My Stewardship talk...and why it's awesome. Toot Toot!

About a month ago I was asked to give a talk at church on Stewardship. Don't worry if you don't know what that means. You will soon see that I too didn't really know so I had to look it up...it's called Google people. Check it out. Then I gave that speech during both services the first Sunday in October. i got applause, I'm just sayin'. I also used props. When I do something I give 100%. Not 150% because that is just ridiculous...you can only give 100%. Why do people even say that? Cause they are trying to toot their own horn and be braggy bragersons. You will see why this is relevant in a minute so just hold your damn horses.


Anyhoo, a week or two ago at church Ted (our pastor) gave everyone a rock and a Sharpie and on it we were supposed to write the name or names of the people who most influence our spiritual path. Someone who inspires you and motivates you to try and be a better person. I wrote my mom, Ted and Kandi on mine. Then we all took it to the front of the church and loudly dropped it into the basket and said the names out loud. It was pretty cool. However, what happened next was even cooler. As I was leaving the sanctuary a new couple stopped me. The man (whose name I really should know but don't so shut up about it) told me that mine was the name he wrote on his rock. Isn't that amazing? I mean, besides the fact that he obviously knows my name and I don't know his and that makes me a pretty big asshole. Before you get all villagers with torches on me, in all fairness my name was in the bulletin. He said that my talk was awesome and I should be given an award. OK he didn't actually say any of that. What he did say was that my talk had totally inspired him and that I was the one who he looked up to! I swear. How bitchen is that? Another church member said I made him cry. Pretty cool right? So I thought I would share with you my talk. I thought it was just ok but here you go anyway. 

Stewardship

Loretta asked me to give this stewardship talk a couple weeks ago. I accepted, obviously, but didn’t really think about what exactly it meant I had to talk about. I probably asked her 3 times what it should be about. Was there a outline…or a suggested topics sheet? It’s simple, she said…just talk about your experience with this church, and why you love it and want to support it. Should be easy right? Except I found myself wondering, “what is stewardship?” So I Googled it.

Now for everyone here today who also didn’t really grasp what stewardship means but are too embarrassed to ask here is the description I liked best.

There are various intentions of the word stewardship. However, I describe it as a responsibility for any blessings you may have. Your blessings could include your talents, time, or financial freedom. If you are responsible with these blessings, it means that you care for and share them with others.

Although stewardship is generally a religious term, I believe all people can live a life of stewardship. After all, we live only briefly in this world, and our possessions won’t come with us when we leave. It is up to us to care for what we have, when we have it.

When I think of stewardship, there are three main categories that help me to understand how I can act as a good steward:

1.   Treasure – We must share our financial success with those who have less than we do.

2.   Talent – A good steward shares his or her talents in order to benefit others.

3.   Time – Our time is one of our most valuable possessions. A good steward dedicates some of his or her spare time in order to do good.

By giving of our treasure, talent, and time, we are good stewards of what we are so fortunate to have received. Whether you believe you received them from a higher power or more basic human circumstance, you are a unique individual with your own special set of skills and talents that can be used to help others.

See, I have been a part of this particular church for my entire life. Well, at least 33 of my 35 years, give or take a few months. I don’t really have anything to compare it to. I am a Methodist…always have been and always will be. So why do I love this church and want to support it? Interesting question. Why wouldn’t I love this church…is probably a more appropriate thing to ask? Coming here every Sunday is like going home. I am comfortable here. I feel love here. I feel connected with God here. I have a family here. Many of you have known me most of my life. Some have only had that pleasure since I returned here after what I call “the dark years”. You know, the late teenage years when most churches lose their young adults for a while.

But this church was much too awesome to say goodbye to forever. During Ted’s first stint here, I came back. My mom had been on me for a while to at least come and check out the new first service. It took one day and I was back as if I never left. I was welcomed back into the fold as if no break had occurred. That’s what church families do. The one down side to being in the same church your whole life is that everybody knows everything about you, knows what a brat I was from oh about age 16 to 20. But they still love me.

