Stewardship
Why give your money and time to All Saints’?
The first thing to know about me and stewardship is that I am a “saver” and reluctant to be parted from my savings. I am forever saving for a rainy day – and even when one comes along, I am concerned that a rainier one just might be on the way.
So… there was a time, soon after we came to All Saints’ that I would have had to stand up here and say “I give money to All Saints’ because Dave makes me.”
But then, as we became a part of this parish, got more involved and saw what it takes to make this amazing place run, my sense of responsibility kicked in and this talk would have been something more like “I give money and time to All Saints’ because I see the need and it’s my responsibility as a member of this congregation to help foot the bill.”
And then. As some point in the last few years, I finally got it – what it is about his place for me, what makes me care so passionately, what makes it a special dwelling. It finally clicked that for me it’s about community. Turns out those rainy days are happening all the time – sometimes really rainy days – just not always to me. They take many forms:
Crumbling stucco
The loss of a job
An ailing parent or child
The loss of a loved one
Not enough food to eat
No place to sleep
No one to talk to….
And I don’t witness them all. And I couldn’t possibly see them all or take care of them all, but my money can help.
So now, my talk goes something like this: “I am blessed to be part of this community and to be able to support others on their “rainy days”. I can help, so I do.”
I can help so I do.
Ours is a community of faith living out the Gospel and using our resources to bring the Kingdom of God two steps closer each and every day. Daily, with God’s help, we try to make this world a better, more just, more inclusive, more caring place. We do this not only by talking, but by doing and praying and loving and caring and giving. We give our money and time so that our neighbors will have a warm meal and an overflowing bag of groceries every Tuesday night. We give our money and time so that our sisters and brothers in Africa will have an opportunity to go to school. We give our money and time so that our friends in New Orleans can reclaim their homes destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. We give our money and time so that our children will have the opportunity to learn first hand what it means to be faithful people striving for a better world. We give because we can. And so we do.