Stewardship Reflection by Samuel Moss When a poor widow dropped her offering of two copper coins into the great urn on the Tem- ple Mount, Jesus declared to the crowd (some of whom had poured tens or hundreds of coins into the Temple coffers), “She has given more than all of you. For you, out of your abun- dance gave only a little, while she, out of her poverty, put in all the living that she had.” Interesting… One Sunday morning, as a 10-year old eating breakfast and getting ready for church, I glanced at the newspaper and was drawn to an article concerning a man in Texas who had given a $50,000 gift to a church in that state. As you might expect, the donation was greeted with much fanfare and publicity. The benefactor was spoken of in terms and tones generally reserved for saints. I was impressed. Later that same week, the monthly Reader‟s Digest arrived in the mail. It included an article about the very same man who had given away $50,000 just a few days earlier. This time, however, attention was drawn, not to his gift to the church, but to his net worth: $1 billion. The number was staggering to my young imagination, so my older brother provided me with a visual illustration. “Just imagine,” he said, “how many bank books he would need if he kept all that money in regular banks.” (At the time, individual bank accounts were insured by the FDIC only up to $25,000). “If he can only put $25,000 in a single bank,” my brother continued, “it would take 40,000 banks to hold all his money.” “Forty thousand?” I ques- tioned. “Yep. It would take a dump truck just to carry all of his bank books. And remem- ber: we aren‟t talking about a dump truck filled with $40,000. We‟re talking about a dump truck filled with 40,000 bank books – and each bank book represents $25,000. I was im- pressed. But then it dawned on me. This man‟s gift to the church was the equivalent of taking 2 of his bank books and giving them away – while keeping 39,998 bank books for himself. I was not impressed. And out of that revelation an idea was born: Perhaps the litmus test for “stewardship” is not how much we give, but how much we keep for ourselves. Jesus said, “She has put in all the living that she had.” She put her whole life into being a good steward. How can we do that? How can we find balance in our lives – between what we keep of ourselves and what we give of ourselves? Between what we earn and what we (Continued on page 7) October 2012
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Transcript
Stewardship Reflection by Samuel Moss
When a poor widow dropped her offering of two copper coins into the great urn on the Tem-
ple Mount, Jesus declared to the crowd (some of whom had poured tens or hundreds of coins
into the Temple coffers), “She has given more than all of you. For you, out of your abun-
dance gave only a little, while she, out of her poverty, put in all the living that she had.”
Interesting…
One Sunday morning, as a 10-year old eating breakfast and getting ready for church, I
glanced at the newspaper and was drawn to an article concerning a man in Texas who had
given a $50,000 gift to a church in that state. As you might expect, the donation was greeted
with much fanfare and publicity. The benefactor was spoken of in terms and tones generally
reserved for saints. I was impressed.
Later that same week, the monthly Reader‟s Digest arrived in the mail. It included an article
about the very same man who had given away $50,000 just a few days earlier. This time,
however, attention was drawn, not to his gift to the church, but to his net worth: $1 billion.
The number was staggering to my young imagination, so my older brother provided me with
a visual illustration. “Just imagine,” he said, “how many bank books he would need if he
kept all that money in regular banks.” (At the time, individual bank accounts were insured
by the FDIC only up to $25,000). “If he can only put $25,000 in a single bank,” my brother
continued, “it would take 40,000 banks to hold all his money.” “Forty thousand?” I ques-
tioned. “Yep. It would take a dump truck just to carry all of his bank books. And remem-
ber: we aren‟t talking about a dump truck filled with $40,000. We‟re talking about a dump
truck filled with 40,000 bank books – and each bank book represents $25,000. I was im-
pressed.
But then it dawned on me. This man‟s gift to the church was the equivalent of taking 2 of
his bank books and giving them away – while keeping 39,998 bank books for himself. I
was not impressed. And out of that revelation an idea was born: Perhaps the litmus test for
“stewardship” is not how much we give, but how much we keep for ourselves.
Jesus said, “She has put in all the living that she had.” She put her whole life into being a
good steward. How can we do that? How can we find balance in our lives – between what
we keep of ourselves and what we give of ourselves? Between what we earn and what we
(Continued on page 7)
October 2012
2
Dear Franciscans,
As we feel the cooler weather coming and watch the leaves fall, we
know that change is in the air. As previously mentioned, I have some
new duties at St. Francis now that oversight of the Youth Group has
moved to Amanda. And I‟ll take this opportunity to say that Amanda is
doing an amazing job with the children and youth (and parents too) at
St. Francis. There is great energy in St. Mike‟s and the Sunday School
wing. My duties now include serving you all through the ministries of
Evangelism, Stewardship, and Adult Formation. So here‟s what is going
on in those areas:
Stewardship: It has a been a true joy working with Linda Allgood,
Ross Cos, Jane Anne Hayber, Samuel Moss, Jim Tanner, and Susan
Tysinger on the Stewardship Committee. By now you have received your invitations to join
the ministries of St. Francis through pledging. The Committee worked innovatively to remind
us all of the true nature of stewardship- responding to God‟s blessings by being a blessing to
others. We will continue the work of Stewardship throughout the year, realizing that steward-
ship is a life style and not a campaign. You‟ll continue to hear from us throughout the year
about Stewardship of all kinds- financial, environmental, and volunteering.
Evangelism: If you haven‟t yet watched Bishop Curry‟s 2012 Convention Address, I would
highly commend it to you. The work of Evangelism is two-fold: 1) working within our current
structures to market and let our community know about the Good News happening at St. Fran-
cis and 2) take the Good News of Jesus Christ into our community. Towards the first goal, I
have begun work with our Welcoming Committee, and Marketing Committee to build upon
the solid foundations we already have in place. In the coming months, we will also be adding
new ways for us to address the second goal of Evangelism. This is all of our tasks, so be sure
to invite your friends and neighbors to Church or events at St. Francis.
Adult Formation: We have kicked off another year of Adult Forums with a greater emphasis
on Bible study this year. Please be sure to check the schedule online. We have added Illumina-
tions (introductions to readings on Sundays morning) to our liturgy as another learning oppor-
tunity. Be on the lookout for materials for Advent and Lenten opportunities for discipleship.
In all the ministries and people whom I serve at St. Francis, I am continually amazed and inspired
by your sense of compassionate and faith. It is a joy walking the road of discipleship with you.