WEBVTT

00:00:04.910 --> 00:00:07.450
Hello and welcome to this week's episode of Trinity

00:00:07.450 --> 00:00:10.929
Sermons. This week we welcome the Right Reverend

00:00:10.929 --> 00:00:14.269
Andrew Asbill, Bishop of the Diocese of Toronto,

00:00:14.490 --> 00:00:17.190
as we continue talking about the importance of

00:00:17.190 --> 00:00:19.929
generosity. And Bishop Andrew is going to talk

00:00:19.929 --> 00:00:24.190
to us about stewardship and how everything that

00:00:24.190 --> 00:00:27.109
we have actually belongs to God and why that

00:00:27.109 --> 00:00:30.030
can transform the way that we view the stuff

00:00:30.030 --> 00:00:37.710
that we have. My name is Christabel, and our

00:00:37.710 --> 00:00:39.710
reading this morning is from the Gospel of Luke,

00:00:39.770 --> 00:00:44.929
chapter 12, verses 35 to 37, 42 to 46, and 48b.

00:00:46.049 --> 00:00:48.710
Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps

00:00:48.710 --> 00:00:51.409
burning, like servants waiting for their master

00:00:51.409 --> 00:00:54.570
to return from the wedding banquet, so that when

00:00:54.570 --> 00:00:56.570
he comes and knocks, they can immediately open

00:00:56.570 --> 00:00:59.310
the door for him. It would be good for those

00:00:59.310 --> 00:01:01.689
servants whose master finds them watching when

00:01:01.689 --> 00:01:05.120
he comes. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself

00:01:05.120 --> 00:01:07.980
to serve, will have them recline at a table,

00:01:08.040 --> 00:01:11.519
and will come and wait on them. The Lord answered,

00:01:11.799 --> 00:01:15.939
Who then is this faithful and wise manager, whom

00:01:15.939 --> 00:01:17.980
the master puts in charge of his servants to

00:01:17.980 --> 00:01:19.799
give them their food allowance at the proper

00:01:19.799 --> 00:01:23.000
time? It would be good for the servant who the

00:01:23.000 --> 00:01:25.599
master finds doing this, so when he returns.

00:01:26.700 --> 00:01:29.280
Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of

00:01:29.280 --> 00:01:32.069
all his possessions. But suppose the servant

00:01:32.069 --> 00:01:35.450
says to himself, my master is taking a long time

00:01:35.450 --> 00:01:38.370
in coming, and he then begins to beat the other

00:01:38.370 --> 00:01:42.390
servants, both men and women, and to eat and

00:01:42.390 --> 00:01:45.349
drink and get drunk. The master of the servant

00:01:45.349 --> 00:01:47.170
will come on the day when he does not expect

00:01:47.170 --> 00:01:51.230
him, and at the hour he is not aware of. He will

00:01:51.230 --> 00:01:53.430
cut him in pieces and assign him to the place

00:01:53.430 --> 00:01:56.989
with the unbelievers. From everyone who has been

00:01:56.989 --> 00:02:00.310
given much, much will be demanded. And from everyone

00:02:00.310 --> 00:02:02.950
who has been entrusted with much, much will be

00:02:02.950 --> 00:02:08.530
asked. The word of the Lord. Well, it is truly

00:02:08.530 --> 00:02:11.770
a delight for Mary and I to be with you, Trinity

00:02:11.770 --> 00:02:14.189
Streetsville. I've been wanting to come on a

00:02:14.189 --> 00:02:17.689
Sunday morning for a great many years now and

00:02:17.689 --> 00:02:21.090
delighted to be here with your incumbent, Rob.

