The stock definition of a sacrament, offered by our prayer book, is “an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace.” God’s grace is, of course, not limited to the sacraments, but in the sacraments we receive assurance of God’s grace in a particular way. The sacraments are God’s gifts to us, tangible reminders of his unending love for us and gracious provision in our lives. In any good relationship, such gestures of comfort and assurance are important. It should not be surprising, then, that God has chosen to give us hope in the visible, material world through the Church’s sacramental life.
This Sunday is Commitment Sunday. Accordingly, in today’s message, I want to focus on the meaning of commitment, for I believe that Commitment Sunday is about far more than our financial commitment. Commitment Sunday is about the commitment of our entire selves to God and his Church, and particularly, to the Church of the Good Shepherd. In one of our Eucharistic prayers, we come to God’s altar, offering “our selves, our souls and bodies.” In other words, we offer all of us—not a part, but the whole. The offering of our money and time to the Church is a visible expression of this all-encompassing commitment to God. Just as God shows us sure and certain signs of his grace in the sacraments, in the faithful living of our lives, we demonstrate our own commitment to God. We show that we are “all in.”
Of course, God does not need or require our commitment, but the showing forth in our lives of our devotion to God—of our love for him—is a visible sign of the depth of our relationship with God. In a very real way, money is a true test of this devotion in the willingness of each of us to give abundantly from whatever resources we have. The meaning of the Scriptural story of the widow’s mite is not that she gave a ton of money but that in giving a small amount, she, as a poor woman, gave essentially all that she had. Surely, this was the ultimate demonstration of her devotion to God, a devotion that probably seems both nonsensical and frightening to us.
Commitment Sunday is a spiritual practice, because in our willingness to part with something that we like to control and cling to (money), we testify in action that we are willing to relinquish something material as a tangible sign that our primary loyalty is to God. The security of God’s provision is greater than our anxiety about not having enough in this earthly life.
As we approach Commitment Sunday, I invite you to consider in prayer the ways in which God has laid a claim on your heart, specifically in parish life at Good Shepherd. It is natural that we should find a specific community in which to live out our relationship with God. Over the course of our pledge campaign, thanks to the efforts of parishioner Allen Crockett, we have had the opportunity to hear voices from Good Shepherd in a series of short videos. Several parishioners have spoken eloquently about how God has touched their own lives through ministry at Good Shepherd.
Peter Riley spoke about how he was first drawn into deeper relationship with God through the beauty of worship at Good Shepherd. And then as he spent more time at Good Shepherd, he found a place of real belonging. This is a central part of Good Shepherd’s mission, as we honor our namesake: we are a place of welcome and belonging for all who are seeking relationship. We are all lost sheep who are found by God, and as such, we are constantly seeking out other lost sheep and welcoming them into God’s loving sheepfold.
Will Hillegeist explained how his gifts of time and money are ways in which he visibly expresses the gladness of being a part of the worshipful community at Good Shepherd. Gladness about God’s generosity to us and gratitude for God’s unending love is something that prompts us to return to God what God has given to us.
Emma Simpson told us that in her search for a place to deepen her relationship with God, she was captivated by this beautiful community, its gorgeous worship and music, the formation she experienced while participating in Pilgrims in Christ, and the warmth of the community at Good Shepherd. Indeed, in our lives in Christ, we are often drawn by a “hook” into a particular community. Once we find such a community, it is usually something else that compels us to stay as we continue to grow in relationship with God in Christ.
Jack Burnam discussed his financial contribution to Good Shepherd as an important part of his belonging to Christ’s body, the Church. His pledge is one of the ways in which he lives out his commitment to the local expression of Christ’s presence in the world, as it is concretized in the Church of the Good Shepherd.
Jeannette Burnam talked about returning to God what God has already graciously given to her in the form of a financial contribution and time to the parish, which is a “vehicle” through which God works.
Melinda Burrows noted her excitement about being part of a parish that puts worship and prayer at its center. This faithful rhythm of prayer is what sustains our common life. It is the impetus for all we do in Christ.
