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St. George's Episcopal Church Roseburg, Oregon The Twenty-First Sunday After Pentecost, Proper 23A 9 October 2005 Go To St. George's Home Page

Exodus 32:1-14
Psalm 106:1-6, 19-23
Philippians 4:1-9
Matthew 22:1-14
The Collect of the Day
From the Revised Common Lectionary as Adapted for Use by the Episcopal Church
and Authorized by the 74 th General Convention of the ECUSA

Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come. Again he sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding banquet.’ But they made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his slaves, mistreated them, and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.’ Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad; so the wedding hall was filled with guests. “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe, and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.” (Matthew 22:1-14)

The Robe of Stewardship
The Rev. Dr. Bill Stroop, Rector

     Tony Campolo, the Baptist preacher, tells the story of a trip he took to Philadelphia where he lived and worked.[1] He had to take the red-eye flight that night, and was met at the airport by his secretary at 8:30, and she told him about a prayer meeting he had ten that morning. The last thing Tony wanted to do after being up all day and night was church. But this was a World Day of Prayer service, and Tony was scheduled to deliver a ‘missionary’ message.

     Tony wasn’t thinking clearly when he got to the church. He was tired, hungry, and probably a bit annoyed. The service leader announced that she had a request from a doctor in Venezuela who needed $5,000 to build a new addition to her clinic where she had been serving the poor. It was a worthwhile project but Tony was tired. When asked to lead the prayer asking the Lord to provide the $5,000 needed by their sister in Venezuela, Tony said, “No. But what I will do is take all the money I am carrying and put it on the altar.” He went on to challenge everybody to do the same, and then he would lead them in prayer to make up the difference.

     This was a good for Tony day to pull this off because he only had $2.25 in his pocket! After he the money on the altar, the service leader smiled, and said, “We’ve all gotten the point haven’t we.” But Tony, tired to the point of losing self-control said, “No, I don’t think we have! My $2.25 is on the altar. Now it’s your turn!” The service leader was stunned by Tony’s aggressiveness, but pulled out her purse, opened her wallet, and added $110 to Tony’s meager offering. Tony then said, “We’re on our way! We’ve got $112.25. Now it’s your turn!”

     Tony then pointed to a woman in the front pew. She looked around a bit, but got up and added some cash to the $112.25. Tony got the next person, and then the next to do the same. It took him more than 25 minutes to get everyone to place their money on the communion table. When they finished, the money was counted and they had taken in more than $8000. Tony says that even then he was pretty sure he hadn’t gotten all their cash. He had seen some come up and put in meager offerings, holding back most of their cash; they gave Tony a dirty look as they returned to their seats (Aren’t you glad we don’t do collections in our church that way!).

     There wasn’t time for Tony to preach. After all, more than 25 minutes had been taken up with the collection, and even that was getting a bit long for a Baptist service! So all Tony said was, “The audacity of asking God for $5,000, when [God] had already provided us with more than $8000. We should not be asking God to supply our needs. [God] already has!”

     On the twenty-fifth of September, we launched our Fall stewardship campaign with Get-On-Board Sunday. This was an opportunity for you to take a look at the various ministries of St. George’s and to see how those activities matched your own time, talent and vocational calling. Today we inaugurate the second part of the Stewardship Campaign that addresses stewardship of our treasure.

     What exactly is stewardship? Peter Gomes, professor of Christian morals at Harvard College defines stewardship quite simply: It is the wise and prudent use of one’s resources.[2]The wise and prudent use of one’s own resources. But at the same time, we must acknowledge that what we possess is really not our own: it is what we hold in trust for God. What we possess does not refer only to money, stocks, bonds, property, and the like. It also refers to our talents, our innate abilities, our passions, our avocations, and our vocations.

