“The F Word” - 2 Corinthians 9:6-15

Let’s watch this, to start:

[video of Fix Auto advert https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QONPTqvRFOc ]

Around the church the same thing happens. As soon as someone starts talking about a new roof, a new furnace, a new program or activity, the first thing that seems to come to people’s mind or out of their mouth is the F-word: Fffff-undraiser.

Happens all the time, doesn’t it?

We must be constantly vigilant, lest the F-word take over the life of your congregation and indeed, even our whole beloved United Church of Canada.

Now since I was asked to come here today to speak to you about stewardship, the issue of the overuse of the F-word is especially relevant.

After all, Stewardship is not the same as FUNDRAISING!!!

1) Fundraising:

You see, FUNDRAISING [click] is about trying to get a certain amount of money from people for a specific task or project.

We need a new roof. Fundraising may help you to accomplish that. You sell shingles or you set up the dreaded thermometer. No worries.

2) The danger in Fundraising:

is when a congregation starts to think about their finances mostly in terms of fundraising.

That will take them down one path and one way of thinking about people and money.

• they never have enough and always need more. 

• They believe that people are basically stingy and greedy.

It’s SCARCITY thinking. It’s bad theology.

As a congregation starts to focus more and more on fundraising, they follow a predictable path.

1. They keep planning new activities, but in reality everything becomes a fundraiser. Sure, they talk about how they’re building community, how these activities are fun, and how they bring in people from outside the church, but the real mark that an activity was a success becomes, “Did it make money?” and how much. Eventually, it’s not long after one fund raiser is over that they’re planning the next one. Like an addiction.
2. At the same time, they are always trying to come up with new marketing schemes to get people’s attention. One sure sign that a congregation is on this path is the increased use of the F-word during Sunday morning announcements. 
3. The people of the congregation start to burn out and leave. You see, more and more fundraisers eat up more and more time and energy and suck the passion out of people. How many of you joined this church in order to raise money and run fundraisers?

Over time, a congregation on this path changes from a church, which we know is “a group of people following Jesus and seeking to live out God’s mission to the world,” into a fundraising organisation or a restaurant/catering company.

When a congregation can only think about its finances in terms of fundraising, it has entered the death spiral.

But we're not going to talk about fundraising; the F-word.  This morning, we’re all about Stewardship. 

Stewardship.

So when you think of Stewardship, which words come to mind?
[gather suggestions]

As the saying goes, Stewardship is EVERYTHING. Everything we think, say, and do, after we say “I believe”!

Stewardship is a spiritual practice. It’s intimately linked to and the outcome of the Christian values of generosity, trust and thankfulness.

When a congregation is able to focus and teach on the spiritual practice of stewardship, then they move out of scarcity thinking. They put an end to the death spiral.

It’s like that section of Paul’s 2nd letter to the church at Corinth we heard read says:

God loves it when the giver delights in the giving. You show your gratitude [to God] through your generous offerings to your needy brothers and sisters, and really toward everyone. (2 Corinthians 9:7,13 - MSG)

Christian Stewardship recognizes that we are called as individuals and as congregations into God’s mission to each other and to the world.

One of the clearest, and easiest, ways we do that, to participate in God's mission, is by giving away the gifts that God has entrusted to us in order that other people can be cared for and come to realise that they too are loved by God, just like we are.

These gifts we give come out of everything that God has given us: our time, our talents and skills, and our treasure and physical resources. It includes our money, but it’s not limited to our money.

Generous “cheerful” giving is an important sign that a person has discovered just how much God loves them.

Generous “cheerful” giving is an important sign that a person has felt the love of God touch their own spirit and has been changed by that experience. In other days we would call that “conversion”.

Generous “cheerful” giving comes out of that conversion experience. After all, true generosity comes out of gratitude. Realising how much God loves you. How much God has done for you and how much God has given you. How God has come to be with you, in Jesus. How God continues to be with you, guiding, accompanying, and caring, through the Holy Spirit. And wanting to do whatever it takes, and using everything you have, to help other people have that same experience.

“We become stewards when we realize God’s grace in our lives. This inspires us to respond with gratitude and generosity."

Therefore, if you want to see real spiritual growth in yourself, in the other people in this congregation and in the people that God brings into your life who are not yet a part of this congregation (which is an important part of what a church is really supposed to be about), you need to shift your thinking from the F-word to the S-word. From fundraising to stewardship.

And because it’s not fair to suggest you do something and not give you ideas about how to do it, here are some ideas.

1. Provide a small group where people can share their experiences and come to see how much God loves them.
2. Create an opportunity during Sunday morning, at a Board/Council meeting, any time a group gathers, for someone to share a story of how they recently trusted God, what that looked like and how God used it.
3. Each year, encourage those whom the congregation serves to be intentional and make a decision about how generous they plan to be in the coming year. That way they will be less inclined to be caught up in “sob stories and arm-twisting”.
4. As a congregation, refuse to tell sob stories or use arm-twisting. Instead, inspire people with the stories of how you are involved with God’s mission and are making a real difference in people’s lives and invite people to be part of it and get involved.
5. Decide, as a congregation, to place a limit on the number of fundraisers you will hold each year. And stick to it! Trust God to provide! Then be willing to share what God has provided.

Amen.