“I suppose these people are very poor,” he said to the missionary who was the interpreter and guide to the party. “Yes,” was the quiet reply, “these two men are Christians. When their church was being built, they were eager to give something toward it, but they had no money. So they decided to sell their one and only ox and give the proceeds to the church. This spring they are pulling the plow themselves.”

The businessman said, “that was a real sacrifice.” “They did not call it that,” said the missionary. “They thought themselves fortunate that they had an ox to sell!” When the businessman reached home, he took the picture to his pastor and told him about it. Then he added, “I want to double my giving to the church and do some plow work. Up until now, I have never given God anything that involved real sacrifice.”

Let me ask you to think about plow work as you consider the pledge card you will receive in the mail this week -- if you are a member of the congregation or if you aren't a member but you ask for a card.

What is a pledge for? Why do we fill out these cards and place them on the communion table?

Pledges are important for two reasons.

First, Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 14:40 that things in the church are to be done “decently and in good order.” The Session, Ministry Teams and Staff of our church are responsible before God to be intentional and organized about our shared ministry. Pledges allow us to make plans knowing the resources we can count on.

Second, and more important, pledges are important for us as individuals. They are a way for us to fulfill the biblical mandate in Hebrews 10 to encourage one another. The example we set for each other is crucial.

The Plains Indians of the old West knew this. They engaged in constant inter﷓tribal warfare. The Crows and the Pawnees fought the Sioux and Cheyenne while the Comanches fought everyone. Often, when a tribe had experienced a series of military setbacks, a noted warrior would announce that he intended to "stake himself" at the next battle. He would take a wooden stake and attach it to his waist with a long rawhide cord. When he arrived at the battleground he would take the stake and drive it into the ground as a pledge that he would not retreat. This public promise encouraged the other warriors to fight more bravely and to see the battle through to the end.

When we bring our pledge cards next Sunday and place them on the communion table, we are doing the same thing. We are saying to our brothers and sisters in faith beside us, "I have a commitment here. You can count on me. I am not going to retreat." In this way, we encourage each other.

A few years ago, a friend of mine named Peter Whitelock, who was then the pastor of our church in Ojai, told me of a phone call he received one morning.

"Pastor," came the voice of the elderly man over the phone, "I've been thinking about this church building program we're starting. You know I'm 88 years old. I guess I forget a lot of things. But every two months I get a check for thirty thousand dollars from the Ames company. I guess I bought some stock a while back. I don't spend much, so I was wondering if the church could use them. I have a stack of about ten of them on my desk and I'd like to sign them over to the church if that would be alright. Maybe I have enough to do the job so we won't have to bother all the other folks in the church .

Peter said that he thought long and hard for about two seconds before accepting the generous offer. He set an appointment for later that afternoon to stop by and visit Taylor at his small house.

Taylor had a stack of checks ready when Peter arrived. He had already signed them over to the church. Peter glanced at them quickly. There were twelve of them in all ﷓﷓ each one payable to Taylor from the Ames company. Peter visited with Taylor at his small house for a bit, had coffee, and then did handsprings down the side walk as he left to talk with the chairperson of the Building Finance committee.

"Don!" he said excitedly. "Look at what has happened." He handed the stack of checks to the chairperson. Don went to his desk to put on his glasses. Then he held one of the checks under the light. "Oh," he said, "I'm on the Ames Home Loan mailing list too. You read it here and you see that it says that it's good for up to $30,000 to borrow against the equity in your house. I throw mine away. I wonder why anyone would give them to the church?"

That is a sad and also a happy story. You feel sad for confused Taylor who faithfully stacked those checks. But you also rejoice that he was willing to give. And I suspect that even though his mind was confused, that God credited Taylor for the intention of his heart ﷓﷓ because he was willing to drive his stake deep. He was willing to do plow work. He was willing to put his money where his heart is.

2003 has been a year of substantial growth in our church. We have grown in relationships through the small groups. We have grown in the knowledge of God and His Word. We have grown in the number and quality of ministries we offer. Our membership has grown about 7% and so has our adult attendance.