     I would add that the wise and prudent use of resources is something that we do intentionally, like taking the time to dress for a wedding banquet that we are invited to attend. In the parable of the wedding banquet we heard today, Matthew tells us about a king who bounced a guest who stood in his stripped pants and paisley shirt munching the hors d’ouevres. This might seem like harsh treatment of someone who shows up improperly dressed, but like all parables, the story has deeper meaning.[3] Matthew’s community was struggling with the issue of Gentiles coming into the church. As seen from the Jewish point of view, these late comers to God were coming into the synagogues with no history of Israel or its traditions. They were acting as if God’s grace gave them permission to live anyway they wanted; after all, Jesus had squared things for all humans for all time with God, hadn’t he? Hadn’t Jesus said that the heavenly banquet was a “come as you are” affair?”

     “Not exactly,” says Matthew. Being an invited guest – even invited at the last minute – does not mean you can do as you please. Matthew’s community was attempting to illustrate that everyone has a responsibility to the king. Matthew was asking his people to rise to the occasion, just like Tony asked his parishioners that day in Philadelphia to rise to his challenge.

     A wedding is a symbol of a new beginning and a new way of life; things the Matthean community were attempting to find. The robe was worn to honor the king and the king’s lavish generosity. Although people benefited by the king all the time in terms of protection from invaders, land to farm, and food to eat, it was a special privilege to be in the king’s presence. To show up underdressed was an insult.

     Stewardship is about intentionally caring for all things, and doing for others. We are all part of the Body of Christ, and each of those body parts works together for the betterment of the whole. It is by good stewardship of our gifts that we honor and love our neighbors as ourselves. In so doing, we honor the whole Body of Christ and fulfill the two great commandments: To love the Lord God with all thy heart, all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and to love thy neighbor as thyself.

     By being intentional about stewardship when we can, we will condition ourselves to recognize stewardship opportunities when things happen suddenly. Your immediate and incredibly generous response to the needs of the Diocese of Arkansas in the wake of Hurricane Katrina is a good example of that. Here’s another.

     Katie Hosking planned to marry her intended and then have the reception at the Echo Falls country club in Everett, Washington.[4] Her parents had already made a $2,500 down payment and written a check for the $6,200 balance for the reception for 150 guests when their daughter called off the wedding just twelve days before the event. Club policy does not provide for refunds.

     Once her parents got passed the panic, they invited the staff and residents of the Interfaith Family Shelter to share in the evening. The shelter staff arranged for rides to the club, and on the night of the event, more than 50 family members were joined by 40 homeless people, shelter workers, and volunteers. The chef prepared strawberry shortcake to top off a menu that included baron of beef, salmon, shrimp cocktail, fettuccine, and fruit. They had a DJ, and the music was good, and the atmosphere warm.

     Shelter residents came up and thanked the family many times. Their expressions of gratitude were the modern versions of the wedding cloak. The food that was left over was taken back to the shelter where it fed everyone for another three or four days.

     Managing our resources intentionally, and preparing our mind and spirit to respond generously and responsibly when the need arises are at the heart of good stewardship. And it all begins by taking an inventory of what we have to give in terms of our time, talent, and our treasure.

     There are several ways that we can financially support the church. The Bible teaches us that tithing is one way.[5] Tithing regularly is a way of steadily contributing to the church, and it avoids having to respond quickly to a last minute invitation. So, if you like setting up a regular budget, tithing may be a method that works well for you.

     Because there are many important and worthwhile charitable organizations that contribute to the visible and invisible support structures of culture and society, the idea of proportionate giving may make more sense. In proportionate giving, you use your sense of stewardship to decide what proportion of your total income is to be given to others – including the church. I hope that you will all attend the stewardship dinner tonight at 5:00 to learn more about our specific needs for the 2006 budget year.

