"Income and Outcome"

So often we decry the power of the Religious Right and wish our own message of love and freedom could be heard, yet we have only begun to lift our voice in the world. Our times demand of us a new fidelity to our faith, and that fidelity requires us to live in new ways. It asks us to be bold, to be strong, and to grow in generosity. We, who statistically have so much more than the rest of the world, are called to serve the good by living generously.

You have a mission: You are hoping to shine the light of our liberal faith here in this community. We need your voice here; there are so many who could find a home with you. And so, as you consider your pledge to this congregation, let me ask you a question. What is the Spirit asking you go give of your resources to the ministry of love and justice? What percentage of your resources does Love ask you to share?

Let me ask you another question. What gift can you give that will be meaningful to you, that will give you strength and clarity in the months ahead? What gift would be exciting and nourishing to your own spirit?

This is how we should give. The old proverb about the Lord loving a cheerful giver is often misunderstood. It doesn’t mean that we should give an amount that is easy for us. It doesn’t mean you should grin and bear it! It means that we should give a gift that gladdens our hearts, that gives us joy. It means that when we give generously, with authenticity and integrity, the Divine moves in us. The Divine moves in us.

The question is whether we want to live our lives fearfully, trapped in the consumer mindset of our era, or to live lives that are full and free, lives that give us a sense of purpose and wonder.

- the Rev. Cecelia K. Miller, from "The Land of Enough" in The Abundance ofOur Faith,
Sweetser and Milnor, eds., Skinner House Books, Boston:2006.

SERMON

There is a story told about a Southern evangelist who had been called to a local congregation to help with their stewardship drive.

"Brothers and sisters," he began, "there is work to be done! Great good to be got! But first, we have to take that first little step. And then we have to take the second step. And then we have to all walk together, and not grow weary!"

And the congregation said, "Amen!

"We have to all run together, and not grow faint!"

"Amen!"

"We have to all spread our wings like eagles and fly!"

"A-men!"

"And we all know what that will take, do we not? It will take money for us to fly!"

Well, at this point there are a few scattered "Amens!" but mostly that uncomfortable, shuffle-about-in-your-pew sort of silence. Then a voice piped up from the back of the church, "I say we walk, preacher!"

That mythical, and yet not-so-mythical, preacher was right: income affects outcome. Along with the related adage, "What goes up must come down" (illustrating once again the reality that gravity is not just a good idea; it’s the law!), this simple equation underlies another reality we all know: that if we want to get a lot out of something, we first have to put a lot into it. Income affects outcome.

Emerson called it "compensation," and wrote extensively about it in his essay of the same name. But while this describes the action, and its consequence, it does not describe the Spirit of the act, which is what gives it Life.

Call it: the inspiration of the income.

My colleague, Gary Blaine, has noted that the compensation part of life does not necessarily operate as smoothly as Emerson believed.

There will be compensation to this action, of course, in keeping with Emerson’s thesis. And in keeping with the ancient story of Job, that compensation will not always seem fair to the many of us.

But in the midst of this turning point – this one of many opportunities for us to choose our way, to decide our path, to affect the outcome of our action – we have the opportunity to broaden our freedom. As Blaine goes on to say:

Taking is a necessity; giving is a choice. It is the choice to nurture the Spirit of generosity and gratitude. It is the choice to acknowledge that it is not about me, not about us – but about those who came before us, who gave of their time and their energy and their money in order to further and strengthen the institution which we now enjoy; and it is about those who will come after us, who (like us) will be in search of a liberal religious community that welcomes them as they are and challenges them to be who they are called to be.

Giving is the choice to nurture the Spirit of generosity and gratitude.

And here is the kicker: it is alright to talk about it. In fact, it is necessary.

At one point in the gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells his listeners to do their giving in secret so that God will reward them in heaven. – I’m not so sure. I understand the context this advice is in: Jesus is countering those who love to show off their giving, who always make a big deal about it so everyone will notice. They already have their reward, he says. And he is right, they do. Ego-gratification, we might call it today. They get a few strokes for being such wonderful people, and then they go in search of the next accolade, of the next opportunity for self-gratification.

But I do not think this applies to everyone, or even should be a rule of thumb for all giving. In fact, the science of it all flies in the face of Jesus’ counsel.

A year ago, one of our members passed along to me an article from Newsweek magazine called "The Science Behind Our Generosity." Written by Peter Singer, who is professor of bioethics at Princeton University, the article noted that Jesus’ counsel is not "sound psychology." In fact, if the aim is to increase giving and generosity, people need to talk about what they give – not to brag, but simply to share. "The more people talk about what they give," Singer wrote, "the more we can expect others to give...."

But we do not like to do that so much. We like to keep what we give confidential, a secret. And I completely understand some of the reasons why. Yet our stewardship of this congregation and our liberal religious community is not about our ability to give, but of our willingness to give from whatever we have freely and generously. It is not about who has more or who has less. It is not about who is fortunate enough to make a large pledge and whose circumstances dictate a smaller contribution.

