2027 Annual Pledge Campaign: Duty and moral obligation

BY FATHER BEN

I remember the word “duty” used pretty frequently when I was a child. Growing up in a military family, I would frequently hear, “Dad won’t be home tonight, he is on duty,” or “he has duty.” Every couple of years, we moved from one tour of duty to another. The word also was commonplace outside the military context and was a critical element of my moral formation.

“Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” Although those famous words from John F. Kennedy’s inaugural address were spoken over a decade before my birth, I remember their cultural pervasiveness.

The liturgical version might be best expressed in Eucharistic Prayer C: “Deliver us from the presumption of coming to this Table for solace only, and not for strength; for pardon only, and not for renewal.”

Both of these sentiments speak to the same critical truth: We are made for service, for engagement and mattering in the lives of others. This life is about so much more than our own desires. A life of purpose, with a strong sense of duty, is a life richly lived.

I have had the privilege of officiating hundreds of funerals over the years, and I see the enduring impact of well-lived lives. So many of our saints in light committed to something beyond themselves.

I started our high school youth group this year by expressing this inspiring aspect of my priesthood and encouraging them to ask themselves what legacy they are building, what impact they are making beyond themselves. Each week we are discussing the tools or characteristics of a life of service. I also believe that duty is woven into our elementary school curriculum and culture, culminating in our fifth-grade service projects.

Over my fourteen years at Saint James’, this parish has been a source of healing and grace and provided my family an unwavering, loving community. However, I am equally grateful that this parish has given us purpose and accountability beyond ourselves. We are part of a larger whole, and it frames our lives. I see it continuing to grow in my children.

From our youngest students to our wisest seniors we are called to be one body, a holy communion. And like the bread that we receive our lives are to be taken, blessed, broken and given away. I pray that all of you feel that your participation in Saint James’ pulls your life and that of your family into such alignment.

Stewardship — your offering of your time, talent, and treasure — is a vital aspect of a life lived beyond oneself. It invites us to start our calendar planning and our budgeting with what we are giving away. Selflessness, generosity and sacrifice take intention and practice. Our attention to Scripture, our worship and prayer life, and our deliberate actions bend us toward the life God intends for us. Our pledge commitment is a critical act of leaning into God. It sets our ordering of our financial life toward duty placing service over self.

As the Annual Pledge Campaign begins, I encourage you to think of your financial commitment this year not just in terms of the church’s budget needs or even your gratitude and connection to Saint James’ and to God, but as an intention toward greater purpose and service. Consider submitting your pledge card and the fulfillment of that pledge as your duty, asking not what your faith community, your God, can do for you, but what you can do for God and God’s church.

God’s peace and blessings,

The Rev. Benjamin Wells Maas

Rector, Saint James’ Episcopal Church