money – Page 3 – Salvaged Faith

running low on the compassion reserves

Posted on November 28, 2010Leave a comment

One of the reasons I have been avoiding blogging lately is because I have a lot of things I would love to write about, but I can’t.

A couple are topics and discussions that are confidential on a professional level. Some are just things that hit too close to home for myself and I’m not willing/able to take that leap of faith and just put out there for all to read what is close to my heart. They are things I need to deal with in person before I am able to properly reflect upon them. Or maybe I really do just need to take that leap, get over the fear, and put it in writing. Leave it out there and maybe that will give me the courage to have the harder face to face conversations I have been putting off.

What I am able to talk about is the touchy subject of financial outreach.

Everyone I talk to has their own take on how to best provide real financial resources to folks in need and in the past few weeks I have whittled the differences down to three categories:

1) Contributions to a community fund that pastors then refer folks to. This method is very connectional, allows for a sharing of resources, and takes the burden off of any one congregation or pastor… especially if they are not the ones actually managing the funds.

2) Congregational “Love Funds.” This money is held by a particular congregation, folks make donations to it and disbursement is at the discretion of the pastor.

3) Connections to outside agencies and networks of support. This takes a lot of legwork and knowledge by the pastor to have these contacts built up in the first place when the need arises.

4) Personal time/energy/money. Every now and then there is someone who needs a tank of gas or a meal and when we can and are able – pastors are extremely generous folks. As a colleague wrote me: what is needed and is it within my capacity to meet that need? I know of a lot of folks who go above and beyond and their mental health, energy and family suffer for it… your capacity is a lot different than your wallet.

These past two months, I am realizing how small the tanks actually are when it comes to financial assisance in our area.

I recently became the treasurer for our county ministerial fund and as soon as the cold weather hit, our funds went out faster than they could replenish themselves. We are at the point now where we can only provide assistance when we recieve a new donation, and the need really is great out there.

Our local community fund has resources, but we have limitations on how those resources can be used. Time and energy need to go into revamping our guidelines and extending our reach… yet at the same time, as soon as we do so, I know that they will be used and gone. Used for good of course, but used all the same.

My congregational fund is not yet a separate and distinct account from the rest of our finances… I am not entirely sure how previous pastors handled the situation, but since I have been there I have budgeted for a set discretionary assistance amount. I think we exceeded the amount budgeted halfway through the year and asked for a bit more to be set aside… but even if we had ten times the amount of money, we would still have folks we would need to turn away.

I reached the point recently where I almost cashed in my paycheck and gave half of it to someone who really needed it… I’m young, I have a roof over my head, I thought… but I also have a marriage to think of, and my own bills to pay (higher now that our own heat is turned on), and setting myself behind isn’t going to help anyone in the long run.

I felt so guilty that we couldn’t do more as a church or as a community. I felt personally guilty. I didn’t want to call and say no.

I think I was feeling convicted by the idea from James that if you say you will pray for someone who is hungry but don’t give them any food, then you aren’t doing anything for them.

But I think I reached a place this past week where I realized that we already were giving so much. Even if it wasn’t the money needed to pay the bills, we were giving of our time. We were praying. We were listening. We were connecting. We were building relationships. We were doing what we could with what we had. And even extending ourselves beyond those points. We were sharing the love of Christ with folks as much as we could.

Money isn’t everything. Sometimes it feels like that, but its not.

This Sunday, we lit the first candle on the advent wreath as a reminder that the hope of the world is Christ and Christ alone. Not a bank account. Not a fundraiser. Not a paid bill. But Christ.

And things out there are tough – all around they are tough. People are hurting because of broken relationships and they are struggling because of a lack of work and lack of funds. They are angry with systems that fail them and they are disappointed in the outcome of their work. And we sit and wallow in this muck and in the words of Rob Bell: yell at the darkness for being dark.

Sunday – we preached texts that told us to wake up. To stop lingering in the dark and to look towards the light. To remember that our salvation does not lie in these things. To live in the light of Christ right now. To be a community. To walk together. To live right now as if Christ had come again.

And when we do that… we have the strength to answer the phone call when the next creditor calls. We have the peace in our hearts that enables us to hold the hand of a loved one and tell them goodbye one last time. We can let go of the guilt and simply love the best we can, right here and right now.

The Prodigal Steward

Posted on September 19, 20101 Comment

This morning’s parable from the gospel of Luke is one of the toughest pieces of scripture in the whole Bible. Preachers all over the country groan when this passage comes up in our three year cycle of readings. It is hard to figure out just what on earth Jesus is talking about.

We have the story about a middle man, a manager, who gets called in by his boss because he hasn’t been doing his job very well. In the words of the scripture, the manager had been “squandering his master’s property”. Keep that word squandering in the back of your mind… He calls for an audit – the master wants to see the books for himself and then the squandering and dishonest manager will be out on the street without a job.

Now, in Jesus’ time there were basically two types of people – those who had money and property and those who did not. While we might joke, that the same is true for today – there was no concept of a middle class. Either you were a top dog, or you owned nothing.

