I was inspired by Walter Brueggemann who was here last week, as he talked about reclaiming our baptismal heritage. Our baptismal heritage is what we inherit as part of the Christian faith. It is a claim on how we see and act in the world. It makes us different than the culture at large.

As Brueggemann put it last week, there is a security state out there, a culture, a world that values and pushes consumption, pushes an agenda of fear, sanctions violence, and tells us we better value and protect what we have for fear of falling into the ranks of the destitute, foreclosed upon, impoverished, ostracized, indebted, etc etc.

But that is not who we are. That is not our baptismal heritage. That is not who we are called to be, who we have promised to be, how we have promised to live as the church, and as disciples of Christ. We seek something different, radically different.

We promise to live a life that serves others.

We promise to share what we have.

We promise to be people who speak truth to power and protest injustice.

We promise to welcome people who are radically different than we are, to offer ourselves not to our friends, but to those in need, even to our enemies.

In today’s lesson, Paul is writing to Timothy. It is near the end of letter, and Paul is summing it all up. Focus on this. Do this. Don’t do this. Finally, in the face of all that draws people away from the message of hope, love, change, the easy messages that tickle our ears and entice us, remember what is true, whole, good, and of God.

The letter was written during a time of infighting in the church. The early church was struggling to define and decide who Jesus was. They were struggling to live out Jesus’ message. There were lots of differing views on what that message was. It was also a time of increased persecution of Christians. The Roman Empire was bearing down. Jews and Christians were increasingly separating as they disagreed on core beliefs. Christians were increasingly marginalized and scapegoated. It was, to say the least, truly discouraging.

In our time we find that we can get discouraged, too, and right now is a time when we may be particularly discouraged. All the fractious, angry, shrill voices keep calling for this nation to protect what is theirs.   We witness all the angry, near violent rhetoric in the political realm. We abide with the hard reality of living in a state with the worst unemployment, seeing friends and neighbors struggle and lose their homes and go without what once were just ordinary pleasures.

In an atmosphere such as this, the church is not just a nice institution where nice people gather to do nice things for one another. We don’t come to church for the cocktail party after worship of chatting with friends, we come for the chance to do ministry in the midst of people who are lonely, hurting  or organizing for change. The church is a place where we can be reminded over and over, week by week, that we are called to be and do something different than what we are pushed into by culture at large. We are different in what we say we believe, by the lives we choose to live, and we are not helpless in the face of challenge.

The world, this country, the Lansing community needs us, needs to hear our voice. Needs to hear our extravagant welcome—no matter who you are you are welcome in this church, into this faithful community, into the presence of God who has abundant love.

The world, this country, the Lansing community needs us, needs to hear our voices saying no, it is not ok to cut Medicaid, or to allow bullying, or to let the rich off of paying their taxes, or to keep people incarcerated for years without trial.

This week we enter the season of our stewardship campaign. In this time each of you as individuals, and as families, will be asked to contribute to the operating expenses of this church for the upcoming year. There is nothing secret in this. We have a budget that is almost half a million dollars. That money is spent on heat and lights and building repairs to keep this building open for our programs and for those of the neighborhood and organizations we support.

That money is spent on coffee and meals for youth and students, for receptions for social justice speakers and bible studies, for all the hospitality of ministry. 

The money is spent on water filtration systems in Nicaragua, educational materials around Native American concerns, gifts to fund our denominations’ Our Church’s Wider Mission which helps flood victims in Pakistan and continues rebuilding in the gulf.

The biggest amount of our budget is spent on our staff, our ordained staff and music staff and office staff and education staff, and childcare staff. We pay our staff not to do the work of the church, but to facilitate our doing the work of the church:

            to help vision where we want to be and how to get there,

            to help organize,

            to bring new ideas and new life

            to bring a spirit of worship and praise to Sunday service

            to make sure the youngest among us are cared for.

You can see where our money goes. There are detailed financial reports available. Unlike our private household budgets, the church budget and expenses are open to all. We can track and view every dollar.

