Stewardship: the care of everything under your authority part II

One way of thinking about our stewardship choices is to consider what else out there is competing for our attention, our money and our time.

Our neighbor Tom Henry (writing as Stewardship Teacher for St. Marks, Baldwinsville) reflects on the competition between everything else and the enormous entertainment industry (think video, iPad, iTouch, gaming, TV, sports).  Talk to my grandparents or play Candy Crush on my phone?  Participate in a fundraising event or watch a movie on my computer?  Get dirty planting trees or play a little golf?  Sacrifice for others or entertain myself? 

"This is the reality of being in stewardship. Everything is a choice and not all the choices have the same marketing budgets.  How do we, as God's people, compete with the tempting and expensive world of entertainment? How do we convince anyone that their money and time buy more in service to others than in amusing themselves here and now? There is a multi-billion dollar industry working to convince you that I am wrong. I have a single, 2000 year old book to convince you otherwise. 

I am convinced that we at St. Mark’s [and Luther Memorial for that matter] can fund any ministry we think is important enough to fund. We can afford our building and every program we can think of within it and outside it, if we truly believe in its importance. It is a faith challenge to give money. So [any] stewardship drive will be about money, but it also must be about faith. In the face of overwhelming competition for dollars, dedication, and devotion from a very entertaining world, the love of God through Jesus Christ must still be most important. And the stewardship challenge is to convince congregations to demonstrate that in their giving."

Thanks, Tom, for laying this out for us.  

Fear not! Not a Hallmark angel.

Angels must be perfectly fearful creatures (Hallmark aside) because their first words are "Fear not!".  How ridiculous!  Of course we react in fear.  We are in the presence of Divine Power - or at least a Messenger of Divine Power.

[I write all this without ever having encountered an angel as so described; I'm just speculating based on the Bible's stories.]

The folks in Gerasene never got a warning.  No one stood up and said, 'Fear not!'  Jesus simply stepped ashore and set a man free of the demons which had hounded him for too long.  Jesus simply took a man who lived among the dead and gave him the chance to live among the living.  Jesus simply stepped into a place controlled by darkness and made the light of the Creator shine. 

It was more than the folks in this town could handle.  In fact it was so frightening, they told Jesus to leave - to take his bag of tricks and get out of town.  And he did; Jesus left.  However, he did not abandon them; he insisted the man remain among them.  Even if they never listened to this 'crazy man's' words, they would always have his very person there to remind them of the great power that came into their midst......and how they sent it away.  Out of fear. 

Fear that kept them living among the dead, in the darkness.  No judgment here, just observation.  But I wonder: How is our relationship with Jesus crippled by our fear?  Where could we go if we truly trusted the power of this one, the Son of God?  Who do we know that is living in the darkness?  Could we be a part of inviting them into real life?

because they were overcome with fear

My daughter is afraid of spiders.  I almost laughed as I wrote that sentence because, really, how afraid can you be of something which you outweigh by 300%?  But there you have it; she's afraid. Although this fear managed to cost us $500 in doctor's bills once, she really doesn't believe her life is in danger when encountering a wandering arachnid.

Fear has something to do with power.  In fact I think there is a direct correlation:  the greater the power the greater the potential for fear.  Or perhaps one could say that great fear is related to the potential for disaster - or what we at that moment would consider disaster. Walking carefully on an icy sidewalk might make us anxious; careening down an icy highway sideways at 65 mph is occasion for fear for disaster looms.

And disaster is that moment when the world turns and 'what has been' is replaced with an unwelcome 'what is coming.'  Great power is capable of bringing great changes, disasters even: ergo, great fear.

The people who lived in Gerasene (a place with alternate spellings and locations according to the various gospels) were overcome with fear, and so they asked Jesus to leave town.  I can't quite figure out what it was that scared them silly, but it clearly has something to do with the power that Jesus' revealed when healing the man possessed by demons.  Perhaps this healing was not trusted as benign; perhaps they expected someone as powerful as Jesus to use that power to make their lives different then they were.  I would guess that they were fairly certain that tomorrow was going to be vastly different than today.

They were right, of course.  Jesus had the power to make their tomorrows vastly different from today.  Jesus had the power to change their lives, right down to the very core.  Jesus wasn't benign; he wasn't some generic itinerant preacher.  He was the Son of God.  Right there!  In their face!

Following this Jesus is much more than adding Christian to your resume.  A relationship with Jesus is a relationship with the Divine (notice the capital letter), the Cosmic Force, the Creator of All.  You are tapping into great power - and once you do, your tomorrows are different from your todays.  Perhaps this is why the psalmist wrote 'the fear of God is the beginning of knowledge.'  Just saying.




