PREACHING TO THE CHOIR
THANKSGIVING SUNDAY
NOVEMBER 23, 2008

This morning when worship is over, there will be one of those meetings we have at around the same time every year.... the annual CHURCH BUDGET MEETING. Now, of course, while this meeting is ALWAYS important and necessary as well, it has taken on a different kind of significance this year as several weeks ago, we learned, to put it bluntly, that the money we use each year to make up for our budget deficit is money that, quite frankly, is going to dry up within a few years thus rendering problematic what has become our annual practice of spending more money than that which we actually take in.

Now, given the fact that the American and world economies are in a mess and that individual and family budgets are being stretched and butchered, it would be easy for us as a church to take on a ‘doom and gloom ‘ way of thinking and to put all of our attention into what we can do to start slashing our budget and to cut back radically on what we spend. It strikes me though that the very last place in the world, the very last organization that needs doom and gloom is the church because, when we lift our eyes away from these budget sheets we’ll receive at about Noon and we see the big picture, we will have to face the fact that Christianity is a faith in which HOPE is an integral part of our foundation and the church as an institution has the responsibility to be an INSTRUMENT, an instrument of that HOPE, a hope that refuses to be mired in the easy temptation of doom and gloom! After all, as that old saying converted into song by Jan Parsons reminds us, ‘ We ARE an Easter people and ALLELUIA IS our song’ .

So then, on this Thanksgiving Sunday morning, I wish to suggest that we cast aside any semblance of a pessimistic, dark mentality surrounding our lousy finances and instead respond with what I would like to term a REALISTIC HOPEFULNESS, realistic in that we realize that the source of income upon which we have become dependent WILL dry up, HOPEFUL in that we know that our mission is not defined by our ability to make the numbers match on a spread sheet, that this organization we call CHURCH has certain responsibilities both unto itself and to the larger community affected by the fact that the church exists!

And so, on this morning in which I know I’m ‘preaching to the choir’, in which I am speaking to those who come to church and in so many cases give so much of themselves TO this church and its work, I want to preach realistic hopefulness, suggesting first and foremost that even as we set our minds to figuring ways to save money and to bring in more money, , we must continue to DO WELL WHAT WE DO WELL. This, my dear friends, is crucial and the good news is that it’s happening! Just look at this morning: Between 9:30 and 10:30, two children’s choirs and one adult choir rehearsed for Advent and Christmas, young people excitedly prepared for what will be a great Pageant, under the direction of caring adult volunteers, our back table area has been filling up with donations of food for the needy, of hats and mittens to offer warmth, of toys to bring some joy to children adversely affected by so much that has gone wrong in that big real world. As we seek to find ways to finance creatively and move toward balanced budgeting, we must never cease to be who we are. Instead, we must always seek to ask ourselves: what are we presenting to those who come to visit us for the first time or who return to us after being away for a while? We must NEVER  come across to others as a church so occupied with financial plight that we cease to do well what we do well. And knowing the people I know in this room, this choir of young and old and in between to whom I am privileged to preach, I just know we are going to do it right.

We will do it right as we already have for in the weeks since we’ve been challenged with some cold hard facts, we have seen a burst of hard work and creativity in our midst. About a dozen of you gathered for a church retreat in which we reexamined our goals, our Budget Committee, taking input from anyone who chose to give it, has come up with a proposal with cuts and freezes that will yield significant savings. People have been inspired to find ways in which we can scale back significantly on energy and insurance costs. Many of you have pooled your talents in communicating what this church is  about through an ingenious approach to letter writing and reaching those who have been served by this community of faith. In just a short time, people have committed to pulling together, to thinking outside of the box, to suggesting exciting ways to increase our cash intake WHILE at the same time adding activities that will bring people here for tag sales and delicious dinners, all  under the auspices of this church! What I’m saying is that, as this Budget Meeting draws near and we are poring over some not so pleasant numbers, those numbers are not the whole story. Rather, a reflection upon them has precipitated an outburst of energy and vitality, all emerging from that foundation, a foundation imbued with HOPE!

On this Annual Budget day, HOPE IS all around us, a REALISTIC HOPEFULNESS. At a time when many churches in our nation and region have closed down and buildings that seat hundreds have trouble seating a minion, people show up at this church, sometimes in VERY GOOD NUMBERS.... and this little church in what is BY FAR, BY FAR...Connecticut’s smallest town has seen significant increases in attendance over a representative period of time. This church which once closed for the summer has come a long way and our attendance strongly outpaces many with larger population pools from which to draw.

In a strange way, this budget crisis, which it is ( More about that in a bit) has caused many of us to gain a renewed appreciation for the very existence of a church. You see, many agencies and organizations compete for our time and attention, right? Schools, Fire Departments, Town Boards and Committees, workplace, social organizations and so on....In this busy life of ours, it becomes easy to take the church for granted, to assume it’s just always going to be there. There will always be a minister to preach, we so easily think! When I want my child baptized, it’ll happen. There will be a place to send my daughter or son to Sunday School, a Pastor to do the wedding or funeral of someone I hold dear. Interestingly enough, as you may know, that word crisis is drawn from a Greek word which has a double edged meaning. In the understanding of those ancient Greeks, crisis meant a situation which offers both danger and opportunity. When we are doom and glooming it, how easy to focus on the danger, yet the crisis we are in likewise provides an opportunity, the opportunity to appreciate the role of the church for what it is in our lives, the opportunity to insure that we NOT take it for granted!

