In anticipation of my 55th birthday – entry into the world of AARP – I’ve joined a gym. That’s because until recently I’ve taken something for granted. I’ve relied on my body to take care of itself. What I mean is that I’ve expected my body to maintain its strength and capabilities with no active plan to help it – just by doing the regular things that I’ve always done – walking, household chores, playing tennis, swimming, kayaking, and the like -- when the occasions arise. But I had a rude awakening back a month or so ago. I took a walk with my daughter and several other kids of various ages in our extended family. As we walked, we happened upon a playground, where there was a set of monkey bars. The kids started to try things -- as kids do – to see what they could do and how they stacked up with each other. For fun and out of misplaced confidence, I joined in. Everything was going ever so well as I shimmied up the poles and impressed the kids with my chin-ups. Then they tried their little hands at swinging from one end of the monkey bars to the other. They coaxed me to join in. My first try didn’t go very well, and so I tried again. I don’t know if it was playfulness or entering into the spirit of the moment or that chronic condition called the male ego – not to be outdone. But whatever it was, I grasped the first bar, swung forward, lost my grip, and came down like a ton of bricks – twisting my foot in the process. It hurt for the next 2 weeks, and that’s when I decided that it was time to take action. I came face to face with my own limitations and decided that if I didn’t start to exercise intentionally I’d become increasingly less strong as time moves on. That familiar slogan took on new meaning for me – use it or lose it! It’s true to life.

Jesus said, “To all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.” On first hearing that might sound a lot like “the rich will get richer and the poor will get poorer.” But when you take it in the context of the full passage, that’s not what He meant at all. Today’s passage is one of Jesus’ parables. He took a real- life situation – investment – and used it as a spiritual parallel. If you’ve ever invested money, you’ve probably followed the same principle. You’ll put your money in the hands of the financial institution that promises, or better still, that has a proven track record of making more money for you – whether it’s a bank, a mutual fund, stocks, or whatever. We even do it when it comes to spending money – often choosing stores that offer the best deals so that we’ll have more left over. So, with our resources, it’s not just a matter of use it or lose it, it’s also a matter of using what we have as best we can to achieve the maximum benefit.

And those are two of the morals of this parable – use it or lose it, and use it, as best you can, most beneficially. The two go hand in hand. But there are two other spiritual principles to be found in this parable, as well. The 3 stewards in the Gospel story had been entrusted with talents. In those days, a talent was a weight of money – 114 pounds of silver or gold -- and for most people, back then, one talent would have been worth about 6,000 days’ wages, nearly a lifetime’s worth of money. Two of them – the wise ones – knew why they’d been given the money. They knew that they were given the money to achieve the goals of the one who entrusted it to them. But one of them was concerned with him self – with the fear that, if he risked using it to make more, he might lose some and get in trouble for it. And so, Jesus’ story highlights two other spiritual principles. One is that we should use what we have for God’s goals, and the other is that when we do God will bless the results. That’s the basis of the concept of stewardship. Everything in our collection of resources actually comes from God and belongs to Him -- our bodies, their physical abilities and attributes, our minds and our mental capacities, our education and the skills and abilities we’ve gained from school, work and life, our relationships and emotional strengths, our environment and its natural resources and beauty, our property and our money. All of it comes from God and has been entrusted to us by God – in order to achieve the goals that God intends for us. Like the story of the three stewards in today’s Gospel, we do well to recognize what we’ve been given and why. We belong to God and are meant to serve as God’s stewards – to serve His purposes. When we use what we have to serve God’s purposes in this world we’ll be granted more, but if, for fear of not having enough for ourselves, we don’t use it to promote His goals we’ll lose it. Stewardship means acting in good faith and trusting that God will too. It means trusting God and taking the risk generously to use what we’ve been given to achieve God’s purposes. If we do, God will bless what we’ve given – to accomplish His purposes – and He’ll give us more than we thought we’d have. If we don’t, for fear that we won’t have enough, God will take away what we’ve been given. It’s not punishment. It’s the natural spiritual, consequence of our choices.

Let’s take our real-life situation as an example. If we have eyes to see it and the inclination to have taken advantage of it, God has given us – the people of St. Paul’s – an awful lot. God’s provided us with a rich history – stretching back 300 years. He’s given us fine facilities – sufficient to meet our needs for worship, education, fellowship and service. He’s given us a loving community of fellows to share with us. If I do say so, He’s given us an excellent staff. That’s resulted in programs of worship, music, education for all ages, family ministries, children’s ministries, youth ministries, pastoral care, spiritual growth, fellowship, and outreach opportunities for each and every one of us – and for others in the community, whom we choose to bring along with us – so that the ripple effect will be felt throughout the wider community and beyond. God has given us all this, as a Christian community, to make the impact on the wider world that He intends for us to make. Then too, individually, God’s given us time, skills, and money, in part, to serve His purposes in ministering the Gospel of Jesus Christ together and in the wider community. Now, He calls us to trust Him by using a significant proportion of our personal resources – a tithe or a generous portion of what He’s given us individually – in order to shoulder our part of responsibility for what it takes to do these ministries. If we trust Him and do sacrificially give generously of what He’s given us He’ll bless us, collectively – in our shared work of ministry -- to maximize its effectiveness. We’ll serve His purposes and He’ll provide even more. But if, because like that unwise steward, we are frightened that we’ll get into trouble and not have enough for ourselves, personally, and we don’t give sacrificially for the common good of our shared ministry, then we’ll lose what we have. It’s not punishment, but the natural consequence of that choice. We’ll jeopardize staff and so also the music and youth ministries, full use of our facilities, and some of the worship services, fellowship and educational opportunities that we enjoy. And then, spiritually, we’ll be driven simply to survive – just to keep the doors open. I’ve seen it happen over and over again. There are 30 churches within this diocese, alone, in that very position. But, on the other hand, if we trust God and give of ourselves, generously, even sacrificially, then God will bless the effect and provide us with more than we’ve had.

A few days ago, there was a meeting of the clergy of North Kingstown. In the course of the conversation I asked a question that seemed to me, tangentially, to follow what we’d been talking about – preventing substance abuse among teens in our town. Knowing that most of the churches are struggling with youth ministry and with Alan present, I asked, “What would it be like if we explored community youth ministry?” The response was even stronger than I thought it would be. Four of the pastors immediately expressed enthusiastic interest. Imagine, a collaborative youth ministry in North Kingstown! What would that be like! If we’re able to have someone dedicated to youth ministry, he can spearhead just such an effort, and the ripple effect could have a remarkably redemptive effect for many of the kids in the wider community. If we’re not willing, well, then, its just survival. “To all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.” Exercising faith is just like exercising the body – the more we push our limits the stronger we get. But if we don’t use it we’ll lose it. It’s a matter of investment in God’s work, here, at this church and in this town. But the choice is ours – individually – will we act like wise or the unwise stewards? It’s something to consider as we prepare our pledges.