By Father Casey

The longer I live, the more I understand that there is no such thing as a solitary Christian. God loves each of us individually, but God's love draws us into a community. To be a Christian is to be a part of something bigger than ourselves and far more powerful than anything we could do on our own.

This truth is at the heart of our stewardship campaign, which launches this weekend: "The Power of We… Grace in Action." The grace of God working through our beloved Transfiguration can do far more than we could ever do alone.

• I can't pastorally support everyone who suffers or grieves, but we can.
• I can't create hundreds of worship services each year, but we can.
• I can't provide thousands of meals to hungry neighbors, but we can.
• I can't teach dozens of classes to people ages 2 to 102, but we can.

You and I, on our own, can do wonderful things for God, but the true power of a Christian is only fully expressed when he or she is part of a community. That's when the grace given to each of us is amplified into an abundance of mercy and love. Yes, the grace of God, flowing through over 600 households in our church, is a powerful force.

But we are only as powerful as the people who participate. We are only as strong as the gifts that each of us give. We can only do, and be, what we, the people of Transfiguration, make possible. Which is to say, the "power of we" depends on you and me.

For the next several weeks, you'll see a dramatic visualization of this in the Gathering Space. Around its curved walls we're putting up oversized Post-it notes, on which people have completed this sentence: "By God's grace we…"  We're calling them "Boast-it Notes," because we are celebrating the myriad ways God's grace flows through the lives of Transfiguration's members – innumerable acts of faith, hope, and love spilling into a world so desperately in need of them. You're invited to submit your own and help us cover the walls in grace.

Frankly, my experience of grace at Transfiguration is the biggest thing keeping me going these days. In a time in which the Christian faith is being corrupted and coopted, when people wearing crosses are unashamed to spew malice and celebrate cruelty, when too many Christians feel no need to be Christlike, this is when I need Transfiguration the most. I look around at all of you and marvel at how the fruits of the Spirit flow out of you, and it gives me hope. You are grace in action, and I thank God for you.

Now, you know as well as I do that one of the centerpieces of this season will be the invitation to pledge. I know it's not the most fun thing in the world to be asked for money. But the volume of grace we are able to put into action is tied to the amount we collectively sacrifice. That is the short and plain of it: the gracious work of the church costs money. God's grace is wonderfully free, but operating a church that manifests grace is not.

• To support our experience grace in worship, we have a team of clergy, a fabulous choir, and an amazing altar guild.
• To pour out grace through pastoral care, we have people to coordinate and lead it.
• To form our children in the gospel of grace, we need gifted staff and lots of resources.
• To help us turn grace into meals for hungry neighbors, we need to buy food.
• To enable us to gather for prayer, meals, classes, and concerts, it takes a well-maintained campus.

So yes, you're going to be asked for money this month, and I feel absolutely no embarrassment about doing so. Because I know that everything you give to God through Transfiguration is used carefully and faithfully to put God's grace into action. That's why I give sacrificially to Transfiguration – over two-thirds of my overall tithe – because I believe in who we are and what we do. I believe in the power of we.

So I hope to see you this weekend and throughout October. I hope you'll share a few boast-it notes of your own. I hope you'll make your pledge and help us maintain our Christlike witness. For the world needs grace as desperately as ever, and together we have the power to offer it.