Sermon Text

October 25, 2009

SUGGESTIONS FROM A FELLOW PLEDGER
Galatians 6:1-10
2 Corinthians 9:1-8

What I’m going to say now needs to be said clearly, and may even surprise a few of you. Betty Anne and I pledge. We try to make our pledge, what we give to the church and to church causes, close to a tithe. Sometimes it’s less, and sometimes it’s more. We aren’t legalistic about that, but we do try to be disciplined. We try to give in proportion to what we receive to further the mission of God through this church, and through the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), and we give every week. So today, I want to talk to you as a fellow pledger, and as one who struggles just as you do with all the issues that raises for me and my family. I hope that the suggestions I have to offer will be helpful to you.

Remember, these are suggestions, and not commandments! I remember a cartoon that is now a bookmark in one of my Bibles. It shows a man and a woman dressed in Biblical garb, and the man is carrying two stone tablets, although it is somehow clear that he is not Moses. He holds up the tablets and says to his wife, “Behold, the Ten Suggestions!” She buries her face in her hands and says quietly, “He comes so close to greatness!” Once again, I don’t lay claim to greatness. I give suggestions. I hope you will take them seriously.

Two headlines from two completely different publications announced the same disease. The Christian Century proclaimed: “Donor Fatigue Cripples Churches.” The Wall Street Journal said: “Charities Shift Marketing Approaches to Offset Donor Fatigue.”

Just seeing that term “donor fatigue” struck a responsive chord in me. I knew, without reading the articles, what they were talking about. Like you, almost every day I am confronted with an almost overwhelming number of worthwhile appeals -- save the children, save the whales, save the redwoods, save the earth; help the homeless, people with AIDS, the hungry, the illiterate; give to the United Way, to the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, to my seminaries, to my College, and to the church of course, and on and on. When I start thinking of them all I start feeling besieged, inundated -- and fatigued.

Donor fatigue is real, and it is powerful. We all feel it. The church, and this church, is in danger of being crippled by its ill effects, as are all helping groups who are dependent upon contributions to continue ministries of compassion. The problem is that many people respond to “donor fatigue,” not by giving but by giving up, or by giving in to the temptation of thinking that there is so much to be done, and because I can’t do everything, then I can’t do anything!

So, although it may not sound like an especially strong start, Suggestion Number 1 is that we pay attention to “donor fatigue,” and work hard to inoculate ourselves and others against it. The first way we do that is to recognize that it isn’t unique to our time. Faithful followers of Christ have always had to struggle with competing demands.

Paul wrote the following to First Church, Galatia, and to St. Philip, Houston. “Let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest-time, if we do not give up.” What does the Lord require of us? No less than to do justice, to love tenderly, and to walk humbly with our God. No less than to go into all the world, teaching, baptizing, preaching and healing and serving those in need. Ours is an awesome calling, and fatigue has always been a temptation to be reckoned with.

I hear Suggestion Number 2 in that word “WE”. I may lose heart from time to time. I may grow weary in doing right and give in to donor fatigue and be tempted to give up, especially if I feel alone. But I am not called alone, and neither are you. Each of us is called to be a part of God’s “WE”, the Church, the body of Christ, the community of faith. When I am growing weary, someone else in God’s “WE” needs to step in to encourage me, to help me remember that I can make a difference, that I can do my part, and that my part, when combined with everyone else’s part in God’s “WE”, by God’s grace, will make the difference. Staying connected to God’s “WE” can help us to overcome donor fatigue.

But what is my part? That’s the really difficult question we all struggle with. How much of my money is my part? How much of my time and talents? How will I respond to all the requests that come to me?

Suggestion Number 3 comes from our fellow strugglers among God’s people through the centuries. It is not a restrictive, legalistic prison, but is I believe the most liberating and most potent antidote to donor fatigue there is. Give Proportionally! Give in proportion to what you receive. It really matters little what the proportion, or percentage is -- although the Biblical pattern of the tithe (10%) is a good goal for us to keep before us.

If you have never tried to give proportionally before, and 10% sounds like a big bite to you, then start smaller -- start at 2%, or 3%, or 5% -- whatever feels right to you and then stretches you a little. Give the officers of your church a pledge, an estimate of your giving, and then if your income drops during the year for any reason, keep on giving proportionally. And if you get a raise, keep on giving proportionally! Give as you receive.

Number 4: give with a clear sense of your prioritires. We have already admitted that there are a lot of competing appeals out there. It won’t surprise you to hear me say that I want to put in a plug for the church. I hope that the church is high on your list of priorities. Most of the other appeals that come to us are community, or state, or even national. But the appeal of this church comes only to you. We don’t go out and ask the rest of the community to provide support for our programs and ministries -- in fact, we offer our programs and ministries to the community! The only group to whom we appeal for support is you, the members and friends of this church. We need to be high on your priority list, because we have no where else to turn.

That leads me to Suggestion Number 5. Give gladly, joyfully, gratefully. Find that level of giving that brings you joy, because, as we were reminded last Sunday, “God loves a cheerful giver.” If you give too much, you’re going to feel prideful, and eventually resentful, because only the Office Manager who posts all our contributions is going to know what you give, and nobody else, not even me! And if you give too little, you’re going to feel guilty, and that’s eventually going to hurt your relationship to your church, and to God. Give at a level that brings you joy in participating in God’s work.

Finally, Suggestion Number 6 comes out of another one of the passages we read back at the beginning of the sermon. “All must test their own work, . . . for all must carry their own loads.” and “Each of you must do as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” This says to me that we are called to use our minds, our wills, in this decision. Many times we are “moved” to be generous by our feelings, our emotions, when something hits so close to our hearts that we can’t help doing our part. That’s OK, but Paul reminds us that Christian giving is also an attitude of the mind, and an act of the will. Our feelings are not really the most important matter -- our will is.

This also means taking a good, hard look at our own stewardship -- a stewardship “check-up”, if you will. I need to ask, “How am I spending my money? my time? my skills? What proportion of who I am and of what I have am I making an intentional decision to devote to God’s work within and beyond the church as a part of my calling to be a disciple of Jesus Christ? Does it make me cheerful? Is it too much, or too little? Do I give it reluctantly, or out of compulsion, and if so, why? Is it because of fear, or anxiety, or insecurity, or a mixed-up set of priorities?” Give yourself a check-up, and then act on what you discover.

Because, my fellow travelers in Christ, we shall reap. That word from the Apostle isn’t nearly as subtle as a suggestion -- it’s as clear as a bell, and it’s not a threat, it’s a promise. We shall reap. Our gifts, our offerings, our labors will not be in vain. God’s goals, God’s will of justice and peace and compassion will be done. By God’s grace, our gifts can and do and shall make a difference -- the ultimate difference.

And that’s really all that we want and need to know -- that we can make a difference, that our gifts matter to God. God’s Word is that they make all the difference in the world.