Part of my summer (re-)reading was a wonderful book by Mark Powell called Giving to God. He begins the book with a delightful anecdote about the Gauls, the people who lived during the Middle Ages in what is modern-day France (the anecdote is probably not true, by the way.) He says that when the Gauls were baptized they would insist that one arm, the one attached to their sword hand, be kept out of the water. That way, when “the next battle or skirmish broke out, the warlike Gaul could proclaim ‘This arm is not baptized!’ [and then] grab up his club or sword or ax and ride off to destroy his enemy in a most un-Christian manner.” Powell wonders whether we modern, baptized Christians don’t try, in a similar kind of way, to keep part of ourselves dry –the part that deals with finances – and therefore unaffected by the fact that the rest of us is claimed by God.

I wonder the same thing. As you know, I’ve only been ordained for a very small part of my life. Most of my adult life was spent on the receiving end of sermons, and like everyone else in the congregation, I would cringe when the pastor started talking about stewardship. I really shouldn’t have, because the Good News includes good news about how we spend our money. Part of the Good News is that when we let God rule all of our lives – including our finances – our lives get better.

It’s time to get all wet. It’s time to go back to school. From talking with you, I know many of you have gotten all wet – that is, many of you try hard to let God rule all of your lives. And I’m proud of you for that, because it isn’t comfortable and it isn’t easy. So, in this upcoming school year, I’m going to do what I can to help.

We can start by noticing that there are two different motivations for giving to a congregation. One is that we receive services as members of Saint Nicholas and we have made commitments by voting to do things that will cost money to do. This motivation is not very different from writing checks to a homeowners’ association – we receive services and so we give to make those services possible. But this motivation doesn’t recognize that the congregation is a very special kind of organization – it is the body of Christ. Thus, a second motivation is giving as an act of worship. We love God so we give back to God a portion of what God has given us. We should give because we receive services from Saint Nicholas, yes, that’s true. But we also give because God has given us everything and by giving back a portion to God, we express our love of God and recognize God’s rule over all that we are and do. This kind of giving centers us in whom and whose we are.

This congregation has voted to build an education wing, the North Wing, to house our classes and our music and to provide opportunities to meet together. This was a wise decision, I think, even though I wasn’t here when the project got started. This congregation has also voted to hire pastors and staff to facilitate worship and education. Now, the congregation needs to give to support these staff and facilities. But there’s more than that – the congregation’s members have committed to inviting God’s rule over our lives, lives that will be better because we let God rule over them.

In the coming months I want to encourage our members to get all wet, to invite God’s rule over our entire lives. In sermons and temple talks, in our Discipleship Groups, I want us to become better stewards of what we have been given by God to manage for His purposes.

Welcome back to school!

Pastor Greg