So, then, while there IS much about which we can be HOPEFUL, a word of caution is likewise quite necessary as well. In the words of Peter I read a while back, we Christians have certain responsibilities. Peter enjoins us to act as ‘ good stewards of the manifold grace of God’. To be good stewards, one cannot cut and freeze forever. Somewhere, something will have to give and there might very well be a loss of the service a church needs to offer. Some churches  , for example, are very limited as to their choice of ministers when a pulpit opens up because of how much they do or don’t pay relative to comparable churches seeking the same expectations of a minister. You see this book which I am holding? For the past two years, we have given a new Christmas book to all of the children in the pageant. With the proposed cuts we will have to our budget for supplies, we won’t do that in 2009. While the book is not ESSENTIAL, it is a good means of getting out the story of Jesus and of encouraging children and parents to read something Biblical together. What I am saying is that cut as we must, we must realize the limits of cutting and we must work out ways to insure that, even as we seek fiscal responsibility, we don’t detract from our responsibility to the message of Jesus Christ.

Now, let’s be honest- Does our church need more money? Yes! But I’ve got to tell you that before I became a minister, I vowed that I would always try my best to be fair about preaching about money. I’ve seen and heard some pretty bad horror stories about the ways churches have asked members for increased funds. I’ve also felt that I can’t judge or be privy to the financial pressures that people are feeling. People have responsibilities –to pay their bills, provide for health care, take care of their children, take care of their parents, give to causes that help those in need. Many people feel overwhelmed and buried in an avalanche of debt.  So, I’m not going to stand up here and say that I want EVERYONE to give x amount of more dollars, for who am I to judge anyone’s pressures and circumstances?

But I AM going to ask for creativity and maybe channeling some of that to this church we love and I am going to start with me! I LIKE to drink coffee and every morning on my way to work, I spend $ 2.16 on a large coffee, just cream, no sugar at Dunkin’ Donuts. All I would have to do is give that up ONCE a week, ONCE a week, and if I decided to contribute it to our church, that would be over $ 100 over the course of the year. 10 coffee lovers do the same and we’ve got a thousand! Sounds simple, but there’s a principle behind it. I love the Red Sox, but when I buy a ticket to go to a game, I’m spending $ 30 on the ticket, $ 35 for parking and about $ 10-12 for food, including Fenway’s delicious Steak Tip sandwich I’d highly recommend. And, oh yeah, one of my family members will go with me. Sacrifice ONE game in the pennant winning 2009 season, convert that money to the church and there’s another $ 200. Neither of these efforts are really that big on the scale of sacrifice, but, again, it’s the principle of the thing!

Does this church need more money? Of course.....and one of the ways church people often try to raise money is to increase the number of people who come to church! Now, I don’t think anyone would argue against that and I am always the first to encourage people to encourage people to come to church.  But, again, a caution here......a church has to be in touch with its strength. We are a community church in Connecticut’s smallest town. We are not a new fangled ahistorical  megachurch. Since the overwhelming majority of Americans attend no church, we have to be realistic about what constitutes attainable growth. And, may I suggest, we have to be faithful to our heritage and our unique role in the current American religious landscape. Do we really want mass marketing campaigns? Ads on TV? Door to door canvassing?

We are a church with many strengths, not the least of which is that we are small. YES, small is a strength!!  People know each other here. There’s a personal touch you’ll find that is often missing from those bigger places. And, in a church world in which headlines are increasingly grabbed by people preaching intolerance and division in the name of Christian faith, there is, more than ever, a need for churches in which people can hold different opinions about a multiplicity of issues, yet still be united, united by faith in Jesus Christ. Churches such as ours stand out in the many communities of this nation, churches that, while small, are very much alive, energetic and reasonably growing, churches that are open to change without sacrifice of their very strengths .!  A little while back, a young person I know, a member of a large megachurch in another Connecticut town , three Sunday services, ,praise bands, and one program after another, asked me questions about our little church and, at the end of it all, said to me of her church : ‘ You know, with all of our growth, we are losing something! Wow...your church sounds really neat!.’.    AND, DO YOU KNOW WHAT?    IT IS!

FINALLY...a word I bet you never thought I’d get to......FINALLY.....Even if we think that HOPE is REALISTIC, we might also agree that it takes work to make our hopes real!  And so then, as we work to whittle our budget and to move with trepidation toward a post Palmer fund era in this church’s life, we WORK too with renewed energy to keep doing well what we do well, to insure that we maintain lively worship, that we work hard at our preaching, our music, our programs for our children and our attentiveness to those who need our help, that we insure that our building enhances and does not detract from what we are trying to accomplish!. So too must we strive harder than ever to invite others to enjoy what we enjoy and to help them find nourishment right here in the warmth of this church and this Holiday season is as good a time as any to start!

And, at last, and this is REALLY preaching to the choir, might not we all ponder anew how best we can contribute even more to this church we love so much- maybe a new idea or volunteering for something for which we’ve never volunteered before, perhaps targeting a donation for something this church needs. I can’t answer what that contribution is. In this day and age, some folks are just plainly too busy to get on a board or Committee, but, in those few free hours they can give, they can really give so much!

You know----If you’re in a choir and you sing on Sunday morning, even when you’ve finished off that very last note and the song appears to be done, if that song’s become part of who you are, it lives in your mind and your memory as Sunday turns to Monday and Monday to the rest of the week. Dear friends, may the song in your heart that is the Congregational Church of Union live within you, a church brimming afresh with HOPE, a REALISTIC hope founded on the most wonderful foundation of all, the very reason why we are even having this Budget meeting this morning, a hope founded on the one foundation, the eternal foundation of Jesus our Savior and our Christ!

AMEN+