Did you know that at our present size, we are already larger than 97% of the churches in this country. Out of about 11,000 Presbyterian churches in this country, we are in the top seven percent as far as worship attendance.

These numbers may surprise you. We all know of churches that are much larger than we are. Some of these mega﷓churches are right in this area and they tend to be quite obvious. But nationwide, they are rare. We are in the top ten percent.

But it's not just size or worship attendance. It's involvement. We aren't one of those churches where 20% of the people do 80% of the work. At our church about 60% of the people do 80% of the work. That's not perfect but it's way better than the norm. If you start feeling that you're the only one doing anything around here, it's because you have no idea how many things are being done and who is doing what. Not all the tasks are up﷓front or glamorous.

One area where I believe we are on the right track is in our shared vision. We have a vision to reach more of the surrounding area for Jesus Christ. We are taking concrete steps such as purchasing three more acres of land and planning a capital funds campaign next February and building program to make that happen.

We don't see ourselves as a closed club for the benefit of the people who are already here ﷓﷓ as wonderful and deserving as we all are. We see ourselves as actively involved in reaching out and including in.

One writer named Lyle Schaller has called a church of our size "as close to heaven as a church gets." He means that we are large enough to enjoy a wide range of effective programs but not so large as to be unwieldy or impersonal.

We do some things very well. There are certainly some things we can do better. But we have the foundation to improve on. And we are well past the point where we need to bring in more people to build program and pay bills.

We don't have any sociological reasons to grow. The only reason we have to grow is that there are thousands of men, women, youth and children around here who need a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. That's the only reason we have to grow. But it's the only valid, God﷓honored motive anyway.

As best as we can tell, at the present time, about twenty percent of the people in this area are involved in any Christian church ﷓ Catholic, Orthodox, or Protestant. That means that there are more than twenty﷓three thousand people just in Moorpark who need to hear our witness. And we don't minister or live just in Moorpark. The need is as great or greater in the Conejo Valley, Simi Valley, and Camarillo.

We need to witness to two things ﷓ that Jesus Christ has made a difference in our lives and that we are part of a church family that teaches His word, where truth is told, and where love is learned and shown. We want Moorpark Presbyterian Church to be a place that you will invite people to investigate for themselves.

We need to move even more toward the greater realization of a community of faith which reflects its faith as a community of caring ﷓ caring for each other and caring for the world outside of our fellowship. We need to be open to ways in which we can magnify Jesus Christ through the bold proclamation of the gospel and through the acts of healing which will make our community and world a better place to live for all of its people. We need to continue to build the kind of education program and atmosphere that encourages children and adults to bring both their Bible and their brains ﷓ and never the one without the other. We need to provide a community for the nurture of youth and also children – to raise them as leaders -- to give them a stable, caring, very human place in an increasingly unstable, cold, dehumanizing world. We need to affirm the worth of human life ﷓ not as a half﷓baked human potential movement, but because human life is worth so much to its creator.

What we have together is the fruit of a foundation that has been worked on for over fifteen years. All of our lives we have benefited from the work of brother and sisters in faith who have gone before us. I know that my family has been giving to the building fund each month for over thirteen years. That’s a long time. But we are not unique. Many people have helped lay a foundation of faith that has touched our lives. In the same way we are called to give of ourselves. We are called to put our hands to the plow.

We do not give to a specific program or a church budget but to God. Always remember that.

However, there are also some very specific needs and opportunities facing us in 2004 ﷓﷓ needs and opportunities that call for an increase of expenditures of about 9 1/2% percent over this year's budget. This need has been communicated in the letters that have been sent to you. You have also been made aware of the plans for a separate capital funds campaign next February.

Do we have the resources to actually do all that needs to be done? Well we have way more than enough if we take God and His word seriously.

You know what God’s Word says. The Biblical Standard in both the Old and New Testaments is ten percent of household income ﷓﷓ also called a tithe.

