I first began to attend an Episcopal church in my
hometown shortly after I graduating from college. Recognizing my immense potential, in quick
order they offered me a position as a youth minister for the princely sum of
$500 a month. I was assigned to report
to Jim, the third priest on the staff who was… let’s just say… an interesting –
read quirky – fellow. His multiple idiosyncrasies never failed to
amaze and entertain.
On day I found him in his office reading the financial
pages of the local newspaper. A broker
friend had encouraged him to invest in the stock market and recommended CVS pharmacies
as a can’t miss opportunity. Every day
thereafter I was treated to an update on how it’s stock was preforming: up ¼
today, down a ½ tomorrow. Jim’s daily
mood trended in synchronized harmony with the fortunes of his investment.
We went to lunch once or twice a week. “Where would you like to eat?” I asked him
one day. His answer was sharp and clear,
“Wendy’s”, which was curious because we had never eaten at a Wendy’s
before. As I was placing my order he
enthusiastically encouraged me to upsize my selection: “You should get a frosty
to go with that!” And then a minute
later he chastised me for taking too many packets of ketchup and salt. You have probably figured it out by now – Jim
had bought stock in Wendy’s. He actually
believed our eating there was going to inflate his investment. Conversely, he feared a copious helping of
condiments would negatively impact his portfolio. Now, some of Jim’s passion and pestering was
in jest, but not all. Once he put some
money in the market he developed a passionate interest in its performance.
That was the first time I understood something Jesus
knew and taught: Where your money is, there your heart will be also. It is a fact of life. It is human nature. If you are old enough to remember the movie Caddyshack perhaps you recall the scene
where Chevy Chase’s love interest discovers dozens of his uncashed six-figure
checks laying around his cluttered home and he feigns no interest in them whatsoever. Well, that movie is a work of fiction. We care about money and all tangible
manifestations of wealth. There is a
spiritual connection between it and us.
This is neither a positive or negative reality. It is just reality. What you do with it, how you harness it, and
how you are driven by it is what matters.
When people ask me how much they should give to the church, I think back
to Jim and lunch at Wendy’s and I respond, “Give until it gets your
attention.” How much treasure do you
need to invest in something before you care about it?
I want to thank each of you who brought donations for
the Food Pantry in the month of July.
The drive was a tremendous success.
I learned something by participating in it. I was excited the first week as I walked up
and down the aisles of the grocery store scouting for something I felt good
about offering. It had to be a food item
I would want to eat. And I had to think
through how I was going to get it to church – would I be able to carry it down
the street on Sunday morning, or was it so bulky I would I need to bring it my
car? And all of this got me to thinking
about church on Saturday. It worked in a
small way to prepare me for Sunday services.
This got me thinking about so many of you who put time
and effort into some facet of our experience here this morning. The choir comes prepared to offer a musical
selection. Our Coffee Hour hostesses come
armed with food, decorations, and hospitality.
When you donate the flowers you come expecting to add to the beauty of
our worship space while sensing a close connection to those you love but see no
longer. Teachers come with lessons. Ushers come expecting to greet, to welcome,
and to be helpful. The Altar Guild comes
trusting the polished brass conveys something of God’s glory. Our Junior Warden comes in the spring excited
to see the colors created by the bulbs he planted last fall. All of these offerings and more require some
mixture of time, talent, and treasure – the basic ingredients of Christian
stewardship – and they serve to remind us how our hearts are directed toward
the places where we invest them.
I was disappointed in myself on the second Sunday of
the month because I forgot to pick up something for the Food Pantry, an oversight
I corrected later in the day and did not repeat it in the weeks to follow. I found myself excited not only to offer the
food on Sunday, but also to see it distributed on Monday evening. I anticipated our clients being excited to
select an item I provided, much as I suspect choir members look for to singing
a piece of music they know will be meaningful to us who listen. Creating joy for even one person is deeply
rewarding.
This, in turn, helped me to understand more fully what
Jesus means when he says, “Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven.” It has nothing to do with ‘earning’ your way
to a greater reward and everything to do with the fact some things in this life
matter greatly, but cannot be tracked like a stock’s performance. If money influences the direction of our hearts
then we have a tremendous opportunity to channel ourselves toward non-monetary
treasures. If money is all that matters
to you then you can use it to lead your heart right back to more material
wealth. Or you can use your money (and your
time and your talent) to draw your attention toward other things for which you
hold a passionate, Christian devotion.
You won’t receive a penny for ringing in our handbell
choir, but moving people to a deeper sense of worship is its own reward. At most you will get a thank you for taking
an elderly lady to the store and helping her carry the groceries inside to her
kitchen. Read a story to a child and
your reward will be a look of wonder and a question or two born of newfound
curiosity. Plant some flowers and you
will be responsible for bringing an element of beauty into this world. Share a cup of coffee with someone you do not
know well and you just might find the presence of Christ in an entirely new
way. Block off even five minutes in your
schedule for quiet reflection and you might detect the holy in the midst of the
hectic. Prepare a meal and deliver it to
someone who is overwhelmed by life and your compensation will be the knowledge
you helped to ease a burden and served as a conduit for God’s grace. Bake some chocolate chip cookies for the
rector and you will hear me say, “You have made my day!”
Perhaps this week you can be more attentive to all the
things that hold value but are not measurable on a monetary scale; those things
that are heavenly treasures and gifts from God making this life rich and
meaningful, both for others and for you.
Perhaps you can spend some time pondering how you might store up more
experiences like these, blessing others while at the same time making your life
feel a little more heavenly.
