It was a spring evening in 2017, nine years ago. I had just parked my car about a half mile from Disneyland (because I was too cheap to pay to park in the parking lot), and was walking to the park for a special event that I somehow got tickets to.
My cellphone rang. It was my associate regional minister. I answered it.
He said: “Hey, we’re planning a summer trip for youth to go to Hawaii, learn about the culture, and take part in service projects. We’ve got some great young adults going as chaperones… but, we need someone (like you) with a little more experience to go and oversee things. Most of the planning has already been done, we just need you to go and be present, if you are willing.”
Heck ya!
A few months later, I was in Hawaii, a place I had only dreamed about. And along with the youth and young adults on that trip, I learned so many things about Hawaiian history and culture that I never knew before.
***** One of the places we visited was Iolani Palace, a place that made such an impression on me that I made sure to take my own family there when we visited a few years later.
King Kalākaua, also known as the “merrie monarch,” built Iolani Palace in 1882. It was the home of Hawaii's last reigning monarchs and served as the official royal residence and the center of the Kingdom’s political and social life until the overthrow of the monarchy in 1893.
After that, it was taken over by occupying forces from the United States. Queen Liliʻuokalani—King Kalākaua’s sister and the last Hawaiian monarch—ended up imprisoned in one of the rooms of the palace for eight months.
In 1962, Iolani Palace was designated a National Historic Landmark. It was restored, and today is the only official royal residence in the United States.
***** What I didn’t know about Iolani Palace until just recently is the role Abigail Kawāna.nakoa played in preserving and maintaining the palace.
Because the palace contains many important artifacts, the air conditioning needs to run 24 hours a day, and costs about $15,000 a month. Abigail Kawānanakoa paid this bill, quietly and secretly for many years.
Hawaiians call her the last princess. Her grandfather was Prince David Kawānanakoa. She also had a great-grandfather named James Campbell, whose sugar fortune was one of the largest estates in Hawaii. This meant that Abigail Kawānanakoa inherited the bloodline of a kingdom and the money of the plantation era that replaced it.
In addition to paying the palace’s electric bill, she also funded scholarships, paid medical bills, and helped cover funeral costs. All in secret.
Eventually, though, the secret got out. After she died in 2022 at the age of 96,
Abigail Kawānanakoa was carried into the Throne Room of Iolani Palace in a casket carved from a single 165 year-old koa tree. More than 1,600 people waited hours in line to walk past her. No royal had lain in state there in over a century. And her wife Veronica stood beside the casket for all six hours.
Abigail Kawānanakoa never got to rule anything, since the monarchy ended 33 years before she was born. Yet she spent 96 years taking care of its people. Quietly. Secretly.
We have a lot of people in our church like Abigail Kawānanakoa. People who do so much, and who give so much, with no expectation of reward or acknowledgment. I sometimes feel that a big part of my job as pastor is (or should be) expressing gratitude to those who give so much to make our ministry happen.
But that would be impossible.
One, it would be impossible to express all the gratitude that is due, and two, I don’t even know who gives what, because most of what is given, at least in terms of monetary gifts, is given in secret.
**** And one reason that we give in secret is because of what our scripture today teaches.
“Whenever you give, do not sound a trumpet before you… but when you give, give in secret.”
…Giving was assumed. Jesus doesn’t say “IF you give.” He says “when you give.” A faithful person gives.
I’m struck by the fact that Jesus said this, even though he had his own disagreements with the temple authorities. Heck, some of those who taught in the temple wanted Jesus arrested!
But the temple is more than just those in charge. The temple is more than those who exercise their authority or power.
At First Christian Church, power and authority are shared. I’m thankful for that. I’m thankful that this church is more than those who lead it: its pastors (past and present), its elders and board members.
Because none of us is God. None of us is infallible. And I know I’m not going to get things right every time. I try, but it’s just not going to happen.
So thank God that this church is bigger than any one person.
And thank God that, no matter how good or bad the sermon is, we still get invited—every single one of us—to gather at the Lord’s table, to commune with God, through Jesus Christ—and receive again the love and the life that is pure goodness and grace.
That’s why we give to the church.
And when you give (Jesus says), give in secret.
That may be a challenge for some. We’re not used to being asked to give in secret.
At the very least, we expect a free tote bag in exchange for our pledge! Am I right?