Not all do that. I read somewhere that if every church member in the United States lost his or her job and went on public assistance, an yet were willing to tithe from the amount received from public assistance, giving in the nations churches would immediately increase by over thirty percent.

I don't know if that is true here. But I encourage you, as one who has discovered the power of tithing in my own life, to begin to tithe now. If you just can’t tithe here and now, then I challenge you to increase the percentage of household income you give to the Lord's work year by year ﷓﷓ starting right now ﷓﷓ until you get to where the Lord calls you to be.

You’ve heard this from me before. But now let me share with you a letter I received after I said something similar in a sermon a few years ago. I have permission to share it. The letter read:

“Dear Dave, Never have I written a letter like this before. Note that the tone is nothing but gentle spirit. (That line was followed by a typed-in smiley face).

“Please stop telling us that if we can’t see to tithe now we should at least be working towards it bit by bit each year. That surprised me the first time I heard it years ago and yesterday it made me sad. The words don’t ring true. They strike a discordant note. I feel that they undermined your otherwise A+ stewardship sermon yesterday which was filled with sharp images, good humor, scripture and even a little from your own personal experience. The entire message was on asking ourselves hard questions, then committing to the answers. Set priorities. Do. Build, Tithe.

“For not tithing we can think of plenty justifications on our own. Here are some of mine. I want my children to have that something so badly. I have that legitimate debt which must be reduced first. I really do deserve this or that, it’s been a long time. And after all, four percent is nice giving, six percent or eight percent too is nice giving. “Tithing on net” is really very nice

giving. But none of these things are tithing. So they all fall short of God’s desire.

“Maybe some people will continue to work toward their tithe but let that be their own idea. Our pastor telling us to work towards our tithe leaves us too comfortable with not tithing.

“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “And see if I will not open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have enough room for it.” Malachi 3:10.

“Our church can operate on less than a tithe, but that doesn’t mean it ought to. What are we leaving undone, that was ours to do, by not tithing faithfully.”

Great question! I appreciate both this letter and the spirit in which it was sent. This letter was filled with wisdom and truth. It makes me want to be clear.

Stepping-up is not a substitute for tithing. It is to get to where we are tithing -- and sooner rather than later. In fact, if you have heard me say this before but are no closer to tithing than you were five years or so ago, the problem isn’t in your finances. The problem is in your desire to do what God calls you to do. That’s between you and God.

A few years ago I was leafing through an old copy of Punch, the British humor magazine. I saw a cartoon that has stuck in my mind. The cartoon showed a Hell's Angel or a member of some other outlaw motorcycle gang. He was riding along an open road on a huge bike. He was dressed in a German army field jacket with a swastika band on his right arm. On his chest was the eagle of the German air force. On his head was a shiny chromed German army helmet with the death's head symbol of the S.S. painted on the side. His outfit was completed by tight pants and high leather boots.

In the cartoon, he was riding so he was facing the reader. On his face there was a look of very intense fear. His eyes were turned so he could see the bikes rearview mirror and behind him the reader could see what frightened him so much ﷓﷓ a World War II British fighter plane swooping down to blast him off his bike.

The trouble with this man was that he was willing to call himself a Nazi and dress like a Nazi and live like a Nazi; but he wasn't willing to die a Nazi. He wasn't willing to follow the life style he had chosen through to its conclusion.

That may be a bizarre way to end a sermon. But in our text today, Paul calls the believers in Ephesus and the believers at Moorpark Presbyterian to live lives "worthy of the calling to which we have been called." Unlike the motorcycle outlaw and his regrettable lifestyle, we are entreated to follow our calling as Christians through to its conclusion.

This follow through can be summed up in one word ﷓﷓ stewardship.

Stewardship is what we do as Christians after we say "I believe." Stewardship is the plow work. Stewardship is the way we say to our Lord, and to our brothers and sisters in faith beside us: "I'm here ﷓﷓ and you can count on me!"