Giving Money is Giving Hope

Let me begin by thanking all of you who participated in our “Giving Hope” stewardship campaign. I am grateful to all of you who have taken the time to turn in estimate of giving cards.

To date, we have received estimates from 54 families, totaling almost $257,000. We are still 17 pledges behind our total number from last year, and also behind last year’s total pledged of $306,000. However, I am confident that we will get there — and even exceed last year’s commitments!

Remember that our goal is to increase our budget by 10% this year, which means that we’re hoping for estimates of $336,000. It’s not impossible, believe me. And we have high hopes for what to do with an increased budget, including adding a part-time staff position, as well as enlarging some of our programs and ministries.

As you have noticed, in the current political climate, hope is in alarmingly short supply. We’ve seen an uptick in hate crimes, random hate speech, and racist vandalism. Trump’s election seems to have brought out an extremely ugly strain of white supremacy.

Not only that, people are legitimately worried about what will happen the day after January 20th. There is a lot of concern about which programs might get shut down, and which ones might get started up. Frankly, we don’t know the fate of entire groups of people — Muslims, immigrants, refugees.

I have been heartened to read of the way that millions of Americans have responded to this fear — by giving money!

According to The Atlantic, “Perhaps the most notable (and most concrete) action to follow the end of the divisive election season has been a surge in donations to various organizations whose agendas counter those proposed by President-elect Donald Trump. In recent days, groups that champion causes like civil liberties and women’s health as well as focus on immigration rights and anti-discrimination initiatives have seen record responses to the election, in the form of contributions and volunteer applications.”

Many groups report smashing previous giving records on this week’s #GivingTuesday. The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) is one of the groups reporting an outpouring of volunteers and donations. “It’s a very good sign. It’s something we hadn’t seen before. Making a donation is the ultimate sign of solidarity. Actions speak louder than words,” said Ibrahim Hooper, CAIR spokesman.

Giving money is one way that we give hope to our world — it is an action that speaks louder than our words of well-wishing.

And I still believe that giving money to your church is a significant way to give hope to the entire world. Of course, you have to believe that your church actually DOES give hope away, but I hope you are convinced that Kessler Park UMC does exactly that.

Even if our country were to slip farther into a chaotic blend of xenophobic, racist, and nativist tendencies, our church will continue to be a place where all people are treated as being made “in the image of God,” and where the stranger is welcomed, the foreigner hailed as a fellow traveler, and the migrant is given a pat on the back rather than a deportation notice.

The First Thanksgiving

Before you take your first bite of turkey this week, take a moment to think back and reflect on the first Thanksgiving meal.

No, not the mythic gathering of pilgrims and native Americans from our legendary past. As charming as that story might be, I would argue that was not the first Thanksgiving meal.

Instead, we need to look at the last supper in an upper room in Jerusalem as the original Thanksgiving. Jesus gathered his disciples there to celebrate the Passover, and as he picked up the bread and the cup of wine, he “gave thanks” according to each of the gospel accounts before he handed them over to his disciples.

One of the words used for the sacrament of Holy Communion is Eucharist, which comes from the Greek word, eucharistia, which is literally translated as “thanksgiving.” It ought to be clear from this that Communion is meant to be the giving of thanks to God for God’s blessings to us through the self-giving of Jesus Christ.

Every time we take Communion, we are celebrating Thanksgiving!

The opposite ought to be true, as well. Every time we celebrate Thanksgiving, we are also “taking Communion”!

After all, Jesus simply said that we were to “remember him” every time we shared food and drink together. Every time we break bread with others, we have a potential Holy Communion moment, for Christ is present in that moment.

Have you ever looked around the table on Thanksgiving and pondered the fact that you were experiencing something holy, something very special and sacred? While you are passing the mashed potatoes, you are passing God’s peace; while you are scooping up the stuffing, you are experiencing the human-but-also-divine experience of family love.

That dinner roll, dripping with butter? That is the body of Christ, given for you.

That iced tea? That is the blood of Christ, shed for you.

And when you finally push back from the table, whisper one more prayer of thanks for this holy mystery in which God has given us a sense of belonging, purpose, and peace.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!

Hope Now?

I am grateful to God for giving me the stewardship theme “Giving Hope” some weeks ago. I had no idea how helpful and pertinent it would be for this historical moment.

Because I’ll be very honest with you all — I don’t feel very hopeful at this moment. I’ve got to preach the third and final sermon on Giving Hope this Sunday, but I am trembling at the thought.  How can I inspire all of you when I feel so lousy? How can I dare to preach on the idea of hope when I am frankly struggling to muster some up?

Please understand that I am not trying to be political in the sense of favoring a party or ideology; rather, I am expressing my very legitimate concern for the welfare of immigrants, refugees, Muslims, people of color, and women in this country. The inflammatory rhetoric voiced by our president-elect in the lead-up to this election should be disavowed and rejected by every person of faith, particularly those who follow Jesus.

Can I honestly say that I have an “expectation of God’s good future” (my definition of Biblical hope) as I look at the next four years?

Not at this particular moment.

But that’s the funny thing about hope. Hope works best in the darkest times, in the morning afters. In that little poem by Emily Dickinson, hope — the thing with feathers — sings on, wordlessly, without stopping, “and sweetest in the gale is heard.” In other words, when the wind is at its worst, the song of hope is cherished most.

I can’t hear it right now, but I will. I know that I will.

If anything, I must buckle down and re-commit myself to giving hope. I may not have much hope myself, but there are things that I can do to help others begin to expect a good future. I will continue to do everything I can to extend hospitality to strangers, at least until that wall is built and refugees are banned from entering the country. I will continue to read to children and lead mission trips and teach Bible lessons and lead worship.

And I will keep preaching.

It reminds me of a classic story about John Wesley, founder of Methodism. Before John’s famous conversion moment at Aldersgate, he struggled with his faith, and wondered if he should stop preaching since he didn’t have faith himself. He asked a missionary friend, Peter Böhler, if he should stop preaching. Peter said, “By no means!”

John asked, “But what can I preach?”

Peter answered, “Preach faith till you have it; and then, because you have it, you will preach faith.”

I’m going to steal this quote and alter it slightly …

I plan to preach hope until I have it; and then, because I have it, I will preach hope.

See you Sunday morning.