sermon on the Amount – that is, the amount to give to First
Parish in your pledge, I should say, “No one is too poor to give.” In the Acts of
the Apostles, Jesus is directly quoting as having said [Acts 20:35] “It is more
blessed to give than to receive.” Today, the question before us is how much you
need to give to be blessed.
Wait – that begins to smack of the sale of indulgences by the Roman Catholic
Church some five hundred years ago; and that ended rather badly for the Catholic
Church as more and more people rejected the sale of indulgences (among many
other practices) and became Lutherans or Calvinists or Baptists or Unitarians, or
joined one or another of the hundreds of Protestant sects and denominations that
have sprung up since that time.
Giving has ancient roots. When the nation of Israel was beginning its journey
to the Promised Land, Moses decreed that every family should give 10% – a tithe
– of everything they earned to support the priests and the temple, and that has
been taken as a standard in many congregations ever since. When Mohammad
founded the religion of Islam, he set a different standard; good Muslims, he
commanded, were to give 2 ½% of their wealth each year, what he termed Zakat.
Indeed, so important was that giving to the support of the community that it is one
of the five pillars of Islam. My parents and grandparents faithfully give a tithe of
what they earned from our farm to their church, and I have always seen that as a
standard to which I should aspire, though there have of course been times in my
life when I have fallen short in the total I give to all causes. Our Unitarian
Universalist Association suggests at least 5% of income as a worth goal for giving
to our congregations.
The standard of a tenth of income in the Jewish tradition was applied to every
family in the community. No matter how poor someone might be, they were
expected to give 10%. No one was excused because they had too little, because
being part of the community was actually much more important than holding on
to every last penny. Even someone who is receiving charity is to give, because
otherwise the recipient is on the outside rather than being an integral part of the
community. In fact, if we think about it, that is precisely what constitutes a
community or a congregation; each one gives their time, treasure and talent
according to what they have received, and thus all are part of creating the whole
community. So it is in this our congregation as well.
But let’s be honest. Most of you have made up your minds about how much
you will pledge to the support of this beloved community already, and one
sermon on the amount is not going to change your minds. So I could just stop
right here, having done what little I can to help you feel good about what you are
already planning to give to the support of First Parish.
If I believed I could influence your decision about how much to pledge, I
could mention the ways in which this congregation carries out the promise we
make in our covenant to help one another. When times are good and when times
are bad for each of us, this congregation pays attention; we celebrate our joys
together and we bear our sorrows together. Some among us have particular needs
from time to time – financial, emotional, or physical – this congregation stretches
to meet those needs. The Minister’s Discretionary Fund, which you support with
your offerings at our Christmas Eve Eve service, is of real help to our members
and to some outside the congregation in helping to get through tough times
financially. Part of what you pay me to do is to counsel members and friends of
this congregation when they need someone to turn to for a listening ear and an
open heart.
If I thought I could change your mind about how much you should give to
support this beloved community, I could tell you (as if you don’t already know)
that this year is our bi-sesquicentennial – our 300th birthday as a congregation. I
could mention that we have inherited this building, this property, and a generous
endowment from those who came before us in this place. I could remind you of
how much we love this place that we have been given. I could mention that these
warm places where we meet – the sanctuary, the upper and lower parish halls, and
the office – all of these have been bequeathed to us and we are responsible for
passing on this legacy – hopefully in better condition than we received it.
If I thought I could convince you to increase your pledge a bit more, I could
mention the generosity with which many of you have supported the acquisition
and outfitting of the Hive, the first new space we have created here in more than
twenty years. I could mention how important having more usable space is for our
Religious Education program. I could mention the generosity of a few of our
members in upgrading our sound system and providing the overhead projector
and screen. I could mention your generosity and your work in constructing this
platform for us to share the time for all ages.
If I thought you might be influenced to give a little bit more, I would mention
that we are all seekers on the journey of our lives, trying to find ways to lead our
lives more fully by engaging our hearts and minds in intimate settings; I would
remind you that our Adult Education Program is one of the important contexts in
which we can explore what truly matters to each of us while listening to others to
5
learn of other possible ways to see and understand this journey of life which we
are walking together. I would mention other groups – events we share as a result
of our Social Auctions, including dinners, walks, vacation homes, and so many
others. We have game nights for grownups and for families. Our circle dinners
provide an opportunity to enjoy good food together and to learn to know one
another better. I would mention other groups formal and informal: our book
group, the Science and Religion group, sailing trips and hikes organized here.
