Rector's Letter - St Nicholas Church

Presenting our budget to the church family as we do each November for the forthcoming calendar year will bring all sorts of challenges to us in the context of the volatility and instability of our current economic position as a country. In that light it is instructive to turn to the classic passage in the New Testament on the issue of financial giving to see the model given to us by the Macedonian churches.

"Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God's will."

(2 Corinthians 8:2-5)

Their context of extreme poverty and severe trials clearly didn't prevent them from giving. Instead we see them pleading to share in the privilege of gospel work through their financial giving and even more instructively we see them giving themselves amidst all their other pre-occupations and worries, "first to the Lord".

I fully recognise that prayerfully assessing what we can give to support gospel work abroad via the Mission Fund and in Sevenoaks through the General Fund will present challenges especially when jobs are being lost, bonuses are being reduced and uncertainty is in the air. Yet, when the world around us finds that the false gods of money, wealth, possessions and properties have seriously let people down, it is precisely then that we need to be supporting every gospel initiative that can tell them of the One who can provide eternal security and riches and glory.

As the Apostle Paul reflects on the example of the Macedonians he turns to the Corinthians in words which are just as applicable to us in Sevenoaks: "Just as you excel in everything in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness see that you also excel in the grace of giving" (2 Corinthians 8:7)

My prayer is that as we face the challenge of financial giving it will give us an opportunity to re-evaluate the utter importance of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ for our own lives and for a desperately needy world around us such that out of our trials we, like the Macedonians, might be known for our overflowing joy and rich generosity.

Angus MacLeay