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*** Sailing the “Seven Seas.” Can you name them? People from different time periods have meant different things by the phrase "Seven Seas." In Medieval Europe, the Seven Seas referred to: the Persian Gulf; the Black Sea; the Caspian Sea; the Red Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, the Adriatic Sea and the Arabian Sea. There are other lists, from Greek and Roman times, from Arabian literature. In modern eras, the phrase has often referred to the seven largest bodies of water on the globe. Little matter this morning. It’s Stewardship Sunday, not geography Sunday. A year ago, we launched our stewardship efforts with the theme “StewardSHIP: Come Aboard.” This year, we thought we would do it again, “StewardSHIP: The Voyage Continues.” We are not sure about next year, though I worry every time I drive past the “Titanic” exhibit sign at the Museum and Science Center. One slight shift from a year ago, or rather a difference in emphasis. Lots of talk about boats last year, or more rightly, as I was so often reminded, ships. This year we’ve focused more on the stuff upon which these vessels travel, namely, seas. We’ve identified three “C’s,”, not seven: culture, community, connection. They are the reasons all of this happens. * Culture helps us think about who we are, our identify. It
is our values, stated and unstated. What draws us, and others,
in, and what keeps us here, what makes us a congregation.
All three “C’s” matter in the life of Third Church. We spend very little time on culture, or at least intentionally. Perhaps we should do more of that, especially if there are cultural barriers keeping people out. We spend lots of time on community – who we are individually and as a congregation, and how we reach out beyond these walls. We are spending lots of time now on connecting these days. (This weekend is an example, with 30 youth at a retreat, a good men’s breakfast and middle adults exploring the music of an Irish rock band!) We, the Stewardship Committee, liked this notion of three “C’s,” and hope it provides food for thought as we approach this Sunday or any Sunday. There are other “C’s” – of course. Covenant – the deep relationship we have with God and one another, and how that might impact the way in which we share our resources. Commitment – how we understand what it means to belong to this community, commitment of time and energy and vision as well as financial resources. Perhaps we saw the PBS show on the CCC – the Civil Conservation Corps. Here are two more CCC’s: cash, check, or credit card – ways to fulfill your pledge. Or “capital campaign construction,” the real focus of our life together over the next year or so, important, exciting, daunting, and, on this day, the ways it may or may not make an impact on your stewardship giving. And others. CIVIC COMMERCE, another way to say “economics.” That might be summarized by the question “what’s the market doing today?” Someone recently summarized it to me this way: From September 11, 2008 to March 11, 2009 we experienced the biggest market collapse in history. From March 11, 2009 to September 11, 2009, we experienced a great market increase. Even so, is that the right question? I am no economist. The market is doing better, and yet, many jobs have been lost, and positions reduced, perhaps permanently. Institutions are forever changed. Confidence shaky. The real question may not be how the market is doing, but what the FAITH response is in all of this. What is our response, as people of faith, in this market, in ANY market? What does God expect of us? And there is of course CALVIN. The big C. Calvin is big in all this. Ronald Wallace writes that Calvin’s theological thought began to move us from an agrarian world to an industrialized one, and that rather than thinking business to be a “dirty” thing to be avoided, that business needed to contribute to good and healthy community life, what we would now call business ethics. And because Calvin insisted there be no separation between the spiritual and physical and material, social welfare and economic health are bound up together. We all depend on each other; if one had experienced lavish wealth, they were expected to give lavishly to those in need. (Calvin, Geneva and the Reformation, pages 85-96) Historian W. Fred Graham writes of Calvin’s perspective, that while material blessing is the bounty of God, poverty is not evidence of God’s disfavor. Both wealth and poverty, to Calvin, are sacramental. That is, they may be channels of God’s grace. Since money was a central focus of public life, it must be taken seriously from a faith perspective, used for the welfare of the whole community. And while Calvin believed in all the basics of emerging capitalism – the right to earn a wage, private property and lending at appropriate interest, for example – he also insisted that “the solidarity of the human community is such that it is inexcusable for some to have plenty and others to be in need.” Because of all that, it was the church’s business to think about society’s business. To Calvin, there was no such thing as a gospel divorced from the concerns of the world. (The Constructive Revolutionary: John Calvin and His Socio-Economic Impact, pages 66-87) What would Calvin think about today’s economy? David Gibson, in a smart piece called “John Calvin at 500: Patron