Living the Mission - Building in Faith : capital campaign
Peace Lutheran Church
Las Cruces, NM
Pastor Steve Loy
Transfiguration of our Lord
February 22, 2009
Text: 1 Corinthians 9:24 - 27
We have one week left in our capital campaign – Living the Mission, Building in Faith. A year ago as we considered the possibility of raising money for a renovation I can’t say I was terribly excited about it. Now, I kind of hate to see it come to an end. I have enjoyed the gatherings and meetings that have brought so many in the congregation together for a common goal. I have appreciated the temple talks and the meetings with the leadership team. I’ve been encouraged me by your outpouring of enthusiasm and excitement about this project. I kind of hate to see it end.
What you might not know is that we have one person who has presented a challenge goal, a goal that I would really love to see us reach. You know that our goal is raise $1 million over six years. What you might not know is that Dan Diemer has agreed that if we can raise the $1 million in just three years, instead of six years, he will wear a choir robe all day, every day for a week. I would really like to see him going to a construction site in a choir robe. Maybe we could charge admission or have Bob Mitchell put a link on our website with Dan’s schedule for the day so that we can watch people’s reaction when he pulls up on his motorcycle in a choir robe.
My text this morning is the second reading – 1 Corinthians 9. St. Paul uses the analogy of the Christian life as an athletic contest. In April of 2008 I had the amazing privilege to run the Boston Marathon. But the running of a marathon is the fun part of the process. That’s the public part that others see, the goal at the end. The real running of the marathon starts months earlier with the training to prepare for the marathon. If you turn to the very back of your bulletin at the bottom, I’ve include a small section of the training schedule I use when preparing for a marathon.
I start 20 weeks before a marathon and I run three days a week – one long run, one tempo run and one day of running hills. I post the training schedule on my bathroom mirror, so I know every day what my goal is for that week. If you look at the first week, 20 weeks before the marathon, you will see the long run that week is 1 hour, 20 minutes. The third column shows the hill day. On that day I run a 10 minute warm up, then 2 times up and down a hill and a 10 minute cool down. The third day is a tempo day. I warm up for 12 minutes then, 6 minutes at tempo and 2 minutes easy, twice, followed by a 10 minute cool down. Each week increases the previous week by a small amount. By the time you get to week 20 you know your ready for the marathon. The marathon is the fun part.
Paul writes, “Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable one, so I do not run aimlessly… but I punish my body and enslave it… so that… I should not be disqualified.” I understand the analogy, but I don’t agree with the whole thing. I don’t see any of this as punishment nor do I feel enslaved. I find it fun and exciting. Yes, there’s a goal, but the goal is not to win, the goal is just to do it. Running a marathon is an end in itself. I know when I go out there I will never win a marathon. I won’t even get close to winning in my age group. I enjoy the training and the running just for the fun of doing it. I run until it feels good – just like Dan said with giving. The first time I run up and down a hill six times it hurts, but a month later its fun and it feels good.
The same is true for stewardship. I know that I will never be the top giver in a congregation or the top giver in the ELCA. That’s not my goal. I give because it feels good. I give because as a Christian my whole life belongs to Christ and giving is just a part of it, a part of the Christian discipline, just like prayer and Bible study and worship. Over the years I have told you about my prayer life, I have told you about worship experiences and I have shared how I understand the Bible. This morning I want to share just a little about my experience with giving.
When I got out of seminary at age 24 we started tithing. At that point in life giving wasn’t out of discretionary income. Some months we barely had money for food and rent, but we did it because we believed it was the right thing to do. Some months we didn’t give 10 % because we just couldn’t pay all of our bills, but the next month we went right back to it, with a goal of tithing. What we discovered is that when we gave to the church first, we always had money to pay the bills. When we gave to the church last, we never had enough. For many years we weren’t giving out of anything extra. We had no savings, no investments, but by making giving a priority our whole financial plan changed. There were a lot of things we didn’t do and couldn’t afford because of the financial commitment we had made the church. We planned our financial lives around our giving, instead of planning our giving around everything else. And I have to say, that discipline has changed me as a person – I wouldn’t go back and do it any other way. I recommend it for every 24 year old Christian and every 54 year old Christian and every 74 year old Christian.
Giving and running have a lot in common, they require discipline and sacrifice and they have both changed my life. Sometimes they hurt a little, sometimes they require more from me than I really want to give on that day, but later, I’m really glad I did it.
I have one disclaimer. I don’t think anyone should ever feel pressured or coerced by a church. If giving doesn’t feel good to you, I don’t think you should do it. If you find yourself resenting being asked then I don’t think you should support the church financially. In 2 Corinthians St. Paul when writing about the Christians in Macedonia says, “their abundant joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part… they gave voluntarily from their means, and even beyond their means, begging us earnestly for the privilege of sharing in this ministry… and this not merely as we expected; they gave themselves first to the Lord and, by the will of God, to us.”
Paul makes it clear that giving is a very spiritual issue, not something we should enter into lightly or because we feel pressured. Giving is first and foremost an expression of our relationship with God. That’s the difference between fund raising and stewardship. Fund raising means we have financial goals and want to achieve them by any means possible. Stewardship means we give because we know it all belongs to God any way. Anything you or I give is a part of our relationship with God. Paul said, “They gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us.”
I have to credit Dan with his saying from a few weeks ago – give until it feels good. Running the Boston Marathon last April was something I will never forget, a wonderful moment in life. It felt great. Little did I know eight years earlier when I ran my first marathon that I would have the chance to participate in that storied race. All I knew was that some days running hurt and other days it came easily. Today giving feels great and I am glad to support what Christ is doing with us. Little did I know years ago when we struggled to tithe, that one day it would feel so good. Now I celebrate the opportunity to share in this ministry and to be a part of what Christ is doing in this place with this community of faith. We could not possibly feel more blessed.
I hope that as you plan for next Sunday you will give your three year commitment prayerful, thoughtful consideration and enjoy the privilege of sharing in this ministry.