Financial Reality
When it comes to preaching, I have been taught by representatives of two contradictory schools of thought. The first believes that preachers should only deliver one message at a time—a streamlined sermon with a single thesis or purpose that is designed to leave the congregation with one clear take-away. As a seminarian who had been given the rare privilege of preaching at my sending parish, I was confronted by this homiletical tradition when, five minutes after preaching my heart out, the dean of that cathedral told me how wrong I had been to try to preach three sermons in one. Embarrassed and ashamed, I spent the next seven or eight years dutifully examining my sermon manuscripts to be sure that no one could accuse me of a bifurcated message.
Then, during a clergy formation day, I heard famed preacher Tom Long say the exact opposite. Citing the preaching habits of figures like Augustine and Chrysostom, Long argued that congregations are never of one mind or experience. Ancient preachers recognized the need for preaching both to those who were deeply committed to the faith and to those who were only beginning their faith journey as well as everyone in between. In the contemporary church, he noted, we find a similar breadth of formation. How could we ever preach as if we were speaking only to one person? To be faithful to the opportunity we have been given as preachers, must we not preach with the multiple congregations sitting simultaneously within our pews in mind?
As you might imagine, that is significantly easier for Tom Long to say in a classroom setting than for preachers like me to say from the pulpit. Multifaceted sermons may be designed to meet the needs of a diverse congregation, but they also tax the hearers with a longer, less direct proclamation. In a sermon like that, not every point is intended for every person, and the work of discerning which parts to pick up and which to leave behind belongs as much to the congregation as to the preacher.
I face a similar challenge when talking about money during this strange and difficult time when some of us are facing real financial hardship but many of us are as well off or even better than before the pandemic started. We are not of one mind or experience, yet my job is to proclaim within the fullness of that diversity the complex and multifaceted invitation to faithfulness. For some of us, that means holding onto hope despite radically and painfully different circumstances. For others, that means giving away more money than we ever have in order to provide for those who face hardship. So, when I ask you to take a look at your finances and make decisions that reflect your faith in God and your commitment to Jesus Christ, what that means for you and your household may be quite different from your neighbors, and I need your help discerning what part of that message is meant for you and what part is meant for someone else.
At this point, our annual giving campaign is behind where we were last year. Given all of the perceived economic uncertainty associated with the pandemic, you might assume that that decline is because people have reduced their commitments to reflect a reduction in their income, and, for some households, that is the case. Of the forty-eight commitments that are less than they were last year, I know of several that come from people who have lost their jobs or a substantial part of their income. Added together, however, those reductions represent a decrease of only $43,000, but the ninety-four households that have grown their commitments represent an increase of over $56,000. More than that, there are thirty-one households that have made a commitment for 2021 that did not do so last year, and they represent almost $40,000 of gifts that will help us do God’s work in the coming months. In the end, the real difference comes from the 108 households that have not made a commitment for 2021, which represent a reduction in our budget of over $187,000.
Behind some of those missing commitments are stories of loss, grief, anxiety, and disconnection. As people who believe in the love, generosity, and goodness of God and, thus, make caring for others a top priority in our common life, our response cannot be one of guilt, shame, or fear but one of encouragement, support, and compassion. Clearly, the needs within our church and throughout the wider community are greater than they have been in recent years. Because we are Christians, we believe that it is our duty to respond to those needs in tangible ways. That is why our budget focuses not only on forming people for the work of caring for others but also on giving so much money away.
In addition to those stories of hardship, I believe that many who have not turned in a commitment are experiencing anxiety that is not directly related to their personal finances but stems from the generalized fear that fills our world right now. Those feelings are real, and stewardship—the discipline of aligning your finances with your faith in order that they may strengthen each other—is the classic antidote. When we make a household budget that starts with a proportional, sacrificial commitment to God’s work in the world, we teach ourselves how to connect God’s goodness with every penny we get and every dollar we spend. In times of plenty and of want, we learn how our faith can sustain us in a way that transcends our economic situation.
This week, our family received our second stimulus payment. Although, like many households, we face some unexpected expenses and a perpetual need to save for college, we have not experienced a loss in our income. Our retirement account is as robust as ever. We have not faced any health crises. Though tempted to tuck that check away, the right thing for us to do is to give some of it away and spend the rest in ways that benefit others. But that is what is right and faithful for our household. What about you? What does faithful stewardship look like in yours?
No matter what, we will have enough. That is a principle of faith and of stewardship to which we adhere resolutely. The people of St. Paul’s are generous, and we will use whatever they share with our church to do God’s work in our community. If we have less to use, that work will be smaller, but I hope that those of us whose financial reality has not diminished will find ways to give away even more. The needs around us are as big as ever, and so, too, is our need to give.
Yours Faithfully,
Evan