What Are We Celebrating?

This Sunday is Celebration Sunday, but what are we celebrating? Given our emphasis on stewardship, it is easy to forget that we are not only celebrating the culmination of our annual giving campaign but, through the consecration of our gifts, we are celebrating God’s abundance in our lives.

I love the way that the Bible describes what Celebration Sunday is supposed to look like. In Deuteronomy 14, in the midst of a lengthy teaching about how God’s people are supposed to live, God offers a vision for a community in which big parties help them remember who they are and whose they are:

People of Israel, every year you must set aside ten percent of your grain harvest. Also set aside ten percent of your wine and olive oil, and the first-born of every cow, sheep, and goat. Take these to the place where the Lord chooses to be worshiped, and eat them there. This will teach you to always respect the Lord your God.

But suppose you can't carry that ten percent of your harvest to the place where the Lord chooses to be worshiped. If you live too far away, or if the Lord gives you a big harvest, then sell this part and take the money there instead. When you and your family arrive, spend the money on food for a big celebration. Buy cattle, sheep, goats, wine, beer, and if there are any other kinds of food that you want, buy those too. And since people of the Levi tribe won't own any land for growing crops, remember to ask the Levites to celebrate with you. (Deut. 13:22-27, CEV)

I hope that sounds familiar. The biblical principle of setting apart a tenth of our income every year and devoting it to God in order that our faith in God might increase is the heart of our church’s teaching on stewardship. At St. Paul’s, however, we go even further, using a Celebration Sunday model not only to encourage you to make a financial commitment to God but also to connect the joy of our celebration with our experience of God’s love.

Unlike a tax or a tribute, which is sent off to a far-away institution, our tithes and offerings become fuel for the joyful work of ministry at St. Paul’s that we share. On Celebration Sunday, we will enjoy a special breakfast, but our feasting together is not limited to one week a year. We eat together every Sunday and every Wednesday. Through Community Meals and Sunday Suppers, we provide meals to the wider community multiple times every week. Each time we gather for Holy Communion, we share in eucharistic feast of bread and wine made holy. All of those banquets are the celebration of God’s bounty in our lives.

As envisioned by the passage from Deuteronomy, our celebrations are not limited to traditional feasts of food and drink. Notice how God accommodates the needs and preferences of God’s people in ways that prioritize participation over prescription. While God’s people, whose bounty was tied to the land, were called to set aside ten percent of their harvest, if travelling with that much produce or livestock was too difficult, God encouraged them to exchange it for money and bring the currency to the temple instead. And, when they got to the holy city, they were encouraged to buy whatever they wanted to bring to the party. 

Our vestry, whom you elect to serve as leaders of our congregation, make a budget that uses your gifts and offerings to carry out God’s work in ways that they believe will fill us with joy. When it comes to church operations, a critical measure of faithfulness is the joy and delight that the congregation receives from the ministries of the church, and I believe our vestry does an excellent job of turning your monetary gifts into the resources we need to celebrate God’s infinite grace, acceptance, and love. 

Of course, faithfulness to God is never only about our own pleasure, and the passage from Deuteronomy makes it clear that we must always include those who do not have a regular income in our celebration. The Levites, who traditionally served as priests and, thus, were not given tribal land to cultivate, must be given a share in God’s bounty, too.

Although, as a priest, I am personally grateful for the commandment to support your clergy and include them in your celebrations, God’s vision for stewardship goes well beyond the needs of the clergy. As the passage from Deuteronomy continues, 

Every third year, instead of using the ten percent of your harvest for a big celebration, bring it into town and put it in a community storehouse. The Levites have no land of their own, so you must give them food from the storehouse. You must also give food to the poor who live in your town, including orphans, widows, and foreigners. If they have enough to eat, then the Lord your God will be pleased and make you successful in everything you do. (Deut. 14:28-29).

In other words, although the primary act of stewardship is to strengthen our faith by setting aside a tenth of our income and devoting it to the celebration of our relationship with God, stewardship is also about caring for those in need and, in so doing, seeking God’s blessings for the years ahead. In a very tangible way, we cannot be prosperous—we have nothing to celebrate—unless all God’s people have a seat at the banquet table and everyone gets enough to eat. Shaping our financial lives around that truth is another way to strengthen our faith. Accordingly, while we do not suspend Celebration Sunday once every three years in order to take up a separate collection for outreach, we do set aside a significant portion of our budget each year to help those in need.

What will you celebrate this Sunday? How will you celebrate? What will you bring to the celebration in order that, together with the whole congregation, you might grow in your faith?

At all three services, after Communion, the congregation will be invited to complete an Estimate of Giving card and place it on the altar as a tangible, physical act of bringing your gifts to God. I hope that, over the last few weeks, you have been thinking and praying about what part of your income you will give back to God in the coming year. Just as envisioned by the passage from Deuteronomy, the invitation is to grow in faith by bringing to our celebration a sacrificial, proportional, first-fruits gift of what God has given to you. If you cannot join us on Sunday, giving cards will be available as early as next week. 

You have a role to play in our celebration. You have gifts to share, and your gifts will bring joy to you and to others. We have much to celebrate—more than we can count—and Celebration Sunday is just one of many ways that St. Paul’s celebrates God’s unconditional love for the whole world. 

Yours faithfully,

Evan D. Garner