July 14

Nehemiah 13 Luke 10

 

I know it is only July 14, but probably someone at your church is already thinking about the stewardship campaign for the fall. If you are not on that committee (or even if you are) that probably makes you groan. Here it comes again--they want us to give more money. Look back at Nehemiah, chapter 10, beginning at verse 32. Stewardship campaigns and pledge drives were a part of the lives of those people as well.

 

Think about it. It costs money to operate a church, to do mission beyond the church, to operate a denomination. Your pastor and other staff need to be paid. The electric company expects a check every month. Curriculum and supplies are necessary. All of that costs money. When I was a pastor, it was always the case that up to one third of the congregations I served gave no traceable income to the church. That is, they never wrote a check and never put anything in an offering envelope with their name on it. I could never figure out how they thought we managed to pay our bills. It was also always the case that the people who threw their weight around, or who were known to be wealthy were not the biggest givers in the church. It was usually a family of fairly modest means who was probably giving sacrificially. And, they did not think of it as giving to the church, but as a part of their spiritual life and discipline.

 

Look at what has happened here in Nehemiah. The people have made their pledges and said they will pay those who work in the temple and pay for the expenses of the temple, but they have failed to do so. So, the people who are supposed to be able to spend their full time leading worship and so on have gone back to farming so that they can feed their families. People had to be reminded of what they had promised.

 

Once again, the chance encounter of this passage of Nehemiah with the passage from Luke is interesting. You know this last story in this chapter--the Good Samaritan. Again, there are people in this story who have pledged themselves to be followers of God who do not live up to their obligations. It is the outside, the unexpected one, the one from among the people who just rejected Jesus in the last chapter, who steps up to enact the love of God for one in need.

 

When have you encountered someone whom you never expected do so showing God's love?

 

And, since I am not your pastor, I will be so bold as to inquire--are you current on your pledge or, if you did not make a pledge to your congregation this year, are you giving regularly and joyfully to your church?