But looking at these budget sheets and financial reports will only tell us one thing—where the money is spent. It cannot tell us the ministry that we do, and what having a church in this community at this point in history with this message of hope means. We have an important voice, an essential voice, speaking out the truth of God’s love.

We may get disgusted, pained, by what some of our Christian neighbors proclaim. The fact that messages of hate, discrimination and fear come from pulpits in this community and on television, messages that bear Jesus’ name, pains me, angers me, frustrates me. And those voices can seem so loud.

We stand as a counter voice. A voice that says you are welcome here no matter if you have been rejected from another church for being divorced, or asking too many questions, or being gay, or being unsure of what you believe, or wanting to see love in action.

And as a result, we open our doors, we pay for advertizing, we reach out, we network on campus, we say—no, we believe there is a different way. Come. Join us.

In the face of a nation that constantly delivers a message of fear and insecurity and military solutions, we proclaim our belief in God and that God’s ways of forgiveness and mercy and peacemaking with justice are more powerful than bombs or torture or war.

We claim that God is working in our lives, in a real and tangible and mysterious ways. That we are not just here as a social club, or as an ethics society. But that God can heal our lives, can heal our families, can bring reconciling power to the most hopeless situations.

Over the next five weeks you will be asked to think prayerfully and carefully about what you can offer financially to the church over this next year.  This is not to say that your gifts of time and skills are not appreciated. They are. There are many times in which we will ask for those as well, for example in the pink sheet every week, or the wonderful crowd of enthusiastic wood chip spreaders last Sunday.  But in this particular month of the church year, we focus on how the money we give supports the church and its ministry. How we as a faithful community gathered in this place of hope and seeking to do change in the world, support the church financially.

As you know, we are also looking at how to repair our heat system, how to have more energy efficient systems for our building, and how to repair the deferred maintenance of our facility. These things cost money too. And we will have to have conversations about a capital campaign soon to address those problems as soon some of the difficult decisions about which technical plans meet our need. But for right now, I ask, the Finance teams asks, the Council asks, your church asks you to consider what it means to be a church in this climate, a church at this point in history, an alternative voice, and a place where we can take a deep breath before charging out in to the world again.

The money, the budget, the giving is in service to working out what God can do here, in this place, in this time, amongst these people. The money serves the ministry we offer, the voices we raise, the consciousness we demand from our elected officials, the greater care we ask for all creation.

You can find many churches that preach a prosperity gospel—that means those preachers tell you if you give money to God and keep the promises of God, you will be prosperous, rich, overflowing with good stuff.  That there is nothing more God wants than to make you successful and rich.  It is a great, feel good message. And it is a lie.

Edgewood asks, I ask, your church asks you to give money to God in order that we keep the promises of  God, not because you will get rich, but because this is what God asks of us. This is the message Jesus preached—sell all you have and give the money to the poor. Care for the widow and the orphan. Do not be blinded by money or possessions. You can only serve one master, God or money.

Prosperity preachers tell you to give to church because it is good for you, good for your bottom line. I ask you to give to the church because it is good for you, because whatever you give away no longer owns you which leaves a lot more freedom to do what is good and right and just and of God. A lot less energy tied up in protecting what we have and keeping secure. And a lot more going out and making relationships, the only real security we have. I ask you to give because your giving here, in this place, brings a better return than any other investment you can make. Just look around. There are dividends everywhere you look--- from the mass of children at children’s time

There is an old joke about a man who was a faithful church going member. But he only gave a very little bit to the church. He wanted to make sure he had a comfortable future. Even as expenses rose and the budget needs grew, he only gave a small, token amount. Eventually the man died and went to heaven—he was a faithful church member after all. St. Peter meets him and invites him on a tour. They walk by fabulous homes, mansions of all types, huge, gorgeous places with swimming pools and great gardens. The man is so impressed and asks St. Peter to take him to see his new home. They travel down this side road that winds around and then at the very end is this small, small shack. The roof isn’t quite finished and it sags a bit. The man says, “I don’t understand. This is my house?” And St. Peter replies. “I’m sorry but we did the best we could with what you sent.”

