If one topic is guaranteed to make Episcopalians suddenly develop selective hearing, it’s the Church’s financial support. That said, it’s that time of year. Today we begin our annual pledge campaign at St. Matthew’s. But before anyone starts checking their wallet or looking for the nearest exit, I hope you’ll give me the next fifteen minutes or so. I won’t be talking about money and pledges. And I will be talking about money and pledges. It begins with the to-do list and the need many of us have to finish things.
For me, one of the greatest to-do lists doesn’t come from Elon Musk or George Washington. Instead, it comes from The Grinch: “Four o’clock, wallow in self-pity; four-thirty, stare into the abyss; five o’clock, solve world hunger, tell no one; five-thirty, jazzercize; six-thirty, dinner with me – I can’t cancel that again; seven o’clock, wrestle with my self-loathing… I’m booked. Of course, if I bump the loathing to nine, I could still be done in time to lay in bed, stare at the ceiling and slip slowly into madness. But what would I wear?!”
I am a fan of the to-do list. Just ask Gina. I put it on our weekly shared work calendar, and all week long these little reminders pop up for me and annoy her. And I’ve learned that I’m not the only one who, if I accomplish a particularly large task that wasn’t on the to-do list, will add it just so I can mark it off.
That list will include everything from writing the Sunday sermon to reading particular articles. However, there is one thing I’ve never considered putting on the list, and it stems from what Jesus said this morning: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” I have never put “love” on my to-do list, but maybe I should. Then, once I’ve felt like I’ve loved enough, I could check it off the list. Right?
You’ll remember from a few weeks back that we talked about Meribah and Massah—the oasis where the Israelites expected to find water, but there was none. Today, in our reading from the Old Testament, forty years have passed, and we are at another Meribah—another place of quarreling. As before, the people quarrel with Moses for bringing them into the wilderness because there is no water. In Exodus, God told Moses to take his staff and strike the rock. He did, and water flowed. At this different Meribah, the Lord says to Moses, “Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water.” Notice the difference—forty years ago, Moses was to strike the rock; today Moses is to speak to the rock. However, instead of speaking to the rock, “Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly.” It may seem minor, but it was disobedience. It made it appear as though Moses brought the water instead of God; therefore, God said to Moses, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.”
Moses, the one who has been faithful to the Lord all these years—went down to Egypt, confronted Pharaoh, parted the Red Sea, brought the Ten Commandments down off the mountain, put up with this obstinate people for all these years—was denied entry into the Promised Land because he struck the rock instead of speaking to it. He would plead with the Lord to allow him to enter, but the Lord’s response was hard: “Enough from you; do not speak to me of this matter again.”
A few months later, we come to what we read today: “‘Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho, and the Lord showed him the whole land.’ Then Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in the land of Moab, at the Lord’s command.”
After all Moses went through, I think many would have walked away the moment the Lord said they would not be allowed to enter. But for Moses, something else was at work within. Paul spoke of it very clearly in his letter to the Thessalonians that we read this morning: “So deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you have become very dear to us.” Paul said, in effect, ‘So deeply do we love you that, whatever it costs us, we will remain faithful to you.’ Through his actions, Moses remained with the people to his very end and said the exact same thing, not only to the people but also to God.
Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” Despite the outcome, Moses remained faithful, and faithfulness is loving God and neighbor through action. How so? Because love isn’t simply something we feel. It is something we choose and practice.
Moses never checked “love” off his to-do list; although he couldn’t enter the Promised Land, he led others to it and was allowed to see it.
Faithfulness—love—is not measured by how much of the Promised Land we get to see, but by how faithfully we help others get there.
I wonder if you recognize the names Captain J.J.S. Hassler, James W. Steen, and Mrs. Zeila A. Pay? Gaynell Gettel wrote, “Without the perseverance and fortitude of a small handful of faithful and devoted Episcopalians, St. Matthew’s would never have survived. Conditions were most difficult in the earliest years—members were few, they had no church home, visitations by a clergyman were infrequent, and economic conditions were depressed.” However, among those few members, there were “three who seem to be the most outstanding and can be considered ‘Founders’”—Captain Hassler, Judge Steen, and Mrs. Pay.
These three “Founders” of our church stood on their own Mount Nebo and could see a version of the Promised Land in St. Matthew’s that they could never enter, but it is the place where you and I sit today. In their faithfulness, they loved God and neighbor, even the neighbors they would never meet.
What is a pledge drive? A pledge drive is about seeing the church’s current circumstances and financial needs. It is about making a prayerful commitment to support the church financially. It is about being faithful to the church’s current needs, but… a pledge drive is also about standing on our own Mount Nebo and peering into a land and a church we will never enter, seeing parishioners, neighbors that we will never meet, and saying to them what Paul said to the Thessalonians, “So deeply do we love you that, whatever it costs us, we will remain faithful to you.”
Over the course of the next couple of weeks, you will receive a few emails from me about your pledge. I promise not to blow up your email inbox, but I ask you to consider the information and then prayerfully make your financial pledge to St. Matthew’s now and to the St. Matthew’s you see from Mount Nebo. As we’ve done the last couple of years, you can pledge online; pick up a pledge card here; or, if you prefer, we will send you a pledge card.
How much should you pledge? The Biblical tithe is 10%. “Yes, Father John, that’s the correct answer, but how much should I pledge?” Well, that’s the prayerful part. I don’t pretend to know your circumstances or resources. You do, and if you’ll ask, the Lord will help you to make the right decision. I will say this, though: it is not a matter of giving $1 or $10,000. It is a matter of being faithful with what God has trusted you with.
Jesus did not say the greatest commandment is to build a temple or start a new program to pay the light bill or salaries. Jesus said the greatest commandment is something completely immeasurable—the greatest commandment is to love. We can never check it off the to-do list.
We say with the Psalmist,
“May the graciousness of the Lord our God be upon us;
prosper the work of our hands;
prosper our handiwork.”
Let us pray: All generous God, You poured Yourself out in creation, gave Yourself completely in Christ’s Death on the Cross, and continue to give Yourself through the gift of Your Holy Spirit to us. Give us generous hearts so that, in response to Your Love, our lives may overflow in thanksgiving and generosity, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
