Proper 24 C
Oct.
20, 2013
Jeremiah 31:31-34
Psalm 119:97-104
2 Timothy 3:14-4:5
Luke
18:1-8
You do know the story of the man whose house was flooded.
First he climbed on his furniture, then he climbed to the second floor of his
house, then he climbed out a window on to the roof. All the while he was
praying. I know God will save me, I know God will save me, he said over and
over again. When he was still on the first floor of his house, his sister
called: Get out, she said. The flood waters are rising. I’ll come by and pick
you up. No, no, he said. I have been praying. God will save me. You’re nuts,
she said, but have it your way.
When he was on the second floor of his house, the state
troopers came by in a motor boat. They had a megaphone. Get out, they said to
him. The flood waters are rising. We’ll pull over to the window here and help
you into the boat. No, no, the man said. I have been praying. God will save me.
Sir, the troopers said, sir. We urge you. Get into the boat. We can’t wait much
longer here. The flood waters are rising. We’re risking the lives of other
people we are saving. Go ahead, the man said. God will save me.
When he was on the roof, clinging tightly, as the wind
whipped around him and the waters rose, a helicopter flew over heard, and a
Coast Guard rescue worker was snapping on his harness and getting ready to drop
to the roof and pick up the man. Hold on, the Coast Guard shouted, we’re
sending our most experienced and strongest sailor down to pick you up. No, the
man shouted back, and waved his arms energetically. I am fine. God will save
me. What, the rescue workers in the helicopter shouted. We can’t hear you; the
wind is picking up. Go on, the man signaled to them, go on. Finally, even the
helicopter had to fly away, and there was the man, clinging to his roof, when
the wind and the waves overcame him and he drowned.
The man gets to heaven, and he is not only dripping wet, but
he is mad. He pushes through the pearly gates and demands to see God. He shakes
his fist and shouts, So where were you? I waited, I prayed, I waited some more,
and look where it got me!
What do you mean? God said. I sent your sister by, and you
wouldn’t get in the car. The state troopers were right on it, and still you
didn’t get in the boat. And the helicopter – oy. What have I told you? Pray
always, and do not lose heart – but my child, also, do not lose your head.
For the two and a half years I have been here, we have been
like the man in the house with the waters rising around him. Not in every
aspect of our life, of course – we have had successes, we have appreciated each
other, we have done some terrific things, we have served God and the community.
But we have had a running deficit of $30,000 in our operating budget. Even
though we have tried to manage this deficit, the bills have had to be paid, and
the various reserve accounts, over the past decade or so, have run out. The
only thing left are the funds from the sale of the most recent rectory – and
spending them at the rate we are going means – well, it’s not good. One
definition of crazy is doing the same thing over and over again and hoping for different
results. For the past several years, the vestry has budgeted this hefty
deficit, told you all about it at the Annual Meeting, and expected the deficit
miraculously to go away. It has not.
With much prayer and deliberation, with considerable time and
attention, the vestry and I have come to the realization that this deficit is a
spiritual problem. It blocks parish life. It makes it difficult to stand up
here at stewardship time and ask you to give to mission – to give to things
that make a difference in people’s lives -- when we are really desperate to get
to you pay for the maintenance of this deficit. It makes it really difficult to
invite new people into our community. It’s hard to preach about the abundance
of God when we are not making ends meet.
Yesterday, the vestry met as the Finance Committee of the
Whole. We spent three hours together listening to each other, sharing feelings
and thoughts, digging into the reality that the budget we have been presenting
to the congregation for several years at least is NOT the budget you want to
pay for. We came to the consensus that we are going to reduce our parish budget
in 2014 – perhaps by $30,000, perhaps by less, but certainly significantly. We
are going to live within our means.
Let me stress that this is not negative “solution” to a
“problem.” We cannot get to abundant life by doing less. Jesus did not come to
earth just so we could have “less death.”
This (A) is where we are now. It doesn’t matter how we got
here, or what might be to blame. What matters that we understand who we are
right now, our assets, our abilities, the many things we have going for us, our
considerable pledged income, our 65 generous pledging units, our building which
is paid for, easy to maintain and for which we have a surplus of capital funds.
We could go on and on about what a great parish this is.
This is the reality of
(A).
This (B) is where we want to go. This is the future we want
to live in. This is our imagined life abundant. This is the parish that can
live within its means. This is the parish that gives away twice as much money
as it spends on its own maintenance. This is the parish that people join
because here we do things that make a difference in God’s world. This is the
parish that celebrates the beauty and wonder of God. This is the parish that is
always stretching to reach those new places to which God is calling us, new
ways to serve, new communities to transform.
What do we have to add to (A) to get to (B)? What do we have
to do differently about our life and mission in order to make this parish
sustainable into the future? For another generation?
Some of that arrow includes money, yes. But it also includes
more information. Financial transparency. Accurate record-keeping. And an
honest budget where we pledge not only to our common life, but to live within
our means. Where we know we can respond generously when asked, when our time,
talent and treasure can make a difference in this broken and needy world.
In our first reading, the prophet Jeremiah talks about the
new covenant. There is always some controversy about that “new” covenant. Is
God getting rid of the old Sinai covenant, the Torah, the ten commandments, all
of Israel’s past? But look what happened to the Jews who came back from exile,
whose return was promised by God. They were able to rebuild Jerusalem. They
pulled together their old traditions and observances and customs and inhabited
them in a new way. God was the one who called them back. God was the one who
took the first step for forgive and forget. God was the one who wanted a
relationship with them SO MUCH that he was willing to start over – to re-boot
the whole kit and caboodle, to give these crazy people a new chance at a
future.
The vestry might propose some drastic changes in how we
spend our money as a parish community. We are not breaking with the past: we
are building on where we are now, so we can take all these things that we love
with us into the future.
This is the purpose statement of the parish as you wrote it
in your parish profile in 2010. This is what you said you were about when you
were looking for a new rector. I am going to hold you to this, to say that this
says something important about who we are and what we value. This may not
always be our purpose statement, but this is what we have. Does this statement
describe (A) – where we are now – or (B) where we want to be in the future? Or
is it some of both? What is God calling forth from us so that we can fully
become this parish that we say we value?
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