Letter from Jan
June/July
2014
Dear Friends
As many of you know, I
met Chris three months before coming here to Kidderminster. And in
those three months, I knew so much about him: about his mum who’d
died when he was two; also the fun times he’d had in Guildford and
at his church in Lye.
But there was one thing I
didn’t know about him. How much he earned.
I found this surprising
that he just couldn’t tell me, (trust me, it’s no BIG deal!!),
because I come from a family who talked about money openly and
honestly. I knew how much my dad earned and my mum earned so I
understood why some years we couldn’t go on holiday.
I can’t work out
whether most people are like Chris or like my parents. I do know that
if our collections are not keeping pace with our outgoings, we are
uncomfortable about what to do about this.
In the Old Testament
there was a stipulation for the people of God to give a 10% of their
income away (if people had no income there was no stipulation). Many
Christians who earn still give away 10% because they want to be
generous just as God is generous.
Let us be generous givers
and if we are giving money to the church let’s celebrate this and
if we are giving money elsewhere let’s celebrate this too.
I want the church to be
solvent and to pay its bills. But I want far more that we as
Christians are generous and can say I’m grateful for what I’ve
been given and I’ll give away a proportion as a way of expressing
my thankfulness.
If Chris was old school
about money, I’m glad the church is new school. If you want to know
exactly what the church spends its money on and where it gets this
money from and what the diocese spends our money on, do ask a church
treasurer. The church is trying to be open and honest about monetary
matters.
Let us be open and honest
with ourselves too about how generous we actually are.
Jan
Bishop
John offers some thoughts on growing deeply as disciples by offering
our money to God.
Where is your
treasure?
"Do not store up for
yourself treasures on Earth, where moth and rust consume and where
thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in
Heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not
break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will
be also." (Matthew
6. 19-21)
What I want to do here is
to ask you a simple question arising from that passage from St
Matthew's gospel. Where is your treasure? It's strange how reticent
we are as Christians to talk about money particularly in view of the
fact that Jesus mentioned it so often. The parable of the talents,
the dishonest manager, the story of the rich young ruler, the widows
mite, the importance of serving God versus serving mammon - the list
goes on and on. A quick count indicates that 19 out of the 47
teachings which are clearly parables relate directly to money or
material possessions. And that is just the parables. If the frequency
of his sayings in the gospels is anything to go on, Jesus talked
about money every other day (or every other teaching): he knew how
interesting and vital it is to people. Our Lord made more reference
to money and possessions than to either prayer or faith - more than
his sayings about Heaven and Hell combined. And he preached to rich
and poor alike.
Why then was Jesus so
concerned about something we tend to keep quiet about? It wasn't
anything to do with a shortfall in Parish Share, it was much closer
to home than that. Jesus didn't wait until things got desperate to
teach about giving. He wasn't concerned with fund raising, he was
concerned with faith-raising, and he knew that ultimately our
security will be defined by what we depend upon. And in his kingdom,
lasting treasure is measured not by what we have but by what we give
away. For where our treasure is, there will our heart be also. Our
giving will reflect what is really going on inside us. When Jesus
said, "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also"
he put his finger on our spiritual pulse. He knew the signs of
spiritual vitality, and the blockage of the giving arteries that will
be a serious risk to our health.
That we are created to be
givers follows quite simply from the fact that we are made in God's
image. It is when we give that we will most reflect the gracious God
who formed us in his likeness. God's nature is to give, rather than
to accumulate. When Christ did not exploit equality with God for his
own use but emptied himself, giving himself to a death on the cross,
he was expressing something very profound about God. Our God is in
the giving business. He can't help it. It's just the way he is. Money
Managers in the City would say that God has a real problem: much more
expenditure than income. Praise God for his economics.
Although the instinct for
self-preservation in us is strong, deep down we know that it is only
in sacrificial giving that we will find and enjoy real life. Only in
giving to others will we find the real joy and fulfilment we crave.
Christmas reminds us of that. It's a sign of maturity when we move
from focusing on what presents were received to the joy we can bring
to family and friends by what we give.