    Fred Craddock tells the story of a mule his family owned when he was a boy.[6] The fences around Fred’s home were poor, and the mule would get out, and it was Fred’s job to find the beast and bring it back. This would invariably involve going up over a hill, across the back wood, to the old family cemetery. This was one of those cemeteries with leaning headstones and graves going back to the 1700’s. The wind blew through the old pines, and the carpet of pine needles was so thick you couldn’t see which way the graves were laid out; the crooked headstones weren’t much help. Fred hated going through that creepy cemetery, but he had no choice. To make matters worse, his Mom told him, “When you go through the cemetery, make sure you don’t step on the graves. Graves are sacred ground, so don’t you go steppin’ on ‘em.” He said that he must have looked ridiculous tiptoeing and taking long and short steps trying to avoid stepping on the sacred ground. He would also whistle and make noises to convince himself that he wasn’t afraid. He went home one day and told his Mamma, “I just can’t tell what part is sacred. And his Mamma said, “Well, I know, it looks the same. But if you’ll just treat it all as sacred, you’ll never miss.”

     Time, talent, and treasure are the three things that we all hold in trust from God. They are all sacred things because they come to us from God. If we treat them as sacred, stewardship will just happen. We’ll never miss.

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Exodus 32:1-14

When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered around Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make gods for us, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” Aaron said to them, “Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” So all the people took off the gold rings from their ears, and brought them to Aaron. He took the gold from them, formed it in a mold, and cast an image of a calf; and they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a festival to the LORD.” They rose early the next day, and offered burnt offerings and brought sacrifices of well-being; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to revel. The LORD said to Moses, “Go down at once! Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have acted perversely; they have been quick to turn aside from the way that I commanded them; they have cast for themselves an image of a calf, and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’” The LORD said to Moses, “I have seen this people, how stiff- necked they are. Now let me alone, so that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them; and of you I will make a great nation.” But Moses implored the LORD his God, and said, “O LORD, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce wrath; change your mind and do not bring disaster on your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, how you swore to them by your own self, saying to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’” And the LORD changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people.

Psalm 106:1-6, 19-23

1 Praise the LORD!
O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures forever.

2 Who can utter the mighty doings of the LORD,
or declare all his praise?

3 Happy are those who observe justice,
who do righteousness at all times.

4 Remember me, O LORD, when you show favor to your people;
help me when you deliver them;

5 that I may see the prosperity of your chosen ones,
that I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation,
that I may glory in your heritage.

6 Both we and our ancestors have sinned;
we have committed iniquity, have done wickedly.

19 They made a calf at Horeb
and worshiped a cast image.

20 They exchanged the glory of God
for the image of an ox that eats grass.

21 They forgot God, their Savior,
who had done great things in Egypt,

22 wondrous works in the land of Ham,
and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.

23 Therefore he said he would destroy them --
had not Moses, his chosen one,
stood in the breach before him,
to turn away his wrath from destroying them.

Philippians 4:1-9

Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved. I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you also, my loyal companion, help these women, for they have struggled beside me in the work of the gospel, together with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life. Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.

Matthew 22:1-14

Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come. Again he sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding banquet.’ But they made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his slaves, mistreated them, and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.’ Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad; so the wedding hall was filled with guests. “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe, and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.”

The Collect of the Day

Lord, we pray that your grace may always precede and follow us, that we may continually be given to good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

[1] This story is taken from Tony Campolo. “He Already Has!” Let Me Tell You a Story. (W Publishing Group, 2000), 153-154.
[2] Peter J. Gomes. “The Bible and Wealth.” The Good Book: Reading the Bible with Mind and Heart. ( San Francisco, CA: HarperSanFrancisco), 287.
[3] I am indebted to The Rev. Barbara Brown Taylor for discussion of Matthew’s parable of the wedding guest. Barbara Brown Taylor. “Wedding Dress.” Home By Another Way. (Cambridge, MA: Cowley Publications, 1999), 192-196.
[4] H. King Oehmig, Editor-in-chief. “The non-Runaway Bride.” Synthesis. Proper 23A October 9, 2005. (Boyds, MD: Sedgwick Publishing) 2005.
[5] Lev 27:30-33; Num 18:25-27; Deut 14:22-29.
[6] Fred B. Craddock. Craddock Stories. Mike Graves and Richard F. Ward, editors. ( St. Louis, MO: Chalice Press, 2001), 91.

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Copyright © 2005, William G. Stroop - All Rights Reserved.
7 October 2005

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