Our commitment to the Church of the Good Shepherd is one way of signaling our loyalty to almighty God, of saying in deed (not just in words!) that God is at the center of our lives. A wise priest once told me that the more our relationship with Christ deepens, the more our clutch on our purse strings loosens. I love this image, for Scripture tells us that love drowns out fear. The more we can let go of fear (for example, of not having enough), the more we can settle into love. Love, as exemplified on the cross, is principally about letting go of all our claims for control. On the cross, love itself is shown in Jesus’s offering of his life, even for those who hated him.
Your commitment to the Church of the Good Shepherd is not just a commitment to a local parish. It is a commitment to God’s work in the world. First and foremost, your contributions of time and money allow us to put worship and prayer at the heart of our existence. Only by doing so can we properly discern what God is calling us to do in ministry. Your commitments of time and labor ensure that we maintain a beauty of worship that is a “hook” for many people, drawing them into the Church’s life—perhaps to their surprise—so that they can be formed and then sent out into a hurting world with the Gospel’s healing power. Your contributions of time and money ensure that our 15,000 square feet of property are utilized as fully as possible for Gospel ministry, which includes the healing work of our retreat house, social outreach to the hungry through our gifts to the Ardmore Food Pantry, and ongoing work for the support of immigrants and refugees. In a moment when relief efforts for the vulnerable are being drastically cut, your support of time and money help us live into our Christian commitment (the promises we made in Baptism) to “seek and serve Christ in all persons” and to “strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being.” Your donations of time and money enable our campus ministry to go into the mission field bearing the Gospel, especially to communities of young people who may wonder if the Church is a safe place for them. Your financial commitments to Good Shepherd are supporting a chorister program for young children, giving them the gift of music in a demystified age and also exposing them to Christ’s good news. Your financial gifts are keeping the doors of our church open seven days a week, providing a holy space in which our neighbors can come to pray, a visible witness to the infinite inclusivity of the Gospel message. In short, your commitments of time and money are a part of the many ways in which ministry at Good Shepherd is changing lives.
Ostensibly, Commitment Sunday is the day on which we are invited to offer a financial commitment (pledge) to ministry at Good Shepherd in 2026. There is certainly a practical dimension to this: a primary means of supporting ministry in this parish is through financial contributions. If you are new to the Episcopal tradition, you may wish to know that we are essentially a financially self-sustaining parish, with a modest amount of monetary support from the diocese, which we are weaning ourselves off of in the near future. Whatever we do not receive in pledged income must come from rental income (which is limited and fixed) and from our endowment (around $450,000, small by the standards of many churches). Obviously, it is not financially sustainable to continue to draw heavily from our endowment, which could be needed in the future for capital projects and other major needs. But on a spiritual level, relying so much on an endowment excuses us from owning up to our own commitment to the life of the parish.
In the next two days, I invite you to spend some time in prayer, considering the ways in which God has laid a claim on your heart through this parish church. Give thanks for God’s generosity towards you. And prayerfully ask God to challenge you (as two of our parishioners said they did a few weeks ago) as you consider what God is asking you to contribute of your financial resources to ensure that the Gospel message remains alive in a fearful, skeptical age.
This year’s Commitment Sunday is perhaps even more notable than those in years past, for we are on the verge of major leadership transitions. Your tangible demonstrations of commitment to this parish are a vital part of how ministry will be sustained as the parish transitions to new leadership. Your concrete commitments to ministry here are utterly essential in supporting the new creation that God continues to build (through our efforts) from the rubble of decades past.
If you will be out of town this weekend, please make your pledge commitment online before Sunday, as this will help with our planning. If you are in town, please come to Mass and bring your completed pledge card and place it in the offering plate as a celebration of what God has done for you. Extra cards will be available at the Tower doors when you arrive. Thank you in advance for your support of this parish. Above all, let us thank almighty God for what he has done for us in recent years. And remember, when we give to God first, remarkable things happen!
Yours in Christ,
Father Kyle