“ALL THINGS COME OF THEE, O LORD"

At the Offertory when there is no music the priest lifts the monetary offerings on high toward heaven, then the chalice and paten, and says, while doing so, "All things come of Thee, O Lord." And the congregation responds, "And of Thine own have we given Thee." Prosaic language which simply means that God has given us everything and what we are doing in our offering is simply giving back a small part of all that God has given to us.

We know all that. We're no dummies. We know that God created everything – and still creates – and that we are the recipients of that creation. What is even more wonderful is that we are the greatest result of that creation. We are God's best work. And everything we are, everything about us: our ability to sing, to think, to dance, to work, to dunk a basketball – or the lack of those abilities – are the result of God's creating us the way God chose to do so.

And so everything we can do and everything we do is directly the result of what God has done, and is still doing, for us. The possessions we have, the money we earn, everything, in the final analysis do not belong to us: they're all God's. God simply puts us in charge of those talents and possessions. And so when we give away some of what is in our charge, we are not giving away something that is ultimately ours but something that is ultimately God's. We are giving back.

We know that, too. But sometimes it is so difficult to give away some of what we have accumulated because we worked so hard for it. And we did. There is no denying that. God did not simply plop the possessions into our hands. We had to use the raw materials God graced us with to earn, purchase, build up those possessions and those bank accounts. And we worked hard to do so.

What God calls us to be are good stewards of all that we are, all that we possesses. God also reminds us that the gifts we have been given and the ability to use those gifts well were not given to us for us alone. They were given to us, and deep down we know this to be true, to share with those who are less blessed. And they were given to us to help us become even more blessed.

When we give some of "thine own" to our church, we do so because we know the importance our church, our church family, is in our lives. We are better people because of this place and these people. We come to this place and are among these people because we are fed here – with the Eucharist, with fellowship, with education. That may sound self-serving, even coming from someone who is retired (sort of). And it is. But unless we are fed spiritually, we die.

God blesses us so that we may live and in so living and in so giving some of what God has given to us, we give life to one another and to others. We may never see the results of our sharing, just as others do not see the results of what they shared with us from their giving that has made us who we are today. None of that matters. What matters is that we are thankful for our blessings and for being able to share them with others.