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All thorns, no roses

 

You have reached the point where you hesitate to say, "It can't get any worse" since that's what you thought 3 days or 3 weeks or 3 months ago....and it did.  It got worse.  Lots worse.  And you wonder when the free fall is going to stop.

It doesn't matter where you started, how high you were; it doesn't matter if your free fall looks like child's play to someone else.  It's your free fall and you wonder, how come all I get is thorns and no roses?

Truth be told, if you are still able to even utter those words, you haven't reached bottom yet.  You haven't reached the point where all you can do is concentrate on breathing in and breathing out.  You make no plans for tomorrow since you are not sure you even want tomorrow to come.  You put one foot in front of the other.  You get through today, this moment.

Now the word abyss has real meaning and in the midst of this crushing 'nothingness' you can not forms words of supplication; you can not even form thoughts or hopes.  You are as close to the living dead as you ever want to be.  You are naked; living among the dead; held in bondage by the darkness.

Hold on.  Jesus knows where you are and who you are and what you need, and he will cross into enemy territory, brave wild waters, risk hostile and powerful forces for your sake.  For your life.    For you.

There is no creed you must recite, nor ritual you must perform.  Saving you is just what Jesus came to do.  He is the presence in the darkness that wants to lead you to light.  Trust me, I know.  I've been in the darkness myself.

Romans 8.18ff, Luke 8.26ff

Dare to believe

Dead is not dead to God.
 

 

"It is a challenge to live 'in the faith' in our times."

  Bishop Marie Jerge  at Synod Assembly June 7th 

 

We have a skewed perspective about the times in which we live; we are simply too close to the subject.  However, those who study these things speak of our times as 'transitional' and 'rapidly evolving.'  The technology I worked to understand 3 years ago is extinct and everyday something new is on my door step.  The economy is so unpredictable we must run to keep up with the jobs we have in order to be able to do them in the next 5 years.  For the middle class, the middle is rapidly shrinking as we are squeezed by the changing job market, the cost of living and our own expectations of how life should be.

God speaks to Ezekiel and tells him to prophesy to the dry bones of the valley - bones of soldiers  who died years before in an unsuccessful attempt at defending their homeland.  Mixed in were the bones of exiles dragged from their place of comfort and livelihood and forced into life in a foreign land and culture.  The bones were dry - no flesh, no muscle, no life.

Then God commands the bones to come together, bone to bone, and flesh to appear, and sinew to grow and skin to cover and then finally, breath to enter into them.  These bones will know life again, God announces.  Dead is not dead to God.

However you understand this powerful story, it illustrates the incomprehensible core of our faith: in the hand of God, the dead can live again. 

It is not only challenging to believe that, it is even more challenging to live your life as if it were true. When our path seems strewn with dry bones, when signs of life are difficult to find and more difficult to trust, our faith stands naked in the bright sun.  Then we tell the story of Ezekiel, the story of the widow of Nain, the story of Hannah's child, and ultimately the story of our Lord: in the hand of God, new life is but a breath away.

A life of generosity in all things

You chose to skip the chemical weed killer on your lawn this year.  You are convinced it is not a good choice in the long run for you or the environment.

Recycling is a way of life in your household.  You don't even really think about it any longer.  Waste and landfills sum up your reasons.

Six different activities demand your attention on a weekend and you decide that your family needs to slow down, eliminate distractions and play together more often.

Perhaps you have never realized: you are a steward: of creation, of resources, of your time.  Although we generally call it 'budgeting' you are also a steward of your financial resources.  You decide to devote a portion of your earnings here (mortgage, summer camp, Wi-Fi) and you decide not to devote money there (snowmobile, European vacation, designer clothes).  We devote our time to the causes we think are important.  We devote our family's resources to activities that build us up as family.  Lots of things cry out for your attention, your time and your dollars.  You need to make choices and allot varying amounts of each in your role as steward. 

What we value is revealed in the choices we make.  That is, we wish to support those things we value with our time and resources, and allow the others to fall by the wayside.  We put our 'money' where our values are.  "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

Thank you for giving me the time it took to consider this post. 

belonging.....

It is what we want most, ahead of money or status.  Belonging.  Community.  Or to quote Cheers, 'a place where everybody knows your name.'

We want to experience being a part of it - and this includes our spiritual longings as well.  What a religious community says is secondary to how it 'is' with and for one another.  When I look at the group here gathered, do I want to be one of them?  Do I want to grow into one of them?  Do I want to live my life as they live theirs?  Do I experience good in this group so that I see it at work and trust what I see?  Is this where I could belong?

