It isn't simply because it's right or valuable or benefits the common good. We love because Christ first loved us. It is, as you know, stewardship season when, after a series of letters and articles and inspirational words, you will have the opportunity to fill in the blanks of a commitment card with your name and a dollar amount. Despite the pragmatic spin that is oftentimes given it and the dutiful return of what some will view to be their fair share, stewardship and pledging aren't about paying up your dues. If the church were fully endowed so as to keep up its building and maintain its program, we would still be mailing out the letters and filling in the cards, because it isn't really about salaries and Sunday School books and utility bills and supporting good works worldwide.
Stewardship is about joy and thanksgiving and relishing a life made new.
Christians don't give because there are bills to pay, but because there is more to our joy than words can say. The ditches are full of the barely alive, beaten, abandoned and forgotten, and God's people are called to see them, hear them and respond. But let us first remember that we are God's people, forgiven, loved and free, and to the extent that we lay a piece of our own lives down in ministry and service, it's because Christ first laid his life down for me. Rejoice, then, in your faith. Our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name.