"Gifted, Grateful, and Generous"
November 19, 2006: 24th Sunday after Pentecost, Year B: Dedication Sunday
The Rev. John MacIver Gage, senior minister
United Church on the Green, UCC: New Haven, CT
www.unitedchurchonthegreen.org

Scripture:
1 Chronicles 29:1-18
King David said to the whole assembly, "My son Solomon, whom alone God has chosen, is young and inexperienced, and the work is great; for the temple will not be for mortals but for the Lord God. So I have provided for the house of my God, so far as I was able, the gold for the things of gold, the silver for the things of silver, and the bronze for the things of bronze, the iron for the things of iron, and wood for the things of wood, besides great quantities of onyx and stones for setting, antimony, colored stones, all sorts of precious stones, and marble in abundance. Moreover, in addition to all that I have provided for the holy house, I have a treasure of my own of gold and silver, and because of my devotion to the house of my God I give it to the house of my God: three thousand talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, and seven thousand talents of refined silver, for overlaying the walls of the house, and for all the work to be done by artisans, gold for the things of gold and silver for the things of silver. Who then will offer willingly, consecrating themselves today to the Lord?" Then the leaders of ancestral houses made their freewill offerings, as did also the leaders of the tribes, the commanders of the thousands and of the hundreds, and the officers over the king's work. They gave for the service of the house of God five thousand talents and ten thousand darics of gold, ten thousand talents of silver, eighteen thousand talents of bronze, and one hundred thousand talents of iron. Whoever had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the house of the Lord, into the care of Jehiel the Gershonite. Then the people rejoiced because these had given willingly, for with single mind they had offered freely to the Lord; King David also rejoiced greatly. Then David blessed the Lord in the presence of all the assembly; David said: "Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our ancestor Israel, forever and ever. Yours, O Lord, are the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty; for all that is in the heavens and on the earth is yours; yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. Riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might; and it is in your hand to make great and to give strength to all. And now, our God, we give thanks to you and praise your glorious name. "But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to make this freewill offering? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you. For we are aliens and transients before you, as were all our ancestors; our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no hope. O Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a house for your holy name comes from your hand and is all your own. I know, my God, that you search the heart, and take pleasure in uprightness; in the uprightness of my heart I have freely offered all these things, and now I have seen your people, who are present here, offering freely and joyously to you. O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our ancestors, keep forever such purposes and thoughts in the hearts of your people, and direct their hearts toward you.

Ephesians 4:4-7, 11-13
There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all. But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ's gift... The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ.

"May God speak through these words and make from them a holy word for us today. Amen."

Sermon:
This morning we celebrate "Dedication Sunday" and the completion of our "United for Growth" stewardship campaign. As you can imagine, the Boards of Stewards has been very busy planning for and then, over the last three weeks, carrying out this focused effort to involve you, the congregation of United Church on the Green, in the life of our community through your pledges toward the 2007 budget. With the combined committee leadership of Tom Ude and Fred Walker and Alan Hutchinson (before his death last summer), they carefully studied the church's giving history. They worked with our in-house graphic designer to come up with a theme and a logo. They wrote the appeal letter and recruited the nimble fingers and excellent penmanship of mother-daughter team Shirley Coleman and Barbara Adams to get it out on time. They planned moments in worship to educate us about the ministry and needs of our church. They daily monitored the influx of those little white envelopes in the mail and last Sunday, together with the members of the Board of Deacons, they made pastoral calls to follow up with those folks who had not yet pledged.

It has been a very successful campaign. And when I say very, I mean very. Thanks to their efforts and your prayerful generosity, we have had the most successful stewardship campaign at United Church in over a decade. We told you all along that our primary goal in this campaign was to increase participation across the church, and we did. Or rather, you did. This year almost 80% of our official membership and nearly 100% of our newest members and, yes, even some non-members stepped out in faith to fill out a pledge card, giving us an unprecedented level of confidence as we put together the budget for next year. We also have begun to break down the culture of polite silence that has kept us from talking about how we, as progressive Christians, are called to faithfulness not just in word and deed but wallet, as well.

And, oh yeah, the total: Well, I am happy to tell you that we have surpassed last year's pledge total of $97,000... and not just surpassed it, but blown it out of the water. This year many, many of us increased our pledges and many pledged for the very first time. Thanks to you, together we have set a new record for giving in this congregation. Over the course of the last few weeks, we have committed ourselves to the work of God through the work of this congregation with pledges totaling some $127,000. We should be very, very proud. And applause would be appropriate.

Now, friends, that being said, we've got more to give, a lot more. But before you send in the big hook to haul me offstage and send me off into early retirement, let me explain. I'm not after more of your hard-earned dollars. That was last week's sermon. This week, it's all about gifts, all the other gifts with which God has blessed us. It's about the talents and skills and knowledge and taste and experience and strength and wisdom and insight and creativity and all the other gifts God has given us.

