Sermon for Unity of Salt Lake, Sunday, August 11, 2013
Rev. Christopher T. Scuderi of Universal Heart Ministry
“Prosperity: When Giving Is Receiving”
Greeting
Once again, I am grateful to come before you, to deliver a message for your Sunday service and am always honored to be here with you sharing in community.
Overview
When I was approached about speaking to you on the topic of Prosperity, particularly during your pledge drive, I was immediately enthusiastic. My mind was quickly noting all the things I could speak on, the messages I could convey about the importance of Giving and my own experiences with tithing. I recalled experiences from my childhood, early adult years, a variety from the recent past and the current NOW. There are so many avenues one can travel when in this frame of mind; though before we get moving on that let me share with you the dictionary’s definition of prosperity.
Definition of Prosperity
A successful, flourishing, or thriving condition, especially in financial respects; good fortune.
Notable Quote
To quote Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, “When you are able to shift your inner awareness to how you can serve others, and when you make this the central focus of your life, you will then be in a position to know true miracles in your progress toward prosperity.”
And because tithing is giving, let us take a look at that definition as well.
Definition of Tithing
Generally understood as the tenth part of agricultural produce or personal income set apart as an offering to God or for works of mercy or ministry as in the support of a church.
Sermon
Have you ever heard anyone say: “My church is always asking for money. I wish I could belong to a church that never needed any money.”
Surely they don’t mean that. Any church that is alive needs money. Only dead churches do not call on their members for support. If anyone should accuse your church of always needing and calling for money, regard it as a compliment. Invite this person to rejoice with you that you both belong to something that is living and productive, providing a spiritual safe haven for those who need it rather than a dead, stagnant organization from which their mission and intent has clearly departed.
I personally find it rather unfortunate that many people especially here in Utah have a strong opinion, view and generally negative reaction to tithing because of religions which pressure their members to tithe, sometimes to the point of shaming them for not giving or not giving “enough”. If that has been your experience as well I would like to help release that old baggage, shift that perception and view by sharing how tithing can bring prosperity.
Tithing
Aside from all the biblical inferences of tithing there actually are a myriad of ways that giving brings prosperity. Whether what you give is your time, energy and talents, clothing, food, Toys for Tots during the holidays or your money you are giving a percentage of what you have and that is tithing.
You can give personally though, if you are a business owner have you also thought about your business giving a tithe? My wife, Teinamarrie and I were recently at a business marketing workshop “Power Up for Profits Blueprint Tour” with Kathleen Gage. In that workshop Kathleen talked about tithing and how it creates prosperity. Many business owners shared their own personal stories of tithing and how it brought prosperity in their business. Some shared how they didn’t have much and still decided to tithe and when they did things turned around for them and now they are doing great in their businesses. These stories got my wife and I talking about how tithing has brought us prosperity through the years.
LGBT Community Involvement
We talked about how we used to tithe all the time unconsciously because we were very active in the GLBT community volunteering untold hours of our time, donating items for fundraising auctions and, of course, we donated money. This brought us a great deal of prosperity; our bills were always paid even though we didn’t always have steady income.
We got to go to Washington DC twice completely paid for by friends. Let me specify here that prosperity does not always come in the form of cash to you, as I said we went to DC twice. There are many, many ways that prosperity can show up in your life. Maybe it’s that weekend stay at a boutique hotel that you won, receiving for your birthday that piece of art you’ve been eyeing, maybe it’s that unexpected refund you received due to a clerical error and maybe it is your client list doubling or tripling within a year (which can certainly mean monetary gain).
Now because my wife and I haven’t been nearly as active in that community as we have over the past 20 years we are needing to be more conscious about our tithing. This is exciting for us because we get to really think about the energy behind our tithing and where we want to increase the energetic goodness.
Pledge Drive
We understand that Unity SLC is in the midst of its pledge drive and so, because we believe in your mission, providing that spiritual safe haven for anyone who seeks it, regardless of who they are, what they look like or who they happen to love we have chosen Unity SLC as one of our places to tithe this month. Interestingly enough, as soon as we decided to tithe here we started seeing an upswing in prosperity in our lives. For example, I have been receiving more tips for the services I provide. I also was offered an opportunity to have an exclusivity at a function which will gain huge exposure for my ministry. By the way this opportunity is opportunity for me to tithe through my ministry.
I need to point out that my wife and I are not members of this church
Closing statement
Friends, I encourage you to give to your church, allow the money you give nourish this spiritual haven and feed you heart, mind and soul. May your gifts to this church bring you the blessings of prosperity you desire. As always, I wish each of you an abundance of joy, laughter and much love in your lives.