Saint of the Recession,” writes that “Calvin's sense of personal discipline, not as self-flagellation but as an expression of a life consecrated to God in ways great and small … should be rediscovered…as we look at the Bernie Madoffs of the world...For all the talk of stimulus packages,” Gibson writes, “John Calvin -- 500 years young -- preaches a gospel of restraint and individual rectitude that leads to societal uplift…(and) his message may be getting through in other ways. The savings rate is higher than it has been in 16 years, and conspicuous consumption is passé -- for now, at least. Perhaps the suffering and anxiety felt by so many, as opposed to just the undeserving poor, may finally teach Americans a spiritual lesson …”( July 10, 2009 Politics Daily.com) Which leads to another C, the CHURCH. The big church, this church. Martin Marty writes that “churches (are) called to be ‘resilient’ and ‘imaginative’ as they reach out to meet increasing needs in their communities and around the world.” We are seeking to do what Marty calls “holding our own,” as younger generations work to save, as older generations work to recoup their nest eggs, as endowment values fluctuate. Marty then poses a better question: where is the “zest and passion.” That is, “do those who enjoy giving and asking others to give do better than those whose apologetic tones, body language, lamenting, signs of marking time, and running for cover are telegraphed to their membership?” (Martin E. Marty, “Congregational Economics,” Sightings 11/2/09) In a new book called “Not Your Parents’ Offering Plate,” J. Clif Christopher asserts that most churches do not raise enough money for their mission because they do not have a clue about what makes people give generously in the 21st century. He writes that people, you and me, do not give to something because of a budget or because of our financial situation, but because they believe in its mission, they trust its leadership, and they know it is changing peoples’ lives and the world in which they live. We say “we need your money because we are in a tough situation.” We should say “You gave your money last year and here are the great things we did with it…” (Review by Earl S. Johnson, Jr. Presbyterian Outlook, October 5, 2009) I am prepared to say it that second way, with zest and passion, to talk about worship and music, education and fellowship, outreach local and national and international, to make the stewardship conversation around here only minimally about budgets and needs, to make it about vision, our vision now and our vision as we move into the future, who we are and who God is calling us to be. Because of all of the reasons you know so well, we’ve had to retrench this year a bit financially. And yet spiritually and programmatically we are growing and evolving. And we are anticipating, anticipating what kind of church we will be as we move out of, and then back into, renewed facilities. I told a friend about all this “C” business. What about CHRIST, he asked. Of course, I replied, the biggest “C.” More than sex and many other things, Christ talked about money, what it did to us and what we do with it. That’s what he does this morning, in a lectionary text assigned long before Stewardship Sunday was established, I promise. It preaches itself. It criticizes religious leaders, cultural front-runners, those who keep up appearances. It foreshadows Calvin’s later condemnation of those with wealth who prey on the poor. And then Jesus gives witness to what he witnesses, a poor widow who gave everything she had, not from what was left over, but from the very heart of her poverty. It preaches itself. Of the many things that are happening, there are a least two. Jesus praises the woman for her sacrificial giving, while criticizing the rich leaders for their less-than-sacrificial giving. And while doing the latter, I believe that he is also calling those with resources to support those without, what Charles Cousar calls a “wholehearted self-giving that transcends dollars and cents.” (Texts for Preaching: Year B, page 584) I think it well for us to look at the world that created the widow’s poverty, and continues to create poverty. But today, as we prepare to set sail, might we look at her generosity. She is not pledging to a budget. She is not giving from what was left over. Nor is she giving, to use our theme, because the sea upon which her life sails is a smooth one. She is giving to a vision. She is giving because she knows that God has claimed her life. By now, you have already made your prayerful decision. And if not, I hope this little chat hasn’t done too much damage. There has been lots of discussion of the ship, and the “C’s” upon which we sail. Now the voyage commences, or rather continues. Our “calling,” (one last “C”) is to navigate – never alone – with each other, with God’s presence, with a vision before us. That call is buoyed by the vision of John Calvin, whose insistence on the sovereignty of God means that any talk about money and finances and is ultimately talk about God. It is buoyed by the witness of an unnamed old woman who gave all that she had. This voyage is important, and transforming, and makes every kind of difference, to you, to this place, to the world where we are called, every soul, every corner, the seven seas and beyond. Amen.
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