00:02:21.990 --> 00:02:26.370
Rob, I am so grateful for your ministry. The

00:02:26.370 --> 00:02:29.569
passion that you bring, the enthusiasm, the teaching,

00:02:29.710 --> 00:02:33.189
the preaching, the joy that you live every day

00:02:33.189 --> 00:02:35.949
in the gospel and you have such an infectious

00:02:35.949 --> 00:02:40.490
way of spreading that message both within this

00:02:40.490 --> 00:02:43.909
community and beyond. And we are grateful that

00:02:43.909 --> 00:02:47.469
you're a leader here at Trinity. Thank you, thank

00:02:47.469 --> 00:02:50.509
you, thank you for being such a wonderful servant.

00:02:57.900 --> 00:03:03.979
How many of you know what a canon is? In our

00:03:03.979 --> 00:03:07.340
church, there are very few opportunities for

00:03:07.340 --> 00:03:13.300
a bishop to be able to offer an honorific to

00:03:13.300 --> 00:03:17.360
clergy and, in some cases, laity for the work

00:03:17.360 --> 00:03:20.199
that they do beyond themselves in their own parish

00:03:20.199 --> 00:03:23.400
and within the diocese and in some contexts beyond

00:03:23.400 --> 00:03:28.319
across the land and in the communion. Last Friday

00:03:28.319 --> 00:03:34.180
evening at Synod, I named Rob Herkemans, a canon

00:03:34.180 --> 00:03:37.419
in the Diocese of Toronto and at the Cathedral

00:03:37.419 --> 00:03:46.819
Church of St. James. In church land, it's the

00:03:46.819 --> 00:03:52.919
equivalent of the Order of Canada. And I mean

00:03:52.919 --> 00:03:55.479
that quite honestly. There are very few ways

00:03:55.479 --> 00:03:59.280
that we can actually honor folks who give so

00:03:59.280 --> 00:04:04.819
much of their life away in a sacrifice for others.

00:04:04.939 --> 00:04:09.319
And for Rob, that is true for you. But, you know,

00:04:09.379 --> 00:04:13.819
it's not just about clergy. There are a few parishes

00:04:13.819 --> 00:04:17.040
in every diocese that are known from sea to sea

00:04:17.040 --> 00:04:20.540
to sea. They are known because they are understood

00:04:20.540 --> 00:04:25.509
to be places of excellence. places of authenticity,

00:04:25.810 --> 00:04:29.470
places of deep and profound faith. And Trinity,

00:04:29.589 --> 00:04:32.709
you need to know that you have a wonderful reputation

00:04:32.709 --> 00:04:37.209
that is known right across this land. And I believe

00:04:37.209 --> 00:04:39.810
the reason why is that you actually understand

00:04:39.810 --> 00:04:43.389
that ministry is not the sole purview of clergy.

00:04:44.329 --> 00:04:47.709
It is actually an enterprise to which all of

00:04:47.709 --> 00:04:51.279
us are summoned by virtue of our baptism. When

00:04:51.279 --> 00:04:55.560
we say every day yes to our baptism, the kingdom

00:04:55.560 --> 00:04:59.860
of God comes near. When we say yes to daring

00:04:59.860 --> 00:05:03.199
to love our neighbor and to go as far as to love

00:05:03.199 --> 00:05:08.000
our enemies too, the face of Christ is made known

00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:12.259
through us. When we bring our time, our talent,

