Readings for All Saints Day/C:
Eccl. 44:1-14; Matt. 5:1-2
November 4, 2007
The Rev. Karen Faye Siegfriedt
St. Jude the Apostle Episcopal Church, Cupertino, CA
“But of others there is no memory; they have perished as though they had never existed ...; But they were godly people whose righteous deeds have not been forgotten.”[Eccl. 44]
Today we celebrate All Saints’ Day, a principle feast day during which we especially remember those saints who have died yet whose names are known only by a few. These are the saints who have loved generously, lived faithfully, given radically, and then quietly left this world. One of those unknown saints is my mother, who at 63, died unexpectedly.
My mother was a shining star, a woman who had an indomitable spirit. She was the kind of person you would want as your mother or on your committee because she always went the extra mile. I remember her traveling to work each day into downtown Boston on the train, working hard, and then coming home to prepare dinner for the family. She would listen to the woes and wonders of others and then slip out for an evening meeting, volunteering to make this world a better place. Once home, she would type out the minutes of the meeting before she went to bed. Politics and environmental causes were her passion and she lived out her faith by striving for justice and the dignity of every human being. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” [Mt. 5]
Although my mother was a saint, she was not perfect. Saints are not perfect, just faithful. When it came to sharing her time and talents, she was extremely generous. But when it came to giving money, sometimes she had a fear of scarcity. Having been brought up during the Depression, she experienced much deprivation. At the age of six, her father died of pneumonia, leaving her mother to raise four children. Two days after her father died, the bank repossessed the house. My grandmother then went to work as a seamstress in a garment factory. Making ends meet became a full time job for the whole family.
Over the years, the economy eventually improved, my mother got married, and began raising a family. But the impact of the Depression always remained with her. I remember as a child, sitting around the kitchen table, drinking tea with my family out of cups that were cracked and chipped. One day I looked up at the cupboard and saw several beautiful, blue china cups. I asked my mother when we were going to use those cups. She said: “When the queen comes to visit us.” I replied: “The queen is never going to visit us.” That was the end of the discussion. Thirty years later while at my parents’ home, I finally decided to take the teacups down from the cupboard and make tea for the family. It was the day after my mother’s funeral. How sad it was that she never got to enjoy those teacups, which were so precious to her that she didn’t want anyone to break them.
As I grew into a young adult, the fear of scarcity of money remained with me. After all, you never know when the next Depression might come! So when it came to giving money to the church, I would slip only a few bills into the plate. After all, I wasn’t making much and I had little discretionary money. As time went on, I became more active in my church and began to pledge an acceptable amount; kind of like paying dues to a club. But “generous giving” remained outside of my vocabulary. Then I had a jolting experience that moved me from an attitude of scarcity to an attitude of abundance. One weekend, I attended a new-age seminar on abundant living. During the seminar, the leader told us to turn to the person next to us and give that person something that we had brought along. That “something” couldn’t be money. Because I travel light, I had nothing to give. As I sat there thinking what to do, I realized I had a diamond solitaire necklace around my neck. I certainly couldn’t give a complete stranger my precious necklace. But as the time ticked by, I knew I had to do something. So I bit the bullet, took off the necklace, and gave it to the stranger beside me. Was it hard? Yes! Did I resist? Yes! Did it change my life? Yes!
I don’t really remember all that transpired after that moment, but what I do know is that since that time, I am much more aware of the blessings and abundance in my life. This was a spiritual conversion that has helped me overcome much of my fear of scarcity, though I still have a way to go. But it was then that I decided to tithe 10% of my income to the church. 10% is the standard of giving in the Episcopal Church. For me, this is a spiritual discipline, not a financial decision. There are so many demands on my money, some of which are very immediate. Yet I continue to give, trusting in abundance rather than fearing scarcity. I give primarily to the church because is the only institution whose mission it is to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. While there are other worthy causes that I support, I believe the spreading of the gospel is the most transformative for humanity. Learning about and living out the gospel will transform humanity into a people who embrace the spirit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control.
In today’s gospel, we hear the transforming words of Jesus spoken to a people in need of hope. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” Jesus reverses the general value system of his society by pronouncing blessings on the poor, the hungry, and the persecuted. He blesses those who are in dire circumstances and gives them hope for a different future. How different are these words from the words of the media who blesses only the good-looking movie stars, the rich and famous, self-serving behavior, and those who have more-bigger-better. The messages that are reaching our children today proclaim that true happiness is found in having more stuff, no matter what the cost may be. The Christian faith on the other hand is a way of life based on radical generosity with a firm hope that righteous, purity, mercy, and peace are the way to true happiness; the way to abundant life. This is my passion and so I give my time, talent, and treasure to spread this gospel.
So, where am I today in my relationship to God and money? Well, I still have to work on my fear of scarcity, which pops up every once in awhile. For instance, at last month’s vestry meeting, I made an additional commitment of money to support the site plan. It felt good when I made the commitment. But later that week, I opened up my tax bill. It was over $8000! I had a sinking feeling in my gut, similar to the feeling I had when I gave away my diamond necklace. The journey to generous, joyful giving is not always immediate. But since it is a spiritual issue and not a financial one, I know I can trust in the abundance that God has blessed me with. If you take a coin, and hold it tightly against your eye, you block the light from entering your eye. But if you reach out your arms, holding the coin as far away as possible, the light comes rushing into your eye. Giving is like that. As you stretch out your arms in radical generosity, the light that has come into the world blesses you in abundance.
So, blessed are you who live out a life of mercy, righteousness, purity, and peace, even when the secular world tells you it is foolish ...; for yours is the kingdom of God.
| Updated November 11, 2007 |
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