If I truly believed that it would make a difference, I would mention our staff,
whose jobs help to teach our kids, maintain our facilities, take care of the business
of the congregation, provide wonderful music, lead services and help guide the
work of this congregation.
If I really thought it would influence you, I would point out that this is a place
where we do social justice together; this is a congregation tbat reaches out to help
where help is needed, to advocate when change is needed, to remind ourselves
and our community that peace is possible. We have lately become aware of the
degree to which mass incarceration ruins lives and families and have started the
Read to Me, Father program at the Old Colony Correctional Center as a way to
help inmates remain in contact with their children. We have created a
relationship with Messiah Baptist in Brockton in part as a way for us to recognize
our own and our children’s relative privilege. We are about to start considering
whether we should become a Black Lives Matter congregation. We are blessed to
have Rev. Rachel affiliated with our congregation as our Community Minister,
whose advocacy is joined by many others in our congregation.
If I truly believed it would make a difference, I would mention that we are
friends here. I have become increasingly aware of how important community is
as I have met people who are without community. Our society has become a
place where more and more people have no one in their lives to talk to when
important decisions need to be made; that’s why this congregation is so vital. Just
yesterday I was meeting with someone who was going through a difficult divorce
and had no friends at all to share her grief; I told her that she needed to be part of
a congregation – perhaps ours – so that she could have around her friends who
would care when hard times came.
If I thought my words might influence you …. Well, actually, I’ve already
said quite a few of the things that I would say. There are many others. This is a
beloved community in which we have fun together, mourn together, celebrate,
learn, worship, advocate – and lead our lives – together.
Let me go back to the title of this sermon: What do we Owe as stewards of
this congregation? The answer is – we don’t owe anything. This is not a store in
which goods are purchased. We don’t have a menu of activities for which you
can buy separate tickets like you can at an amusement park. A beloved
community is made up of individuals and families who give and receive without
thinking a lot about who owes what to whom. This is not a place to get a good
deal. We don’t practice the art of the deal here; we don’t calculate how to get the
most advantage for the least investment. We covenant together freely in order to
create something very special in each of our lives – a place in which and a people
with whom we can create a common home, in which we can share burdens and
joys, in which we can grow in wisdom and – for our younger generation – in
stature. We covenant to walk together at all times on the journey of our lives.
Our religious forebears long ago gave up the threat of hell and the sure
promise of heaven and focused our attention here, on this life, as the place for our
hopes and fears and dreams. We don’t try to manipulate guild and demand
money for forgiveness. We hold no threats over one another’s heads. We don’t
promise that if you give more you will receive more; we don’t preach a prosperity
gospel here, a gospel that says you will be rewarded for giving. We know that
giving is its own reward, and that our lives go better when we are all generous.
It is more blessed to give than to receive because giving expresses our
gratitude; it affirms that each of us has an important part to play in our
communities; it enables each of us to receive when we are in need and to express
our gratitude by ministering to others when they are in need.
Kahlil Gibran has this to say about giving in The Prophet:
THEN said a rich man, Speak to us of Giving.
And he answered:
You give but little when you give of your possessions.
It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.
For what are your possessions but things you keep and guard for fear you may
need them tomorrow? ….
There are those who give little of the much which they have—and they give
it for recognition and their hidden desire makes their gifts unwholesome.
And there are those who have little and give it all.
These are the believers in life and the bounty of life, and their coffer is never
empty.
There are those who give with joy, and that joy is their reward….
It is well to give when asked, but it is better to give unasked, through understanding;
….
And to the open-handed the search for one who shall receive is joy greater
than giving….
See first that you yourself deserve to be a giver, and an instrument of giving.
For in truth it is life that gives unto life—while you, who deem yourself a giver,
are but a witness.
And you receivers—and you are all receivers—assume no weight of gratitude,
lest you lay a yoke upon yourself and upon him who gives.
Rather rise together with the giver on his gifts as on wings….
May our giving be blessed, and may it bless this our beloved community.
May it be so, and amen.

Topics: Stewardship