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One of the more frightening tasks we preachers have, particularly as we're getting started in our parish ministry, is preaching regularly on the subject of financial stewardship. For some reason a myth prevails that there is something sacred about our money and we shouldn't mention it from the pulpit. As a matter of fact, if we put a fence around the pulpit and do not address financial stewardship, we are eliminating about two-thirds of our congregants' lives, lifestyles, worries, and that subject about which they are most interested in hearing. It's relevant to them right where they live. It's our edge.

Here are some ideas I have about preaching that "sermon on the amount." You will notice similarities with preaching on controversial subjects. It ought to be done well and with confidence as a witness from us and the Almighty to our people.

We ought to talk about our own struggles and need for growth. That way we are not preaching down to our congregational members, but rather are inviting them to join us in thinking through this subject and trying to grow with us.

Let the message be Bible-centered. I always made sure that I read the scripture in the pulpit from a Bible I could hold in my hand so that visually people knew where the message was coming from and my source of authority for saying what I was saying. Be very careful about proof-texting. Especially in stewardship preaching, it is easy to prove what you already wanted to say by looking up Bible verses that support it. Rather, take one of the great parables, miracles, or sayings of Jesus or Paul, or other early saints of the church, and let your message flow from that. It's an edge we have as preachers.

I doubt that we get very far by emphasizing duty when it comes to stewardship! I think it is much more effective to talk about the joy and privilege that is ours who have so much and for whom God has done so much and given so much, to be able to give to others.

Be sure to use specific terms which everybody understands, such as cash, dollars, credit cards, checkbooks, IRA's, savings accounts, and so forth. I think that "time, talent, and treasure" is an old chestnut that's out of date!

Be very careful not to scold, lecture, or belittle. Speak very kindly and non-judgmentally. Try to accept all where they are and then plead in a very persuasive way for some growth.

Be sure to use sizeable doses of humor and refrain from heaping on more guilt. It's so easy to harangue and build guilt on our people because they are not doing what they should or not doing what you are doing. Humor is good relief from that, and it is also a very persuasive and consistent method of teaching about the gospel with its privileges and responsibilities.

This means using the law very sparingly and talking a great deal about the gospel with great delight. Let enthusiasm show through. We ought to allow the spirit to set us free to preach with conviction and excitement about this wonderful subject that can give such significance and integrity to our lives.

By all means, if we are like most preachers and rather uncomfortable talking about the subject of stewardship in the pulpit, we ought to tell our people that. They'll love to hear us admit that we are human and that this is rather frightening for us to do, and they'll root for us to do it well!

Encourage reasonable increases in growth and Christian giving. Don't use examples that people will feel are unreachable. Acknowledge where you are and what you are trying to aim for, and plead for them to get started in growing, too.

Much of the above would not be frightening, and certainly our preaching would have more integrity and relation to the gospel, if we dealt with the subject of stewardship year-round. This means to talk about the subjects of stewardship of all God's creation as caretakers of the earth and its resources, of our own bodies and health, of our abilities and skills, and of our call through our baptism to be ministers all week long. The possible subjects can go on and on, and it can enrich our preaching, making it much more relevant than ignoring the subject except for one Sunday during the year.

Be very careful about making appeals of loyalty to church, preacher, or budget. This kind of stewardship pledging and giving is often very fickle and short-term. It is much more important that we talk about each person's need to give rather than any institution's need to have what we give. In a culture like ours we do have a big need to give lots of our income away in order to experience the integrity of being a Christian and to feel good about our priorities. Just be sure that God's love shines through and that the wonderful amazing grace that we talk about in every other facet of our lives is also applied in our stewardship and stewarding.

Be cautious about promising results such as prosperity or making an appeal to give because "we never had it so good." It could be that some seated there and others who will hear your message are not having it that good right now!

One of the main responsibilities in financial stewardship preaching is to lift the vision and stretch the possibilities, helping the congregation imagine what might be as we all work together to grow in this concept. Remember that people give in proportion to their grasp of the need; the quality of information provided; the amount of spiritual depth and motivation they have; the financial resources they have to share; and/or perhaps from your own example.

We so often forget in our preaching of any kind to suggest to our people the possible first steps as a result of that which we have learned in this instructive sermon. I call it the "so what!" of a sermon. Think through carefully what it would mean for each of us, because of these truths that you proclaim this day, and let your people hear it.

Several times a year in our preaching we have to remove the mystery regarding the writing of wills and doing estate planning and setting up trusts and endowments. We need to convince our people that this is, indeed, an easy thing to accomplish and a good practice of stewardship of our resources in order that future generations might continue to benefit because of our depth of faith and our willingness to share.

There are few things that can so enrich preaching and make it relevant and exciting to do as practicing the art of stewardship preaching year-round. In a culture such as ours where money talks and is the language of all the media and our lives, where our edge is to be close to the ground in our preaching and also faithful to the scripture we proclaim, we must continue to preach the sermon on the amount.

1. Jerry Schmalenberger, Plane Thoughts on Parish Ministry (Lima, Ohio: CSS Publishing Co., Inc., 1994).