Archive for September, 2011

Ubi caritas et amor,
Ubi caritas, Deus ibi est.

Live in charity and steadfast love,
Live in charity, God will dwell with you.

Ubi caritas is an antiphonal hymn sung on Maundy Thursday during the ceremony of the washing of the feet at the Last Supper. This Gregorian chant is dated between the fourth and tenth centuries. A longer version draws from 1 Corinthians 13:2-8. Hear a snippet at: http://www.ocp.org/compositions/50360

“Let us remember the poor, and not forget kindness to strangers; above all, let us love God with all our soul, and might, and strength, and our neighbour as ourselves. So may we receive those things which the eye hath not seen, nor the ear heard, and which have not entered into the heart of man, which, God hath prepared for those that love Him, through His only Son, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.”

Athanasius (c. 293-373), Letters of Athanasius, “Festal Letter 1” in Philip Schaff, The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers Second Series Vol. IV, 510 (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, 1997).

“Guilt is neither an effective way to encourage giving to the church, nor I might add, is it a Christian way. The New Testament is crystal clear about that. We Christians give to God and to the church, not because of what is required of us. Rather, we give in grateful and cheerful response to what God has given us.”

Albert G. Butzer III in Journal of Stewardship: Preaching Stewardship, ed. by Elizabeth Muir and Vincent Alfano (Indianapolis: ECSS, 1995) 20.

“So here Jesus sat in the Temple courtyard, watching all the comings and goings as people came to worship. And in the midst of all the pageantry and all the pretense, what he noticed and affirmed was one woman quietly giving her all. She showed us that the gift that counts is the gift which costs; that no gift of love is too small to count; and that giving to God means putting in the whole of our living, our hearts.”

Betsy Schwarzentraub in Journal of Stewardship: Preaching Stewardship, ed. by Elizabeth Muir and Vincent Alfano (Indianapolis: ECSS, 1995) 18.

“Jesus admonishes us to trust God, work hard, live simply and share generously with others. We are to be stewards of God, not indulgers of self. This is the vision of money use Jesus presents to disciples.

The story of the rich fool points us to a way of life in keeping with God’s reign rather than conformity to the world. The way of God’s kingdom entails conquering temptations to define life in terms of possessions rather than people, or to understand security in terms of material comfort. This way means trusting in a sustaining God not in bank accounts. This way sees that life is a gift not a given. This way leads us away from anxiety over money to generosity with money. This way broadens our vision from self to service, from our own need to the needs of others. Then we can be preoccupied not with getting but with giving, not with storing but with sharing, not with ourselves only but with others also.

This way in the final analysis, is an investment in God’s future, a demonstration of the treasures of heaven. This way is the way of God’s reign. It is to be our way, for it is the kingdom that God wishes to give us. We need only trust and receive it gratefully and obediently. May God give us strength and faith to do so. Amen.”

Wesley Joseph Mills in Journal of Stewardship: Preaching Stewardship, ed. by Elizabeth Muir and Vincent Alfano (Indianapolis: ECSS, 1995) 13.

“Teachers who teach, doctors who heal, auto mechanics who put complicated machinery back together, what if no one had any need of your special gifts whatsoever?

No, the loving God created us in a truly wonderful way. God has created us in such a way as to need each other’s gifts. We’re able to build bridges of love that reach out across barren loneliness because someone else really needs what we have to offer them. We’re interdependent.”

David Polk in The Gifts We Bring: Worship Resources for Stewardship and Mission, ed. by Kenneth Gordon Dean, Dana Morgan McBrien, Robert Andrew Reister, and Paula K. Ritchie (Church Finance Council: 1988) 23.

“Stewardship involves three concepts: a responsible steward, a definitive entrustment and a final accounting.”

T.K. Thompson in Church Management 55 [3]:15.

“I know of no country, indeed, where the love of money has taken stronger hold…[than the United States].”

Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859) in Democracy in America: Volume 1 (London: Saunders and Otley, 1838) 45.

“[Stewardship Sermons] ask for nothing and for everything. That is, they do not ask for a specific “Now you must do such and such or give so and so.” They ask for a change of heart.”

Ted Siverns in Journal of Stewardship: Preaching Stewardship (Indianapolis: ECSS, 1995) 3.

“Because stewardship is so all-encompassing, in our lives, preaching about stewardship cannot be a once-in-a-lifetime or even a once-a-year event. We as individuals and as a community are always changing, in new circumstances and with new awareness…Stewardship can only be effectively preached if it is an integral part of all our preaching.”

Patricia Wilson-Kastner in Preaching Stewardship (Indianapolis: ECSS, 1993).