00:05:12.279 --> 00:05:16.759
and our treasure, and we offer those away, the

00:05:16.759 --> 00:05:22.399
church comes to life. And in this season, when

00:05:22.399 --> 00:05:26.480
we are contemplating the generous life, today's

00:05:26.480 --> 00:05:33.040
theme is being stewards, good stewards. When

00:05:33.040 --> 00:05:36.480
I was 11 years old, I came to my father, who

00:05:36.480 --> 00:05:40.439
was the priest, and I said, Dad, I'm really bored

00:05:40.439 --> 00:05:44.509
in Sunday school. And then he said, well, you've

00:05:44.509 --> 00:05:47.449
got two options then. You can sit with your mom

00:05:47.449 --> 00:05:49.990
at the 11 o 'clock service, or you can join the

00:05:49.990 --> 00:05:53.930
junior choir at 9 .30. I decided I wanted to

00:05:53.930 --> 00:05:58.089
do something, so I joined the 9 .30 choir. What

00:05:58.089 --> 00:06:00.709
he didn't tell me at the time was there was no

00:06:00.709 --> 00:06:03.269
way I was going to go home alone, so then I had

00:06:03.269 --> 00:06:05.449
to sit through the 11 o 'clock as well with my

00:06:05.449 --> 00:06:09.670
mother. I figure that I've been doing two services

00:06:09.670 --> 00:06:14.529
a Sunday for at least 50 years of my life. Some

00:06:14.529 --> 00:06:19.410
of us are slow learners. But when you allow yourself

00:06:19.410 --> 00:06:22.430
to just be taken away by the liturgy, especially

00:06:22.430 --> 00:06:25.009
in the Anglican tradition, there are lines that

00:06:25.009 --> 00:06:29.949
just sink in and are part of who you are. When

00:06:29.949 --> 00:06:35.339
we sit... together in a community, we bring those

00:06:35.339 --> 00:06:38.600
prayers with us. And let me tell you a story

00:06:38.600 --> 00:06:41.759
first that takes me to one of those particular

00:06:41.759 --> 00:06:46.939
sentences. Anthony DeMello tells the story of

00:06:46.939 --> 00:06:50.199
two brothers. One is a bachelor and the other

00:06:50.199 --> 00:06:53.800
is married with five children. They farm one

00:06:53.800 --> 00:06:56.899
farm together and they split the proceeds of

00:06:56.899 --> 00:07:00.699
the grain 50 -50 and everything just worked fine.