It is about giving generously within your means. It is about giving "a gift that gladdens our hearts, that gives us joy." For instance, this is why we encourage people to self-declare as prime givers, as giving 3% of their income whatever it is. You will be the happier for it. And another study backs me up on that.

Peter Singer’s article concludes by noting that a survey of 30,000 households in the United States found that those who give of their resources are 43% more likely to say they were "very happy" about their lives than those who did not give.

Couple this study with one done by the Giving USA Foundation last year and we find there are lots of happy people around. Giving USA reports that even in what they described as the "worst economic climate since the Great Depression," charitable giving in our country exceeded $300 billion dollars – not just in that recent year, but for the past two years in a row. They also found that giving to religion increased 5.5% and that "religious gifts account for as estimated one-half of all individual giving." And that is not counting bequests or gifts from family foundations.

Over the past couple of years, we have increased our own generosity and our own giving as a congregation. Not only did we increase our stewardship pledging last year, but we also support a social justice outreach project (currently John Raper School) in a significant way through both financial means and volunteer energy and hours, and we give away our Sunday offering – not just once in a while, not just once a month, but every Sunday!

I am so proud of this. I do not keep it a secret among my colleagues or anyone else I might have the opportunity to share it with. Jesus would be so disappointed in me. But this is such a wonderful thing we are doing, so I talk about it, and I talk it up. Ok, maybe I brag a little bit, but it is only because I am so proud of what we are doing. I am proud because we are making a difference. I am proud because we are nurturing a culture of generosity among us that gives, not just because it is the right thing to do, but because it is who we are. It is what we do. It is how we live out our faith. It is how we put our principles into action.

And then there are our renters. That is right, I am including the people who pay us to use space here, because this is still a way in which we open our facilities to the wider community and keep our home here a buzz of activity. Among them are the Cleveland Institute of Music, Kindermusic, Verlezza Dance, Behind the Wheel driving school, Jazzercize, Jung/Cleveland, and the Jewish Secular Community.

I know I have left some out, but then I think I have made my point. We are living out our motto, our vision, our being, "to search and to serve." And we do it because of your support. Income affects outcome.

Bob Dylan once sang that "those who aren’t busy bein’ born are busy dyin’." Likewise, a congregation that is not busy growing in some way will find itself shrinking in many ways. Thus, your Board of Trustees and the Staff Leadership Team (myself, George Buchanan and Doug Aubin) have set some stretch goals for this coming Stewardship Campaign.

Some of them are ongoing promises we have already made to ourselves. We hope to continue to increase our Annual Fair Share contribution to the Unitarian Universalist Association, with the goal of returning to full Fair Share as soon as possible. The Board also continues its commitment to Fair Compensation for all Staff and Ministers, and seeks to move closer to those goals.

New this year is what inspired our theme: Successfully Connected to First Unitarian Church. For many years now, we have had several dedicated members creating and maintaining our web site. Circumstances have almost always been that eventually, they have to move on. Our deep gratitude goes to them all. It is a big job. We also recognize it as a very critical job in today’s high tech world.

Therefore, we are proposing that we create a part time position for a web and communications assistant. This individual would oversee the web site (keeping it active and up to date), podcast forums and services, and provide technical support to bring our overall communications into the 21^st century. This will require an increase in commitment from all of us, but I believe it is a critical and necessary one. More and more, our web site is the portal through which people searching for a community such as ours find us. Likewise, it is becoming one of our main methods for getting ourselves known to the world – for communicating our faith and advertising all that we have to offer. I hope you will join me in supporting this important, even critical, effort.

In closing, I want especially to urge even those among us perhaps less than enthusiastic about one thing or another that we are doing or not doing around here also to consider raising your pledge. I have frequently encouraged this on the grounds that a weakened institution will find it more difficult to change than a strong one. While I still believe that, I have also been reminded by the following story that there are creative ways to support the overall spirit of our congregation. I have my colleague, Patrick O’Neill, to thank for this story.

It seems that a minister of the Church of Scotland, a teetotaler, gave his small congregation a scathing, even if ineffective, sermon on the evils of alcohol. The next week, he found himself invited, with all of his neighbors, to a harvest feast at the manor of the area’s richest farmer, Lord MacGregor.

MacGregor’s farm was famous not only for its barley and oats, but also for the fine cherry brandy that old MacGregor himself bottled every year. At the end of the incredible feast, he served each guest a glass of it. Not wanting to offend, the parson drank his serving and actually found it to be quite delicious. As he took his leave, he discreetly asked MacGregor if there was any chance a case of the brandy could be donated to the parsonage – strictly for medicinal purposes, of course.

MacGregor was glad to do so, but on one condition: that the minister write a public thank you for the gift on the front page of the parish newsletter. The parson thought for a moment and then agreed.

The next morning, not one but two cases of the cherry brandy arrived as promised at the parsonage. And sure enough, in the next parish newsletter, the parson wrote this:

I thank you all for the fine spirit in which each of you freely and generously give of yourselves and of your resources in support of our congregation and of the faith that we all seek to live in our world.