We don’t know what kind of business this master ran – only that he had enough money and property that he didn’t do any of the hands-on management of his own affairs. No, all of that was left to the steward, the manager. The manager was responsible for contacting all of the people who farmed the land and getting the master’s share of their crops. He was responsible for any investments or lines of credit the master held for others.

But you see, this was a system without financial regulations. And so, the manager paid himself by charging the debtors a little bit extra. The master didn’t mind because he still got his fair share. The debtors were the ones who felt the burden of the extra taxes – the extra interest that was required… and with such high and exorbitant rates, many were stuck with obligations that they just could never dream of fulfilling.

In this system, the only way that a manager kept from being a “have not” was to store up for himself riches on earth. To take a bigger and bigger chunk of the pie. Our manager from this morning was such a man… and according to the parable, maybe this time he had taken just a little bit too much.

Photo by Max Romersa

A complaint has been leveled against the manager that he was squandering his master’s possessions. He was wasting them. He had gotten all big in the head in his position as manager and had gone out and was flashing around his money and bought a new big screen television and a fancy new car and was rubbing what he had taken into everyone’s faces.

The manager had been squandering in the same way that the prodigal son had been squandering. Wasteful. Useless. Spending. And the master caught wind of what had happened and brought in the manager. Let me see your records, the master says. Let me see what you have to show for yourself.

While the prodigal son had his moment of epiphany when he wakes up sleeping among the pigs in some far off land, our manager has his moment of epiphany as he heads back to his office to pick up the accounting ledger.

My life is ruined, he thinks. Without this job I have nothing. I’m too weak to do physical labor, I’m too proud to beg. Without the ability to find work, in that economy – the manager was as good as dead. All of that laying up of riches on earth couldn’t help him now… he had squandered it all. And in the process of doing so, he had made enemies too numerous to count.

So like the prodigal son, he gets an idea… I’m going to throw myself at the mercy of those I wronged.

The prodigal returned home, not as a son, but as a servant… and the manager returns to the debtors – not as someone who is there to collect what is owed, but as someone who is going to provide relief.

He finds the debtors one by one… What is it that you owe? 100 jugs of oil? Make it half. Pay back half and the debt is gone. What do you owe? 100 bushels of wheat? Make it 80 and your bill is paid.

He bows down, falls at their feet, and waits to see what will happen.

What we often miss here is the fact that the chunk of change the manager is forgiving is NOT the piece owed to the rich man. The portion of the debt he is forgiving is the interest he himself was charging.

He had a choice. He could have collected all that he could and kept a little nest egg back for himself – something to retire on – or he could side with the poor tenant farmers, and pray that they might in turn show mercy in return.

The story of what the manager did makes its way back to the rich man… and he praises his employee for his shrewd behavior.

But now, here comes the tough part.

Jesus finishes up the story and turns to the disciples and says in verses 8 and 9: The children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light… So you, too, Make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they make welcome you into the eternal homes.

What? Jesus – did you just tell us to be like the people of the world and not like children of the light? Did you just tell us to go out and use dishonest wealth to make friends?

In fact, Jesus did.

And here is why I think he does this.

First, Jesus doesn’t try to pretend that we are angels. He knows that we are sinners. He knows we are of this world. He knows that we are already dishonest and squandering managers. As much as we might try to pretend we are the debtors, we are a part of the wealthiest country in the entire world. No matter how much debt we have or how little we make, we are richer than 80% of the world’s population. Don’t get me wrong – poverty is real in the United States, and the safety net for the middle class is failing all over the place in this tough economy – but we are still richer than we can possibly imagine.

We buy products made in sweatshops. We waste water and food and resources. We store up for ourselves without thinking about who might get hurt in the process. We might have a relationship with Jesus – but we have little to no relationship with the people that Jesus loves.

William Herzog and Alyce McKenzie write that “it is not shrewd for someone with wealth and power to be indifferent to those who are poor or on society’s margins… in reality, such a state of living precipitates a crisis in one’s condition in light of the kingdom to come. It leads to figurative and literal poverty and death.”

When we act like that dishonest manager and squander away treasurers for ourselves on earth… when we use and abuse our fair share of the gifts God has given us… we are setting ourselves up for failure. Remember, Jesus says the first shall be last.

So maybe, this morning, we are the ones who find ourselves called in before the master. We are the ones whose books are being called into question. Jesus confronts us with a hard truth – what are you doing with what I have entrusted to you? Are you squandering it? Are you wasting it? Are you serving me or are you serving yourself?

And faced with that question, we have a choice. Are we going to keep watching our own back, or are we going to be shrewd? Are we going to use what we have been in creative and active ways? Are we going to finally realize that our salvation depends not on the money we have in the bank but the relationships we make?

John Wesley started his ministry with the poor. He reached out to coal miners and farmers and alcoholics and prisoners and debtors. And when he offered them the good news of Jesus Christ, their lives were transformed. But as these folks started helping one another out and taking care of each other – they discovered they had an interesting problem. They started to have money.

