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SERMON PREACHED AT ST. JOHN'S CHURCH, ROSS, CALIFORNIA
by the Rev. Congreve Quinby.
Sunday, October 27, 2002

Proper 25,
Matthew 22:34-46,

May only the truth be spoken here and only the truth received, in the Name of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

First of all, I want to thank you for the privilege and honor of preaching here this morning and speaking at this evening’s festive dinner. Probably most of you are not aware than I have known Jim and Travis Wright for more than 40 years.  My wife Connie and I have worshipped at St. John’s a number of times as we have visited them and Jim’s mother, Mildred, of very blessed memory. It is good to be back here once more.

I want us to look at the Gospel story for this day. The story is so familiar, the words for many of us are so etched in our memories, that it may be hard to realize that as Matthew tells the story, it is about a serious confrontation. Remember, it’s the last week in Jesus’ earthly life. He has come to Jerusalem to bring his message to the heart of the Jewish nation, knowing that he faces fierce hostility and death. The question one of the Pharisees asks Jesus to test him – really to tempt and entrap him -- is a standard question that rabbis would ask each other as they discussed Torah, the Law of Moses. Which is the greatest commandment in the law? Of the 613 commandments found in the Hebrew Scriptures, which is the greatest, the most important?

I’m sure the word “soundbite” was not in Jesus’ vocabulary, nor in the Pharisees’. But on this occasion – as in so many others – Jesus replies to the question, even though he knows he is being set up with the intention that he make a damaging, self-incriminating statement, with a magnificent soundbite: “Love God with everything you have and are – and love your neighbor as yourself.” That’s it, in a nutshell. A simple, succinct summary of more than a thousand years of Jewish history, teaching and learning as they had encountered the living God.

And what does this summary have to do with stewardship?  Everything!

I suspect that when most people think about stewardship and how the word is spelled, they would start with a capital ‘S’ with two vertical lines through it -- the dollar sign. Of course, stewardship is about money because money is such a powerful influence in our lives. I once asked a friend of mine, someone who has had years of experience living and teaching stewardship, “Why is stewardship always about money?”  His reply was devastatingly simple: “Because, Con, money is the single greatest addiction in our culture.” Talk about an “Aha!” experience! I knew he was right. So, if we’re talking about stewardship, we have to talk about money, but we don’t have to start there -- or end there.

Why? Because stewardship, even more than money, has to do with relationships and with the issues of ownership and control. That’s what Jesus is saying in the Gospel today: check out your relationships, all of them – with God, with all those around you, especially the ones you rub elbows with day after day: family, work associates, schoolmates, neighbors. How do you behave toward them? How do you treat them?  How do you live your life with them? One definition of stewardship is “Everything I say and do after I say ‘I believe.’”  Everything.

Stewardship is also about ownership and control. Who really is the owner of what I have? Who is in charge of my life? To whom do I give the highest allegiance, the greatest devotion? Where do I expend my greatest energy? Not just in words, but in actions?

“Love God with everything you have and are – and love your neighbor as yourself.” That is a tough, daunting, demanding task. It was G. K. Chesterton who wrote almost 100 years ago: “It’s not that Christianity has been tried and found wanting. Rather, it has been tried -- and found difficult.” No question about that. And here’s one reason why:

In our contemporary culture, we receive -- in fact, we are bombarded by -- two very contradictory messages. On the one hand, we are told that we must be concerned about our safety and security, that we need to save, store up for our children’s education, a possible future illness, our retirement, our own comfort and well-being. At the same time we are told to spend, to consume, to have the very latest stuff, to find our identity in the things we possess. It is also true that if we follow that latter course, we can find ourselves dangerously in debt. “Have security, save; have more stuff, spend.” Two competing messages.

To confound matters even more, if we attend church with any regularity, we are reminded that God loves a cheerful giver. We are encouraged to give cheerfully and generously. Quite naturally, we say to ourselves, “But if I give away my money, I won’t have safety or security and I won’t be able to have the things I want and need. I certainly won’t be a cheerful giver!” 

Who will deliver us from this very real dilemma? I suggest we look at baptism. Just before we recite the Baptismal Covenant, the celebrant asks the congregation, “Will you who witness these vows do all in your power to support this person in their life in Christ?” And the people respond, “We will.” And after water is poured over a child’s or adult’s head in the Name of the Trinity, the celebrant makes the sign of the cross on that person’s forehead and says: “You are sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked as Christ’s own forever.” Christ’s own forever!  What a promise of safety and security in the loving arms of Christ Jesus and a community that cares for us.

I treasure the words of Jesus in the 12 th chapter of Luke:  “Do not keep striving for what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keep worrying. For it is the nations of the world that strive after all these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, strive for his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” What a promise of having everything we really need -- forever.

The dilemma presented by our culture -- seek security and safety; spend and accumulate -- is very real. The promise of the kingdom – find your life in Christ within the community of faith – is also very real. The choice is ours to make. The Italian poet, Ugo Betti, once wrote, “To believe in God is to know that all the promises are true and there will be wonderful surprises.” They are and there will be.

“Love God with everything you have and are – and love your neighbor as yourself.” The second part of the commandment comes from Leviticus 19 and if you look at verses 15-18, you’ll get some idea of what it means to love your neighbor, even though the author writes it mostly in negative terms. To put it in the first person: “I will not render an unjust judgment. I will not be partial to the poor or defer to the great. I will judge my neighbor with justice. I will not engage in slander. I will not hate anyone. I will not take vengeance or bear a grudge.” These statements have little to do with feelings -- but a lot to do with very specific actions. That’s what biblical love is all about. When Jesus was asked, “Who is my neighbor?” he responded with a story of one man helping another in desperate need.

Very specific actions. Just like what we will be doing in a few moments as we make Eucharist together. Taking bread and wine and offering them to God so that he can transform them into the spiritual Body and Blood of Christ Jesus. But remember this. It was St. Augustine, way back in the 4 th century, who told his congregation, “You are the bread, you are the chalice.” We ourselves are on the altar. As we do Eucharist, we are telling God that we do love him and we are placing ourselves in the very capable and loving hands of Christ to be transformed by him in order to be his forgiven, empowered people in the world – salt, yeast, light – loving and serving the world in his name.

And that is why I encourage congregations and clergy to place the alms basins, filled with our money, on the altar as well, to be left there for the whole Eucharist. Money, that incredible sacramental of power, identity and meaning in our lives. Placed on the altar to be transformed by God for his loving purposes in the world. A sign and symbol from us that we really do want to love God with all that we have and are, and our neighbors as ourselves.

How much should we love? How much should we give? Each of us has to make that decision for ourselves. I’m sure that you’ve heard that the minimum standard of giving is the tithe, 10% of our income. Some people work their way toward tithing by giving a percentage of their income and growing each year in that percentage. I know of others who have started by giving the first hour of their week’s work and then the second, the third, the fourth. They want to give the first fruits of their labor to God.

Connie and I have been giving at the 15% percent level for many years and we know that we can do more and we want to. We give to a number of places and causes that we believe are furthering God’s loving purposes in the world. It helps us live out another definition of stewardship that I like: “Using the gifts God has given us to do the work God has given us to do.”

“Love God with everything you have and are, and love your neighbor as yourself.” That’s Jesus’ word to us today. He wants us to discover the relationship between our standard of living and our standard of giving and our standard of loving. And the Good News, sisters and brothers, is that the standard of living, the standard of giving, the standard of loving, is his love for us: the Cross.

Amen.