Living Generously

STEWARDSHIP SUNDAY
“Living Generously”
March 6, 2011
by Rev. Emma Chattin

First Reading ~ Matthew 6: 37-38

“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given unto you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured unto you.”

Second Reading
“Looking For Mt. Monadnock” by Robert Siegel

We see the sign, “Monadnock State Park”
as it flashes by, after a mile or two
decide to go back, “We can’t pass by Mondnock
without seeing it,” I say, turning around.
We head down the side road – “Monadnock Realty,”
“Monadnock Pottery,” “Monadnock Designs,”
but no Mt. Monadnock. Then the signs fall away –
nothing but trees and the darkening afternoon.
We don’t speak, pass a clearing, and you say,

“I think I saw it, or part of it – a bald rock?”
Miles and miles more. Finally, I pull over
and we consult a map. “Monadnock’s right there.”
“Or just back a bit there.” “But we should see it –
we’re practically on top of it.” And driving back
we look – trees, a flash of clearing, purple rock –
but we are, it seems, too close to see it:

It is here. We are on it. It is under us.

Good Morning!

This is Stewardship Sunday, a day when this community begins to look at the financial means though which the vision and the mission of Harrisonburg UU will be lived out in the coming year ahead.

I have said it before and I will say it again: there are two subjects that spiritual communities generally find it uncomfortable to talk about, and perhaps as a result, those are also the two things that most often lie at the source of conflict- both for church communities, and also, not surprisingly, most intimate relationships. And those two things are …. Sex and Money.

I also think the healthiest communities (and relationships!)
find positive ways to talk about both.

From the perspective of an outside observer,
I can say that you have a beautiful, healthy, and organic community here,
special, strong, lay led, and one that is indeed growing like a garden…
one filled with fruits and vegetables…
tomatoes and cucumbers… eggplants and potatoes…
nuts and berries…
a veritable spiritual bounty… a feast for all to enjoy!

Now… I love homegrown tomatoes, and I grow some pretty good ones.
And for a few weeks at harvest time, I think I can live off nothing but tomatoes.
But after that craving spell is over, I like variety… a little of this, a little of that…
Something like okra, that I’ve tried before to see if I still like it,
and other things like rhubarb… to see if… yep, still don’t care for that.
Not yet. Maybe next year. And occasionally some totally new things… exotic things…
… things that are not native to my surroundings.

So yes, you have a beautiful garden here,
a place where everyone might find something that suits their taste from time to time.
Feed your garden well, and it will, I promise you, gardener to gardener,
it will feed you well in return.

I think this Sunday could also be called Generosity Sunday.
You see, Stewardship is often about how you manage what is offered.
And what is offered is largely about generosity.

Stewardship deals primarily with caretaking and management, specifically of funds and resources, subjects that your wonderful Board and Finance Committee will entertain you with later. Generosity, however, is something else. Generosity is a spiritual principal and practice, and one that is a part of the foundation for almost every faith tradition in the world. And in most of them, there is a linkage, either explicit or implicit, connecting the individual and Humanity and/or the individual and Divinity. That is, generosity forms one of the pathways that connect us with each other, with Humanity, and one of the pathways that can connect us with Divinity.

Good examples of this are found in our spiritual stories and modern mythology. Scrooge, a wealthy and socially alienated miser, who, after having had a series of transformative experiences, realizes the precious nature of life, and reconnects with humanity through extravagant generosity. Or… It’s A Wonderful Life… where George Bailey has a transformative experience and becomes reconnected with the abundant beauty of his life, and as a result, saves himself and encounters financial redemption through the generosity of others. Or… Magnificent Obsession, a 1935 movie, remade in 1954, in which a spoiled do-less millionaire (played in the 1954 version by Rock Hudson in his first big movie role) … who is told that he can connect with the infinite power of the Universe by giving selflessly and in secret. And so he begins to give money away in the hopes of winning the woman of his dreams. It doesn’t work, and his giving comes from such a self centered place that it only leads to more tragedy. But eventually, as his giving begins to come from a selfless place… generosity eventually transforms his entire life.

Holding tight to things has a way of closing us up, shutting us down.
On the other hand, generosity- letting go -has a way of opening us up.
The hand that gives is also opened to receive.
Giving opens our heart and our spirit to the principal of abundance
and the generosity of the Universe.

The brief lines from Matthew today speak to these mystical principals and ancient truths. Judge not, and you will not be judged. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given back to you, in abundance. For the measure that you use, it will be given back to you. Speak to anyone who practices generous living, abundant living, regardless of faith tradition or spiritual path, and they will echo that truth.

