checks are written. We entrust the officers of the church with the budget. The elders and the deacons
determine how our gifts are distributed.
(I hope there is not a drop in giving after this sermon. I hope this does not result in a negative
impact on our stewardship.)
This sermon was not intended to be about stewardship, although it broaches the subject.
Instead, it is meant to highlight the phenomenon of living in Christian community. Christians are a
counter-cultural people. We are counter-cultural in our practice of having a common purse. Friends
and neighbors who are not active in communities of faith may have difficulty understanding the Christian
practice of giving.
What a remarkable exercise in which we participate each time we gather for worship. We
respond to God’s faithful presence in our lives through a specific act of thanksgiving, through the giving
of our income. With the gesture of extending our financial resources to the church, we show a vested
interest in the way Central Church strives to fulfill its mission, guided by the Holy Spirit, in the name of
God, through our Lord Jesus Christ. The common purse reminds us that we are in a committed
relationship with God and each other.
There was, in Jesus’ day, a common purse. It took money to feed Jesus and the Twelve.
There were other logistics to be dealt with in his ministry – travel from one town to the next, encounters
with persons in need of healing, outreach to those who were hungry. From Luke’s gospel we are
reminded of the financial support that was necessary. We are told that Mary Magdalene, Joanna and
Susanna provided for them out of their resources. (Luke 8:2-3)
We may be surprised when we recall who kept the common purse: Judas. The one who would
betray Jesus – Judas – kept the money. In John’s gospel we read that Judas “was a thief; he kept the
common purse and used to steal what was put into it.” (John 12:6)
Jesus behaved like a Presbyterian. He allowed the resources for ministry to be controlled by
someone else. Jesus did not micro-manage the money. Were he a CEO today, Jesus would have been
in big trouble for letting the finances be handled so recklessly. Judas – the last person in the world who
should have been keeping the purse – Judas was the keeper of the common purse.
There are times when the church, as a whole, appears to forget this detail in the gospel story.
Jesus allowed Judas to continue in his role, even though he was known to lack credibility.
Before I proceed, let me be clear, I believe the church should be fiscally responsible. Without a
doubt, the pledges made and offerings received should be handled as a sacred trust, for they are. The
gifts receives by this church reflect the life’s labor and stewardship of those who extend them.
Having pressed the point that the Session and Treasurer and Financial Secretary need to honor
the trust they have been given, let us consider how there are times when we are tempted to abandon the
model of the common purse. There are times when we would like to withhold adding to the common
purse when we disapprove of the way it is dispensed.
There was a time in the Presbyterian Church, as a denomination, when gifts to the church were
unrestricted. When a congregation made a mission gift to the Presbytery, Synod or General Assembly,
the funds were assigned to particular ministries by those judicatories. The agencies of the church set the
budgets for mission funds.
There was a common purse.
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