00:07:01.870 --> 00:07:04.550
Until one night, in the middle of the night,

00:07:04.730 --> 00:07:08.870
the man who was married with five children woke

00:07:08.870 --> 00:07:12.970
up and worried about his brother. He said, it's

00:07:12.970 --> 00:07:16.069
not fair that we split everything 50 -50. Here

00:07:16.069 --> 00:07:18.589
I am with five children. I have all the security

00:07:18.589 --> 00:07:21.970
I need in my old age, and there's my poor brother

00:07:21.970 --> 00:07:24.949
who's all by himself. He's going to need to save

00:07:24.949 --> 00:07:29.560
more now so that he has a future. So he got up

00:07:29.560 --> 00:07:32.240
in the middle of the night. He filled a sack

00:07:32.240 --> 00:07:35.220
full of grain. He walked it across the field

00:07:35.220 --> 00:07:37.800
to his brother's granary. He dumped it into his

00:07:37.800 --> 00:07:42.060
brother's granary and went back to bed. A few

00:07:42.060 --> 00:07:44.879
nights later, the bachelor brother woke up and

00:07:44.879 --> 00:07:47.300
he said, this is not fair that we split everything

00:07:47.300 --> 00:07:50.680
50 -50. I only have to feed myself, but he has

00:07:50.680 --> 00:07:54.899
five children to take care of. So he got up in

00:07:54.899 --> 00:07:57.709
the middle of the night. filled grain in a bag,

00:07:57.829 --> 00:08:00.730
walked across the field between the two, and

00:08:00.730 --> 00:08:04.569
placed it in his granary. Back and forth they

00:08:04.569 --> 00:08:08.670
went for months and years until one night they

00:08:08.670 --> 00:08:12.649
got up at the same time. And in the middle of

00:08:12.649 --> 00:08:16.029
the way, they bumped into each other and realized

00:08:16.029 --> 00:08:20.009
what they were doing. Years after they died,

00:08:20.149 --> 00:08:24.060
the telling of that story leaked out. When the

00:08:24.060 --> 00:08:26.899
local community wanted to build a church, they

00:08:26.899 --> 00:08:30.399
chose the place where the two brothers met because

00:08:30.399 --> 00:08:33.879
they could not think of a more holier place than

00:08:33.879 --> 00:08:39.139
that. A place where compassion, where forgiveness,

00:08:39.480 --> 00:08:43.299
where care, where mercy meet, where the bread

00:08:43.299 --> 00:08:47.940
of anxiety is left behind to embrace the bread

00:08:47.940 --> 00:08:54.070
of abundance. When I was 11, That little offertory

00:08:54.070 --> 00:08:56.409
sentence that was said in the Book of Common

00:08:56.409 --> 00:08:59.230
Prayer Sunday by Sunday, blessed be thou, O Lord

00:08:59.230 --> 00:09:02.029
God of Israel, forever and ever. All that is

00:09:02.029 --> 00:09:04.710
in the heaven and in the earth is thine. All

00:09:04.710 --> 00:09:09.350
things come of thee and are given to thee. Chronicles

00:09:09.350 --> 00:09:17.769
29. Everything belongs to God. Paul says it differently

00:09:17.769 --> 00:09:22.259
in 1 Timothy. We brought nothing into this world.

00:09:22.720 --> 00:09:27.399
We can take nothing out. We enter into this world

00:09:27.399 --> 00:09:31.039
empty -handed and open -handed to receive the

00:09:31.039 --> 00:09:33.480
very blessing that God has given to each of us,

00:09:33.600 --> 00:09:37.399
hearts and minds and imagination and gifts that

00:09:37.399 --> 00:09:41.759
we receive and we offer. And when we depart this

00:09:41.759 --> 00:09:45.879
life, we open our hands one more time to receive

00:09:45.879 --> 00:09:49.500
that blessed gift of eternal life. with open

00:09:49.500 --> 00:09:53.299
hands. It's living between the two points that's

00:09:53.299 --> 00:09:59.899
tricky. Because it's tempting to, in the way

00:09:59.899 --> 00:10:02.740
that we live our lives, to grasp rather than

00:10:02.740 --> 00:10:07.200
to live with open hands. From a very young age,

00:10:07.399 --> 00:10:10.639
when we are learning how to talk and we move

00:10:10.639 --> 00:10:15.320
beyond mum or mama and dad or dada, the third

00:10:15.320 --> 00:10:20.759
word is mine. It's mine. And we learn in those

00:10:20.759 --> 00:10:24.080
early days what it means to possess. My toy,

00:10:24.379 --> 00:10:30.139
my room, my seat, my clothes, my book. Watch

00:10:30.139 --> 00:10:33.299
children play in a nursery school, and they're

00:10:33.299 --> 00:10:36.120
dutifully off playing. Somebody, one of the children,

00:10:36.200 --> 00:10:39.220
picks up a toy. Another one drops it to try and

00:10:39.220 --> 00:10:41.360
possess the toy that they have, even though they

00:10:41.360 --> 00:10:43.820
don't really want it. But because you like it

00:10:43.820 --> 00:10:48.779
and possess it, I want it for myself. We learn

00:10:48.779 --> 00:10:52.340
from a very young age what it means to possess.

00:10:53.600 --> 00:10:56.440
And we live in an age where we are constantly

00:10:56.440 --> 00:11:01.899
tempted to have more. Earlier in chapter 12,

00:11:02.120 --> 00:11:06.879
we heard from in Luke, we hear Jesus say, beware

00:11:06.879 --> 00:11:10.500
of all kinds of greed because your life is not

00:11:10.500 --> 00:11:16.019
measured by your possessions. I don't know about

00:11:16.019 --> 00:11:24.299
you. But that takes a long time to discern. It

00:11:24.299 --> 00:11:27.840
takes time for us to know that it's just a car.