And so Wesley tried to figure out how best to advise them and he came up with this short, pithy phrase: Earn all you can, Save all you can, Give all you can.

You see, money isn’t the problem. It is what we do with it.

We, Americans are really good at the first part of that phrase. We earn all we can – we work long and hard and bring home the paychecks when we can. But we have no idea what the other two things mean. We earn all we can and spend all we can.

But those of us who are saver’s aren’t any better. If we earn all we can and save all we can, we are still squanderers. We are watching our own backs. We are wasting the gifts that God has given us by burying them in the ground and sitting on them.

No, to be shrewd, to be faithful, we are called to earn all we can, save all we can, and give all we can. Sacrifice for your brother and sister. Work for the justice of the poor. Help out your neighbor. Never refuse to give to a beggar. Speak out on behalf of the poor. Forgive the debts of others.

In the kingdom of God – our place at the table is not guaranteed by our pocketbooks. Our place is freely given by Jesus Christ to those who choose to follow him there. To those who choose to lay aside the values of this world and to love him instead. To those who look around and see that salvation is not about me – but about the kingdom of heaven, the community of believers, the family of God that is all around us right now.

We are called to be shrewd, decisive, faithful servants. We are called to stop squandering, let go of our obsession with having more – and finally realize that to have more, means to give more. To love more. To serve more.

Go out there and take your dishonest wealth and love people with it. Be the best shrewd manager you can be. Let go of your hold on your wealth. And don’t be surprised when you are blessed beyond measure in return.

Amen and Amen.

The F.I.T. Challenge

Posted on June 10, 2010Leave a comment

For over a year now, Bishop Trimble has been talking about the F.I.T. Challenge. And I think tonight, for the first time, I really understood how genius this very simple, simple concept is.

F.I.T. stands for Focus, Invest, and Tell. It is the overarching framework for ministry in Iowa. I don’t have the brochure and all the details with me, but basically, we can’t do everything so we need to focus in on what is important, get people to invest their time and talents into it, and then above all, tell the stories of Jesus and transformed lives.

It also very nicely fits into a conference focus on health and wellness – especially for our clergy. At conference this year, two men got up and shared their stories about how they were inspired by the F.I.T. challenge to lose weight and one lost 75 lbs in a year and the other lost 150! Now that was some focus, investment into their health, and then some wonderful witnessing!

Tonight, at a mission team meeting, we were all over the place trying to figure out what our next projects should be. One person on the team brought up how nice it would be to FOCUS on one project and really make it come alive as a congregation. I think in the end, we decided that focusing on smaller projects, but one per month might be a more suitable option for where our church is right now… although I think in a year or two, also having one big project that we can continually support would be wonderful.

Anywho… One of the other suggestions this new team member had was that we should have a mission celebration and TELL the stories of what we have done so far this year.

Our conference has this thing called Rainbow Covenant. Churches are encouraged to give in mission – first by paying their apportionments, and then by supporting general categories of mission. To be a 2nd mile giver, we are asked to give to all seven categories of mission (each represented by a color of the rainbow). But do you think that we had taken the time to really explain this to the church? Do you think that anyone beyond our mission team knew what we were doing with all of these different projects? No. Not really.

Bishop Trimble’s F.I.T. challenge teaches us that while having a focus is important, we also have to get people to invest in what we are doing. And I think the number one way that we do that is by telling the story. We have to show what a difference this ministry can make and then, we have to celebrate the ways we have been giving in mission.

In some ways we have done this already. Our most successful mission projects have been the ones where we had a hands on connection. We raised nearly $1500 for the Personal Energy Transportation (PET) Project… mostly because we actually brought in a PET and let people see it and rode it around during worship and had this huge connection with what the money would be used for. We told the story. And people were instantly invested.

So, out of our conversation tonight, we are going to create a yearly mission celebration Sunday where we lift up what we have been doing as a congregation. And we are going to create a bulletin board that demonstrates our progress with the rainbow covenant and we are going to fill in the rainbow of colors with our mission giving money, with pictures and with stories of the projects we have worked on so far.

I told a friend tonight that I feel like it was both a “lightbulb” moment and an “I can’t believe I’m so dumb as to not think of this before” moment. While I had heard over and over and over again about the F.I.T. challenge, I don’t think I thought to apply it to our church ministry. But how simple is it to use in our mission team. To lift up the focus projects, to help people invest, and to tell the stories of success and transformation. And what if we did that with worship? Focusing on God, investing our time and energy into helping people connect in new ways and helping them invest their time and energy, and telling the stories of Jesus? or with our PPR? Or education team?

It’s so simple. It’s genius, really.

disconTENTment

Posted on January 31, 2010Leave a comment

In our gospel reading this morning, we come across some very angry folks in Jesus hometown of Nazareth.

These are ordinary, run of the mill folks. They aren’t Pharisees who have a beef with Jesus. They aren’t disciples – those people who chose to follow Jesus and who should understand. No, these are small town people – a lot like you and me – who are just trying to get by.

