Strictly speaking, I don’t earn anything at all. I haven’t done for 16 years now.
What ministers get paid is called a ‘stipend’ rather than a ‘salary’. It’s easy to forget why this matters. I’ve often caught myself referring to my role in ways that suggest I earn a wage: if someone thanks me, I’ll make a joke along the lines of, ‘it’s kind of you to say that, but I get paid to do this!’ The thing is, though, I don’t. A stipend is an allowance which ministers are granted precisely so that they don’t have to earn a ‘wage’ – they can dedicate themselves to leading the people of God.
It’s a subtle distinction, but its implications are profound, on multiple levels. First, it makes it clear that the minister’s own spiritual life sits at the heart of what they ‘do’. We are led by God, so that we can lead people to God. Second, it reminds us that the work of God is not a transaction, but a calling. This applies to everyone, at one level – we are all called in different ways. Ministers, though, are appointed and provided for in a way which places that calling at the very centre of their work.
Third, and perhaps most importantly, it is about grace. Life is gift. All we are, and have, is a gift from God. We live in a way which reflects this: a grace-filled, gift-soaked life. In this case, we give generously to the community life of God’s people, in order that our ministers can give their time and energy back to God, and to us, in order to lead us in the life and worship of that community. We don’t pay ‘subs to a club’ – we gift our money, that others might gift their time back to us. It’s all gift – or should be!
This practice has deep roots – it goes right back to the very earliest history of God’s people. The Law given to Moses sets up the system to provide for Israel’s leaders of worship – and it this which Nehemiah makes sure is put back in place, now that Jerusalem is functioning as a city (and a worship centre) again: (v44) ‘contributions, firstfruits and tithes’ to provide for the priests and Levites (their ministers), as well as the musicians and gatekeepers (their worship leaders and vergers).
It’s worth noting that many of these people could earn their own money if they had to – they had fields to cultivate and, as we’ll see tomorrow, when the ‘stipends’ weren’t paid, they went back to them in order to earn their keep (13:10). But the contributions of the people, if given faithfully, ensured they didn’t need to: they could dedicate themselves wholeheartedly to their calling.
This Sunday at church is Stewardship Sunday – a moment in the year when we think about our financial generosity. It’s tempting to encourage people in pragmatic terms: ‘give x to the church, and the church can do y with it’; or, dare I say, ‘give us more, or we’ll close!’ To do so might ‘work’ at some level, but it’s not the point, at least not how God had originally designed it. Life is gift – God gives generously to us, that we might give generously to others, that they might give generously back to us. The natural result of living like this would be ‘praise and thanksgiving to God’ (v46).
Wouldn’t it be wonderful to live like that?