Homily, Alan Gibby, Annual Pledge Review Coj-Chair, Stewardship Sunday, October 14, 2007

Good morning! To say that it is somewhat intimidating to be standing here in front of you is an understatement. The last time I stood in a pulpit at church I was participating in a youth service at the Presbyterian Church in which I grew up and I had to read the responsive reading with the congregation. But, I am happy to be here on Pledge Sunday. Having served on the Vestry for the past three years and as assistant treasurer for two of those, I became very sensitive to the financial needs of Holy Comforter. I also realized how difficult it was to find someone to lead the Annual Pledge Review each year. In fact, I told Matt Wall, the current assistant treasurer, that Steve Slott and I would chair the review once he and I were off the Vestry. So, now here I am standing before you on Pledge Sunday.

I want to thank several people for helping us launch the Annual Pledge Review this year. Steven House wrote a wonderful stewardship article in Comfortable Words in early September about how everything that we have and that exists belongs to God, since He is the Creator. Shirley Freeman, Scott Turner, Paula Boyd, Richard Parker, and Diana Wallace gave personal accounts of how meaningful Holy Comforter has been to each of them for different reasons. A special thank you to those folks who accepted without hesitation our invitation to speak to all of you and to do it with the level of conviction for this church that is inspirational.

I want to warn you, or at least alert you, that this will not be a sermon as I do not feel qualified to present a skilled homily which takes education and training to do well. Instead, I’d like to talk with you about the significance of the theme that Steve and I chose for this year’s Annual Pledge Review:

“Celebrating our Commitment to Christ”

After all, Christ is at the center of our faith and is, therefore, the reason we come to church in the first place. As I pondered an appropriate theme for this year, I sat in church one Sunday and realized how much we “celebrate” our faith each Sunday. The colorful stained glass windows that surround us with stories of Christ bring a sparkle and joy to the interior of our church. Everything about our service speaks to a celebration which Webster defines as “to perform a ritual publicly, to commemorate with festivity, to mark a happy occasion.”  The flowers carefully arranged by the flower guild on the altar, the precisely planned liturgy, the selected Bible readings, the accompanying music from our cherished organ and organist, the inspiring sermons, the anthems skillfully sung by the choir, the procession with the cross all contribute to the joy and energy which our service brings and gives to us. The Psalms tell us:

“Make a joyful noise unto the Lord all ye lands; sing forth the honor of his name; make his praise glorious.”

Our prayers spoken collectively and individually express our thanks to God for the gifts which he has given to us and allow us to ask for His peace and grace to befall on others. These prayers are spoken in a reverent, yet celebratory way.

We also have pauses, or moments of silence during our service. These reflective times are also cause for celebration--when perhaps we hear “the still, small voice” and have a quite moment with Christ. The Holy Eucharist is called the Great Celebration for obvious reasons as we come to the Lord’s Table and share in the mystery and symbols of the  last meal with His disciples.

Breaking bread and sharing a meal together is one of the best ways to celebrate. Truly our service each and every Sunday is recognizing and honoring what the Lord has given to us. “Hail thee festival day” rings loud and clear throughout the year in our service.

But how do we celebrate during the wee--when we leave this place and return home and to work? Do we thank God with prayers, music, Bible readings, with Christian service? Do we make an effort to live our lives as Christ would have us live them? How do we celebrate our faith when we are not at Holy Comforter? I am not here to tell others how to live their Christian lives, but we have heard Timothy tell us:

“As for those who in the present age are rich, command them not to be haughty, or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share, thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life that really is life.” I Timothy 6:17-19.

As many of you are well aware, this congregation was praying regularly for me just one year ago. I had been diagnosed with stage #4 non-Hodgkins lymphoma in June 2006 and began chemotherapy in August of that year. My treatments involved four days at a time in the hospital so that the chemotherapy could be infused with what the doctors called “rescue” drugs to help protect parts of my body that the chemo had the potential to destroy. I had to sign documents that indicated that I would hold blameless the hospital if my heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, and any other vital organs happened to fail during the treatment. What choices did I have? I had six four day hospital stays as part of my treatment. I am grateful that there was a treatment protocol for my illness; that I had skilled and caring doctors and nurses; and that I received excellent care. My scans at the moment are all normal for which I thank God. Perhaps, most significantly, I had the prayers and support of a caring and loving wife, my family, friends, and this congregation all of whom gave me the strength, courage, and will power to face what I had to face.

