Of money, and related matters
Ordinary Sunday 25, 19th September, 2004
The Rev'd Dr Craig D'Alton
Assistant Priest, St Peter's, Eastern Hill
You know the old dinner party rule: never talk about sex, religion or politics.
There's a similar rule for preachers: it runs something like "never talk about money; you'll frighten the horses."
Today, though, we are presented with a set of readings about money. Moreover, by coincidence, this is also the Sunday when new stewardship envelopes are available for collection – back of the Church – get yours today! There are plenty of spares too if you're not signed up! Given all this, I fear, I need to follow the example of Our Lord, and preach about money.
Sorry, but sometimes the lectionary doesn't let us off the hook!
One thing that must be said of our Lord, and indeed of the Scriptures in general, is that both he and the writers of Old and New Testament were not afraid to raise the issue of money: what best to do with it, how best to be stewards of it, its dangers, and its uses. Today's readings, or at least two of the three, deal directly with just such issues. In Amos, those who seek to profit – at the expense of the poor and at all costs, and those who cannot wait for the Sabbath to end so that they can open their shops, are warned of the consequences of greed. If we read on, the Lord warns the society based on greed: your land will tremble on this account, and everyone will mourn who dwells in it. In other words, the Lord will repay greed with destruction.
The news is not much better for capitalists in the Gospel reading: you cannot serve God and money. And that extraordinary parable, which appears at first glance at least to authorize cheating your employer for personal gain (of course, it's actually a bit more complex than that), has mainly to do with the prudence and sagacity of the steward rather than with money itself. But it's money that I promised we were going to tackle, so let's dive straight in the real deep end – verses 10-13.
"Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much, and whoever is dishonest [or unrighteous] in a very little is also dishonest [or unrighteous] in much." Christians are called to be faithful in the little – including that grubby stuff we call money – in order that we may be entrusted with that which is "true" – the good news of salvation. We are called then, as individuals and as Church, to be faithful in our financial dealings, not to be greedy, but to be wise stewards of what has been entrusted to us.
There is much in this parable and the subsequent teaching for the contemporary Church to digest. It can be something of a wake-up call.
I'm not always impressed with things that happen in the Diocese of Sydney, but I did hear this week about one recent action which impresses me greatly. Unlike Melbourne, which is quite a poor diocese financially speaking, the diocese of Sydney is incredibly wealthy. Their current archbishop, Peter Jensen, has set the diocese a goal of substantially increasing the number of Sydney people who go to Church. He and his council have rightly identified that programs to encourage dramatic growth cost money and that, even with their present vast budget, more money better spent might be expected to lead to better outcomes. The argument is based on good stewardship of resources, and I think that it is spot on. So, what the diocese of Sydney is doing is paying Price Waterhouse Coopers $1,000,000 to undertake a complete audit of the Church's assets in that diocese, in order to discern how unproductive assets might be made more productive, and how money might be redistributed to enable Church growth.
Now, not every diocese, let alone every parish, can undertake such a spectacular exercise in stewardship planning, but the principle is as valuable for us as for them. We should know what we have that is entrusted to us, and we should ensure that we use it in the best possible way for the building up of the Kingdom of God.
Let's take some local examples. We have a prime city site with a prominent corner location and historic buildings. The latter might be considered a liability – they cost a fortune to maintain. But they are also a great asset. If we DO spend the money on maintaining them, we are able to offer worship in a beautiful and historic context, which might attract many people to come along, and thus to be exposed not merely to beauty, but also to the message of Christ.
We pride ourselves on our vestments, liturgical appurtenances, music, and so on. But none of these is of any value beyond the aesthetic – it's all unrighteous mammon, if you like – unless we are good stewards, and work these assets in such a way as people are enabled to pray and, again, come closer in contact with the message of Christ. A "lovely mass" has little value if it is not an act of worship and mission.
Taking another tack, our Bookroom is an important part of parish life, not because it is a bookshop, but because it is a Christian ministry. Our hosting of the Lazarus Centre breakfast program is an important part of parish life, not merely because the poor are fed, but because they are fed as part of our Christian witness. Because, in fact, we are all poor, and what we are actually doing is helping our neighbour, helping those who are like ourselves. This is not charity; this is ministry, and there's a difference.
We could go on and on, but you get my drift.
So we are called, not to serve our assets, not to serve money or unrighteous mammon, but to serve God. And all that we do with our money should have that end in mind. This may involve paying clergy stipends. It may involve repairing a cracked wall. It may involve buying new vestments or restoring old ones. It may involve paying musicians or – let's dream a little – even something as bold as buying a new organ. It may involve paying for specialist ministries to children or youth, as well as to the elderly. But all of these things are things we do not for themselves or simply "because they're nice", but because they're part of our call to mission.
Serving God in the contemporary Church involves, and must involve, good stewardship of money and material assets for the building up of the Church. Assets need to be maintained at a level where they can be used for outreach, and income must always fund ministry. At present – let's be frank – we, in this parish at least, are living beyond our means. We try to do so much, but we cannot afford to pay for it. Some of our assets are decaying, and our income is not covering the cost of maintaining, much less expanding, our ministries. With 200 people on a Sunday, why is this so? An analysis of plate giving over the past two months has showed that on average we each contribute $12.42 every time we attend mass on Sunday. By comparison, parishioners at St Mark's Fitzroy contribute over $15. Down the road at Holy Trinity that figure is $19.60. In the mission-oriented evangelical parishes of St Hillary's Kew and St Jude's Carlton the figure is over $20 per head per service - and these are parishes full of students and children, who hardly have enormous incomes to draw upon.
The point of such statistics is this: healthy parishes value their mission and ministry and provide enough cash resources to fund programs that lead to outreach and growth. We at St Peter's are, I believe, in quite good health. And it's time for us to grow. And that is going to cost money.
Just as an example, if we each gave an average of $20 a week, or $1,000 a year per person, we could afford another full-time priest, and pay all our bills to boot! In other words, our good stewardship of our non-cash assets would be properly matched by income for ministry. But let's look further: imagine if we had another 100 people on a Sunday giving at that same level. There would be almost no limit on what we could do!
All of this is not meant to be a rap over the knuckles; far from it. But it's important that, as a parish, we talk openly about what we need to do to fund our ministry and to grow it. We need to understand both WHY we give, and why it is important that our assets are wisely managed and developed. We do so not so that we can be a glorious and self-important parish. We do it so that we can grow God's kingdom in this place. As we place our offerings in the plate each Sunday, it is good to know that every dollar we give goes to the work of God – for that is exactly what it does. It is not squandered. And so we should be encouraged, and excited about the possibilities for growth, as together we serve God as faithful stewards of his bounty to us.
The Lord be with you.
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