Theological Truth: Practicing gratitude and generosity prevents us from taking God for granted.
I started kayak-fishing shortly after moving to New Orleans. One of the difficult things about fishing in south Louisiana is deciding where to go—especially if you’re using a paddle rather than an outboard motor. After lots of time on google maps and some trial and error, I eventually found a great spot: just over 30 minutes from my house in the saltwater marsh near the edge of Lake Pontchartrain. In addition to being an easy drive, I could park for free, launch my kayak, paddle across a waterway, and be fishing in total solitude within ten minutes of launching. In time, I came to think of it as “my spot.”
So, you can imagine my shock and frustration when I arrived one Friday morning and there was a car parked in my secret launch location! To make matters worse, when I paddled into the marsh, I found two other kayakers already fishing in “my spot.” The nerve! Eventually I realized that I had made the mistake of assuming something belonged to me simply through repeated use. Rather than being grateful, I had become possessive. Or, to paraphrase GK Chesterton, I had taken that fishing spot for granted, rather than taking it with gratitude.
We all make this mistake in one way or another. We sit at the same table at the same coffee shop for so long that we’re indignant when another customer is there. Or we drive up to our usual spot in front of the Rectory…I mean, in front of our house : ) … and we’re annoyed that someone else has parked there. I’ve even heard of the same thing happening with church pews (in other churches!) or our wealth. But we can mistakenly take more than just material things for granted. The people we love, the abilities we have, even (especially!) the life we enjoy, are all gifts from God, entrusted to us rather than owned by us; treasures to be received with gratitude rather than taken for granted.
We aren’t the first people struggling to remember this. Jesus names this human tendency in this not-so-subtle parable about the wicked tenants who receive God’s gift of this well-planned and fully equipped vineyard. They forget that they are tenants, not landlords; stewards, not owners. Their memory loss is understandable. It can take up to five years for a vineyard to yield grapes–plenty of time to forget who planted the vines, put the fence in, dug the wine press, and built that watchtower; easy to lose their connection to the landowner, and disregard their responsibility for seeing that it bears much fruit. They take the gift of their place in the vineyard for granted, rather than receiving it with gratitude. The results are lethal.
But notice who declares the verdict. Jesus asks the Temple leaders what will become of the wicked, forgetful tenants. They are the ones who pronounce the judgment, at least in Matthew’s telling of the parable. They have bought into the violence of a system where might makes right. Power and possession are central to their understanding of the world. Jesus counters with the quote from Isaiah: the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. Jesus offers another way of ordering our lives. When his way of Love becomes the cornerstone of our lives, when we accept the gift of the invitation to work the vineyards of his kingdom, we are reconnected to the Source of life and love. We own nothing but receive everything. We accept with gratitude rather than take for granted. We realize that this is all the Lord’s doing, and we remember how amazing it is in our eyes.
In last week’s “Generosity Moment,” Bibb Frazier reminded us that the only thing to do with a gift is to receive it gratefully and share it generously. That has always been the way of the saints: grateful, generous, joyful. They live and give remembering and rejoicing in all that God gives us—our lives, our loved ones, our talents, our treasures, our salvation—are gifts to be received gratefully and shared generously. Counted among God’s uncountable gifts is the Church and its saints; this church, and our saints: past, present, and future. These gifts are entrusted to us, not owned by us. We are stewards in the vineyard, responsible for bearing fruit for God and building God’s Kingdom.
Sometimes we bear the fruits of the kingdom through open hearts and by opening our buildings. For example, Trinity hosted the inaugural Shenandoah Valley Band Camp this past July. As you can probably imagine, having forty or fifty middle-school marching band members on campus for a week is, let’s just say, a sacrificial ministry. Not all clarinet and trumpet players are instantaneous prodigies, if you know what I mean. But they were well-behaved and their joyous energy was contagious.
The week went well and I thought that was the end of it, until later in August when one of our members told me of how their grandchild had participated in the camp. He had never been to Trinity before, neither had his family until they attended the Friday afternoon recital. They’re not churchgoers (yet), but they were amazed by Trinity’s beauty, welcome, and the Christ-like generosity and hospitality of this community. The Kingdom of God came a little closer to their lives—and to the lives of those other forty families—because of the work we’ve been doing in this corner of the vineyard.
Well done, saints! But that’s just one example. Because of your generosity and with your help, God’s kingdom is bearing fruit. The hungry are fed. The sick are visited. The dying are soothed. The grieving are comforted. The curious are engaged and seekers are welcomed. The outcasts are included and the isolated find a loving, supportive community. Families are found and formed, healed and restored. We’ve all seen it, provided it, or received it. Hopefully all three!
As we begin our annual giving campaign, please don’t only think about how much you’re going to give to Trinity in 2027, but what you would like to see God do through Trinity? Not that estimating your giving isn’t important or part of what it means to be a member. But ultimately, the annual giving campaign is an opportunity to practice gratitude. To remember that all we have is a gift from God. The proportion we give back, whatever percentage we return to God (I suggest starting with 1% with the biblical standard of 10% as your prayerful goal), is a chance to remember this holy connection. It’s a spiritual practice that facilitates receiving with gratitude all that God gives us, rather than taking it for granted.
This is what the saints do. My hope and prayer is that we will be like the saints: grateful, generous, joyful. We will give for the saints: past, present and future. And we will join the joyful work of bearing the fruits of God’s kingdom.