And maybe get our name listed in the annual report, along with all the other donors… with those who gave the largest gifts listed first, in an easy-to-read size font, and those who gave smaller amounts still listed, but in smaller print…
But we don’t do that. No one knows how much you give, not even me; only our financial secretary knows, so that you can receive a statement that you can include when you file your taxes.
We do, however, know some general demographic data.
***** We know that, generally speaking, most of those who pledge to the church are older. The older you are, the more likely you are to pledge.
Currently, we have no pledges at all from anyone under the age of 40. That doesn’t mean people under 40 don’t give; but it does mean that they haven’t made a commitment to give that they plan to honor throughout the year.
Perhaps some of the blame for that can be placed upon me and the other leaders of the congregation.
We don’t like to talk about money. We don’t like to ask for money. And so we do very little in the way of educating people about money.
And yet, in one way or another, Jesus talks more about money than anything else except the kingdom of heaven.
The two are, in fact, related. Jesus often talks about money, and the kingdom of heaven, in one breath.
It’s NOT because you can buy your way into heaven.
But what you spend your money on does speak to what you value in your heart.
So if you say your heart is set on God and on the kingdom of heaven, yet you spend your money on things that are not aligned with God’s kingdom, then there’s a discrepancy there. Your actions aren’t matching what you say you value. Which means you lack integrity. Which means your life is split; broken; fragmented.
And you’re left feeling less than whole.
***** If we had kept reading in the 6th chapter of Matthew, we would have come upon Jesus teaching his disciples to pray; and that prayer he taught them, which we pray every Sunday, talks about debts and debtors, and about the kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven… [6.9-12]
***** And further still in this chapter, we then come to Jesus’ instruction that we seek first the kingdom of God—and all these things (all the things we need on this earth to survive, to thrive, to prosper) will be given to us as well. [6:33]
***** And in the middle of it all, still in Matthew chapter 6, Jesus says: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” [6:19-21]
Let your life be in alignment with your heart.
***** So yes, we are asking you to make a pledge for 2027.
And we are inviting you to give in secret. To pledge in secret. That way, it is a decision of your heart, motivated not by any thought of earthly reward, but by the things you value most.
That way, your soul can feel the integrity of your life, and you can experience wholeness in your being.
The fragmentation and brokenness we feel when our heart values one thing but our lifestyles don’t match… will be overcome.
Do you value love? Joy? Peace? Kindness? Goodness? These fruits of the Spirit are what we hope the Spirit will work in us and through us, for our sake and the sake of our neighbors near and far.
Do you value justice? Hope? Freedom and liberation? Do you value the right of every person to know that God loves and affirms them, just as God created them?
Do you value the good news of Jesus, the news that brings life to those who have only had life sucked out of them by this often cruel world?
These are the things this church stands for. And if these are the things you value in your heart… then please make a pledge… because where your heart is, there your treasure will be as well.
And if you’ve never made a pledge to the church, then I especially encourage you to do so.
Now, maybe you can’t afford to give much, and that’s why you’ve never pledged. Maybe you have a hard time affording necessities, like food, or gas.
But I bet you can pledge something. Five dollars a week? One dollar a week?
If ten people who have never pledged before give one dollar a week, that’s 52 dollars a year from each of them, or 520 dollars total from all ten of them. And yeah, that’s not much when compared to our church budget…
But being able to say that we have ten new pledges… among other things, it will let those who can afford to give more, and who do give more, know that they aren’t in this alone, that you join with them in supporting the ministry of this church, despite your limited finances. Even if you can’t give much, making a pledge is a sign that this is where your heart is.
We’re inviting you to give from the heart. Make a pledge that your heart will be proud of. Make a pledge that reflects the things you value in this world.
Make a pledge, so that the values you hold deep in your heart are reflected by how you live, and what you spend your money on.
Make a pledge not in order to receive the grace and goodness of God, but because you have already received the grace and goodness of God, and you want others to know that God’s grace and goodness is for them as well.
There are so many ways that we share God’s love, that we let people know that they are loved, that they are not alone, that no matter how difficult things are right now, that someone is there with them, beside them, walking with them on that journey.
We do that when we pray for one another, and when we stock our Helping Shelf, and when we run our youth program, and when we partner with other local organizations to bring wholeness in so many ways to our community and beyond.
Isn’t that something your heart wants to be a part of?
Listen to your heart. Listen to what God is saying to you in this Stewardship season. And let your life reflect the things you hold most dear
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