Let me tell you a little bit about my history in this church. I was about 1 ½, maybe 2 when I started coming here. My mom had taken the position of Director at Sunshine and with it came the requirement that you attend the church. Little did we know at the time, that requirement would become a one of the best things to happen to us. My every day and many nights were spent on these grounds, either in this church or at Sunshine. This church has given me countless gifts. I attended Sunday School with Alice Friesen. I grew up with the same group of kids even though we all attended different schools. When I was 8, we celebrated my dad’s life in this sanctuary. Later my friends and I tortured Kandi Weider in youth group. I was the child care worker for years as a teenager. My sister and I were baptized in this church. I received my confirmation from Claude Friesen on September 9, 1990 just after my 14^th birthday. I have the certificate to prove it right here (prop 1, the certificate). A year or so later I received my first bible in this church (prop 2, my first bible). I have celebrated first my sisters, and then my own marriage in this church. I have now had two of my own children to add to our church family, Kayden age 2 1/2, and Bailey age 1…or as you may remember them both…baby Jesus in the Christmas pageant for the last few years. I have seen countless baptisms, confirmations, welcoming of new members, and seen people come and go. I attended the funeral of my longest and first pastor, Claude in this church.

In all our lives there are always events stand out. Obviously my dad dying when I was 8 was one of those events. But one of the things I remember most about that time was being in this church, sitting here in the front pew with my family while Claude held the memorial service. After the service was over we sat in that pew, while person after person after person came by us in an endless stream to offer their condolences. I remember being hugged a hundred times. I remember how many people were here. I remember our church family being there for us then just like they are now. The night my father died, I was in this church.

Now as an adult, I have the opportunity to give the same gifts I have been receiving all these years to the next generation. I have taught Sunday School for the last 4 or 5 years, and before that, volunteered doing child care. I have served on committees, volunteered at events and work days, play in the bell choir, and served as a lay speaker during church. For me, giving to this church and to my church family is not just about giving money (although we need that so feel free to tithe as much as you can, as often as you can).

There are so many ways we can all help to grow this church, so that my children and all the other children can have the same experience I had with this church. That’s why I come here. I want my kids to love this place as much as I do. Already my 2 year old wakes up in the morning and if I am not at work, her first question is…Is today a church day? One of the things I love most about this church is our first service. It’s loud, and relaxed, there is kid noise, and laughter and singing. I don’t have to feel bad if my kids are noisy. It’s because they are so comfortable here and it’s such a big part of their lives. Even the baby already knows what children’s time is and starts heading up to the front of the church as soon as I let her go. They feel that same love that I have always felt here. The same sense of community, of connection with each other, of comfort. Every Sunday I can expect to leave here feeling like I have a goal for the week, something to think about, and ponder. Sometimes I am laughing, other times crying. But always better than I did before I came.

Have you ever been asked “why do you need to go to church?” Why would I want to give up my Sunday when it could be my only day to “sleep in”? Why do you have to go to church to talk to GOD? Why do you give money to the church? And on and on and on. What do you say? My response is always, “I go to church not because I can only commune with God there, but for the fellowship. To be in one place with people who believe the same thing I do. To deliberately take the time out of my hectic life, to be with God. And I support my church because they support me. I get a lot more out of the relationship than they do so I’m getting the better end of the deal.”

There are times when we maybe can’t financially afford to tithe as much as we want to. Some years I can set a giving amount, and some years I give what I can, as often as I can. A suggestion I heard during one of the stewardship drives that always stuck with me was this. An easy way to make this church family a priority in your life, is to add the church to your bill paying process. We all pay bills unfortunately, and I find it easiest to add the tithe to my list of bills, so that I make sure the church gets my money just as regularly as PG&E or Comcast does. Plus, I know they will do more with it.

I will leave you with this quote I found on Stewardship. “Don’t tithe because you feel you have to.  Tithe joyfully in faith knowing God is going to do great things with that money.  Do it as an expression of your love for Him.  

Are YOU still asking, “what is stewardship?”

I know right? Amazing. 

Toot Toot! Toot, mother effing Toot!