The generosity I am speaking of is not just about money,
it doesn’t just come from the wallet or purse,
but comes from a place within that says YES to life.
A generosity of spirit, a giving of our selves that transforms us… We are open to give…
In doing so, we are also opened to those around us and to the beauty of the world we all share. Look at the source of all life on this planet… the sun… Sunlight falls generously, giving life to all, it matters little whether its rays fall on a dry field, solar collecting panels, soy beans, corn, or poison ivy. It gives of its energy. Freely. Abundantly.

When we come to give of ourselves so freely, we come to experience fully and see clearly, beyond the illusions that surround us. I think eecummings expressed it very well in this brief poem:

i thank You God for most this amazing
day: for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes
(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun’s birthday; this is the birth
day of life and of love and wings: and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)
how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any–lifted from the no
of all nothing–human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?
(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)

Generosity can awaken our senses to the world, to those around us, and to our self,
in ways that money or possessions could never begin to.

But some people feel that money is the answer.
If it is, I want to know the question.

Money may not be the root of all evil, but it certainly can provide some mighty creative means of expressing it. Money creates a vast assortment of ways to live dangerously. Our celebrities, the people to whom we have given money and fame, teach us that it is certainly no guarantee of sanity or good behavior.

Money also creates some very unhealthy ways for us to “keep score” with our lives, and creates the illusion that we can somehow “win” at life…

And as for winning, perhaps many of us dream of winning the lottery… but there are so many stories of the lives of the winners being destroyed by such a windfall… marriages broken apart and relationships destroyed… drugs… greed among family members…

Evelyn Adams, who won the New Jersey lottery not just once, but twice (1985, 1986), to the tune of $5.4 million said, “Winning the lottery isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be,” Today the money is all gone and Adams lives in a trailer. “I won the American dream “ she says “but I lost it, too. It was a very hard fall.”
William “Bud” Post won $16.2 million in the Pennsylvania lottery in 1988 but now lives on his Social Security. “I wish it never happened.” he says “It was a nightmare.” You see, a former girlfriend successfully sued him for a share of his winnings. A brother was arrested for hiring a hit man to kill him, hoping to inherit a share. Other siblings pestered him until he agreed to invest in a car business and a restaurant — two ventures that brought no money back and further strained his relationship with his siblings. He even spent time in jail for firing a gun over the head of a bill collector. Within a year, he was actually $1 million in debt.

So money is not the answer,
and it may even cause us to loose sight of the essential questions in life…
as to what is really important, and as to exactly where we are investing ourselves.

Money can do great things, can rebuild a city and feed millions, and yet 9 Billion dollars of American money allocated to rebuild Iraq…. remains unaccounted for. Our vast wealth as a nation has surely not made us more secure… or better accountants of our resources.

Life is not something we can control. Riches and possessions offer no protection against the uncertainties of life, and wealth will, eventually, pass into the hands of another, either by hook, crook, trade, theft, or death.

Money is only good for the good it can do.

Money is only as good as the good it can do.

Matthew 6: 21 reminds us:
Where your treasure is, so there will your heart be also.

Where is your heart? Where are you investing yourself?
Are you living your life generously?
Are your investments made in treasures
that cannot be stolen, lost, or taken from you?

I cannot deny you are growing something very special here
with this community.

And why is it that people gather together in spiritual communities?
Spiritual communities form for many reasons,
but surely it is a human thing, because we have done this down through the ages.
Is it a search for Divinity?
Some churches believe they have all the answers and have already found God,
and that God dwells in their house alone,
and that any further search is pointless at best
(and blasphemous at worst).

But others seek more than dogma, engage the community more than distantly,
ask more questions,
and may discover Divinity in the process of gathering together to do those things,
to ask those questions.

Maybe we discover what we are looking for
in the process of gathering together to look for it.

Maybe it is right here. Right now. Underneath our feet.

Where is your heart? Where are you investing your self?

Maybe it is right here. Right now. Underneath our feet.

And maybe now is a good time to plant some of your own seeds
in this wonderful garden that is growing so well here.

Live Generously.
Give to that which gives you energy.
Like the plants in the garden you are growing into,
orient yourselves toward that which gives you life and strengthens you.

May we all learn to live generously with the time we have,
and may life return to us with a Yes,
giving back to us in the same measure
with which we have given.

May it be so,