Trinity Church in the City of Boston
The Rev. Morgan S. Allen
October 18, 2026
XXI Pentecost (Proper 24) & Stewardship, Matthew 22:15-22
In you, O Lord, have we taken refuge; for the sake of your name, lead us and guide us.1From Psalm 31. Amen.
A Preface:
Dated technological reference acknowledged, I loved listening to David Sedaris’ books on tape. As hilarious as Sedaris was to read, to hear him voice those tales proved among earth’s great delights. On one of those cassettes, I remember him admitting his family and friends began to avoid spending time with him, because they feared their lives showing up in his stories.
As a preacher, I received Sedaris’ experience as fair warning. While I have occasionally told a family tale of my own, I have done so only judiciously, transparently, and with explicit permission. By the same rationale, I have altogether avoided sharing stories of parishioners in the congregations I’ve served, even if permission might be granted – I mean, The Office can be a funny watch, too, but few of us want to attend a church where we feel documentarians looming with pen and notepad, camera and boom, to record our goings on.
Despite the wisdom of all the above, I have come to believe some parishioner stories should be shared – maybe must be shared. And with fact-checked permission, today I am going to tell you a tale of some of your pew companions, for you should know that miracles come To These Stones of Trinity Church, and so, too, miracles come From These Stones of the same.
See, it came to pass in those days that a freshman arrived from far away to a Boston-area college. In the peculiar magic of undergraduate orientation, they soon fell in with a friend group, and before long, this freshman, who had grown up going to church, began socializing the idea of finding one to attend. A new friend – with much less experience of organized religion – offered to join the righteous expedition. Plans were made.
On a cold Sunday during that fall-before-last, the pair awoke early and called an Uber for “Trinity Episcopal,” a nearby congregation they had seen in Newton. Once in the car, however, the driver seemed to be taking a long and strange route. When they eventually approached the Charles River and passed BU, they realized they were, instead, heading for Trinity Church in Boston. Searching up schedules from the backseat, they found this unexpected Trinity also had a 10AM service, so they decided to give it a try, near as they were to Copley Square and all.
And the rest, as they say, is history. They became as regular in worship as anyone at the altar. When Bishop Whitworth visited last October, we celebrated their confirmation and baptism, respectively. Thanks be to God, they continue as part of our teeming, college-aged cohort.
I consider their being here a miracle! A miracle: language I do not choose lightly or glibly, for surely, it’s a miracle that any of us have found our way here, today, with one another. Consider the impossible many circumstances, chances, choices that brought you to Trinity Church this morning … all of us – every one of us – are miracles come To These Stones.
See, miracles need not defy the laws of physics and matter and such,2Another books-on-tape reference: my good friend, the Rev. Barkley Thompson, listened to Bill Moyers’ Genesis series on audio cassettes. In that roundtable program from the late 1990s, the Rev. Dr. Renita J. Weems, commented that she considered “timing” the essential characteristic of a miracle. In our seminary years, Barkley, pool cue in his hand, shared her idea during a nine-ball, theological discussion, and the notion stuck with me – though not just timing, but all the other intersections of people and place and circumstance that need not defy the mortal principles and limits of the universe. explainable only by the acts of an interventionist god. As I often name: if God could save one, then God would save all. We need not look far to realize God does not save all. Therefore, I believe God cannot save one.3Tip of the cap to James Mulholland and Philip Gulley for their 2003 collaboration, If Grace Is True – another foundational set of ideas for me. That is, God has not, does not, will not recant our freedom and intercede, meddle – not even to save Jesus from the cross.
Yet, the God who made us, loves us, and has made the world in love, with love, and for love. God has wrought the cosmos in such a way that every atomic particle of existence leans toward its maker in Spirit and in substance – leans toward goodness, toward beauty, toward connection, toward companionship, toward fulfillment. Those innate inclinations make the creation good, indeed, very good, and for us to deny our goodness? Why, we must labor against those most fundamental forces of our being; we must reorganize ourselves at a molecular level, an unrelenting, wearisome chore – why do we ever do it?
Yes, miracles occur within our mortal confines: synchronicities of a sort, these conspiracies of grace set in motion from before time itself. As a result, all of us share a common calling to set ourselves in that mighty stream of God’s Love, to plunge ourselves in the river of Life flowing through parish churches like this Trinity. And if we will, when we do … well, miracles will come From These Stones, as well.
As this Program Year approached, Trinity received an online contribution from that once-upon-a-time freshman, now a rising junior. They included a short note in the comment section of our webform: “This is my tithe from the income I earned at my summer internship. I wanted to give it to my church home here at Trinity! I am thankful for you all.”