Financial crises in
churches and dioceses are opportunities: opportunities compelling us
to discover who and what we really depend upon. We give not just
because others have a need or because the church needs it for its
mission but for our own good; we were created to give and will be
frustrated spiritually and stunted in our growth if we don't. God
doesn't need our money. He wants our hearts. But the fact is that our
hearts are very closely connected to our cheque books. The cords that
bind them are many and strong. Some of us have bad memories, but I
bet there is no one reading this who can't remember immediately where
they bank. We know it in a heartbeat. And what is written in our bank
and credit card statements tell a story where our true religion is
really found.
In Old Testament times,
God gave his people the gift of the law. In Leviticus 27 he commanded
them to give a tithe, 10% of their crops and herds back to him. The
tithe was a holy reminder that whether they were rich or poor
everything the people had belonged to him. The profit Malachi said
that to do less than tithe was to rob God (Malachi
3.8).
On top of
that tithe, the Israelites were to give special offerings on specific
occasions. In addition to that, they were also to give alms to the
poor as needed. That was the minimum commanded in the scripture.
Jesus criticised
Pharisees who were tithing spices while neglecting weightier matters,
but he didn't dismiss tithing (Matthew
23.23).
There is
not the slightest evidence that the very first Christians stopped
tithing, providing offerings, and giving alms. In the New Covenant in
which we have been giving the gift of the Spirit and every spiritual
blessing, God says, "Give as you have prospered". Have we
prospered any less than the people of Israel? I tithe and have
received many blessings as a result. For the fact of the matter is
that the way in which our gracious God orders the creation means that
the more we give the more will be given back to us; "Give and it
will be given to you; good measure, press down, shaken together,
running over, will be put into your lap. For the measure you give
will be the measure you get back".
In my experience it is
the poorest of people who are the most generous. I was vicar of a
church right in the heart of inner city Tyneside and I moved from
there to Ely Cathedral. I was shocked to discover that, with
congregations of roughly equivalent size, giving in Ely Cathedral was
less than on Tyneside. That's not in relative terms, that's in
absolute terms: prosperous Ely as compared with impoverished
Tyneside. And that's a picture I have seen reflected the world over -
travelling in Africa and Peru and seeing the extraordinary
sacrificial generosity of people there who, frankly, are a lot more
cheerful than much more prosperous people in England.
Why don't we dare to
embark on an adventure of giving? Wouldn't it be wonderful if we
could start a renewal movement in the church based on the neglected
gift of the Spirit, the gift of radical giving? It's fun to give away
money that belongs to someone else. Everything we have belongs to
someone else - to God. Where our treasure is, there will our heart be
also. Our heart should be committed to giving for we were created to
give. Give for Life - giving in order that we might have life and
conform more completely to the image of the God who created us, to be
truly Kingdom People.
Bishop John
From
the Parish Registers
Christenings
Isabella
Diva Curty-Pitt; 12th
January at St. Peter’s, Cookley
Gabriel
John Curty-Pitt; 12th
January at St. Peter’s, Cookley
Dylan
Joseph Stewart Roberts; 27th
April at St. John’s, Wolverley
Dexter
Joseph Spare; 11th
May at St. Peter’s, Cookley
Aston
Joseph Price; 11th
May at St. Peter’s, Cookley
Noah
Zackary Price; 11th
May at St. Peter’s, Cookley
Weddings
Stuart
James Thorpe and Lynsey Dawn Bache; 2nd
May at St. John’s, Wolverley
Funerals
Doreen
Edith Evans of Wolverley; 7th
March at Wyre Forest Crematorium
John
Quinn Billingsley; 8th
April at St. Peter’s, Cookley and Wyre Forest Crematorium
Edward
Harris of Cookley; 28th
March at Wyre Forest Crematorium
Robert
Trevor Hodgson; 16th
April at St. John’s, Wolverley and Wyre Forest Crematorium
Margaret
Monger of Wolverley; 17th
April at Wyre Forest Crematorium
Anthony
Andrew Harrison; 22nd
April at St. John’s, Wolverley
Margaret
Frances Perks; 23rd
April at St. John’s, Wolverley
Dorothy
Garbett of Wolverley; 8th
May at Wyre Forest Crematorium
David
Albert Freeman; 8th
May at St. John’s, Wolverley
Derek
Gordon Wren; 13th
May at St. Peter’s, Cookley
Memorial
Service
Malcolm
James Green; 1st
May at St. Peter’s, Cookley
