“Wrestling”

Good morning. I am Kim Wiggin, and I am coordinating the annual Stewardship campaign here at OSA. Many of you have heard a version of this message a few times before from me; for some of you, this is your first “Stewardship Journey” with me. So, for you, here are some warnings: I am going to talk about money. I am going to talk about sacrifice. And I am going to talk about tithing. This is your chance to leave if you must.

But before money, I want to talk about Jacob. In this morning’s reading from Genesis, we heard of Jacob’s journey to a new land, and the blessing he received from God in spite of his less than admirable behavior in the past. In today’s verses, Jacob is taking a journey to basically run away from his past. He had tricked his father into giving him the blessing meant for his brother, Esau. And when he thought Esau might be coming after him, he sent his beloved wives and family on ahead of him, so perhaps Esau would kill them and not him. Nice guy. But while he is left alone, he falls asleep and “a man wrestled with him until daybreak”. At some point during this struggle, which lasted until dawn, Jacob realized he was not wrestling with Esau, or another enemy, but someone other than a normal human being. Jacob was wrestling with God. He met him on equal ground. Jacob held God, and God held another blessing that Jacob wanted. God asks for Jacob’s name, then tells him he “shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel” and blesses him. Jacob wrestled with God and not only survived, but was blessed. God loved Jacob in spite of his fighting with him, in spite of his flaws.

We need to wrestle with God; wrestle with our faith, our expectations. The quality of our lives is not based on how long we live, but how much we struggle. Can we hold onto God’s grace and mercy in those early hours of the morning, as Jacob did, after we have been wrestling all night long?

In making our decision to pledge to OSA, and how much to pledge, we must wrestle with God. Talking about money and faith makes so many people uncomfortable. If you are one of those people, wrestle with that. Ask yourself why? In preparing for this morning, I discovered that Jesus talked about money in 16 of the 38 parables. One of every ten verses in the Gospels relates to possessions and money. There are more than 700 verses that contain the word love, more than 500 with the word prayer, a few less than 500 that contain the word believe---and over 2,100 times that some form of the word “give” is mentioned! Jesus talks more about giving than heaven and hell. He tries to help us understand how money and what it symbolizes, what it controls in our lives, can interfere with our relationship with God.

“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, passed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”  (Luke 6:38)

The act of giving, of stewardship, will be a sacrifice. For some of us, it will be a very big sacrifice. But we must give from our abundance. As Americans, we have so much. I have to ask: Do we really know what it means, what it takes to sacrifice?

This was really brought home to me a couple of weeks ago, when I traveled to Santa Fe, where our youngest son, Matthew, is in college. He was performing in a production called “Speak Truth to Power”, a play based on a book and human rights program started by Kerry Kennedy Cuomo. Cuomo interviewed dozens of people around the world who had made some stand against human rights violations. They ranged from people whose names and stories are familiar to us--Desmond Tutu, Elie Wiesel, Helen Prejean—to men and women few of us would ever know about had Cuomo and the play-write, Ariel Dorfman, not brought their stories, their amazing sacrifices, to the public’s attention. A different actor, some speaking in the native tongues of the countries where they had suffered their horrors, represented each activist’s voice. A young woman from Ghana, Juliana Dogbazi, was given away as a slave under the system of Trokosi, a religious and cultural practice in which young girls, mostly virgins, are sent into lifelong servitude to atone for the alleged crimes of their relatives. After years of abuse and torture, at the age of 17 she was able to escape, with two babies strapped to her body, hiding in the bush. She finally made her way to an organization called International Needs-Ghana, where she was protected, educated and able to develop skills to support herself and her children. She has now committed her life to educating others, both in Ghana and round the world, about the Trokosi system. Dogbazi receives threatening letters, and is regularly confronted while doing her work. She says, “What I do is dangerous, but I am prepared to die for a good cause”. That is sacrifice.