For those who gather around the Christian cross, the question then becomes, 'Who am I when I belong to Christ?'  This question marks the beginning of a rich and vibrant spiritual life - for the individual and for the community at large.  You can translate that into: How have I experienced Christ?  How has Christ changed my experience of the world, and the world's experience of me?  What might it look like if Christ was in, with and under each of my words, thoughts and deeds? We might ask as a community:  How do we reflect the life we have experienced in Jesus to the world?  How does it change how we act and what we decide to do as a community? 

In fact, our life of faith together should go beyond community (which could easily define Buffalo Bills fans) to communion - a set of relationships that both reflects our passions and shapes them at the same time.*  That is, we belong because of who they are.  We are who we are because of where we belong.

All too complicated for you? I get it.  It comes down to this: folks who are spiritually seeking are looking for a community where those who belong reflect the very values they espouse.  They have seen something they want to imitate. 

They aren't seeking answers to questions; they are seeking a place where they can belong.  They expect that the answers to complicated questions are to be discovered way down the road.  First they want to trust the folks with whom they are making the journey.

Be attentive to your own imitation of Christ.  Invite others to walk with you as you grow and learn.  Don't feel pressed to have the big answers.  Belong and invite others to belong as well.

That's what Jesus did. 

*Once again, I acknowledge the writing and wisdom of Diana Butler Bass in her book, Christianity after Religion, from which I took inspiration and a quote or two.  Do read it.

God moments......

They are God moments - moments of compassion and mercy and forgiveness.

Each time compassion is evident, mercy is bestowed and forgiveness is announced, the Spirit of the Holy and Living God is at work.  I say this because each of these actions bring light into a situation where there was gathering darkness.  Each of these actions bring life where death hovered.  Someone is healed; someone is made whole.

It's time to tell these stories; to share what we have seen and heard and experienced.  It is time to give glory to God by lifting up all those places where we have seen God at work through others.

Take a moment and share your story with us all.

Finding a balance

As a society, we are 'out of kilter, broken down, scared and unable to believe that

our ideals are feasible.'*

Wow!  That might cause you to lose what little balance you have, or for you, it might finally describe the fractured disconnect of your world.  Either that perspective causes you to run for the security blanket of 'How Things Ought to Be' or possibly it reflects the trepidation you have about where we are going as a society and how we are going to get there.  Somehow you know there is no stopping it.

At the same time, you are trying to raise a family (i.e. socially acceptable children who will one day be independent) and hold on to a job that is shifting from year to year.  Your life looks a great deal like your parent's life must have, and yet you know it is a whole new world out there.  The word 'pension' will soon have as little meaning as an old 'hi-fi.'  If you think about it all too much you get a headache; motion sick from the merry go round going around much too fast.

'Finding a balance' may be the primary source of spiritual seeking in our times.  Finding our place in the world; a place that fosters life and growth and joy; finding a place where our desire to be compassionate and kind can be expressed; finding a place where others share this same perspective.....finding a balance for ourselves and our families where our values can be expressed in a world that makes people dizzy with its spinning....often looks just out of reach.

How does your faith help you find a balance between now and the unknown?  Trust in the future?  Make it through the 'valley of the shadow of death'?  Bring life and live life?  Teach your children how to love?

These are tough questions.  We can tell the story of Jesus to everyone, but it will remain but a story if we cannot help our neighbors figure out how Jesus intersects with the craziness of their lives.  Folks want to know about you - your story, the realities of your life, and where Jesus walks with you.  They don't expect you to have answers - they just want to know about your journey. 

Tell your story.  Don't flinch - just tell it.  Don't ask for anything in return.  Offer up your story and invite the Spirit to be at work. 

Chasing rainbows

We must risk delight.

Delight and children go together, perhaps because 'delight' requires a freedom of time and space and person that fades away as we mature.  You can see delight in a child's eyes - the butterfly they are chasing, the present hidden inside bright wrapping paper, the candles on the birthday cake.  It is not just their eyes - delight energizes their entire body so that dancing and jumping accompanied by a tad of squealing comes as a package deal.

It is more than receiving something nice.  It is about the wonder of the beauty and mystery and adventure right before their eyes.  Somehow their entire body knows that something amazing is happening right now, so they enter into an experience, body and soul, to be where all the cosmic forces are in harmony.

Somewhere in our growing up we shed our capacity for delight.  We probably got smart, learned that dreams don't always come true, worried about looking like fools.  But in the process, we gave away those moments when the sheer power of life being lived energizes our entire being. We gave away our certainty about tomorrow.  Graveyards were our certainty; gardens but a possibility.

