Hear again the words of David to Goliath from our first lesson for today: "This very day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, … … so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the Lord does not save by sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s." (1 Sam 17:46-47)

And from our Psalm for today: "Those who know your Name will put their trust in you, for you never forsake those who seek you, O Lord." (Ps 9:10)

Is there anybody here who is distressed by the off and on efforts of some folks to remove the words "In God We Trust" from our currency, or to delete the words "one nation under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag?

Well, if it’s any comfort to you, I don’t think it’s going to happen - at least not any time soon.

My real concern is not the efforts to remove these words; my real concern is that far too many of us mouth these words without even a thought about what they really mean - or ought to mean - , and what their very real implications are for how we conduct our day-to-day business - as individuals, as the Church, and as a nation. Are we walking the walk, or simply talking the talk?

Our current world economic crisis provides a real test of the level of our trust in God. Things are tough all over. Many have lost jobs, or have taken significant cuts in their income. Far too many families have lost, or are in danger of losing their homes. Rising fuel and food prices put a further squeeze on already tight budgets. Some folks are forced to make choices as to whether to go hungry, to pay their rent and their utilities, or to forego medications and medical care critical to their health. And if we think it’s bad in this country - and it is for far too many of us - , what about those two billion people in this world of ours who exist on $2 a day or less? Many of these folks don’t have access to clean drinking water, live in sanitary conditions that are appalling to non-existent, and have little to nothing when it comes to medical care. Even those of us who are truly hurting financially are wealthy in comparison to that one-third of the world’s population who live in such abject poverty.

When Judas objects to Mary’s anointing of Jesus with the full contents of a bottle of extremely costly perfume, Jesus answers him: "Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me." (Jn 12:7-8)

So is Jesus letting us off the hook here when it comes to caring for the poor? Not so! Remember his words to the very rich and very good man who came to him asking what he must do to inherit eternal life? Even though he faithfully obeyed the commandments, Jesus told him, "There is still one thing lacking. Sell all that you own and distribute the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." (Lk 18:22) And in the parable of the last judgement in Matthew 25, Jesus says to the righteous, whom he has placed at his right hand, "Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me." (Mt 25:34-36) Jesus’ word to us is, obviously, "Go and do likewise." (Lk 10:37)

Regardless of how much or how little we have, to fail to be generous in our giving is both to disobey God and to show our lack of trust in God to provide for our needs. Jesus tells us, "Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’, or ‘What will we wear?’. … … indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." (Mt 6:31-33)

St Paul, writing to the church in Corinth tells us, "We want you to know, brothers and sisters, about the grace of God that has been granted to the churches of Macedonia; for during a severe ordeal of affliction, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For, as I can testify, they voluntarily gave according to their means, and even beyond their means, begging us earnestly for the privilege of sharing in this ministry to the saints - and this, not merely as we expected; they gave themselves first to the Lord and, by the will of God, to us, … … Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work. … … He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way for your great generosity, which will produce thanksgiving to God through us; …" (2 Cor 8:1-5; 9:7-8, 10-11)

Beloved, our giving is the most powerful indication of the level of our trust in God. This is true whether applied to each of us as individuals and families, to our Church family of St Bart’s and our Diocese, or to our nation as it relates both to the needy among us and those in need around this world of ours.

You know what you do as a family or an individual. Your check book and credit card statements tell that story very clearly. I didn’t say this, Jesus did! Right in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount he tells us, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Mt 6:19-21)

I hope you know what we, as the family of St Bart’s do, even as we scramble to pay the bills and keep the doors open. We give ten percent - the tithe

of our operating income as our pledge to the Diocese of Florida. They, in turn, give ten percent to the Episcopal Church nationally. All this goes to support the ministries that take place on diocesan and national levels.

We give an additional 0.7 percent, plus any designated gifts we receive, to Episcopal Relief and Development. The National Church budget picks up nearly all the operating costs of ERD, which means that virtually 100 percent of our contributions go to causes like Hurricane Katrina relief, Nothing but Nets to fight malaria in developing countries, famine relief and medical care for refugees in Sudan, in the Middle East, and wherever war or natural disasters may strike.

Other cases in point: 1) Our Holy Week and Good Friday offerings go to support the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem and the Middle East, an area where, in spite of growing persecution, Church-run hospitals and schools open their doors to persons of all faiths. 2) We give $500 per year from our operating budget to support the operations of Catholic Charities in this community. 3) On May 24, we gave our "loose plate" offering to the new "Wounded Warrior" ministry, beginning at Camp Weed later this year. This is an outreach to some of our severely injured service men and women returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.