Stewardship/Gifts
1991 (Year B), 27 October / Pentecost 23
St Peter de Beauvoir Town
‘And God saw all that he had made and behold, it was very good. And all that he had made, everything, was given as a gift to the children he had created. ‘Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant to you for food’. And so it was’. Gift upon gift showered generously and gloriously on the children of creation.
And it didn’t stop there. On those children he rained down yet more gifts. To some was given the gift of preaching (although as you can tell at this moment, it wasn’t given to everyone) to some was given the gift of healing, to others administration. Some were made physically strong and they could use their gifts to build. Some were given the gift of hospitality, a most precious gift. Some used their brains to sort out problems that baffled others. Some were given the gift of children. There seemed no end to the gifts. Everyone was included. There wasn’t one loser.
But something did go wrong. The children God created began to fail to recognise all these gifts, perhaps it was precisely because they were free and so many in number, that they failed to see their value. Perhaps it was because the society they lived in felt that it was considered bad form to boast about what you could do. The situation got so bad pretty soon they couldn’t even recognise their own gifts and talents. So the vicar devised a little scheme to remind them of all the good gifts they had. But to do it he needed a few volunteers. Donna will do for a start, come up here … Maureen Brastock will do for another … Wendy Jones can come as well … Now who else can we have … everybody starts to crawl under the pews. There’s never been such hard praying done in this church … please God don’t let him pick me! What about John Hobart and … Steadman Wynter … Michael Briggs … Gordon Webb … Ruby Hay …
Anyone one of us could’ve stood up here for we all have gifts but the ones that these people have, all the ones we have, are literally priceless. And all these people have very special gifts. Some will be known to them already, after all most of know what we’re good at. But others they will need help with because, again like the rest of us, they will be completely unaware of the totality. I want us to help them now, identify some of their gifts. To identify them can be a gift in itself.
Donna, well she has the gift to make people smile – she’ll do it now. Maureen has the ability to seem calm when all around her is descending into chaos. Wendy, I was told only last night has the gift of dignity and preaching. John, he has a special gift of encouragement and service. Steadman, he has the gift of steadfastness and cooking. Michael can sing most wonderfully. Gordon has the gift of remembering people’s names, truly a marvellous gift. Ruby has the precious gift of caring for others.
Anyone of us could’ve stood up here for God has given each of us special gifts. Now it’s our turn to do some work. As these very brave people go back to their seats they will take back paper and pencils for each of us and I want you to write down one of the many gifts you have been given on the piece of paper. Just one, not everything, or we’ll be here all day. ‘I thank God for my gift of ... ‘, and you’re not allowed to write down my fur coat! It has to be some kind of quality or ability that you possess, kindness, warmth, footballing skill, skill with words, anything. Just one. Further down on that sheet of paper you’ll find a second sentence beginning with the words ‘I thank God for (blanks)…’s gift of... to me. And it would be good if you felt able to write somebody’s name in that blank space and then write down the thing they have given to you.
As you do that, can I ask you if you feel able, you might put the paper in the collection plate when it comes round. All these gifts can then be offered to God. I promise that the papers won’t be read. We’ll collect them together and burn them after the service. You can rest assured that what you write down won’t appear on the back of the Newssheet next week.
Stewardship is a time for recognising gifts. Gifts given to us alone, and those given to others around us. It’s a time for giving thanks for them. And as well as giving money and time to God we should make some assessment of our gifts so that we can ensure that these too are given back to our Divine Creator. For they were given generously may we use them wisely.
What we’ve done just now is a light hearted game – but it is serious. If we can think as we rejoice in what we’ve been given that what we have is a gift from God. AMEN