Saint Benedict Episcopal Church

One of my favorite short stories of all time is a D.H. Lawrence story called, The Rocking Horse Winner. In the story, this middle class family is constantly plagued with the whisper that jangles through the house and in the very core of the family: “There must be more money” To escape this anxious constant whisper, the little boy in the family climbs onto his rocking horse and peddles faster and faster longing to escape the vexing haunted emptiness of his life. 

There must be more money. It is a whisper that is insidious and screams at him.

I know that whisper only too well. I hear it all the time. I hear it in my own head when I find myself wanting some frivolous thing that I don’t really need. I hear it in my head when I think about cars as a status symbol. I hear it in my head when I watch TV commercials and I’m sucked in by what they are trying to sell me (I want to be surrounded by matching stainless steel appliances! I’m free to do what I want any old time, No spending limits! You’ve heard the ads—what rings in your head and sucks you in?)

I hear it in my head when I forget that my commitment is to pay my church pledge first from the top of my budget not the leftovers. As Carl Knirk, our diocesan officer for Stewardship says, “First Fruits, Best Gifts.”

All of us know that screaming whisper. It is hard to live in a consumer glutted culture and not know that empty whisper. It is so easy to lose perspective in the face of our buy, buy, buy culture. 

Saint Augustine once said that in every human being there is a God shaped hole within us and that we are restless until we, at last, rest in God. I find that to be so true. My most restless moments are those times when I am like the rocking horse winner. I get on my own rocking horse to escape or even seek solace in buying things and find myself coming up even more empty and behind than before. This constant existence of chasing material things is like riding a rocking horse and expecting to get someplace while doing it. How very childish I can be in my greed and pursuit of things besides God. Again, from Augustine, “ We long to make things God and to make God a thing.” Ouch!

I guess life hasn’t changed all that much since Augustine. I am often tempted to be restless and to long for things outside of God. I think every culture invites distractions of one sort or another. The question is how do we combat it? How do we, in the face of consumerism and scarcity thinking, say no, My God is an abundant, loving generous God. I will not fall prey to thinking that I need some THING else to fill that hole that is meant to filled by the Lord. What do I really worship—God or Money? Jim Wallis, Baptist preacher and writer said, “A budget is a moral document.”

The way that I combat the emptiness of consumer distraction is by being generous and giving away money to something besides retail. And man, that feels so good! Over the years, I’ve given away money to all kinds of things: my college, charities, street people, retreat centers and the church. As I’ve aged, I’ve become more concerned with where I want to give my money. I pray and think about how I can use my give away money most effectively. Who can put my money to the best use? I think this is what Stewardship is all about.

I have said yes, there has to be something else besides this material getification world and that something else is LOVE-- Love that we know by the strong name of the Trinity. And everything I do in my life to say yes to that ultimate love is my way of giving back. Stewardship is everything I do after I say yes to God.

In my early adult years, I did not give money to the church at all. Why give money for just keeping some old building in operation? Why pay for lighting bills? Does God really need my money? I didn’t know that God and the Church really don’t need my money. However, I need to give it away for my own soul and salvation and later on, I wanted to give it to the church. I’m not saying that I’ll burn in hell if I don’t give my money to the church or some other organization.  However, I know that my life will be a great deal less meaningful and rich if I’m not generous. 

If I choose to not be generous and to simply spend my money on me, I isolate and compartmentalize my beliefs. I believe in a God that wants to bowl every man woman and child over with incredible, abundant amazing unconditional love. If I believe that with all my heart, how can I NOT give? I don’t give my money to the church because we need it. I give it to the church because I need to give it away. 

God has been so good to me, so good to my family, how can I hold back? How can I keep it all to myself when so many people in the church have given to me so generously? From the time I first darkened the door of the Episcopal Church, I have been loved unconditionally.  

How could I not give my money to an organization that uses it to spread God’s love both to the members within the church and then to those who are outside of it? I began to commit money to the church when I recognized how much the church had given to me.

Now that I am at St Benedict as your priest, now more than ever, I want to give as much as I can because I believe in our ministry and mission so deeply. I believe in the dreams of this community. 

I believe in the work of our church administrator, Lacey who gives 110% and Beth and her ministry to the choir. Every week the choir and Beth do something amazing for the glory of God. I believe in Amber’s ministry with our kids. I love that for our 2nd Sunday in October, we had about 20 or so children in church. I love that our Community Dinner now has a satellite food bank and is feeding people at Drexel House, a new homeless shelter here in Lacey. I love that we want to do more for outreach and that we want to grow and attract more people of all ages and backgrounds to our church. I long to see our church grow in numbers and be filled with people of all ages, races, and backgrounds. I love the fact that we are so affectionate and warm on Sunday mornings and I know thataffection and warmth will continue to grow as well and that will never change.

I want this church to be here for many generations to come and to be known as a place that loves and welcomes all people unconditionally and generously. I hope that countless generations will be buried in our columbarium and will know little pieces and bits of history about this place and its founders; stories about altars rolling down the street and metals of Benedict and Mary buried under our Altar and about the place of so many deacons and lots of retired clergy and community dinners and endlessly amazing potluck feasts.

That’s why I give my money to St. Benedict primarily because I believe in it so much. Of all the churches I’ve attended, of all the organizations I’ve worked for and with and volunteered for over the years, this is, by far is the most generous one I’ve known. This is a real church. And I want other people to know about it. I want people to know that there’s this warm place to come on Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings and Saturdays for community dinners.

I hope you feel the same way. 

In this issue of the Benedictions, you will find a Narrative Budget. That is a picture of how we use the resources that are provided to us by you, our members. I hope it helps you to know how we are being good stewards of our funds and helping to use all that we have to spread the word of the Gospel in this area. We also will share some of the dreams we have for the variety of ministries that we offer. 

In the weeks ahead, you will receive our annual financial campaign letter, and commitment card. I know that all of us will pray about your financial commitment in 2008 and will find ways of continuing to be generous, not because the church or God need us to be, but because it changes our hearts, helps us live more fully in God’s faith, and it takes us places far

beyond mere rocking horse winners, we become generous people who reflect God’s love. The Kingdom of God comes to rest within us when we are recognize that all we need to do enter the Kingdom is practice  being generous.