I had the privilege of working with a student for the past 5 years whose life, and the lives of his family, were ones of great sacrifice. Cheik Khadim Diouf is the youngest of 6 children, born and raised in Dafur, Senegal. At the age of 13, he came to the United States to attend Suffield Academy, where one of his brothers-in-law had attended years before. Upon arrival in the States, Khadim spent 5 weeks in New York at an intensive English language course, because the only languages he had known up to that point were French and Wolof, his tribal tongue. You see, Khadim was, and is, an extremely talented soccer player. His family knew that in order for him to have the opportunity to both develop as an athlete and possibly attend an American university, he would have to go to the States. At his first soccer practice, he wore the only pair of shoes he owned, Converse high tops. He was so embarrassed when he saw all the other players that he removed the shoes and played barefoot. When questioned, he told everyone that everyone played barefoot in Senegal! It was not until he confided in a teammate, who too was fluent in French, that he had no other shoes that the coach bought him a pair of cleats. Khadim worked very single weekend that he was in school, in the kitchen, so he would have spending money. He worked every summer at soccer camps, helping young boys and girls develop a passion for the game he loved so much. Khadim shared his wealth with the Academy when asked to participate with his class in the annual fund, offering a financial contribution each year. He has not been able to return to Senegal for over 5 years, because he cannot afford it. We celebrated joyfully last May when, after 5 years, this outstanding young man graduated from Suffield Academy, with his mother, three of his siblings, and other family friends in attendance. Sacrifice? Think of the sacrifice of his mother, who has only been able to communicate with her youngest son on the telephone for 5 years. Think of the family that has not been complete for holidays or celebrations for over 5 years. Think of this young man, who at the age of 13, knew he would have to sacrifice the comfort and security of the only home he had known to achieve his goals. This young man would make any adult proud. He is now a student at San Diego State University, playing soccer on a nationally ranked division 1 team, having received a full scholarship. And as of last week, he is the second leading scorer on the team. But more importantly, he is attending class, studying business, and meeting all of his commitments as a student athlete with pride and dedication.

Sacrificial and proportionate giving is a way for us to give in relation to our abundance. Juliana Dogbazi gives of her abundance each and every day when she risks her life to passionately try to change a system of abuse and servitude. Khadim and his family continue to make painful and challenging sacrifices when they celebrate each birthday, each birth of a new family member, each family milestone continents apart. Each of us has the opportunity to demonstrate true sacrifice by giving to OSA according to our means, by offering a sacrifice so others may share in God’s words and blessings. We must share our abundance, our gifts, for the benefit of all.

Now, as I warned you, I am going to talk about tithing for a minute. Each time I have headed the stewardship campaign, more than 1 person has asked, “But how do I know how much to give”? That’s easy. 10%. The tithe is the only biblical standard set for giving back to God. It is also the minimum standard set by the Episcopal Church. For some of us, the idea of tithing makes us laugh: “There is no way I could ever do that!” For others, talking or thinking about tithing makes us mad: “Don’t ask me that. Why would I even consider such an idea?” Others experience sadness: “I wish I could tithe, but I have so many bills and other expenses, I make so little money, I just can’t do that.” But every once in a while someone asks, “Can I learn how to tithe? Can I begin to take the steps toward that commitment?” Believe it or not, there are even some people in this parish who already know the blessings of tithing and that expression of faith. Whatever your reaction is this morning, I ask that you reexamine how you feel about your personal giving patterns. Wrestle with the standard that both the Bible and the Episcopal Church have set: the tithe.

Realistically, I know everyone here will not make the decision to tithe this year. So, I have another suggestion for you, one that I believe is both realistic and significant in each of our journeys to demonstrate our gratefulness to God for all that we have and all that we are. The Vestry and I are asking you to raise your pledge for 2008 by a minimum of 7% over this year. 7%. For the average pledge at OSA in 2007, that is less than $129 a year. Two dinners out a nice restaurant. Maybe three tanks of gas for your car. Less than $2.50 each week.

The average pledge for the Diocese of Connecticut for 2007 is $2,200.00. That is $360 more than the average pledge here at OSA. I ask that you reach for that goal. Do not be satisfied to be less than average.

All of the members of the Vestry, as well as the wardens and Rector, have already made their commitment to OSA for 2008. Collectively, we have pledged $39,070, for an average pledge of $3,256. The increase over last year is 11%. We have set the standard that we hope the rest of the parish will joyfully aspire to. Each and every one of us must examine our relationship with OSA, and with God, and be ready to make an active demonstration of our faith. All of the people who came before us here at OSA, whose lives and gifts we recognized in our celebration last week, found a way to wrestle with God, to make a sacrifice to honor their love of OSA and take care of this place we call our spiritual home. Stewardship is taking care of the things we cherish. That cannot be done without money. Talking about it, wrestling with it, making sacrifices to demonstrate our gratitude to God for all that we have and all that we are is the least we should do. Jesus modeled that behavior for us by talking about giving more than any other subject during his life.

I know there is never a perfect time to make this kind of commitment to OSA, to God: no perfect time to make a pledge, increase a pledge, or tithe. But I do know that it is through our faith that we believe that God will provide for us. The least we can do to thank God for that blessing is honor him with a gift from our abundance. At the very least, each of us must do that.

After 26 years at OSA, I know we are a grateful and generous congregation. I pray that we will show that generosity by making a commitment to the ministry and mission of OSA. Each of us must act.

The words of Elie Wiesel, author and Holocaust survivor, are spoken in “Speak Truth to Power”. He says, "The opposite of love is not hate, the opposite of love is indifference." Please do not be indifferent.

In peace: Amen.