Last week in our gospel reading, we remember that Jesus came back to his hometown after being away for a while. He walked in through the doors of the church and everyone was so happy to have him back again. I can imagine lots of handshakes and hugs going around as Jesus was passed from one person to the next. I can even imagine an older lady or two wanting to pinch his cheeks.

Jesus grew up among these folks. They knew him his whole life. And here he returns and they are just waiting for the hometown boy to make good. They are waiting for him to show off all of the stuff that he has learned out there in the big wide world.

So when the time comes for the reading of scripture, the scroll was handed to Jesus. And he found the place in Isaiah where it says: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Now, Jewish custom in church was not to have one person give a sermon, but the leaders of the church would have the opportunity to comment on the reading and to bring up insights. In many ways, that’s what we do in our bible studies – especially the roundtable pulpit. Every voice is heard and respected.

Well, Jesus finished his reading and he too had a comment to make about this passage from Isaiah. All he said was, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

In Mark’s gospel – just giving that little speech sets the crowds off in a tizzy – they can’t believe his arrogance, they want to know who he thinks he is to claim such things. After all, he is the kid they grew up with, that little snot-nosed bugger from down the street.

In Luke’s version of the story – that is not what the people are upset by. In fact, they are pretty amazed at first. Oh my, could this really be Joseph’s son? Where did he learn so much?

No, what get’s the people mad and upset and full enough of rage that they want to throw him off of a cliff is that Jesus picks a fight with them.

After he’s been gushed upon and praised, Jesus starts to get a little concerned that perhaps the people need to have a little reality check.

“This scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing – but unfortunately, I’m not talking about for you. “

In Luke’s gospel – Jesus has been sent to be a light to the Gentiles. His mission is to bring about the kingdom of God, but he starts not with his own people from his hometown, not with the Jewish people, but with strangers and foreigners…

Maybe to think of a modern parable for this story, it would be as if someone that grew up here in Marengo, someone loved and respected, went off to college and graduate school. And then the came back into town with fanfare and that young woman told everyone – I’m going to lift this community out of poverty and rehabilitate all of the people in the prison, and I’m going to bring jobs and good things to this town, and I’m going to fill the pews of this church. And then, she choses to do so by working only with illegal immigrants in Williamsburg.

The kingdom was still going to come – they were just going to have to wait a little bit longer.

Would you be upset by that? Your hometown hero comes back to raise all of your hopes and then you think that they just dashed them to the ground.

The people were enraged – angry enough to kill – whipped up into a frenzy when they dragged Jesus to the brow of Nazareth Cliff… but it wasn’t his time, and he walked away from the fray without a scratch.

Jesus found himself coming home to a lot of discontented people. They were unhappy about how life had been going in their midst. They were hoping that maybe this one would turn out to be their savior… and he was, and he would be – but since he wasn’t exactly who they wanted him to be, their discontentment kicked in and they kicked him out.

There are people who live in a perpetual state of discontentment. In your bulletins, you may have noticed that that word is typed a little funny. That’s because I really want to focus this morning about the states we choose to live in. The attitudes we choose to clothe ourselves with.

Some people in this world are never happy. They can surround themselves with all of the good things in life and they will still find something to complain about. They can attend the best church in the city and they will still find something to be angry about and they will leave and try somewhere else. They can have the best husband or wife on the planet, and still they will nag and bicker. Do you know any of these people? Have they pitched their disconTENTment near you?

For the past few weeks, we have been exploring in Sunday school and our special Thursday night study the roots of this discontentment. Yes, we are talking on the surface about finances and money – but underneath all of that are things like greed, and pride, envy and sloth.

Underneath all of our financial turmoil is the simple fact that sin is present in the world.

While there are many ways that we can talk about sin – I think one of the best images for sin is turning our back to God. We turn our back to the good things that God offers us and instead seek our welfare, seek our happiness in things and money or food or alcohol or power or might.

In doing so, we are setting up the poles and laying out the stakes of discontentment. We may be erecting a fine and beautiful tent – it may be expensive and it might keep us warm… but it will never make us content. It will never make us happy.

There is only one thing that can bring us joy and happiness in this life. And we find a glimpse of it in 1 Corinthians.

Paul is writing to a group of Christians who have it all. They have people who are ready and willing to work – they have resources and money and gifts and talents. But they fight amongst themselves constantly. They are always trying to prove who is better, who is the most fit for leadership, they are always arguing about what color the carpet should be in the sanctuary and about who gets to hand out the offering plates and who should count the money.

Okay – well maybe those are a few 21st century things to fight about – but you get the picture. They may be faithful Christians, but they are still living in their old discontentments.

This would most assuredly be a church that would try to kick Jesus out of town if he ever really stopped by. He would probably have something truthful and challenging to say to them – just like he did to the people of his hometown – and they probably would have nothing to do with it.

