Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O God.This is the second week of our fundraising campaign. My task this morning is to talk about why we should give; specifically why we should make a pledge to St. John’s. Fr. Robert Cromey doesn’t like the word stewardship. He prefers we use “fundraising”. I love Cromey, but I don’t always agree with him. Fundraising is about money. Period. I believe if we put money at the heart of our campaign, we will fail. So, with pure delight, I will explain how the act of giving can transcend balancing a deficit budget and can, in fact, transform lives.
In the gospel stories we’ve heard over the last few weeks, Jesus and his disciples are traveling to Jerusalem. Now Jesus is acutely aware of his fate, but the disciples have no idea that their messiah is a dead man walking. Rather, James and John, seized by vainglory, have their hearts set on scoring the exulted positions at the right and left hand of Jesus.
Last Sunday we heard about the rich man who asked, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus’ explicit response - “Sell what you own, give it to the poor, and follow me,” was hardly the answer the man was hoping for. And I doubt it’s what we want to hear either.
Almost three years ago, when my 82-year-old dad was dying, and when nobody else was listening, he told me he had only two regrets: One, he wished he had traveled more. And two, my dad wished he had given away more money.
Never in my life had I heard him say anything like that about money. It was precisely because he carefully considered every dime he spent, that we always had what we needed, and more. I’ll tell you a little more about William Robert Cherry, Jr. He was really smart, very handsome, charming and funny, and he was really stubborn. For 25 years he worked hard at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography at UCSD. He loved nature and cared about the environment. My dad always understood how precious water was. Way back in the 60’s he hooked up a hose to the washing machine that diverted the water to the plants in our backyard. When I was older, he timed my showers, and on occasion turned off the hot water if I had exceeded his time limit. He held firm to the conviction of “If it’s yellow, it’s mellow,” though he didn’t use those words. At heart, my dad was an environmentalist, and sometimes I teased him about it. Oh dad, I would say, you don’t care about saving the water, you care about saving your money. Both things were true.
I’ve thought about how my dad must have felt at the end of his life, with more money than he needed, and regretting not having given away more. Though our theme this morning is “Why Give?”, in light of my dad I have to wonder why he didn’t give. Was he gripped by a relentless fear of not having enough? He was, after all, born 3 months before the start of WWII, during the Great Depression. For the last 6 weeks of his life, I stayed by his side. There are endless stories, both funny and gut wrenching I could tell. But this morning I want to tell you that I think my dad’s inability to believe in something greater than humanity was the reason he didn’t give away more of his money. You see, my dad’s empirical mind didn’t allow for the existence of God. He believed he was nothing more than flesh and bones. It’s interesting that the rich man in last week’s gospel turned away from Jesus even though he believed in God and the promise of eternal life. Either way, both men chose to hold on to their possessions.
By now, most all of you know that I’m alive today because I received a new, very healthy kidney last March. Many in this congregation intimately witnessed the rejection of my 20-year-old transplanted kidney, while prayers for healing flooded in from around the world. In mind-blowing acts of generosity, Sarah, Kevin and Kathy offered their kidneys. A loyal group of people, all of whom are from this congregation, drove me to, and sat with me through dialysis, week after week, month after month. They were with me for the early morning procedures, scans, ER visits, hospital stays and countless runs the pharmacy. At times I was so close to death that even now it scares me to think about. I suffered like this for 8 months. And, at the same time, my heart was broken wide open by the love of my friends. Before I ever got the transplant, I was healed. Even during dialysis treatments, I couldn’t help but feel grateful.
One day, while hooked up to the dialysis machine, I had a great epiphany — gratitude gestates generosity. When I am grateful I want to give. And it sounds nice too — Gratitude Gestates Generosity. Then, in a wave of urgent compassion, and I had a clear vision of how I could put my gratitude into action.
Do you remember Jesus’ response to James’ and John’s self-serving request to occupy a position of extreme honor at his right and left side? Jesus says, “Whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.” This doesn’t mean we should abandon our power to become servants. It means that if we are fortunate enough to be in a position of power, because of authority or money, we should use that power to take care of others rather than manipulate them, or in Jesus words, “Lord it over them.”
Jesus is suggesting we use the resources we have to exalt others, rather than look to others for praise and recognition of our accomplishments. Jesus is telling us that power and authority manifested through grace and humility can reorder society.
In the kingdom of heaven there will be no thrones for the powerful.
In the kingdom of heaven stone hearts return to flesh;
In the kingdom of heaven the lowly are lifted up;
In the kingdom of heaven the thirsty have clean water to drink.
Brick by brick, step by step, prayer by prayer, this congregation is helping to build the kingdom of heaven on earth. It’s the love of this congregation that has inspired me to give what I can to help create a new and just social order.
As most of you know, Liz Specht helped to found El Porvenir, an organization that works side-by-side with rural families in Nicaragua to construct wells, latrines, and washing facilities. On February 12, a group of volunteers from St. John’s will travel to Nicaragua on a 10-day work trip. My understanding is that they will help the villagers install some 40 or 50 latrines. With my dangerously suppressed immune system, I can’t make the trip.
But because my dad showed me how to love nature and care for the environment, and because he loved saving money as much as he loved saving water, I am blessed with the opportunity to give away some of the money he regretted holding on to. I will be donating $25,000 to pay for those 40 or 50 latrines and to help with some of the work party’s travel expenses.
To be clear, I’m not giving away my dad’s money because I’m a good person;
I’m giving away his money because I’ve been inspired by good people.
Now I need to tell you one more thing about my dad. With all of his stubbornness, he fought death to the end (oh boy did he put up a fight). His last two days were spent in the Hospice of San Diego. Out of the blue an older woman, who reminded me of a sophisticated Aunt Bee from Mayberry R.F.D., walked into the room. She asked if she could touch my dad. I said she could. She stood at his head and touched his chest, then she leaned down and whispered something in his ear. She stayed with him just 3 or 4 minutes. When she finished I asked what she had said. She apologized for not asking my permission to talk to him. That was okay, but I really wanted to know what she had said. She told me she recited a couple of short psalms. I only remember one - Psalm 4:8
I lie down in peace; at once I fall asleep;He died shortly after her visit. Somehow this unknown woman spoke of God in a way that resonated with my dad. And the God he couldn’t believe in during his life, was there to comfort him at his death.
for only you, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.
A couple of weeks ago Jamie told us that he gives to St. John’s because he hates change. I don’t want St. John’s to change either. Because when I enter this holy place, I am aware of God’s presence. It’s as if this very church were God’s dwelling place. When I walk into this sanctuary, I know I will be loved just as I am. Every time I am here, I am filled to overflowing with gratitude. This church changes lives. This church saves lives.
And that’s why we should give to St. John’s. When we give we are not simply filling the gaps in a bare-bones budget. Giving allows us to keep the doors of St. John’s open so anyone can walk in off the streets and dwell in the peace of God’s presence. Giving allows us to keep our doors open so we can follow Jesus back out into the world in love, to lift up the lowly and offer clean water to the thirsty.
Amen.
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