16 complete district lay speaker training

The Rev. Janet Fluth, pastor of Trinity UMC, McAllen, won the McAllen District’s “Stewardship Preach-Off.”
Fluth learned of the honor last month at the McAllen District Laity Banquet. For her prize, she chose two days on South Padre Island.
District Superintendent Kim Cape invited pastors in October to submit their best sermons on faith and money.
Here is the text of Fluth’s sermon, which a panel of judges selected from a field of eight:

5 frequently asked questions about money
I was at a meeting recently when one of our extension pastors said, “I hate to ask for money, but my program needs more funds to stay in operation.”
Now, you will never hear me say that I hate to ask for money. I think that what we are doing is very important and exciting, and I think that you should be supporting the church financially. Not only you should, but that you would want to support the church—need to support the church—feel that it is a privilege to support the church.
I feel much more like Cher. When Cher came to the Valley, she charged $100 a ticket. The Dodge Arena was packed—every seat was full. Cher did not say, “Oh, I hate to ask people for money.” I figure she was saying, “This is a great show; this is a great opportunity; people want to see me; and I want to see them.” We ought to feel more strongly about our church than we feel about a Cher concert!
So what information do we need to give our members for them to feel as good about giving to the church as they do about buying a rock and roll concert ticket? What information do we need to share so that our members will say, “What a great opportunity! What a privilege! What a joy to support our church!”?
So what are our frequently asked questions about giving?

Question 1: Why give to the church?
I do not want to live in a town without a church, and I do not think that you want to, either. I want the church to be the center of town, the center of the community, the center of our lives. Last Tuesday, the pastor and I were driving into Kingsville for a meeting. She said, “Do you remember where the church is?
And I said, “Look up, and you will see the steeple.” That is what I want for every community—look up, and you will see the steeple.
I have a picture in my office of eight handsome young men—my son and his best friends. These young men became friends when they were 7 years old and started Cub Scouts together in the basement of St. Mark’s Presbyterian Church in Elizabeth, Colo.
The church was the center of our lives—church services, confirmation, Boy Scouts. All eight of these young men were honored as Eagle Scouts, and we celebrated eight times in the basement of the church. Now Shandor Lau is a Fulbright scholar and is studying in Malaysia. Josh Lau and my son Joe both are industrial engineers and work for the same company—Josh in Portland, Ore., and Joe in Denver. Ben Mottinger is a real rocket scientist for Lockheed-Martin. Casey Mottinger graduated from the Air Force Academy and flies fighter jets, and Dan is a student at the University of Colorado in Boulder, and he is the youngest member of Rocky Mountain Rescue. Steven Knoll has just returned from the Peace Corps in Malaysia and China, and Travis Knoll is in Iraq.
All the boys have done a lot of traveling, alone and together. Recently, his mom asked Travis, “How do you do it? When you are in a strange country where you can’t speak the language, how do you find your way around?”
Travis said, “Mom, you just look up and find the steeple of a church, and whenever you walk, you just keep your eye on that steeple, and you won’t get lost.”
And that is why we want to support a church in every town—so that our children won’t get lost.

Question 2: What does the Bible say about giving money to the church?
The Bible offers 500 verses on prayer, less than 500 on faith but more than 2,000 verses on money and possessions. In the gospels, one out of 10 verses deals directly with the subject of finances. Nearly half the parables of Jesus are concerning money and possessions.
The biblical perspective about money begins in the fact that we are not actually givers at all; God is the real giver from whom all blessings flow. Paul asked the Corinthians, “What do you have that God hasn’t given you?” (1 Corinthians 4:7).
Scripture invites a response to God of gratitude and joyful obedience giving that is eager with love because we know Who gave first.
“God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him” (1 John 4: 9-10).
A very wealthy man was known to be critical of the church, always grouching about its problems and failures and inadequacies.
In time, this man became very ill, and on his deathbed he asked to see the pastor. Pale and worried, he said, “Do you think, pastor, that if I gave all my money to the church, do you think God would take me in? If I donated all that I have, would that be enough to make it?”
The pastor leaned forward: “I’m not sure, but it is worth a try” (from Circuit Rider, July Aug 2003, p.23).
We do not respond from self-interest and guilt. We respond because we love God. Our scripture for today, Psalm 116: 1-12, says, “I love the Lord because...” and then lists, though only partially, some of what God has given us. God gives us his listening ear. God gets us through the toughest times and protects us. God gives us peace so that we can rest and keeps us on track so we can go the distance. And then at verse 12, the psalmist asks the key question for why we give money to the church, “What can I offer the Lord for all that he has done for me?”

