Prayer
- For Stewardship of Treasure
Almighty
God, whose loving hand has given me all that I possess,
Grant me the grace to honor you with my substance.
Help me to see that I am unworthy of your blessings
unless I find some way to share them with others.
Bless our efforts as I remember that one day I must
give account to you. Grant me the courage and commitment
to be faithful in my tithe and offerings, Thereby
presenting myself to you as a faithful steward of
all that you give me Through Jesus Christ my Lord
and Savior. Amen
Gift
of Treasure - How we
use money says more about our value system than anything
we say or do. Some would think that the way
we handle our money is a window into our souls.
In funding ministry there are three faces of financial
stewardship. Annual giving (ordinary stewardship)
is the regular practice of returning to God a portion
of all that God has given us. Capital giving (extraordinary stewardship) involves the special occasions
that arise in the life of Christian communities that
call us to give beyond our ordinary habit. Legacy
giving (legacy stewardship) is the way in which we
address the matter of disposing of the accumulations
of our lifetime.
Money
is
- minted self
- condensed personality.
How
we value money - hoard it and spend it -
defines us.
Who are you becoming?
How
Giving and Spiritual Growth are Linked
It
is possible that the church has no business raising
money if it does not also see it as an opportunity
for spiritual growth. Jesus talked more about
money and material possessions in the Bible than any
other topic. It is hard not to draw the conclusion
that there must be a strong link between money and
the nurture of our spiritual lives. Why else
would he focus so much of our attention on it? Some would think that the way we handle our money
is a window into our souls. Let's look at what
the Bible has to say to us.
Everything
belongs to God, we are Caretakers
In
the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth
... Genesis 1:1
You
are not your own. For you were bought with a
price I Corinthians
6:19-20
The
Earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof Psalms 24:1
No
matter how hard we have worked or how talented we
are, once we start to unwrap where it all came from,
we end up at God's front door. We, along with
everything in the world (even opportunities, are His
creation.
Everything
we are and everything we have is a gift,
Gratitude
is the only response
For
God so loved the world that he gave his only son ... John 3:16
Jesus
paid the debt for our sins, therefore our lives are
built on grace. The primary motivation for giving
is gratitude. It is one of the most powerful
positive forces in the world. Gratitude is the
door to inner peace and wholeness. Gratitude
fosters a sense of abundance and therefore frees us
to be generous.
God
is a Giver... Therefore we are Givers
Riches
and honor come from you, and you rule over all.
In your hand it is to make great and to give strength
to all. And now we thank you, our God, and praise
your glorious name... for all things come of thee,
and of thine own have we given thee.
1 Chronicles 29: 12-14
We
are made in the image of God. He is generous,
therefore we are generous. This must be why
it feels so good to be helpful and do nice things
for others. When we are giving, we are reflecting
the likeness of God. It is our basic nature
to give of ourselves. The act of clinging to,
worrying about, and protecting our worldly things
is actually a very restricting and suffocating way
to live. Sir Winston Churchill said it this
way, "We make a living by what we get. We make
a life by what we give."
Abundance
is the Christian way of Life
He
took the seven loaves and the fish and when he had
given thanks he broke them and gave them to the disciples
and they in turn to the people. They all ate
and were satisfied. Matthew
15:36-29
And
why do you worry about clothes? See how the
lilies of the field grow. They do not labor
or spin. I tell you do not worry about your
life. Matthew
6:25-34
No
wonder we get confused and are filled with fear.
We live in a culture that is driven by a market economy
that needs to create scarcity so it can fill our needs.
We receive as many as 5,000 messages daily designed
to convince us to spend money we don't have to buy
things we don't need to impress people we don't even
like. Even the poor among us have more than
most of the people who have ever lived. Our
self-worth is measured by our net worth, but Jesus
wants us to live in the opposite frame of mind.
How many times in the Bible do we find the works "fear
not?" We are, after all, in God's loving care.
We must learn to think, "I am rich, I have enough,
I have more than I need, and I choose not to focus
my live on unnecessary things."
Giving
is a Witness to our Faith
Raising
money for the church is an opportunity for spiritual
experiences and learning about our relationship with
God and our "things." The Biblical standard
of giving is the tithe. Ten percent of all we
have and are is given back to God as a symbol of our
gratitude. It becomes our most tangible witness
to the world of our love for God. The Christian
witness is very clear and has been consistent down
through the ages. God is good, trustworthy,
and will care for us. God knows our every need
and is faithful. We receive by giving. Giving is a way to step out in faith and see the hand
of God in or lives.
At
the General Convention in 2000, members of the Standing
Commission on Stewardship and Development proclaimed
the following message to the Church:
We
believe... We
are children of God, and we need to give. In
every aspect of our lives, we are entrusted to be
stewards of God's creation. god invites us to
give freely and to exercise joyfully our gifts through
mission and ministry.
We
commit ourselves... to boldly claim God's abundant
provision in our lives; to offer extravagantly our
time, talent, and money to do God's work; and to practice
tithing as a minimum standard of giving.
We
challenge members of the Episcopal Church... to confront our fears of scarcity; to embrace a new
vision of stewardship through a joyful response to
God's extravagant gifts; and to empower the mission
of Christ through generous giving.
We
invite... all leadership groups in dioceses and congregations
to develop their own stewardship statements in order
to promote response to the gospel.
Adapted from The Alleluia Fund: A Guide for Dioceses and Congregations