It’s a funny joke…that comes with a great big wallop of guilt at the end. And it is a lie. God will not love you more if you give more. You will not get a better house in heaven if you give more. The underlying threat is that if you don’t give that bad things will happen, or you will regret it in the afterlife or even that you will go to hell.  That is not true.

I ask, and the church asks you to give so that we can continue the ministry we are doing now, in this place. It is not about what comes later but how we see the kingdom of God being built now.

It is hard not to be tempted by the messages our culture sends us. Our ears get itchy. Listen to this rereading of the Timothy text, this time from the Message translation:

“You’re going to find that there will be times when people will have no stomach for solid teaching, but will fill up on spiritual junk food -- catchy opinions that tickle their fancy. They’ll turn their backs on truths and chase mirages. But keep your eye on what you’re doing; accept the hard times along with the good; keep the Message alive; do a thorough job as God’s servant.”

Our government tells us that if we just submit to better body scanners at the airport and more security cameras at intersections and let our library records be subpoenaed and let the police stop on the street anyone who is brown or speaks with accented English or doesn’t have the proper papers, we will be secure. It is a message designed to make us feel safe (so they say), and it is a lie.

We worship a God who commands us to love the stranger, to welcome the sojourner, to befriend the enemy, to offer hospitality to all. Every Sunday we come here we are reminded of that message, of that counter cultural demand to think and to act differently. That is why we support the church.

Edgewood matters. Not just for those of us who have found our way here. But in a much larger sense. That we stand for inclusion of all people. That we stand as an alternative Christian voice in an age of homophobia. That we stand for Christian welcome to neighbors of all kinds in a time when our Muslim neighbors are being harassed and condemned. That we choose to think through what it might mean to welcome ex sex offenders.

We do not believe being a Christian means having a God who increases your salary if you increase your tithe.

Truthfully, the more we give, the more God increases our awareness and responsibility for caring for this damaged and beautiful world we have around us.

As the Bulgarian proverb says, “God promises a safe landing but not a calm passage.”

For all of you who choose to endure the rough seas, the bumpy passage of a Christian life, I ask that you give to Edgewood as generously as you can. For it is in this place that we remember who we are. It is in this place that we are reminded of what we are called to do. It is in this place that our eyes are cleared to see the miracles around us. It is from this place that we offer advocacy and hope and rebuilt lives to others. It is from this place that others learn that Christianity is not just a shrill, condemning, homophobic voice damning all from the airways. But that Jesus comes in radical form to transform and counter the fear and scapegoating of our day.

I leave you with this poem by William Stafford. It is called “The Way It Is.” And I invite you to think on that title. “The Way” is what we sometimes call the Christian path. And “ The Way it Is” also reflects the more desperate, despairing way we think about our world sometimes.

"The Way It Is”

There’s a thread you follow.
It goes among things that change.
But it doesn’t change.
People wonder about what you are pursuing,
You have to explain about the thread.
But it is hard for others to see.
While you hold it you can’t get lost.
Tragedies happen: people get hurt or die;
and you suffer and get old.
Nothing you do can stop time’s unfolding.
You don’t ever let go of the thread.

People get itchy ears. They let go of the thread, they lunge for the next greatest thing, the easy promises of an easy life. We can be so tempted by that, too.

A Christian life is not an easy life.  But it is a life of truth, and passion and promise. As Paul said, “continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you have learned it, how from childhood you have known the sacred writings… be persistent whether the time is favorable or not…with utmost patience… even when itchy-eared people wander off…soberly, enduring suffering, do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry.”

Let us carry out our ministry here at Edgewood, offering our money to the work of this church, holding up the light of Christ in this time, in this place, in defiance of all the itchy eared false promises that surround us. Amen.