Question 3: What’s the difference between a pledge and a tithe?
So now that we know why we give to the church—how do we go about this?
We ask each member to give a pledge to the church. How much money are you going to give the church each month or each week? This number helps us to make our budget for the year. How much money will we receive in the offering plates? How much money can we spend?
A pledge is what you are promising to give to the church each year. When you fill out your pledge card, we know what your pledge is.
Tithing is a little more complicated. Leviticus 27: 30-32 says, “All the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or the fruit of the trees, is the Lord’s ... and all the tithe of herds and flock, every 10th animal shall be holy to the Lord.”
We do not know if you are tithing unless you tell us your income because a tithe is 10 percent of your income. How do you determine 10 percent of your income? That is between you and God. One way of doing that is looking at Line 34 on your income tax return—adjusted gross income.
My Line 34 for 2003 was $24,984. So my tithe is 10 percent of that—$2,498 a year—$208 a month or $52 a week. The church needs you to pledge. You need to tithe.

Question 4: Why do I need to plan ahead?
Too many people just put into the offering plate what they have in their pocket. Too often that is a $1 bill. Unless you are only making $10 a week, a $1 bill is not sufficient.
Last Friday I was flipping channels and realized that I was watching my former boss and supervisor, the Rev. Mark Clark, preaching.
After the sermon, the offering plate was passed, and as it reached the U.S. president, you could see that a drama was unfolding. The president did not have money for the offering plate
First the vice president, Dick Cheney, tried to hand him some money, but the First Lady intercepted that. Then the president’s father passed him some cash from the pew behind.
By this time the whole row was laughing along with a television audience of millions! I just kept thinking—that better not have been a $1 bill that the senior President Bush handed to his son!
You have to plan ahead. First, according to the Bible, you need to be tithing or working toward a tithe. That means that you have to sit down and plan your whole budget. What percentage of your income are you giving to the church? If all you can give this year is 3 percent—at least you know that and know that next year you will make it 4 percent and in seven years you will be tithing.
Better that than in seven years you are still putting $1 in the plate and have no idea of what your budget is. Tithing, or working toward a tithe, helps you put your whole budget into perspective—even more importantly—your whole life into perspective!
So first, you have to sit down with your family and plan a budget. Second, you have to figure out how to get the money to church.
Until my grandmother died the month before her 99th birthday, she planned ahead. Each month when she received her Social Security check, she got the cash for the offering plate and put the money into separate envelopes for each Sunday that month.
I obviously don’t carry a purse up here, so I have to have a check ready ahead of time. Many people write their checks when they pay the rest of their bills and mail the check to the church. Don’t be like the president and be caught with no money!

Question 5: What is the magic?
I have lived way too long to believe in the “health and wealth” theology. Bad things really do happen to good people. Tithing is not a magic pill that will keep you from all harm. But I have also lived long enough to know that miracles do happen from tithing. You cannot out-give God.
When I started my internship at St. Mark, I had not had a paycheck for almost three years because I had been in seminary. Imagine being a single mother and having two children in college and not having a paycheck for three years. Right there is a miracle.
I received my first paycheck from St. Mark, $500. I knew that I had to tithe because I try to practice what I preach. So I put a check for $50 in the plate. I was not a cheerful giver. I really needed that money!
When I went back to my office there was a check for $50 from a member of that congregation. The note said, “We thought maybe you needed this money.”
Yes, I needed that money. But more importantly, I needed to be reminded that my every need would be taken care of.