 So hear again the words of Easter morn  "He is not here.  He has been raised."  Graveyards have become gardens.  Resurrection is a recapturing of our capacity for delight - for trusting that this God of the Universe continues to be 'good' for all the God promises.

To believe is to risk delight in the name of God.

Oh no! Jesus is at it again....

One of the important truths of the biblical story about Jesus is this:  very religious people often - frequently - rejected Jesus and the vision he brought of the future in God.  It was nothing personal, they simply couldn't conceive that God's work in this world would take such a radical and unexpected direction. Religious people today often feel the same way

The Jesus who upset the balance 2000 years ago continues to upset the status quo today as well.  We have a resurrection God and that means that what we see as a dead end, God sees as a place for new life, new possibilities, a new creation.  This means that all those clear answers and considered opinions we have held for so long might have to be chucked out the window to make room for God's new thing to happen.

The Spirit continues to move into new corners and bring about new life for the sake of the whole world.  The Spirit continues to form new communities around the God actions of mercy and compassion and serving others. 

We have to get out ahead of the curve to keep up with this creating Spirit.  Remember learning how to ride a bicycle?  If you peddle too slowly you simply can't find your balance - you have to keep moving with what feels like crazy aplomb  in order for it to work at all.  They say you never forget how to ride a bike once you've learned.  Let's pray that the same is true about working with the Spirit of God.

On the road every day......

We are going On the Road with Jesus this coming Sunday. 

 

Don't mis-understand.  As people of faith we are on the road with Jesus everyday.  As we move about the world, we are the hands and feet of the living Jesus - anointing others with the love and grace with which we have been anointed. 

 

Any of us will tell you that we should do good for others; it feels good most of the time too.  But, as people of faith, our faithful labor has a firmer foundation with a hope for a different tomorrow. 

 

We are a resurrection people.  Our hope, our life, our identity is found in the promise of the resurrected Jesus.  Jesus was the anointed one who died, and then conquered death.  That bears repeating.  Jesus died and death did not hold him captive.  Through the power of the Holy Spirit, God raised Jesus from the dead to live a resurrected life - a life that cannot be cancelled by the power of death.  Jesus promises that where he is, we will be also.  That promise, that hope is the foundation or the core of who we are as people of faith.

 

There are lots of ways to describe this amazing gift that comes to us in Jesus.  We have been invited into a feast that will never end.  We are accepted and belong to the Jesus, not because we are worthy or hard working but because God loves the world - and that includes you and me....and all the folks we are going to meet on the road.  We have been re-born, given a new life grounded in love and forgiveness.

 

This, my friends, is news too good not to share in word and deed and life choices.  We go on the road to be a little Christ to others so that through our labor they might experience greater life now, and through Christ's presence and the power of the Holy Spirit, they might comes to know the Life Giver Jesus.

 

Sunday is the day we set aside to be at this work as a community of faith.  Want to try it?  Be here at 9:30 and pick your project and taste and see that the Lord is good.

 



Caught asking the wrong question

What kind of woman was she?

She had no place at the table.  Clearly she disregards the potential public embarrassment for herself and cares nothing for the ruffled feathers of the men in attendance.

 

She is singular in purpose; she never speaks, goes directly to Jesus and does what she has come to do.  She pours out herself; her tears; her anointing hands; even her money; she wept, bathed, dried, kissed, anointed. Something, sometime moved her.  It seems obvious.  Why would she have come and acted in such a way had she not encountered Jesus before?  She does all this for Jesus, not for herself; there is no indication of a transaction here, no quid pro quo. She takes no honor onto herself; none is offered; none is given.

 Of those in the room, we are certain that this woman has clarity of purpose and goal. She may also have a reputation; we assume that calling her a sinner means she is functioning outside the sexual boundaries of her day….but how would they know this?  Just by looking at her?  Could the men have been customers?  At the same time, don’t jump to sexual conclusions; there may also have been any other number of ritual and legal reasons to call her a sinner.

But whoever she is, she is clear about who Jesus is; the one who forgives; the one who has accepted her; who allows her inside – all the way to the table.

On the other hand we have The Pharisee who is male, apparently ‘not a sinner’, the host of the dinner, wealthy enough to invite Jesus to his table.  What does The Pharisee do?  Well, he invited; watched; and thought to himself:  ‘Well, who exactly invited her?’  and ‘Why doesn’t he say something?’

She snuck in; acted; poured out her feelings openly leaving The Pharisee to look a little cheap, a little gauche, perhaps a little snarky?

