Chase the Setting Sun...

Last night was Rally #3 for Castleton United Methodist Church's capital campaign. Courtney and I were asked to share our stewardship witness with the attendees of the rally. Here is basically what we said (although in the moment a couple sentences I think got left out of the actual talk).
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We agreed to speak tonight because we’ve heard recently about what our sacrificial giving today can mean for tomorrow, and about how today’s sacrifices are tomorrow’s blessings. We truly feel that we’ve been able to reap the benefits of the giving of those that have come before us so we wanted share what sacrificial giving means to us.


I’m going to start by reading a quick quote from C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity that basically sums up how we feel God is calling us to live.

I'm afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare. In other words,if our expenditure on comforts, luxuries, amusements etc., is up to the standard common among those with the same income as our own, we are probably giving away way too little. If our charities do not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say they are too small. There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot do because our charities expenditure excludes them ~ C.S. Lewis - Mere Christianity

Two years ago, this coming Monday actually, Courtney and I got married right up there. It was the high point in 23 years of us, and our families, being blessed, by God, through this church. Castleton UMC over the years had given us each other, most of our closest friends, and most importantly; showed us the blessing of Jesus Christ crucified for us.


That C.S. Lewis quote I just read kind of sums up how we feel about giving, and how we feel God calling us to give. A passage from Malachi 3, that has been shared already during our worship services recently kind of sums up why living this way is worth it to us.

Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. ~ Malachi 3:10

Over the last 25 years, God has already poured out so much blessing on us, through this church, that we already don’t have room enough for it. Imagine what would happen if we acknowledged that and stepped up to God’s challenge to somehow, in some small way, repay this church just a little bit, by contributing and giving a little extra to this capital campaign. If we are already blessed beyond what we can hold, I can’t imagine what might be in store for us next. Not only for us, but the Castleton UMC as a whole.


It is because of this that we have decided to be a part of this campaign and contribute in any way possible. Honestly, right now we don’t have much to give in the first place and our current 10% tithe seems pretty huge. At the end of the month I will be switching jobs, which is one of those blessings that God has poured down on us that we have been praying for, for a long time. That blessing however does come with slightly less money than I was making before as I go from a full time and a part time job, to just one full time.


A couple months ago we put down a number that, at the time was sacrificial for us. It wasn’t much, but to us it was a sacrifice. Even though we will have slightly less income we have decided to go ahead and honor that original commitment and find a way to make it work. We will make that work without loading up our credit cards or incurring any more debt than we already have in student loans, my car and our house. Right now, that number is almost certainly out of our means, but we will find ways to cut back and put it within our means.


We do this because Jesus has already loved us and blessed us so much that out of the overflow of that blessing we find joy in giving back to God and His church.