David Williams came to see me everyday that I was in the hospital; members of this congregation brought food and gifts and visited often, lifting my spirits; Susan Ryan sent me a card everyday I was hospitalized. Lay Eucharistic ministers came to our house to offer Communion and to read scripture; St. Martha’s Guild stitched a prayer shawl for me; candles were lit for me in Italy by Larry Vellani and Peggy Boswell; prayers were said in cathedrals and churches throughout the country by people I knew and many people I didn’t know.

I began to realize how richly blessed and fortunate I was. I began to celebrate my life with Christ in a way that I hadn’t before and to thank Him and praise Him for all that he had given to me. I realized that I had done nothing to deserve “life.” I had not earned it, and I played no part in my creation, but rather God gave me an opportunity to live on His earth. My life is truly a gift from God. The more I reflected on this the more I celebrated. After all, “what we are is God’s gift to us; what we become is our gift to God.”

What is it that we celebrate every Sunday in this place? Isn’t it our “commitment” to Christ? A commitment is a vow, a promise, a covenant that we establish with another person. What does it mean for us to make a commitment to Christ or to Holy Comforter? Isn’t it a physical commitment of our presence, our attendance and our attention? Isn’t it our willingness to do God’s work through our church? Isn’t it a willingness to openly learn how to love your neighbor as yourself?

I appreciated Wilson’s comment a few weeks ago when he said that our congregation was more involved at the church and in the community than most other churches that he was aware of. We are an active church community unselfishly giving of our time and our talents. In order for us to fulfill our Commitment to Christ, we also have to fulfill our financial obligation to the church. The church has needs that exceed the budget every year. I am well aware that we seldom get the money we need or want and the Vestry enters the retreat every year knowing that the most agonizing part of those three days will be cutting the budget to accommodate the pledges. We slash programs and make staffing decisions dependent upon the pledges we make. Shouldn’t it be the other way around; shouldn’t our pledges fulfill the needs that we have til our “cup runneth over?”

All of us need to reflect on what the church means to us; why we come to Holy Comforter; what we gain and what we give; where we turn in times of need; what our commitment to the church means; and make our pledge accordingly. We can’t take it with us and everything we have belongs to God anyway as Steven House reminded us in his article.

I am reminded of the parishioner who sat in the front row of his church and was so totally captivated by the preacher’s sermon urging everyone to tithe that he stood up at the end of the sermon and boldly declared that he was so moved by the preacher’s words that he was going to do better than to tithe and he planned to give 1/20^th to the church. We don’t need math whizzes like that to calculate our pledges, but we need you to do what you can. I ask you to think about how you Celebrate your Commitment to Christ and make your annual gift. Your pledge envelope is in the back of the church and one of the members of the Vestry will help you find it as you leave today. Please take it with you and return it to the church office as soon as possible. We will also have cupcakes for you in the parlor after the service as part of today’s celebration!

We sang a song at the retreat a few weeks ago that I would like to end with:

“Will you let me be your servant, Let me be as Christ to you?

Pray that I may have the grace to let you be my servant, too.

We are pilgrims on a journey, we are travelers on the road,

We are here to help each other walk the mile and bear the load.

I will hold the Christ light for you, in the night-time of your fear,

I will hold my hand out to you, speak the peace you long to hear.

I will weep when you are weeping when you laugh, I’ll laugh with you,

I will share your joy and sorrow, ‘til we’ve seen this journey through.

When we sing to God in Heaven, we will find such harmony,

Borne of all we’ve known together, of Christ’s love and agony.

Will you let me be your servant, let me be as Christ to you?

Pray that I may have the grace to let you be my servant, too.”

Amen