Spending Treasure

Hebrews 10:11-14 & 19-25

Pentecost 26, November 17, 2024

Holy Trinity Cathedral

“Spending Treasure”

When I was child, summer vacations were sometimes spent on Pender Island, where my mom’s sister lived.  The perfect afternoon was being given a whole dollar to spend in the trading post at Port Washington.  As my cousins and I walked through the woods and along the dusty sunlit roads, we would plan how to allocate our money.  Licorice whips?  Marshmallow fruits? Splurge on a chocolate bar?  We were allowed by the shopkeeper to choose from the open cardboard boxes of sweets. My older male cousins would buy horrible chalky tasting candy cigarettes and pretend to smoke them with sophistication.  My younger brother would get jawbreakers so large they would barely fit in his mouth.    We came back clutching a paper bag full of treasures to be savoured during the remainder of our visit.  One dollar seemed a fortune to us, but the fact that we had complete freedom to choose how to spend it was ever better than the amount.

Growing up, we learn to spend and share and save the money we receive according to our priorities.  But we don’t like to talk about it much.  Finances are a contentious subject- in some households it is a taboo topic.  And if you have had a fight with your partner or your children, you know money is sure to come into it somehow.  We have strong ideas about how we should be spending (or not) and who has control over finances (or not).  After all, what we spend on says a lot about who we are.  It reflects our fears and hopes and values. 

Talking about money in Church may seem in poor taste to some.  When we do, it often concentrates on how we can raise funds.  How will we keep the building heated and the lights on?  Who can give more to the financial campaign?  What are we going to do about the deficit? Our anxiety is about not having enough as individuals and not having enough as a community.  But the other side of the discussion is important.  God has entrusted us with treasure.  What proportion do we give back? What do we spend for God?

Rather than avoiding the difficult topic, the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews gives us some advice on how to engage.  If we have confidence in God’s plan through Jesus, he says, we ought to live with Christ’s sacrifice in mind.  Once and for all, Jesus gave up everything so that we might know the fullness of God’s love.  Now that we know that his offering has put us right with God, we can live with each other in faith.  We can’t do what Jesus did, but we can give back through the way we live with each other.  In fact, we are to “provoke one another to love and good deeds” (Hebrews 10:24). 

Provoke is a strong word.  It’s meant to be.  The original Greek means to stir up or to sharpen in the sense of poking someone with a stick.  The result is an intense reaction.  It can be negative, as in anger, or it can be positive, as in stimulating someone to act.  Either way, the provocation cannot be ignored.  If we are really supposed to provoke one another to love and good deeds, however, the goal is a positive reaction.  At best, we encourage debate and dialogue because we have dared raise the topic. 

We can provoke by setting examples for one another.  Not in a “look at me, aren’t I wonderful” kind of way, but by showing that we are committed to the work of God in the Church.  We proclaim our confidence in God’s plan as we invest in it.  It’s about putting our money where our mouth is.  The Letter to the Hebrews is all about the new covenant in our hearts.  We don’t just say we are Christians; we show it by our stewardship that puts God first.  It doesn’t matter whether someone gives a dollar or a hundred thousand dollars to the Church.  What is important is that a portion of what you have been given is offered back as a token of love for the great love of God. 

Collectively, the pattern of giving in this parish holds a snapshot of where people are in their stewardship.  Of about 200 households on the parish list, we had 72 identified givers in 2023.  That’s a significant commitment, but there’s always room for growth as we encourage everyone to contribute even in a small way.  The range in regular giving for the year was from under $50 to a high of $8000, not counting one-time significant gifts.  The median was about $1800 for the year, or around $150 a month.  I am immensely grateful for every single individual who donated to Holy Trinity Cathedral in the past and in this current year.  This community is blessed through your generosity.  Even more important than how much you give, however, is this consideration.  What is the relationship between your donation and your income?  Does it reflect how important God and the Church are in your life?  Does it reflect your hopes and values as you think of the treasures in your life?  And if you have more to give, where is God calling you to spend the treasure?

One rainy Sunday, I invited two individuals who were standing outside the front doors of the cathedral over to the hall for coffee after the early service.  They looked cold and hungry, and I thought we could at least share a cookie and a hot mug with them.  At the end of the fellowship time, one of them pressed a toonie into my hand, and asked that it be put in the collection plate.  It wasn’t much, but like the widow in Jesus’ parable, it was probably all that she had.  I know that proportionally, she gave more than most of us in this congregation.  Her sacrifice encouraged me to do more.

As a faith community, we all have a role to encourage each other.  We are reminded not to neglect to meet together.  In worship and fellowship we have the opportunity to learn from each other.  Sometimes that comes with a little poke in the side, as our hearts respond to the needs around us.  We want to thrive as a centre that models the power of Christ to welcome and change us into the people fully alive.  When God presents the opportunity, how will we spend the treasure we are given?  What wonderful things can we hope to accomplish this coming year when we bring together all that we offer?  Amen.