But as even the mighty King David said, "Who am I, and who are you people, that we should be able to make this freewill offering?" For many of us, all too many, it's hard to believe we are so special, so talented. Somewhere along the way, the message that we are beloved children of God, upon whom God, like a doting parent, has lavished extravagant gifts for life and love—somehow that message got lost. Instead, we heard that because of our age or our health or our mental or physical ability, because of our sex or our gender or our sexuality, because of the color of our skin or the contents of our wallets, we are less-than. We were told that we ourselves are nothing, have nothing worth sharing, so we must work hard, all too hard, to earn a place or buy a gift. Even our successes become difficult to bear, since we can't shake the feeling that we are imposters. We can become snared in a cycle of self-diminishment and shame and either over-compensation or despair.

Who are we, that we should be able to make this freewill offering of ourselves? After all, it's true. We are merely human beings, transients and aliens, fleeting shadows in this short span between birth and death. We are merely creatures of our Creator. But God who made us, made us from love, for love, and loves us still. And because God loves us so, we are all gifted—gifted with the presence of God, with the grace of God, with the blessing of God, and with the purposes of God's peace, justice, and compassion poured out through us for the whole world.

And we are gifted not only as individuals, but as a congregation, as well. As rich as King David was and the elders of the people of Israel together with him, so this church is richly blessed in you, the gifts you bring with you to this community of faith, the gifts you are, from God. You yourselves are the gold and silver and bronze and iron, the fine wood and the rare gems that fill this place with life and light and make it a place of grace and beauty, a wonder for the world to see, and a rich gift in itself for all those whom the Spirit will draw through our doors. We did not earn these gifts, friends, nor can we. They are ours free and clear. That's what a gift is: free. And for these gifts, we should be grateful, deeply grateful, to God the giver, not just one Thursday in November, but 365 days a year.

It truly is an embarrassment of riches, but we should not be embarrassed. This is the challenge inspirational author Marianne Williamson named with laser clarity when she wrote:

We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone. (from A Return To Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles, Harper Collins, 1992. From Chapter 7, Section 3)

We should not be embarrassed, but we should be grateful and we should be generous, though. We should be as generous in sharing our gifts as God has been in sharing them with us, because God gives to us not just for us, but for the whole world. We are gorgeous and talented and fabulous for a reason. We are powerful for a purpose, that is, the transformation of the world. And here at home at United Church, we are gifted for the equipping of God's unlikely saints here and the building up of this body of Christ. Like the bread on the table and the cup, we are the gifts of God, the people of God, for the people of God here today and for all those who will follow us following Christ in this place.

So what gifts do you have to share with this community of faith? It all starts with presence. While it's true that Jesus promised to be among us whenever "two or three are gathered" in the name of God (Matthew 18:20), this year we've all experienced just how much nicer it is with more. Notice how I don't have to ask you to move forward in the pews any more. You just do it, because we take up more room now. And it's not only about numbers, of course, but consistency. We are called as partners in this hard work of being church, and we come to depend on seeing one another here week after week. Likely you may not even be aware of just how much someone else here depends on the gift your faithful presence here.

Of course it starts with presence, but it doesn't end there. The Apostle Paul told the Ephesians that the gifts God gives to the church are that "some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers," and that may sound pretty daunting. But since those early days of the church, we've come up with a few more ways to respond to God's call to share and serve generously. You may be called to serve on the Board of Deacons or the Board of Stewards. You may be called to the Outreach Committee, or New Lights, or the newly revitalized Children and Youth Committee, thanks be to God. Or you may be moved to sign up on of the new lists on the bulletin board down in the Bradley Room today so that you can greet, read, ush, host coffee hour, or donate flowers "according to the measure of Christ's gift" in you. And just a heads-up: We'll soon be looking for folks to help set up the Christmas party, and for readers and candle lighters for Christmas Eve. And there are lots more out-of-the-box ways to share—lots.

Friends, the undeniable truth is that God is using us—you, me, all of us—to build up this church, even as, at the very same time, God is using this church to build us up, and through us, the world. And I am convinced we must find ways for each and all of us to put our gifts to work for the good news if we are to grow together as church in "the unity of faith and... the knowledge" of God and toward spiritual "maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ." We are either active members together of a living body, or we're merely consumers of a religious product. We are built up together as a holy temple, or not at all. Again, as Marianne Williamson went on to note, "As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." In other words, our generosity of spirit inspires a spirit of generosity, and the world is changed.

On this Dedication Sunday, I invite you to consider this question: What gifts will you share? That's what those little glass stones you received as you came in this morning are for. You've made it clear you intend to share the gifts of your treasure, and thank you for that—thank you very much. But now how about the other two t's: your time and your talent? Think about what gifts those stones may represent for you, for us, and later on in the service we'll have an opportunity to bring them forward and dedicate them to God, along with our financial pledges and our usual morning offering.

As we approach this shared sign of our giftedness, our gratitude, and our generosity, I encourage you to make King David's prayer of dedication from our reading this morning your own. After all, if it was good enough for a king, it's probably good enough for you, too! So, gifted children of God, be bold to pray:

We know, O God,that you search the heart, and take pleasure in uprightness. In the uprightness of our hearts we freely offer all these gifts, and we have seen your people, present here, offering freely and joyously to you, as well. O Lord, God of Abraham and Sarah, of Isaac and Rebekah, of Jacob and Leah and Rachel, of all our forebears in faith, keep this generous thought and this dedication to your righteous purposes of peace, justice, and compassion in our hearts forever, and forever direct our hearts toward you.

And let us all say, Amen.