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November 2007
Dear People of Grace,
“Therefore,” Jesus
says, “do not worry, saying ‘What will we eat?’ or What will we
drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’…indeed your heavenly Creator
knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom
of God and for God’s righteousness, and all this things will be
given to you as well.”
I’ve
quoted before from this essay by the well-respected Old Testament
scholar, Walter Bruggemann and I find it always worth returning to,
particularly as we look ahead to making our faith promise and
determining what are resources are for ministry in the coming year.
In “The Liturgy
of Abundance, the Myth of Scarcity” Bruggemann tells us that the
church has been keeping a secret from its people—the secret that
Jesus was as much an economist for the common good as he was the
bringer of eternal promise.
He
writes “Bruggeman writes:
“Jesus talks a great deal about the kingdom of God—and what he
means by that is a public life re-organized toward
neighborliness…”
“Many people both inside and outside of the church haven’t a clue
that Jesus is talking about the economy. We haven’t taught them that
that he is. But we must begin to do so now, no matter how economically
compromised we may feel. Our world absolutely requires this news. It
has nothing to do with being Republicans or Democrats, liberals or
conservatives, socialists or capitalists. It is much more elemental:
the creation is infused with the Creator’s generosity and we can
find practices, procedures and institutions that allow that generosity
to work.”
What a great definition of stewardship: finding ‘practices,
procedures and institutions that allow generosity to work.”
That’s
what I hope we’re doing as we explore how we can use our resources
as a congregation—allowing generosity to work. That’s what I hope
we’re doing as we make our faith promises for the coming year.
Because as far as I can tell, when we share—freely, fearlessly---our
resources with one another, we are being faithful to Jesus’ mandate
that we love another.
In Christ’s grace,
Pastor Jo Page
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