Our Apostle Paul hears about the mess that they have made of their church and so he writes to them. (note: writing a letter is a whole lot safer than showing up in person sometimes!). He writes a letter to them and wants to encourage them to be their best selves. He tells them that they are the body of Christ and that each of them has an important role to play in the church. He tells them that each of them is gifted and that they should pay attention to and rely upon the gifts of others. He tells them they need to give and accept help and to treat all members with respect.

And then he launches into a beautiful part of his letter that is very familiar to us.

If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.

If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing

.
All of this stuff that you think is so important – Paul writes – all of this stuff that you are arguing about, it means absolutely diddly squat if there isn’t love in the midst of your community. You could have the most money or be the most talented or live in the most beautiful house, or even have the most elegant prayers and the most book knowledge…. But all of it is for nothing if there is not love in your life.

Paul’s not just talking about the romantic love between two people. He’s talking about deep, sustaining love. He’s talking about the love that knits people and communities together. He’s talking about the love that only comes from God.

What if, instead of living in discontentment – we learned how to live content in God’s love?

How would our lives be different?

How would the response of Nazareth have been different if instead of being jealous and full of rage when Jesus went to minister among other people they had love in their hearts for the broken and hurting people of Capernum?

How would the church in Corinth be different if the people stopped fighting with one another and instead worked together to bring God’s love to the people of their city and the world?

How would your life be different, if you stopped working so that you could get things and be happy, and instead, in all things worked with God’s love at the forefront of your mind?

3 ways to be content from the book….
– “it could be worse”
– Count your blessings and give thanks
– Know where your true joy lies – know that only in the ground of God’s love are we sustained – only when we pitch our tent there will we find abiding peace.

Story of a man who was angry with his wife and so he stormed out of the house and grumbled to God. Just like that definition of sin earlier, he turned his back on his wife and the love that was there and he was discontented. But something happened. There was a change in his heart as God worked on him there. He turned around back towards his house – just like he was turning back to God. And he was reminded of all the wonderful things about his wife and began thanking God for them.

In our lives – too often we turn our backs on God and the good things that God blesses us with. We want things our way and we deny the contentment at our fingertips.

But we also have a chance to turn around. Did you know that the literal definition for repentence – the greek word – is metanoia. It means to turn around – to do a 180, to turn from living with our backs to God and instead turn and face him with our faces. To seek him as the source of all our joy and happiness. To live our lives in his love.

Today – that is our blessing. That God’s grace turns us around and we have a chance to face God once more. To lay aside all that has pulled us kicking and screaming into our discontented lives and to rest in the joy of God’s abiding peace.

What tent will you live in?

What does “The Book” say?

Posted on January 24, 2010Leave a comment

This week, my husband and I borrowed a steam cleaner from his dad and we spent the past few days cleaning our carpets. They get a regular vacuuming, but never a deep cleaning like the one they just received.

I got to thinking during that last hymn – take time to be holy – that if I just changed a word it could have been our theme song this week – take time to be clean.

This morning, I woke up and because just yesterday we did all of the upstairs carpets in the main living areas, it was very strange to walk out and see nothing there. Our dining room table was in the middle of the kitchen along with some chairs. Everything else had been stuffed into our spare bedroom – end tables, chairs, bookshelves, you name it.

If the carpet is dry – tonight but probably tomorrow, we will begin the work of putting everything back into place.

In a much bigger way, that is what is happening in our reading from Nehemiah this morning.
Ezra and Nehemiah came before the people to say that it was time to put their lives back together.

For the past generations, everything had been in disarray – like our couch standing on its side by the front door – because the people had been living in exile in Babylon. They were away from their homes and the countryside that they loved and everything familiar.

But when Cyrus of the Persians conquered Babylon – he allowed all of the Jews to return home. And so Ezra the priest, and Nehemiah who became governor led the way.

They knew that rebuilding and putting every piece of their lives back together was the first priority. As Rev. Timothy Schehr describes it,
Nehemiah’s plan was to reconstruct the walls of the city of Jerusalem. That would give them a sense of security. Ezra’s plan was to rebuild the faith of the people. He understood that a right relationship with God was the only true source for security. / Ezra also understood that God’s law was the foundation for any spiritual rebuilding.
So they start this whole project by getting all the people together and reading the scriptures. From early in the morning until noon, God’s law was read aloud to the people. And as they took the time to listen to God’s promises and God’s desires for their lives together – the people began to weep as they realized how unfaithful they had been.

But instead of lamenting along with the people – Ezra and Nehemiah instead urge the people to celebrate. Because this is a day of new beginnings – this is their chance to let go of the past and to actually put into practice the word of God that they have heard.

From time to time in our lives – we need a fresh start and a new beginning. I know that while I wasn’t looking forward to doing the cleaning we did this weekend, it sure feels good to have it done now.

And our spiritual lives need a bit of scrubbing and spit and polish at times too. A chance to step back and really hear God’s word for our lives with new ears and a fresh new commitment to live it out.

