Sunday: 23rd Sunday after Pentecost
Reading: Mark12:38-44
Preacher: S. James Steen

I found myself in a bit of a bind this week. I sent out an email message asking you to be in church this morning because I would have something important to say. Then, I felt compelled to say something important. You may have guessed that giving would be the topic. As I considered what I would say, I relaxed a little as I came to realize that, whatever I might say about giving, the importance is in the issue itself; for nothing could be more important than our securing a strong financial future for this community.

To state the issue as plainly as I can, the moment of truth is upon us. Beginning today, those of us who are ready to do so are asked to make a financial pledge to support the mission and ministry of St. Paul and the Redeemer in 2010. As I address this topic, I want to begin by saying that members of this community have been remarkably generous in recent years. A decade ago, the total amount pledged was about $100,000. In 2009 the amount pledged was significantly more than half a million dollars. So, thank you, all of you who support SPR.

For the first time since I became your rector, I can discuss this topic without self-interest, at least financial self-interest. One reason we ask lay people to speak about giving is that the most effective talks on the subject come from those whose livelihoods don't depend on a successful outcome. In all honesty, nothing has ever kept me from talking about money. But as I believe you all know, I am about to retire - 10 weeks from today, to be exact. So, in 2010 SPR will no longer be a source of my livelihood. And yet, I have never felt more urgently the desire to see this remarkable community - as people often say, a place that is so much about the right things - flourish and continue to grow stronger.

This past week, while I was attending Sarah Fisher's installation as the new Rector of St. Peter's in Lakeview, a Lutheran pastor who was present told me that when he asks Episcopalians where there is vital ministry in our Diocese, the name that most often comes up is SPR. I am confident that this vitality will continue for years to come. But more needs to be said.

At SPR, because we rightly believe that it's most effective to talk about the things that matter most - like compassion, hope, service, justice, and mirroring the hospitality of Jesus - when we discuss giving, we refrain from getting bogged down in the details of the budget. And clearly this has served us well. Yet, if we are to continue to effectively carry out our mission to provide powerful worship and music, to nurture one another - and especially our children - in the Faith, if in the future we are to continue to provide a spiritual home where all kinds of people can gather around the table for a banquet, and in the process discover God present in those who are different from us, and if we are to effectively serve the community outside with ministries to the battered women and their children of the Primo Center, to the homeless who gather at the Open Kitchen, to mentally handicapped adults such as will gather in this space on Saturday for worship, Bible study and to share a meal; if we are to continue to carry out our mission effectively, then we will have to provide the financial resources to support a strong staff, to maintain the plant where much of our ministry takes place, and to fund the costs that are directly related to our ministries.

Simply put, because we talk mostly about the strengths of SPR, including our abundance of commitment, talent and generosity, and because we seek to build on those, which we should do, I have a concern that many of you may think that we have no serious financial challenges, that there are endless pots of money at our disposal, and that because some among us have deep pockets and are very generous - a blessed combination - it doesn't matter if I pledge or, if I'm already pledging, it doesn't matter that I or my family pledge at the level of our capacity.

This couldn't be further from the truth. Unlike many parishes, we have virtually no endowment from which to draw, and beyond what is pledged, the only financial support that we receive is a few thousand dollars that comes from non-pledge donations and from groups that use our facilities, plus income from the annual auction and reimbursements from the diocese for shared personnel. So, all pledges and gifts of every size are essential to carrying out the ministry of St. Paul & the Redeemer.

That being said, what we contribute, whether it is in the form of a pledge or not, has nothing to do with our membership in this community. In another sermon, I might emphasize that because our highest value is our aim to mirror the radical hospitality of Jesus, we are bound to love one another not because of what we give, but because we are all children of God. That is true, but it is a different sermon, and this morning I want to say that this same love that calls us to accept one another also calls us to encourage one another to live up to our responsibility as members of the community that supports us and our families in our journeys of faith. That means giving generously, according to our ability, with the knowledge that besides strengthening this body, generosity supports our personal spiritual growth and maturity.

The story of the widow's mite - that's M-I-T-E - offers a valuable model for giving. Jesus commends the widow not because of how much she gives, but because she gives generously, based on her resources. That is what is asked of all of us. To make this concrete, I am going to speak personally. Tom and I have pledged $6,000 to the mission of SPR for 2010. This is less than half of what we pledged this year, and that is because our income has been reduced by more than half. Tom lost his job in September and I will be earning less in 2010 than in 2009.

As you consider what you will pledge for 2010, I urge you to consider why you give to SPR, what its ministry means to you and to others, what is a generous portion of the abundance you enjoy, and how much you need to pledge in order for your gift to stretch you spiritually. If you have already decided what you will pledge and wonder if you should reconsider the amount, please don't feel pressure to put a card in the basket today. If you need it, take more time to make a prayerful decision. If you have already made your pledge and are tempted to revise it, I invite you to yield to that temptation. And whatever commitment you make to the mission of SPR for 2010, may your giving become a blessing for you, as it will most surely be for SPR and all those we serve.

Amen.