MyQuest: Something My Mama Taught Me

Something My Mama Taught Me

Acts 2:1-21

by the Rev. Dr. E. Scott Jones

Cathedral of Hope – Oklahoma City

11 May 2008

Today I want to talk to you about something that my Mama taught me. It requires me to do something a little different. I don't want to talk to you as a pastor, but as a church member. I'm not going to give a sermon – I'm going to share a personal testimony.

So, I'm taking off this stole, this sign of ordination and pastoral authority. I'm taking off this robe, this sign of academic accomplishment. And I'm stepping out of this pulpit and to this lectern.

So, I'm speaking as Scott Jones, not as the Rev. Dr.

Why? Because I want to share with you my stewardship testimony, not a stewardship sermon.

[Note: some personal financial information edited for on-line version]

Stewardship, tithing, is something that my momma taught. In our household we were paid our weekly allowance into four envelopes that our mother had created for us. One envelope was spending money, another envelope short term savings for something that we wanted to buy, the third was for our savings account at the bank, and the fourth was our tithe. Ten percent of the weekly allowance, dedicated to the church. It would be a mistake to list it as the fourth envelope, though, because it was really first. The tithe was paid before anything else was.

From the earliest age, I was a tither. It became a habit. A spiritual practice and discipline, the source of spiritual strength and joy.

When the stewardship campaign rolled around every year and the deacons and other folk stood up to talk about tithing, I knew what they were talking about. When they spoke of how it brought joy and blessing to their lives, I knew. When they talked about how it made them a better person more generous and gracious, I knew that too.

In 1990 when the First Baptist Church of Miami celebrated our centennial, we had a number of events throughout the year, many involving long time church members sharing their stories. Some were a little shocking. For instance, one of our oldest members talked about one time when the Klan appeared during Sunday morning worship to donate money to the church. Which, thankfully, the church gave away.

One story that has always stuck with me was told by Claudine Stepp. Claudine was called upon to talk about the period in the 1960's when the church built the new sanctuary. Now the Stepps were not wealthy, you wouldn't even describe them as comfortable. But Claudine shared how her family decided to support the building of the sanctuary. They were already tithing and understood that a commitment to a building campaign would call for sacrifice beyond the tithe that God normally asked of them. They didn't decide to give up some luxuries, because they didn't have any to give up. Instead they reduced the size of their weekly food budget and committed that money to the church. Claudine said it meant that they ate a lot of beans for awhile, but as she stood there in the sanctuary almost thirty years later, she shined with pride that her sacrifice had contributed to a ministry which touched the lives of thousands of people. She spoke of this as one of the great joys of her life.

These are the sorts of stories that I grew up hearing, the sort of spiritual training that I received. Thus, I was always a tither. I have helped to save the lives of African children through medical missions. My gifts responded to the Oklahoma City Bombing. My stewardship has supported micro-loans and libraries in the Mississippi Delta. My tithe went to new, young ministers receiving seminary education. My financial gifts have helped thousands experience profound moments of worship in the churches to which I've belonged. The fruits of my labor have helped to build the kingdom of God. What greater source of joy is there? I have found none.

In the late nineties when I started graduate school I worked as a graduate assistant in the philosophy department at OU. That first year I made $XXXX. By my fifth year, thanks to David Boren's commitment to raise our salaries, I was making the huge amount of $XXXXX and health insurance. All of those years I was living below the federal poverty level.

And I still tithed. And that tithe does not count the other money that I gave to charity above that tithe. I was amused during that period when one year Al and Tipper Gore's tax returns were made public, as they are with politicians, and it was revealed that the Gore's had only contributed $500 to charitable causes that year, causing a minor scandal. I was proud that I, who lived below the poverty level and made far less than the Vice President of the United States, had given away more money that year.

One of the spiritual fruits that comes with tithing is learning to live simply. Learning to live with less means that we are less greedy, that we participate less in the injustices of the world economy, that we learn that we are not owned by our things. Sure, there are times I'm envious of my friends and their plasma screen televisions, their new cars, their fabulous trips, and their expensive clothes. But I'm not envious of their credit card debt or their consumer mindset that compels them to want the latest or the best thing.

Tithing is a risk. It would be easy to take care of yourself and use the money that you would otherwise tithe. Tithing reminds you that you do not own yourself, that you must trust God to provide for you. Tithing, then, builds your faith.

In 1998 I decided to buy a house. Now I was fortunate to have some savings because I had inherited a little money from my grandmother. My dad was an only child and had died before grandma, so the money from the sale of her farm went to me and Kelli and paid for our educations and our first homes.

