Pastor’s Pen

I took two years off from pastoral leadership before arriving here in Sharon. It allowed several good things to happen. After a respectful time, I attended church again at Bethany. I cannot tell you why or what was different, but I found it inwardly satisfying to be in worship. It stabilized my whole day. Sometimes a couple of days.

One of the things I discovered was how much I like giving an offering. The plate never goes to a minister leading worship. Giving money in worship is a very different thing than giving money to the church. It could truly be called an act of worship. It transformed the money giving thing from something that could be done with Rotary, medical research, or shopping from catalogue. The money wasn’t sent, it was given and blessed and dedicated to God. After nearly 30 years of envelopes given in the office or sent at the end of the year, my money again became an offering. Same money, but completely different.

And I liked it.

Years before during a pledge/stewardship effort at my church, Amy and I decided to significantly increase our pledge. I am not sure now that we even had a reason for doing it. But I gotta tell ya’, it was really cool. I would get a smile on my face just thinking about it. I still do. I stretched my neck/wallet out there and trusted it would be okay. It was okay. It gave me a real thrill to be that courageous and faithful.

And I liked it.

So, try something new with this year’s pledge. Find some way of reminding yourself that your pledge is an act of worship or an expression of faith. Figure out what might help you remember that this money is not dues paid to a club or a donation to a charitable organization. Remember that this is not giving so you get something in return. This is some glorious expression of thanks, honor, or tribute to who God is in your life. This is something awesome!

I will pray that find that awesomeness. But work with me here. Try anythingnew that makes sense to you. Sure, a real jump in your giving could do that. Writing a few word prayer (thanks for-, sorry about-, help with- ) or just a message to God on the check or envelope might be cool. Giving an offering before you pay any bills is a classic reminder. If you need to give outside of worship time, try just touching the offering plate and saying, “thanks” to God. But SOMETHING to make sure that this is a part of your spiritual life.

Next year at this time let me know what you did and what it was like. I will be praying that you say,

“I like it!”

Yours,

Mark