00:11:29.200 --> 00:11:35.620
It's just a coat. It's just a watch. Scrooge

00:11:35.620 --> 00:11:40.120
learned that lesson. So did Jacob when he stole

00:11:40.120 --> 00:11:45.080
his brother's blessing. So did the prodigal son

00:11:45.080 --> 00:11:50.590
when the money ran out. when we learn how it

00:11:50.590 --> 00:11:54.950
is to come back to ourselves, to truly see ourselves

00:11:54.950 --> 00:11:58.710
in that moment. And it's very challenging in

00:11:58.710 --> 00:12:02.090
our day and age when we are constantly bombarded

00:12:02.090 --> 00:12:06.690
every single day with images and with messages

00:12:06.690 --> 00:12:10.889
and with videos of what it means to have possessions

00:12:10.889 --> 00:12:16.429
and more and more stuff. Algorithms pursue us

00:12:16.429 --> 00:12:20.490
in our pursuit for that one thing. I don't know

00:12:20.490 --> 00:12:23.629
how it is that every time I Google something,

00:12:23.909 --> 00:12:27.710
somewhere in that image is the sauna that I really

00:12:27.710 --> 00:12:32.309
want to buy one day. It is always there. Don't

00:12:32.309 --> 00:12:35.970
know how it happens, but it's still always there.

00:12:38.110 --> 00:12:42.250
Your namesake, Trinity Church in New York City.

00:12:42.960 --> 00:12:46.940
That looks straight down Wall Street. And back

00:12:46.940 --> 00:12:50.299
in 2022, they put in a new stained glass window

00:12:50.299 --> 00:12:53.759
that is lit from behind. So you can't actually

00:12:53.759 --> 00:12:56.740
see it from inside the church. You can only see

00:12:56.740 --> 00:13:00.340
it from the outside. And it is a stained glass

00:13:00.340 --> 00:13:03.220
window that's built on the story of the talents,

00:13:03.500 --> 00:13:07.519
according to St. Matthew, of what it means to

00:13:07.519 --> 00:13:10.700
be a good steward of the gifts that God has given

00:13:10.700 --> 00:13:15.870
to us. And it pushes that image straight down

00:13:15.870 --> 00:13:20.149
Wall Street to remind the financial district

00:13:20.149 --> 00:13:23.070
that the chasm between the very rich and the

00:13:23.070 --> 00:13:26.450
very poor continues to grow and to grow and to

00:13:26.450 --> 00:13:31.929
grow. My favorite part of that window is in the

00:13:31.929 --> 00:13:35.649
very bottom right -hand corner is a picture of

00:13:35.649 --> 00:13:40.379
a person looking into a cell phone. with the

00:13:40.379 --> 00:13:44.039
light peering back on their face while the needs

00:13:44.039 --> 00:13:49.340
of the world are not seen. I don't think there's

00:13:49.340 --> 00:13:52.460
another stained glass window that has a picture

00:13:52.460 --> 00:13:57.500
of a cell phone. But we live in a distracted

00:13:57.500 --> 00:14:02.519
society. We live constantly for that which catches

00:14:02.519 --> 00:14:07.940
our eye and fail to see how we are being drawn

00:14:07.940 --> 00:14:14.019
by God. to a different pathway. Beware of building

00:14:14.019 --> 00:14:17.799
your abundance or your possessions and being

00:14:17.799 --> 00:14:23.019
not wealthy in God. Because the story that's

00:14:23.019 --> 00:14:27.379
told earlier in Luke is of the rich farmer who

00:14:27.379 --> 00:14:30.139
tears down all of his barns and builds bigger

00:14:30.139 --> 00:14:36.250
ones so he can sit back and live life easy. But

00:14:36.250 --> 00:14:41.490
what does it mean to be rich in God? I think

00:14:41.490 --> 00:14:46.830
it means living your life this way and not this

00:14:46.830 --> 00:14:51.370
way. Of being able to trust that you are the

00:14:51.370 --> 00:14:53.789
very blessing that's going to bring life into

00:14:53.789 --> 00:14:56.649
the world for your neighbor and a perfect stranger

00:14:56.649 --> 00:15:00.809
around you. Live too long with this and we shrink

00:15:00.809 --> 00:15:05.230
and we shrivel and live only to ourselves. Live

00:15:05.230 --> 00:15:09.990
like this takes courage, to be able to be a steward.

