Pentecost 20, proper 26, Year A, Sun Oct 30, 2011

Joshua 3:7-17; Psalm 107:1-7, 33-37; 1 Thessalonians 2:9-13; Matthew 23:1-12

There is a story of a spiritual teacher who was approached by the mother of a young child. The mother asked the teacher to tell her child that it would be better not to eat sweets. The teacher told the mother that he would talk with the child in three weeks time. So the mother and the child went away, and they came back three weeks later. Then the teacher advised the child that it would be better not to eat sweets. The mother asked the teacher privately why he had asked them to go away and wait and then come back three weeks later. The teacher replied that before he could tell the child not to eat sweets, first he needed to stop eating sweets himself.

Jesus said to the crowds, “Practice what you preach” (Matt 23:3). Don’t just talk the talk, but also walk the walk. St. Francis said it too: “Preach always; if necessary, use words.”

At the Upper South Carolina Diocesan convention (held week before last), there was one question which was posed and that has remained on my mind: “What is a mature disciple?” We came up with some qualities that a mature disciple might have: a mature disciple would read the Bible and be prayerful and be faithful in following Christ. It seems to me also that a “mature disciple” would not seek acclaim or recognition for themselves, but only the glory of God. A “mature disciple” would be one who preaches and teaches first and foremost with their actions and their way of life, and occasionally, as necessary, with words.

I’d like to tell you two stories about walking the walk and about discipleship. The first is the story of Oseola McCarty, who was born in 1908 and lived in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. She attended school through the sixth grade, but left school to care for her aunt who needed home care. She never went back to school, but became a washerwoman, like her grandmother, and continued this work until she retired because of arthritis in 1994, at the age of 86.

As a small child she was taught to save money, and as a young person she opened a bank account at First Mississippi National Bank. Over the years she opened several other bank accounts, including one at Trustmark National Bank. She lived frugally and simply. She never owned a car and walked everywhere she went, including a one-mile walk to the grocery store. She did ride with friends to church. She never subscribed to a newspaper and watched a black and white TV. In 1947, her uncle gave her the house in which she lived in until her death in 1999. Eventually bank personnel noticed that her savings were accumulating. They began to assist her in planning for the future and became unofficial guardians for her. At one point some bank officials and friends did convince her to buy small air conditioners for her house and to install cable TV.

The bank officials and a lawyer helped her decide how she would set up a trust using dimes. They gave her 10 dimes, and asked her to whom she would like each dime to go. She set aside one dime for her church, one dime for each of three relatives, and she decided to give the remaining six dimes to the University of Southern Mississippi. The terms of her will specified that these funds should be used for student scholarships, especially for students of African-American descent. She wanted others to have opportunities that she never had.

In 1995, the story of her bequest became public, and it was estimated that the amount the University of Southern Mississippi would receive at her death would be $150,000. She received numerous awards and honorary degrees, including one from Harvard University, the Presidential Citizens Medal, and the Avicenna Medal for educational commitment from the United Nations.

The second story is of a person of considerable financial means. Leonard Abess studied at the Wharton School of business, and started his career in the print shop of City National Bank of FL, which had been co-founded by his father. In 1984, at age 35, Abess became one of the youngest bank chairmen in the US. He built up the bank from $400 million in assets to $2.75 billion.

In 2006, he donated $5 million to establish the Abess Center for Ecosystems Science and Policy at the University of Miami, as well as funding other environment research organizations. Then in November 2008, Abess sold his share of a banking group, and from the proceeds of the sale gave $60 million to the 399 current staff and 72 former employees. If we do the math, that is $127,388 per person. He didn’t tell anyone about these gifts, but eventually the press heard of it. When he was interviewed, he said, “I knew some of these people since I was seven years old. It didn’t feel right getting the money myself.” He was honored in President Obama’s speech to a joint session of Congress on February 24, 2009.

Abess gave out of wealth; McCarty gave out of her poverty. Both are examples of quiet, selfless dedication to serving and making the world a better place. Both are servant leaders, following a model most perfectly demonstrated by Jesus.

Joshua was seen by the Israelites as the leader designated by God to follow in the role of Moses because he replicated the miracle at the Red Sea. It was an outward sign to confirm the blessing of God. The Pharisees also wanted outward signs of their spiritual status. They wanted to be seen as leaders by wearing prayer shawls with long fringes and broadly visible phylacteries (little boxes containing verses from the Torah). Rather than seeking “the place of honor at banquets and the best seats”, and rather than seeking the name of “rabbi” or “teacher” or “father”, the true disciple of Jesus gives of his or her gifts quietly and without thought of reward.

Over the next few weeks we will be hearing from each other about our own stewardship practices here at All Saints Episcopal Church. When we hear “stewardship season”, we may immediately think of being asked to give money, and the stories I’ve told today are about giving money. But stewardship doesn’t start with money, although pledging our financial support for the coming year may be an outcome. Stewardship is primarily a spiritual practice, which includes giving thanks to God for all God’s gifts, followed by giving back of ourselves in many ways: in time and talent and prayers and service as well as in finances.

Stewardship means truly caring about one another, and about our community of faith. Stewardship means giving of our selves out of whatever situation of God’s abundance we find ourselves. Stewardship is one of the primary callings of a Christian, because it helps us focus on our own lack of personal ownership, our own lack of control over our lives and others, and our own lack of power within ourselves, since our power and strength and all that we “own” are from God.

In the coming weeks, I invite us all to pray and think about how we might give thanks for God’s abundance and how we might share these riches with others. As we think about helping each other to grow into mature discipleship, we are called above all else to put our full trust in God’s abundance and love. Giving is an ultimate act of trust that what we give will return to us transformed into gifts of the heart and spirit that will be more abundant and more nourishing and sustaining than we can possibly imagine.