Last Sunday was a busy day!
It was our Annual Ministry Fair,
And the tables spilled out into the Narthex telling of all the things we do at St. James,
from Social Ministries to Spaghetti dinners,
and from Children's Ministries to the St. James Knitters.
I hope those of you who were there took advantage not only of the wonderful food and fellowship but also the opportunity to find your place in ministry, if you do not yet have one,
or perhaps to take on a new ministry, if your heart desires growth, or you are seeking to do something new.
Both of these require something from us, and we are all very busy.
But it is difficult to enter in to the full life of the parish if one is not involved with one of the communities that make it up.
It is through getting involved in ministry, bible study, and opportunities to serve outside of this gathering that one gets to know others within the parish.
A few weeks ago, Vic and I nearly ran into each other one Sunday morning in the hallway,
and he exclaimed what a busy place this is.
People were coming and going to and from Sunday School, youth group, and the Lecture series;
coffee hour was being set up in the parish hall, and the choir and clergy were heading for the 10:15 service.
The foyer in front of the parish hall was full of people busy at the Lord's work.
If you are not involved in a ministry community, you might not ever see that side of St. James.
Perhaps you rarely enter that building over there - Let me tell you, it is both a perilous, and a blessed thing to do.
It reminds me of something Bilbo Baggins said in The Fellowship of the Ring:
"It's a dangerous business, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no telling where you might be swept off to."
Well you might be swept off to something by entering more fully into the life of the parish as well!
Bilbo Baggins met with great adventure and riches when he stepped on to the road.
My hope is that all of us will find the same - adventure, and a life that is spiritually and socially rich.
As most of you know, the ministry fair is the kick-off for the annual Stewardship campaign.
Now before you groan and worry that I'm going to talk about money, let me put you at ease.
I am going to talk about money - and time - and talent - the trinity of Stewardship -
But in the context of much greater things.
Today's scriptures are not about money, they are about living. Because as important as our time, talent and treasure, or finances are,
in the big picture they are only three elements of something much greater.
Stewardship is not about our money.
Stewardship is about our life.

In our gospel today, Jesus told the rich young man to sell all his possessions and give the money to the poor.
But in reality, Jesus wasn't particularly interested in the man's money;
He was much more interested in leading the young man to the next step of his spiritual journey.
It was clear to Jesus that this man was a student of the scriptures;
he knew what was needed to keep the law and commandments. But he would not have been talking to Jesus if he wasn't hungering for something more.
Somehow Jesus knew that this young man had one area of his life that he was tight-fisted about.
So he challenged him to let go of that fearful, tight grasp. He told him to sell his possessions and see the kingdom of God flourish in his life.
Jesus issued a call, which the rich young man chose not to answer. Did he do so later?
Was he perhaps one of those listeners on the day of Pentecost who was stirred by Peter's oration, and chose then to answer the call?
Did he give all his money away at that time and join the disciples in communal living?
We don't know.
The good thing about these stories is that they are open-ended, leaving the opportunity for change and growth.
Perhaps the Rich Young Man's hunger for the Kingdom finally overcame his desire to hold on to what he possessed.
Perhaps he eventually heeded God's call.
For our lives here on earth are all about God's call to us.
Beginning in that wonderful story in Genesis,
when God walked in the cool of the day and called to Adam and Eve, "where are you"
(and by the way, if you want to hear more about that, attend Debra's lecture at 9:00)
to today, where in the midst of a perplexing, vibrant, active and sometimes scary world,
God's call to us is still sounded.
Through the generations of our history as human beings has been this one constant - the attempt of the divine to connect with the human, lived through each human's own search for transcendence.
Today's gospel story is one example of one human being to whom the call into relationship was sounded.
For this particular young man, money stood in his way.
For The prophet Amos, from whom we had our first reading this morning,
God called him to come out of his comfort zone and enter into ministry.
He left the life he knew as a shepherd in Judea, and went to preach a message of justice to a group of recalcitrant Jews in the Northern Kingdom.
Leaving behind family and friends, he used his talent as a poet to speak to God's people.
No doubt there were times when that message was NOT fun to write, or to preach - but Amos did his best to be obedient to a call to see God's people turn from injustice and pick up their responsibility as members of the community to those who were less fortunate than themselves.
Stewardship, again, is more than time, talent, and treasure.
It is living life in a way that witnesses to the belief that something out there that is greater than ourselves is calling our name.
That this something is called god,
and that this God seeks relationship with us; indeed seeks to be the center of our lives.
When we understand that, it makes sense to live a life full of gratitude;
a life characterized by love, faith and generosity of spirit.
Recently I came across this prayer by CS Lewis: "Overcome us that, so overcome, we may be ourselves; we desire the beginning of your reign as we desire dawn and dew…"
Overcome us - so that we may be ourselves - It is in hearing and heeding the call of God that we find our true purpose, our true selves.
We come full circle from a question about giving and stewardship to the purpose of it all - to hear the call of God to us, seeking relationship, seeking to give us his own love, offering the treasure that can only be found if we're willing to follow that road with God,
Asking simply for us to let go of what we hold so tightly, that, open-handed, we might slip our hand into his, and walk this joyful journey together.