00:15:11.870 --> 00:15:15.350
The word steward comes from the Old English sty

00:15:15.350 --> 00:15:20.429
and ward. The sty was the farm or the house or

00:15:20.429 --> 00:15:24.730
the property. The ward is the keeper. The ward

00:15:24.730 --> 00:15:28.409
did not own the sty or the farm or the house.

00:15:28.610 --> 00:15:35.580
They tended the farm, the house, the land. We

00:15:35.580 --> 00:15:38.820
are not called to possess the land. We are called

00:15:38.820 --> 00:15:42.480
to be stewards of it, to live in a relationship

00:15:42.480 --> 00:15:46.320
with an open hand, knowing that the land and

00:15:46.320 --> 00:15:49.639
our gifts pass through us. If we hold it, it's

00:15:49.639 --> 00:15:53.759
not a blessing. If we let it go, it becomes a

00:15:53.759 --> 00:16:02.460
blessing. Bob was a good Baptist. And when Bob

00:16:02.460 --> 00:16:05.200
was young, he went to see his pastor and asked

00:16:05.200 --> 00:16:08.539
him how he could learn how to tithe, how to give

00:16:08.539 --> 00:16:13.240
10%. And over the first number of years, it took

00:16:13.240 --> 00:16:15.620
some doing because he didn't have a very good

00:16:15.620 --> 00:16:19.080
paying job. But in time, he learned how to tithe.

00:16:20.019 --> 00:16:23.970
And he felt good about that accomplishment. And

00:16:23.970 --> 00:16:26.029
then over time, he got better jobs and better

00:16:26.029 --> 00:16:29.009
jobs and better jobs. He got married and he had

00:16:29.009 --> 00:16:31.809
three or four children. And as he was making

00:16:31.809 --> 00:16:37.269
more money, now almost $400 ,000 a year, he was

00:16:37.269 --> 00:16:41.470
finding it very difficult to tithe. So one day

00:16:41.470 --> 00:16:44.710
he went in to see his pastor and told the pastor

00:16:44.710 --> 00:16:47.490
of his predicament. And he said, please, pastor,

00:16:47.649 --> 00:16:51.610
can you pray for me? So the pastor made a very

00:16:51.610 --> 00:16:55.549
simple prayer. Oh, Lord, please help Bob lose

00:16:55.549 --> 00:17:01.730
his job. Amen. And Bob said, whoa, what gives?

00:17:02.529 --> 00:17:05.150
He said, Bob, when you had nothing, you live

00:17:05.150 --> 00:17:08.210
with abundance. Now that you have a lot, you

00:17:08.210 --> 00:17:13.549
live with scarcity. How do we live our lives

00:17:13.549 --> 00:17:19.170
with open hands? One of the holiest people that

00:17:19.170 --> 00:17:22.589
I have known in my life is a man named Terry.

00:17:23.809 --> 00:17:27.430
And for years, Terry would panhandle out in front

00:17:27.430 --> 00:17:29.769
of Church of the Redeemer in downtown Toronto,

00:17:29.950 --> 00:17:34.670
where I was the incumbent for 15 years. And Church

00:17:34.670 --> 00:17:37.309
of the Redeemer has a common table program that

00:17:37.309 --> 00:17:41.009
feeds breakfast and lunch for about 100 to 150

00:17:41.009 --> 00:17:45.660
people a day. And Terry grew up in Collingwood,

00:17:45.740 --> 00:17:49.299
and he played hockey when he was young, and it

00:17:49.299 --> 00:17:53.799
was his way of escaping a broken family. And

00:17:53.799 --> 00:17:55.900
then he became a laborer when he got a little

00:17:55.900 --> 00:17:58.619
older. He fell off the roof one day and had to

00:17:58.619 --> 00:18:01.839
collect ODSP, and he lived in Toronto and could

00:18:01.839 --> 00:18:06.519
not make ends meet. So he would sit at the corner

00:18:06.519 --> 00:18:09.980
of Avenue Road and Bloor Street and sell outreach

00:18:09.980 --> 00:18:14.019
papers to make a little bit of extra cash. He

00:18:14.019 --> 00:18:17.019
had a toothless grin and knew everybody who walked

00:18:17.019 --> 00:18:20.279
by that corner early in the morning. And he and

00:18:20.279 --> 00:18:25.099
I became fast friends. One day on Good Friday,

00:18:25.160 --> 00:18:28.339
he stepped into the church for the very first

00:18:28.339 --> 00:18:32.460
time and he asked God to help him become sober.