When we hear the scriptures, we are reminded of who we are supposed to be. In the gospel of Luke this morning – Jesus enters the synagogue and he too – reads scripture. As he reads from Isaiah, we find out a little more about who Jesus is and what his church (all of us) will be and do.

“He has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

We are called to do all of these things – because we were meant to be a blessing. We are called to be the hands and feet of Christ in this world bringing hope to the poor and setting the oppressed free and healing those who are sick.

This morning in Sunday School – we talked about being blessed to be a blessing. And we talked about the fact that a big part of that blessing has to do with money.

First of all – many of us are called to be a blessing to our families. We have people who depend on us and we need to provide for them and bless their lives. This might be our immediate family or our more extended family – but our family nonetheless. And to do so, takes money. Money for utilities, money for food, money for clothing.

But once we have provided for our families and our own needs – everything else that we have is the Lord’s! Everything else is the opportunity to bless someone.

I have never had a great relationship with money. As a young woman I had far too easy access to credit and at that time not a care in the world. Today, I still carry with me some of the debt that came along with plane tickets to visit family and friends and eating out and shopping.

But I don’t think I ever really thought about money as a spiritual issue until I really spent some time in the scriptures.

I found out that there are over 800 verses in scripture that talk about money. Over 800!!! Why does God care so much about our money and what we do with it? Because we are blessed to be a blessing.

I have here with me some of those many passages about money and finances. Here in my hands are just a tenth of all of the scriptures about money in our Bible. And I think, like the people of Israel – we too might weep with shame and regret if we spent time reading them all out loud to one another.

But like that community that was gathered, I want us to look at some of these scriptures and to really think about how they are each opportunities for us to put our lives back together – how they represent a fresh way of looking at our money that will help us to do God’s will.

As we pass these out, spend some time with the people around you reading the passages that you have. And then out of all of the ones you received, come up with just one thing that we should celebrate – one way that we can be a blessing to others if we put the wisdom of the scriptures into practice.

….do it!…. (We spent about 7 minutes reading our scriptures to one another in small groups and lifting up a piece of wisdom to share with the whole community)

The word of God, for the people of God… thanks be to God.

Photo by David Siqueira

calls for justice in the midst of advent joy

Posted on December 8, 2009Leave a comment

This coming Sunday we will light the third candle on the Advent wreath – the candle for JOY.

We hear in the midst of this call to rejoice, however, a very startling message. John the baptist calls out to the crowds: You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits worthy of repentance. (Luke 3:7-8).

He tells people to share their coats and their food, to not take advantage of others, to be satisfied with their wages.

In many ways, that is the spirit of the season that we find ourselves in. At Christmas we collect canned goods for the local food pantry, collect coats and mittens for children who need them, we remember the blessings of this year, we look out for our neighbors. We take on a whole new attitude toward life in the month of December…

If only it would last. Before the holiday lights on the town square are taken back down, our hearts begin to grumble. Our spirits of generosity are suddenly overwhelmed by the credit card bills that come in the mail. It seems impossible to sustain that good will towards all into the new year.

But that is exactly what John the Baptist is calling for – Repent, believe the Good News – you can live differently. You can bear fruit that lasts. You can be changed.

I know I’m on a Susan Werner kick lately – only because I recently discovered her and I can’t put down the album. One song in particular has just absolutely stuck with me. It’s called “Help Somebody.”

When I hear this song, absolute joy floods my heart. It helps me to realize just how much I have been blessed. I have plenty. I have a roof over my head. I have supper on the table. I have a sense of God’s salvation working in my life. And if I have it to give – I should…. JOYFULLY.

There are a lot of places in the world where some have too much and others have not enough. We are having a huge debate over health care nationally for exactly that reason. I think all (most) of us would agree that everyone should have affordable access to care. We just don’t agree on how that happens. But if we let this song and John’s call fill our ears and eyes and hearts then the question that comes to my mind is how can I help others get what I have.

It’s not a question of whether they deserve it or not. Perhaps it’s not even a question as to whether it is right. It’s a question as to whether we want to give. It’s actually a question of joy… what kind of joy and peace and wholeness can I create in the life of another person? What kind of joy can I create in my own life through giving a little bit extra?

We could apply this same formula to anything. It’s not about what we can get, but what we can give. It’s about the joy that comes through recieving the good news of God and then not hoarding it, but changing our lives and giving it freely away. It’s the spark of life that we have to pass on.

We are going to be looking at the “Enough” stewardship/money series in January – and I think that this song is going to be our theme for the whole thing. I’m looking forward to the ways that our congregation finds joy in the good things that we have – enough joy to take responsibility for how we use our resources and enough joy that we overflow from that abundance and help others in our community and in the world.

pastoral discoveries

Posted on October 22, 2009Leave a comment

So – my last post kind of cryptically talked about growing and stretching and being challenged and stressed. As I’m wading around in all of that still, I thought it would be good to talk about some of the things that Im learning about what it means to be a pastor in the midst of it.

