Last night, at our Eucharistic service during the sermon time we talked about some ideas I have for what we, as an ESC, can do during stewardship season, but there weren't many people so I want to talk about it here.
We are entering a season in my church, and in many churches of mainline denominations—Stewardship season. The church is full of talks about giving a tithe, to capital campaigns, to stewardship speakers and dinners… And that is all right and good for the parish life. A parish builds their budget off of these pledges, so monetary stewardship is very important to the parish in that it defines how the parish will be able to serve the church community and the surrounding community in the coming year. There are certain necessary structures in place in churches that make stewardship campaigns incredibly important, spiritually fulfilling, and right and good.
But amidst all this talk as a college chaplain I have to ask—where does that leave the student ministry? The student ministry does NOT run off of pledges. Not to mention, when I was in college, there was no money in my bank account. If I HAD paychecks, I was living between them, and those paychecks were work study, which meant I probably could have sued my university for unfair labor laws or something. That’s why, of course, I don’t show up to the ESC bearing pledge cards. So, deep breaths—I’m not hitting you up for money.
When I talk about this, I almost want to say: pressure’s off, I’m not hitting you up for money. But, that’s not accurate. The pressure isn’t off, the pressure’s different. We are still called by God to make an offering. But, since we don’t do pledge cards, and we don’t do capital campaigns, the question for this ministry that we need to keep asking ourselves is:
What does our offering look like?
I do think that sometimes, it looks like money. And I honor that—and that won’t be turned down here. Money in that offering plate is money that will be invested in serving the people of Waco. That said, I was in college once and I feel like I know the state of finances for the majority of college students, so stewardship will not be boiled down to money.
I also think it looks like time. Right now I’m anxiously awaiting news back from the Ramps & Rails group in Waco, so that maybe we can help serve a family who needs work done on their house. In addition, I think we give of our time to volunteer in other endeavors, and that that is accepted as an offering to God and transformed into holy time.
Also? You’re probably actually already giving an offering in some way, shape, or form—you just may or may not recognize it as such. So, maybe our task there is identifying what our offering already is.
By being a people who are called to be like Jesus, we are called to a sacrificial life. Christ was placed on the cross and I challenge you to place yourself on the altar. Every time we meet here, we share the gifts of bread and wine. In my church—St. Paul’s— offering plates with checks and cash and change are brought forward with the bread and wine and, taking them, the other priest and I turn to the altar, hold these gifts up, and say—“All things come of thee O Lord, and of thine own have we given thee.”
In other words: All things are given to us by you, O Lord—and of our own lives, and of our own time, and of our own hearts have we given these gifts back to you, out of love and adoration. We believe that you will transform this simple bread and simple wine into the body and blood of Christ, and we believe that you will transform this simple prayer into a life of worship, this canned good into a life of service, and this dollar bill into a healthy church.
So, starting last night, when we have the offertory sentence, gifts will be brought up. I don’t care if the offering plate comes up looking empty—I expect it to look that way sometimes—but I expect it to be full with our lives and our cares and our desires.
Starting next week, I challenge you to put something into the plate. If you want to bring in a canned good, put it in the plate—I’ll make sure it goes to someone who can use it. If you need to offer a concern or a worry, write it on a sheet of paper and I’ll take it home and pray about it. If you feel called to give money, then certainly do and I’ll make sure it gets donated to a good cause. If you garden, bring in some of your harvest. If you like to write, write a short story and put it in the plate and I’ll read it later and thank God for it.
Whatever it is that God is doing in your life—offer it to God. As a community, let's offer our gifts. Let’s thank God for them. And let’s offer our selves, our souls, and our bodies on the altar.
This is, of course, the beginning of a conversation. So let's start giving and talking.
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