That year I made about $XXXX. Despite my poverty income, I was able to buy a house. Maybe this can only happen in Oklahoma where the cost of living is so low. I paid $33,500 for the house, less than some people's cars. It was 1,064 square feet, had oak floors, cedar-lined closets, and mahogany crown molding. I loved that little house. My house payment was $275 a month!

I do not believe in a prosperity gospel. I do not believe that there is a magical formula where in you give some amount of money and God will give you ten times back. That's not Christianity, that's paganism.

What I do believe is that when you tithe you are blessed in many ways, most of them spiritual. What I know without a doubt is that there have been times in my life that I have received financial blessing. No one will ever convince me that being approved for the loan to buy that house or the ability to afford it on an income below the poverty level, was a result of anything except my lifelong commit to tithing.

Three years ago I made the decision to accept this job and move to Oklahoma City. I did not have to struggle over the decision at all. It was clear to me that God was calling me here. And I was passionately excited about the vision and the mission of this church. It was something I wanted to commit my life to.

And it took sacrifice. There were a number of things I gave up in order to come here, including my comfortable income and benefits package. But these financial sacrifices did not give me a second thought for two reasons: 1) I passionately believed in this church, and 2) I had lived more simply before and knew that I could again.

You remember what happened next. My house in Dallas stayed on the market for eight months and I lived with my parents that entire time. Remember how stressful that was? I was one of the early victims of the collapsed housing market.

Though I could easily support my Dallas house payment on my Dallas salary, that house payment was 2/3 of my monthly income here. Quickly I ate through my savings and began to build debt. When I did finally sell the house, I sold it for a loss, liquidating what few assets I had remaining in order to cover the loss. The debt I incurred I have still not recovered from.

I must confess that there were a few months in there that I was unable to tithe. It was a great pain to me, because tithing is a foundational spiritual discipline for me, the source of great joy and pride in my life. So, I understand when financial hardship gets in the way. The next year, after the house had finally sold, I made up for what I had been unable to do.

At the first of this year, with Michael living with me, I developed a plan for finally getting out of the debt from three years ago.

Then, this January when we received the end of 2007 financial report, I did what my Momma had taught me to do.

You see, in 2007 we brought in more money than any other year in the church's history – something to be celebrated. And most of the year giving stayed ahead of expenses. But in the fall expenses finally went ahead of giving and remained there, and we ended the year farther behind than we had expected, largely because of the bad weather in December that kept many people out of worship for three weeks.

The January financial report gave sobering news that we had very little savings left and that it would be gone within a couple of months. I wrote a letter about it, as did David Disbrow, we called the Special Congregational Meeting to discuss the situation, and we developed a few fundraising ideas. I also, as your pastor, went out and asked some people for money. This is not something I had ever thought I would do. In fact, as an Associate Pastor I would have said I would never do it. But I did it. One of our regular attendees contributed a sizeable gift, without which we would have been out of money some time ago.

At the end of March things looked much better, but during April giving dropped again while end of first quarter expenses meant April was an expensive month. We now find ourselves around $6,000 in the hole for this year and the potential of being unable to pay our bills within just a few weeks. But I'll let the Finance Team and the Congregational Officers tell you more about that. Let me get back to my spiritual testimony.

Back in January when this worry became apparent, I did what my Momma taught me to do, what First Baptist Miami and folk like Claudine Stepp taught me to do. I called up Nancy Sanders, our financial secretary and upped my pledge for this year. That debt-reduction plan I had developed, I set aside. Money that I had allotted to pay down my debt, I now gave to the church. I began turning back in some of my reimbursements for church expenses and supplies. And, when I found out about the $600 we would all receive from the federal government as a economic stimulus tax rebate, I decided to give all $600.

Why? Not simply because it's what my Momma taught me to do, but because tithing and then going beyond the tithe to make the occasional financial sacrifice to support the church is foundational to my spiritual life. I believe it is what God expects of me, so I expect it of myself. It is an expression of my faith and trust in God; that no matter what happens in my life, God will provide. Stewardship has born fruit in my life, as I have been blessed to become more generous, to live more simply, and to participate in ministry to others. St. Francis is right; it is in giving that we receive.

Now, you might be wondering, "What does any of this have to do with Pentecost?"

On Pentecost God's Holy Spirit was poured out. The Spirit indwelled and empowered those who share in the faith of Christ. In the process the church was born.

Tithing and stewardship are for me the activities of God's Holy Spirit working through my life for my own spiritual growth and maturity and in order to build up God's holy church and usher in the reign of God.

As Scott Jones I invite you to share in that adventurous, joyful work of God. Why would you want to miss out on something so good?