1) It’s okay to not answer your phone. At our Healthy Ministerial Relations workshop we talked about boundaries and many people shared that they turn their phone off on their sabbath days. I wouldn’t do that simply because my cell phone is also my personal phone – but I did remember that advice when I recieved five phone calls from church folk on Sunday afternoon. I didn’t have my pastor hat on then – I was being a sister and was helping paint my brother-in-laws new house. So I let the calls go to voice mail. And then I listened to see if they were important. And then I let it wait. When I started my day on Monday – I called each one of them back. And while initially I felt kind of guilty about doing so, it was a reminder that I don’t have to be “on” 24-7.

2) Why do pledge drives/stewardship campaigns have to be in November? With how busy our lives are right now it just seems like one more thing on top of every other thing. I think for the most part we like the connection of offering and thanksgiving and consecration all going together, but there is no time left. We are now talking about pushing all of that back to January. We don’t use our pledges to make our budget anyways because we don’t have enough history with them. What difference would it make if as a congregation we commit to support the church at the end of January instead of the end of November? Plus – it gives us the opportunity to really push our small group study and having a “new year, new finances” kind of focus might work out really well!

3) Rookie mistake – don’t talk to reporters. And especially don’t talk to people when you really don’t have time. As I was finishing up the funeral orders – about 15 minutes before the family was scheduled to arrive – I got a phone call that I really didn’t have time to answer. I told him I didn’t have time to talk, and was trying to show that I had no information that could help him, but in my rush to get on with my business, and because I had no idea what he was talking about I said something that was taken out of context in the article. Note to everyone else: just say no comment. (see also #1 – it’s okay not to answer the phone and screen the calls through voicemail)

4) Your support network keeps you sane… or at least helps you let off steam. Without my best friends and facebook, without my brothers/sisters (in-laws too), and without being honest and vulnerable with my congregation, some of this week might have been unbearable. But because we talked (and typed) and prayed and hugged and watched football, we got through it.

5) You have to keep the joys and thanksgivings at the front. I carried around the pictures of my new nephew and showed him to lots of people this week – it gave me a chance to celebrate in the midst of the stress.

6) Sometimes you can get away with swearing during a sermon. At the funeral this week, the family didn’t want to get up and speak, but had some things that they wanted me to include. And so I said them – and it cut to the heart of who this guy was and everyone understood and I didn’t get any snide looks from anyone who thought it was inappropriate.

7) Once you use powerpoint in a sermon, you may never go back. I preached on the three major atonement theories in worship on Sunday and used visuals/bullet points. I had so many positive comments that now I’m wondering how we can adapt the technology in our worship space to make it easier to continue doing so.

Becoming Disciples through: Gifts

Posted on May 17, 2009Leave a comment

Over the past two weeks we have explored how we support the ministries of Christ’s church through our prayers and our presence.

We live as children of God and sheep of Christ’s flock, by staying connected to our loving parent God and filling ourselves with the Spirit through prayer. Remember that deep breathing – deep praying we need to do?

And we remain connected to the vine and we are nourished for this task through our presence in this community. When we start to get disconnected from one another, the leaves wither and the fruit fades. And it’s hard to get good ministry for Christ’s church out of dead branches.

Today, we remember that we are not only given power and energy through God, like empty vessels for the Spirit to flow through, but we have also been blessed with gifts to share. We have been given temporary ownership over resources and skills and abilities – not so that we can further our own aims, but so that we can further God’s.

In fact, that is why in Malachi there is such a strong condemnation! “You are robbing me!” God says… “in your tithes and offerings! Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in my house… see if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you an overflowing blessing.”

A portion of what we already have belongs to God, it is meant for God’s ministry. We have been blessed so that we can be a blessing.

We may forget this occasionally – but in many ways the purpose of the tithe and the offering were not so much about having to sacrifice something to God, but about obedience to God’s commands. God’s command to love our neighbors are born out in the giving back of our gifts – because the temple and later the churches used that money and grain and meat to feed and clothe the priests and to give to the poor. Yes, a portion is used as a part of the ritual, a portion is burned in the case of the temple sacrifices, but the remainder is meant for the community – it is meant for the ministry of God in the world.

Today when we talk about gifts in the church, we aren’t talking about cereal and flesh offerings: bread and meat… but we are talking about spiritual gifts and that dreaded word: money.

And the purpose of these gifts is the same as those given in the temple. We are given much in order that we might be a part of furthering God’s kingdom.

But I firmly believe that in both cases – both in the things that we can do and the monetary blessings we have received – we underestimate and we under appreciate our gifts.

Those two themes – underestimation and under appreciation really struck me when I came across a video on YouTube a little over a month ago. Now, some of you may have seen or heard the story of Susan Boyle before, but I believe it is such a powerful moment, that it’s worth viewing over and over again.

(introduce and watch video of Susan Boyle)

Under-estimation and under appreciation.

When Susan walked out on that stage – everyone underestimated what she could do, what her gifts were. And I would also venture to guess that she probably underestimated herself. The immense joy that came across her face when the judges all three said “yes” she would be going on was AMAZING!

