Whenever
the bishop visits a congregation,
we renew our baptismal vows.
It’s
how we get back to the basics
of what it means to be a Christian.
It’s
how we remember that being Christian
is based on God’s giving us life and
hope;
but
it doesn’t stop there.
Being
a Christian is how we respond to God’s gift.
It
isn’t just something we are. It’s something we do.
We
take vows, solemn vows, vows to Almighty God.
Our
spiritual health and well-being
depend on how we live out those
vows.
We
are blessed this morning
to have this Epistle lesson from St.
James.
He
is the clearest, strongest voice in the New Testament
teaching us how to live the
Christian life.
“You
must understand this, my beloved,” he says,
“you must understand this. . . .
Be doers of the word, and not
hearers only.
Be doers of the word, and not
hearers only.”
Christianity
is a way of life – not just something we believe.
It’s
something we do.
But
what is it?
Some
people look at Christianity
in terms of what we don’t do.
They
like the 10 Commandments
all of which are negative
--
“Thou shalt not” do this.
-- “Thou shalt not” do that.
But
the Jewish law is actually 613 commandments,
most of which are positive.
Jews
don’t just refrain from a few things.
Jews
do a lot of things.
So
do Christians.
What
then do Christians actually do?
St.
James says in today’s lesson:
“Every generous act of giving, every
pure gift,
is from above, coming down from the
Father of lights.”
Christians
who have received God’s gifts
share those gifts with others.
Christians
are godly.
As
God is generous, Christians are generous.
God
gives us life and hope and salvation
– not because we deserve them,
– but just because God is generous.
If
we ask him, and if we will allow him,
God will also bless us with the gift
of generosity.
That
gift will make our joy in Christ complete.
If
we receive God’s gifts and do not share them,
they go stale in our hearts.
They
are like a seed planted that dies in the soil.
But
if we are generous with what we have received,
the seed of joy in our hearts
sprouts and grows.
It
is like the mustard seed in Jesus’ parable.
It
is the smallest seed when it is planted,
but it grows into a great tree
with branches that
welcome all the birds.
God’s
generosity to us is like that.
If
God blesses us and we just take it for granted,
the gift brings little joy. It dies
in us.
But
if we stop and say “this is a gift of God,
I must acknowledge that gift
by sharing it with
others,”
then joy
abounds.
That
is why the Bible says,
“The Lord loves a cheerful giver.”
How
then should we practice generosity?
It
is not just generosity to our friends and families.
It’s
generosity not just to our brothers and sisters by blood
but to our brothers and sisters in
Christ.
James
says, Pure religion is this:
“to care for widows and orphans in
their distress
and to keep oneself
unstained by the world.”
He
is using widows and orphans as examples
of the vulnerable and needy.
In
this same letter he takes the Church to task
for disrespecting the poor.
He
says,
“It was those who were poor
according to the world
that God chose to be
rich in faith. . . .
You . . . have dishonored the poor.
. . .
As soon as you make class
distinctions
you are committing sin
and are under condemnation. . .”
He
goes on:
“If one of the brothers or sisters
is
in need of clothes and has
not enough food . . . ,
and one of you says, ‘I wish you
well’ . . . without giving them
these bare necessities of life,
then what good is that? . . . .
‘ Faith, if good deeds do not go with
it, is quite dead.”
We
are not talking here about giving as a heavy duty.
We
are not talking about guilt.
We
are talking about changing the way we relate
to whatever we have.
We
learn to hold it lightly, enjoying it as a gift.
We
learn the joy of generosity.
So
I ask you to reflect on two questions today.
I
ask you to reflect on them as you renew your vows.
I
ask you to keep reflecting on these two questions tomorrow
and the next day and for the rest of
this year.
My
first question: how generous are you with your church?
You
may ask back: how generous am I supposed to be?
There
are two answers: the first is quite specific.
10%
of your income.
That
is the standard we find in Scripture,
and it has been affirmed by our
Church teachings.
But
maybe you cannot afford that.
That
leads to the second answer.
This
answer is not a specific rule with a number.
It
is a matter of the heart.
How
generous can you be?
Ask
yourselves. You alone can answer.
No
one can judge you for your answer.
So
just be honest with yourself.
It
is partly a question of your circumstances.
Do
you have children to feed, medical bills to pay?
The
church does not want you to ignore your duties.
But
it is also a matter of the heart.
What
can you give with joy – not grudgingly to ward off guilt
– but gladly in thanksgiving for the
blessings
God has given you?
How
much do you trust God to provide for you
when you have risked yourself
with generosity?
Search
your hearts and do what seems right in your conscience.
Then
let no one judge.
Ask
yourselves these questions.
Pray
over them. Then answer honestly.
If
you do these things,
I am confident you will be
a strong independent
congregation.
My
first question was: how generous are you with your church?
My
second question is:
how generous is this church with the
poor?
I
do not know whether each person can afford
to give 10% of their income to the
Church.
But,
let God be my witness, I know that each church
can and must give 10% of its income
to the poor.
Unless
the church is generous,
we cannot teach our people
generosity,
and we betray the gospel
of Christ.
The
Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Nevada
have said repeatedly that each
congregation
should give .7% of its income
for the Millennium
Development Goals.
These
goals are about relieving poverty and disease
around the world.
Malaria
is one of the main diseases we are fighting.
Malaria
is prevalent in 57 of the 79 provinces in the Philippines.
It
impairs individual lives while weakening the whole society
and its economy.
But
the Province of Sorsogoon this year became malaria free.
We
are well on our way to making the entire Philippines
malaria free in just 11 years.
Every
Episcopal congregation should be part of that fight.
Here
in Las Vegas, the root of poverty is our failure in education.
Nevada
ranks last in the nation in our high school graduation rate.
Clark
County has one of the worst graduation rates in Nevada.
The
state’s graduation rate dropped by 10% from 2001 to 2007.
As
with malaria in the Philippines, individual lives are diminished.
As
with malaria, the whole society suffers
and the economy with it.
When
a child fails, everyone loses.
But
Communities In Schools Nevada is changing that.
Last
year, for the first time in a long time,
the graduation rate in Las Vegas
improved.
Communities
in Schools supports children with
food, clothing, medical care, and
moral support.
But
they don’t have any of this to give
unless others in Las Vegas help.
That
is why the Episcopal Church at this year’s convention
made it a mission priority for our
congregations
to partner with our
schools to help all the children.
So
I ask: how generous is the church
with the poor?
The
futures of children in Las Vegas are at stake.
Brothers
and sisters, our own spiritual health is also at stake.
Christians
are doers of the word – not just hearers.
Christians
support their churches.
Christians
fight malaria.
Christians
help children through school
to give them a chance in life.
So
I beg you, brothers and sisters,
to prayerfully search your hearts.
Search
your hearts earnestly
asking what does the Lord require of
you.
