In Holy Scripture there are two books attributed to St. Luke, our patron: the Gospel that bears his name and Acts of the Apostles. While the Gospel tells of the life and ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ here on Earth, Acts share the tale of how the Christian community began. In essence, it is the beginning of our story as the church.
One of the very first events we witness in Acts is the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles at Pentecost. Peter then proclaims the Good News of Jesus Christ to those who see this occurrence, and we are told in Acts 2:44-45 that:
“All who believed were together and had all things in common; and they sold their possessions and goods and distributed them to all, as any had need.”
In other words, the broader Christian community was formed and they shared all that they had. We see the same thing happen again in Acts 4:32 after another instance of Peter’s preaching.
Now while we, of course, live in a very different age with very different circumstances, there is still a great deal we can learn from the impulse for formation by the early Christian community. Like them, we are called to live together in unity. We are also called to give what we can of our possessions to make that unity possible. Part of how we do that is through our financial giving.
It is so easy for us to look to other members of our church to be the ones to donate their money to the church. We might think that we cannot possibly make the same kind of difference. Yet the work of the church is not just of a few, but of all of us together. We must ask ourselves then, what would the work of our church for our Lord Jesus Christ look like if everyone at St. Luke’s gave, even just a little?
The truth is, some of us have more to give than others, and that is okay. We often use the tithe, a gift of 10%, as a benchmark for church pledging. For some, that will be enough, but for others it may be too much or too little to give. What I ask is you take the time to pray and reflect on how much you can give. Again, what would the work of our church for our Lord Jesus Christ look like if everyone gave what they could?
The truth is, some of us have more to give than others, and that is okay. We often use the tithe, a gift of 10%, as a benchmark for church pledging. For some, that will be enough, but for others it may be too much or too little to give. What I ask is you take the time to pray and reflect on how much you can give. Again, what would the work of our church for our Lord Jesus Christ look like if everyone gave what they could?
Our giving is not limited to just our finances though. As a wise person reminded me recently, we are also called to give our time and skills to the work of God in our church. There are several areas we are looking for help right now. We are looking for ushers and greeters to help as we begin to open up our church again. We need letter writers and Christian Formation leaders. We need people who can help us with our technology and social media, including people who can take beautiful photos of our church. Soon we will need bakers, small group leaders, and people with the spark of creativity to make all the work we do feel like a beautiful piece of art offered up to our Lord. There will be even more areas to come.
It is easy to want to wait to be called on to do God’s work within our community. We also need each of you to pray about the gifts you have to offer and come forward to us. If you would like assistance in discerning your gifts, I am always happy to help. Thank you to those who have already come forward and volunteered their services to God and this church. If we can come together with our finances, our skills, and our very selves, then think of what we can accomplish for our Lord Jesus Christ in this world. Please consider what you can give to St. Luke’s. Please pray on what you can give to St. Luke’s.