And I gotta tell you, that gift and its accompanying three sentences moved us who receive those notifications, our Director of Stewardship and me. Lonsdale followed-up with a personal note on behalf of the parish, expressing our gratitude and gladness – and in a virtuous-circle moment, that thank-you note? It prompted another thank-you note in reply!
The undergraduate wrote back: “Trinity has provided such an amazing and loving community for me, and it has helped me grow in my own spiritual journey. I truly believe that Trinity has been a gift from God, and that the internship opportunity I had this summer was also a gift … I believe that if I did not sow those seeds back through generosity, I would be taking something that was not mine …”
With their gracious spirit shining, that last line landed forcefully with me – “like taking something that wasn’t mine.” I decided to reach out to the college student, to learn more about their gift, and to ask if I could share their story [thankfully, they said yes].
When we spoke, they explained their parents raised them with encouragement to give 10% back to God, and as a child, they remembered counting out quarters to make their tithe. This summer, they set a goal of drafting a post-graduate budget, and when working those numbers, they included 10% of their prospective income for the Church. In that process, they realized they did not need to wait until they graduated to continue their stewardship journey, and they decided to tithe their internship earnings.
Looking at their paycheck this August, they laughingly admitted to debating whether to tithe pre-tax or post-tax dollars [I believe that’s knowing laughter, I’m hearing] … before asking themselves, “What am I doing?” and starting with the gross number. They then realized that with their college room and board accounted, they could increase their gift toward 15%, rather than stopping with only the tithe. They explained, “I attended services growing up, but it was more my parents’ church. Trinity is my church, a highlight of every week … God gave me all these opportunities … I know this is nowhere near a huge gift compared to some … but I am so grateful to have the opportunity to tithe to a church home that I truly love.”
See, our faithful pew companion intuitively understood that all we have and all we are is of God – and while we must render unto Caesar,4Matthew 22:21. Eversource, Star Market, and all the rest, we make those passing necessities meaningful by what we choose to offer God: our everything. Recognizing every good gift as a blessing, we join in the abundance of God’s generosity and decline succumbing to the scarcity of the world’s competition … we join in the abundance of God’s generosity. We labor with God for the creation’s renewal, leaning into our essential goodness – receiving God’s Love and then sharing in the same.
During this time each fall, we at Trinity Church host our annual “Stewardship season” when we invite every household in our congregation to make a financial commitment for the upcoming year. We call this commitment a “pledge,” and we view that pledge as a promise between us and the God of all creation, a covenant that we will make a priority of our relationship with this One who bears us, who bears all that is.
A “steward” manages what is not their own, and as Christian stewards, we recognize that God has chosen the Church as the primary instrument of salvation. By our pledge here at Trinity, we become partners in God’s saving work, and over time, our faithful practice of generosity increasingly forms us – us: parishioner and parish, alike – in the image of our generous God.
For these reasons, we do not pledge simply to keep the church’s lamps lit. We give because God calls us to give, because we inherit God’s promises, because we share in God’s hopes.
The tension, of course, is that we must keep the church’s organ sounding and fund the parish’s ministry, for at Trinity we spend only what we can afford, and we can afford to spend only what has been committed. Therefore, our invitation to Stewardship always has two goals: individually, we pray that every member of this congregation will give faithfully; and communally, we pray that together, we will provide for the ministry to which God calls us.
For 2027, we have set a goal of “50 for the 150” – an increase of 50 pledges as we celebrate the 150th anniversary of our buildings’ consecration. That’s a big jump! Meeting the goal would mean a 10% increase in the number of our pledges. Thanks be to God – our growth these last years supports such a lofty aspiration, if you who pledged last year or a previous year will do so again, and if you who are new to Trinity are ready to make this your faith home and pledge for the first time. I believe we will meet this challenge because I believe in you. I believe in the vital the ministry we share. I believe in the Good News we have to offer a hurting world, one aching to hear a Word of hope.
If you are on our mailing list, you will have received a physical pledge card this week. If you did not, yet, receive one, there are more in the Narthex, the foyer of the church, and behind me, here in the Clarendon Vestibule. Everyone can link to the confidential web form through the QR code in your Worship Booklet and in the comment threads of our livestreams.
With our undergraduate pew companions an inspiration, I invite you to join in God’s renewal of the world and to make your pledge today – not a begrudging obligation [we have enough of those], but a joyful opportunity! For we make the world more joyful, by being more joyful! We make the world more loving, by being more loving! We make the world more generous, by being more generous!
And if we will, when we do, we honor the miracle that brought us together … and From These Stones, we become miracles ourselves, sharing in God’s love and grace and hope.
In the name of God,
and for the good of the whole world;
Amen.