Charles Nordstrom gave a wonderful Stewardship moment yesterday. It is reprinted below with his permission. Enjoy! Stewardship moment 2/2/14 Apologies to C.S. Lewis I have been asked this morning to share a few thoughts regarding stewardship of our charitable organization. First Congregational is the only church I have ever been a member of. My family began attending here soon after we moved to the area in the late 1970s. I can remember running around in Sunday school, receiving my bible in the 4th grade, attending confirmation classes, attending summer worship/holiday services when I was away for school. I was married here in 2005, and in the following years I have been blessed to see my children baptized here as well. Over these past 35 years the world has changed dramatically, and naturally our church has evolved as well, but despite the changes, there has remained a certain constancy. And that constancy to me is its unwavering charity towards its members, our community, and the world at large. The word Charity comes from the Old French charite, which came from the Latin caritas, which in turn was used in translation of the Greek agape, meaning unconditional love. The Greek had four different words for their four types of love depending if they meant romance, affection, friendship, or unconditional love. So we find that Charity really means unconditional love, which is Love in the Christian sense. But love, in the Christian sense, doesnt mean an emotion of fondness or affection (although that does often naturally follow). It is a not a state of the feelings but rather of the will. It is the state of the will which I have naturally about myself, and must learn to have about other people. For even when I dislike myself, I still go on loving myself, that is to say, I wish my own good, I want for myself what God wants for me. Charity means having that attitude towards others. We are told charity is an essential part of Christian morality. While it is very important that I maintain a charitable attitude to others, I also have an obligation to financially support the charity offered by the church. There are times where I feel that is sort of charity should be unnecessary, and that instead of giving to others we ought to be producing a society where there wasnt inequality. Now it may be quite right to say we should strive for this kind of society. But if I think that, as a consequence, I can stop giving in the meantime, then I have abandoned my Christian morality. So, how much should I give? Likely the only safe rule is to give more than I feel can spare. Which is to say, if my expenditure on comforts and luxuries is up to the common standard among those a similar income, I am probably giving away too little. There ought to be things I would like to do and cannot do because my charitable giving precludes them. But for me, and I suspect many others, the greatest obstacle to my charitable giving lies not in luxurious living or desire for more money, but rather in fear, fear of financial insecurity. But I need to learn to recognize this as a form of temptation that keeps me from my duty, This love, this charity, is essential to our survival as a church, a community, a people. If we could see humanity spread out in time, as I think God sees it, I doubt we would look like a lot of separate individuals scattered about. Rather I think we would look like one single growing thing—I have heard others describe it as a very complicated tree. Every individual would appear connected with every other, and in turn, connected to God. We are all therefore like cells of the same body. Our mutual survival hinges on cooperation. Our congregation is a microcosm of humanity as a whole. Each of us brings unique talents and perspectives to the collective. This church has roots that reach to the past and branches that stretch to the future. To insure its survival, we individual cells need to do our part to support the whole organism. In this manner our church will remain strong to guide the spiritual development of our children, serve as bedrock for those of us in the midst of our hectic daily lives, and support us in the twilight of our lives. I believe it is this truth which explains the quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson where he says: It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life, that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.
Posted on: Mon, 03 Feb 2014 18:47:00 +0000
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