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RSSSeptember 19 , Proper 20
by the Rev. Barbara Cawthorne Crafton for ERD
9/19/2004
Amos 8:4-7 (8-12)
1 Timothy 2:1-8
Luke 16:1-13
Psalm 138
"He who is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much…" -- Luke 16:10 (NRSV)
Used books. Baked goods. Plants. Homemade jams. Parish events, large and small. Every week, something. This is how Bill Seixas and his fellow parishioners at St. Peter’s in San Pedro, California, have managed to raise money for Episcopal Relief and Development’s work around the world.
St. Peter's is not the largest parish in the Diocese of Los Angeles, nor is it the wealthiest. But in the thirty years since Bill fell in love with the opportunity ERD offers to work to relieve human suffering, St. Peter's has been one of the longest continual donors to ERD through the Diocese of Los Angeles. In each of the last three years, St. Peter's has donated between $12,000 and $16,000.
Bill was a high school football coach for many years, and he knows how to create a team and keep it motivated. He knows that there is no unimportant member of a team, that everyone is essential. He knows that there is no such thing as a small contribution—they're all big. This is how he has exercised his leadership at St. Peter's, but it is also how he has fit into the larger team of which he is a part through his partnership with ERD. No matter how enthusiastic a coach Bill might be, he and St. Peter's could never reach into a Namibian village to help shelter and educate AIDS orphans while rushing emergency funds to help hurricane victims in Florida and wildfire victims in his own Southern California, at the same time rebuilding health centers in Iran and providing agricultural assistance to farmers in Tanzania and helping villages in Nicaragua gain access to safe drinking water.
In football, you never make a goal in one play, one spectacular solo run from the center line to the goalpost. You pass the ball back and to your teammates, and the team works its way up—and sometimes back down—the field many times before you score. To gain even one yard is important, because you know that it is only yard by yard that it all adds up to a win.
In the spiritual life, it is the same. Every good thing is a big thing. Everything counts. Nothing is unimportant, and nothing is lost—no prayer, no song, no sacrament, no study, no holy friendship, no moment of generosity. All combine to become the joyful life of a soul in Christ. Although Bill and his friends have given much to serve sisters and brothers they will never meet, their joy in each other while they're doing it is palpable.
Episcopal Relief and Development saves lives and builds hope in communities around the world. We provide emergency assistance in times of disaster. When the immediate crisis is over, we rebuild devastated communities and offer long-term solutions in the areas of food security, health care, and HIV/AIDS.