00:18:34.099 --> 00:18:37.440
And from that moment on, our conversations became

00:18:37.440 --> 00:18:41.319
different. And I knew when he fell off the wagon.

00:18:41.940 --> 00:18:45.819
because he wasn't at the corner. And I knew that

00:18:45.819 --> 00:18:50.039
he was on again when he was back. And on those

00:18:50.039 --> 00:18:53.079
mornings, we would embrace, and I only had to

00:18:53.079 --> 00:18:55.980
look at him to say, I know that you know that

00:18:55.980 --> 00:19:02.079
I know that you know that I know. One day at

00:19:02.079 --> 00:19:06.259
a time, Terry. Then one day he came to me and

00:19:06.259 --> 00:19:11.299
he said, Father, I'd like to get baptized. And

00:19:11.299 --> 00:19:15.180
then our conversations became different. And

00:19:15.180 --> 00:19:18.700
on a Wednesday midweek, he, along with others

00:19:18.700 --> 00:19:22.480
who supported him, came and he was baptized.

00:19:22.940 --> 00:19:27.700
And there was not a dry eye in the house. And

00:19:27.700 --> 00:19:32.450
then one Christmas, I gave him a card. You see,

00:19:32.490 --> 00:19:34.650
at the end of every year, if I had any money

00:19:34.650 --> 00:19:37.170
left over in my discretionary fund, I would write

00:19:37.170 --> 00:19:40.349
checks to people in the community that I knew

00:19:40.349 --> 00:19:44.670
needed an extra helping hand. And one year I

00:19:44.670 --> 00:19:48.309
wrote him a check and I put it in the card. And

00:19:48.309 --> 00:19:50.069
I said to him, there are no strings attached.

00:19:51.829 --> 00:19:54.329
About a week and a half after Christmas, he said,

00:19:54.369 --> 00:19:57.109
Father, I want to tell you what I did with that

00:19:57.109 --> 00:19:58.970
money. And I said, you don't need to tell me.

00:19:59.170 --> 00:20:05.099
He said, I want to. He said, for every child

00:20:05.099 --> 00:20:08.740
that gave me a quarter or a loonie for a paper

00:20:08.740 --> 00:20:11.839
on a Sunday morning, I wrote them a card and

00:20:11.839 --> 00:20:20.519
gave them a gift. That is a life that lives with

00:20:20.519 --> 00:20:26.319
hands open. You can be the wealthiest or not.

00:20:28.420 --> 00:20:32.670
God calls us as Christian followers. to live

00:20:32.670 --> 00:20:36.630
with that sense of openness, to be dressed for

00:20:36.630 --> 00:20:41.089
duty, to have your lamps lit, because you never

00:20:41.089 --> 00:20:44.289
know when you are being summoned by the Lord

00:20:44.289 --> 00:20:49.970
to be present and ready and able to serve the

00:20:49.970 --> 00:20:53.730
most basic needs for our neighbor or our enemy

00:20:53.730 --> 00:20:58.529
in our midst. May God continue to bless us and

00:20:58.529 --> 00:21:01.880
call us to that generous life. not to live with

00:21:01.880 --> 00:21:07.740
scarcity, but with abundance. Amen. Thank you

00:21:07.740 --> 00:21:09.500
for listening to this week's episode of Trinity

00:21:09.500 --> 00:21:12.380
Sermons. This sermon was recorded at Trinity

00:21:12.380 --> 00:21:15.720
Church Streetsville on November 16, 2025.