What exactly is the point of telling this story with all its drama?  Are we to feel guilty because we didn’t buy the ointment and you know, wash Jesus’ feet?  Are we to feel guilty because we like the Pharisee we try to act correctly according to social customs?  Which debtor are we, exactly, in the little parable?  Is it better to be the one for whom a small debt was forgiven? 

This is exactly where we get hung up today.  We are so busy critiquing the behavior of others, checking against some list of merits and acceptability that we miss the core action.  This is a story about forgiveness – and getting to know the one who forgives.

Who has the authority to forgive us: to give us a cosmic ‘do-over’ – to put the past behind us and help us live into the future in harmony with God’s purposes in the world?  Who?  Jesus; and this is no small thing this forgiveness that Jesus offers.

The Jesus' brand of forgiveness is life changing, emotional; often leads people to disregard social custom and everyone else to serve the one who forgives.  Being in the presence of that kind of authority, that kind of power is a little overwhelming, might take a while to wrap your head around it all.  Might lead you to pour yourself out for the other.

Notice:  in spite of how we react to these two characters, Jesus rejects neither of them.  First, he speaks out loud what the Pharisee has hidden in his heart.  Jesus needs to bring it forward into the light or it will settle in and fester there in his heart. This Pharisee sees himself as the one with a small debt to the master; nothing really to be concerned about. 

Jesus, however, offers the Pharisee forgiveness.  The same forgiveness given to the woman.  Apparently both of them could benefit from this forgiveness, and the relationship it would create with Jesus: the one who forgives and makes possible cosmic forgiveness; new beginnings; being born again.  Got it?

Yes?  then how will you live?    Where will these two go with this gift?  Who will they be?

Having already publicly proclaimed her devotion to Jesus, the woman seems a good bet for continuing her life devoted to Jesus. But, will it prove to be a flash in the pan?  No more than an emotional experience that will fade and the wondrous gift of a new beginning will fade as well?

And the Pharisee?  Could this story close with the sound of bells going off announcing he truly does get it, not just the value of the forgiveness being offered,  but the reality of who it is that sits before him and offers it to him? 

We talk about forgiveness all the time here in church.

We listen to the words of absolution granting us forgiveness.

We hear stories about Jesus forgiving others.

We are encouraged to make forgiveness the core value and action of our lives as people of faith.

But how has it changed us?  Where have our lives gone after receiving this awe inspiring gift?

Because either forgiveness changes you or you haven’t really understood what was at stake in the first place. Either it gives you a new beginning to live within that forgiveness; free to go where you are not invited; free to thank others; free to serve others; free to make a fool of yourself for Jesus, or you have no idea just how much you need this forgiveness that Jesus is offering.

And if you don’t understand forgiveness, you don’t understand Jesus or his mission in the world – or yours for that matter. 

Not certain you have been forgiven?  Need proof?  Look to your baptismal certificate. Your baptismal certificate is the official document that you have been forgiven. 

 

Either you believe that and live into it everyday or you quibble and wander around lost.  

So let me say once again,  Go, you are forgiven.  It’s a cosmic do-over.  A new beginning. You have been born again. 

What life will you live now?

In the face of great sorrow

In the face of great sorrow, people of faith
          grieve
          cry out
          are uncertain of the future, its path and its obstacles
          doubt their own strength and ability to carry on.

They also
           lean into Jesus' promise to be present
           cling to the hope of God's future
           reach out to others who also sorrow
           rely on the fellowship of believers to carry them for a little while
           trust in God's ultimate love.

People of faith commend our loved ones into the hands of God thus:

 Into your hands merciful Savior we commend our brother Mark....

a sheep of your own fold,

a lamb of your own flock,

 a sinner of your own redeeming......

Remember in your prayers today those who face great sorrow.  If you can't think of anyone in particular than consider the victims of sexual assault, the parents of suffering children, the spouses of those killed in military service, those who love someone with debilitating mental illness. 

If today you are not facing great sorrow, then your task is to pray for them and hold them up. As people of faith we are not only claimed by our Lord and called into his living body, we are called to act as the body for the sake of others.  So, just like a sore toe will cause you to carry more weight on the other foot, we as members of the body bear the weight of others who, in this moment, are weaker.  Some of us make casseroles; some of us offer rides or do some babysitting; some of us run errands.  All of us are called to pray.

We pray not that our desires will win out but rather that our desires might intersect with God's will, and in the act of praying we learn to walk with God, trusting that whatever the outcome, God's great love is at work.

This is how you will learn to face great sorrow yourself. 

Thanks to all for your constant prayers for Mark.  He now rests with God.  Remember his family.