Stored up inside of her, for all of those years were these powerful notes and emotive lyrics, and no one took them seriously. Yeah, you want to be a singer… okay. Whatever.

It wasn’t until she was given the chance to share her gifts that anyone – including herself – realized what a blessing she had received or what it could do to change the world.

In the aftermath of that performance, she has caused millions of people around the world to take a second look at their preconceptions and to give someone a chance – that is the gift that God has given us through Susan Boyle.

In our own lives, we too underestimate the power of our gifts and what we actually have to give.

Reading Malachi this week and hearing the call to bring the full tithe into the storehouse… it was powerful and convicting in my life and helped me to remember Wesley’s old adage: Earn all you can, Save all you can, give all you can.

You see, Wesley was in ministry among the poor at the beginning of the Methodist Movement. He was preaching out in the fields and in graveyards to miners and anyone else who would come near. And there was practically no money to support their ministry.

But as Wesley began preaching about money – about how we need to have a strong work ethic and earn all that we possibly can – but that we also need to be frugal with our money and save all that we can – people began to listen.

The most surprising thing happened when the miners and field workers stopped buying the things they didn’t need like hard alcohol and fancy clothes and jewelry – all of those things that made them try to appear wealthy… When they started to cut back on luxuries and to live a simpler life… the Methodists went from a movement of the poor, to a movement of the middle class. They gave and gave generously to the work of the Spirit in the movement – to their class meetings and to the society – but they found that they also had a bit left over for themselves…

“see if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you an overflowing blessing. I will rebuke the locust for you, so that it will not destroy the produce of your soil; and your vine in the field shall not be barren, says the Lord of hosts.”

We hear the encouragement to be generous too in Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians. He tells us about the churches of Macedonia. In a time of severe affliction, he writes, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part… they voluntarily gave according to their means, and even beyond their means, BEGGING us for the privledge of sharing in this ministry to the saints.

Now there is a church that didn’t underestimate the power of their gifts. They knew that they could make a difference, they knew that they were called to make a difference, and they wanted to be a part of it.

I want to invite you to experience what the joy of the Macedonians is like. I am going to need a few volunteers to come forward… as many as we have, but not more than 5.

(give them the charge with the $20)

I firmly believe that love can conquer all. I firmly believe that God’s grace conquers all. And in 1 John, we are reminded that our faith and trust in what God will do with our gifts will conquer the world. John writes that “the love of God is this, that we obey his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome, for whatever is born of God conquers the world.”

These $20 bills can conquer a portion of the world. They are a gift from God – and I can’t wait to see what fruit is born for mission. I pray that you will not find this a burden – but like the Macedonians that your abundant joy and this meager sum might overflow into a wealth of generosity.

That second theme in relationship to our gifts is underappreciation. In the case of Susan Boyle – many people had heard her sing in the past. In fact, you can now find some of her old performances that are posted on YouTube. And she was just as amazing then as she is now!

But no one stopped to appreciate and to celebrate what she had done, to share in the joy of the blessing she could be to the world.

I think that is why our passage from 2 Corinthians is so important. Because Paul took the time to thank and appreciate the Macedonians for what they had given. We have no idea of how much they gave, or what they gave – simply that they gave. And simply for giving, we need to appreciate one another.

I think this is why the commandment to love is without burden. Because when we love others, it is because we were first loved. And in return for the love we give, we are filled up with love in return. It is a circle that keeps growing and expanding because it continues to be replenished and returned.

But sometimes when we offer our gifts in the world, those gifts are not appreciated and our giving becomes burdensome.

In Ephesians, we find a list of gifts that God has given us through the Spirit in order to build up the body of Christ:

Some are called to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers… in other places we find other gifts mentioned: leadership, speaking in tongues, those who can give money, care givers.

We each have a gift that we have been blessed with and when all of our gifts work together according to God’s good will – then the saints are equipped for the work of ministry, the body of Christ is built up and all of us become unified in our faith.

When they all work together.

But you know what – it’s hard to be the hands of Christ giving out soup cans at the food bank if no one ever says thank you. It’s hard to be the mouth of Christ teaching and demonstrating God’s love when no one is paying attention. It’s hard to be the feet of Christ standing at the kitchen sink washing dishes if no one values what you do.

Because when we give our gifts and no one cares, we start to doubt if we are making a difference. We get burned out because we are continually giving and we are not being replenished.

As a church, as the Body of Christ working together, we need to thank one another when we give of ourselves… we need to encourage one another to keep with it, and affirm that there are gifts present that are shining forth. But what we also need to do is to let others affirm the gifts that are within ourselves.

Maybe there is something that you have not given back to the ministry of Christ for years because you got burned out long ago. Maybe there is something that you are afraid to share with the church because you don’t want to be taken advantage of, or don’t think you have the time or energy.

Know – that I am stating today and I hope that you are all with me on this – that we will take the time to celebrate the gifts that you share with us. We will take the time to affirm what you have given to us. Because it is good. Because it is important. And because through Christ, our gifts will transform the world. Amen.