Open My Eyes, Part 6

The following post is the sixth and final in a series of posts based on a sermon I preached in October.

What difference does it make to see life with eyes like God’s? Eyes that see how our cup overflows? What difference does it make to see everything that is worthy of praise? I can tell you the difference it made for me.  When I stopped seeing the scarcity of Josh’s injury and started seeing the abundance that is our son, I approached raising him into adulthood differently. I realized I didn’t have to be afraid for him – I could be confident in the abundance of God’s presence in his life, and in the gifts God has given to him.  Josh’s arm did heal, but not completely.  Even so, he is whole and wonderful.  Even if I am biased.  His joy is in music and his gifts are in teaching.  Last year he finished his degree in music education at Marshall – studying in both the trumpet and piano studios.  He’s now working on his Masters degree in music education at the University of Alabama.  He plays, he conducts, and he teaches.  He has abundant life.

Wolfgang Stahlberg wrote, “Transformation is liberation from being stuck, change from being self-centered to being God-centered.  It is the giving way of blind eyes and a closed heart to the freeing perspective of compassion and hope.”

Seeing with eyes that see abundance makes all the difference in the world.  What do you see? Scarcity or abundance? And what difference does it make for you and for your commitment to live as a steward?

I invite you today to ask God to open your eyes to the abundance that is around you.  Will you let gratitude inspire the generosity of a life that reflects the image of God in which you were created?  Will you let gratitude move you beyond discipleship to the stewardship of what God has given you?  Will you live into who you were created to be? A generous steward who gives in response to the grace that surrounds us?

Open My Eyes, part 5

The following post is the fifth in a series of posts based on a sermon I preached in October.

The definition of stewardship in echoed in verse 9 of what I read to you from Philippians, “Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.” Now, this is Paul talking, and he’s telling them to continue to live a life that exemplifies what he has taught them, but he has taught them about Jesus, so if you imagine that Jesus is saying it, it tells you what stewardship is.

We are disciples - that means we walk behind our teacher, Jesus, and we learn from Jesus who God is – we see God most clearly in Jesus – and we learn from Jesus how we should live our lives. We are disciples – or students – of a master.  Stewardship follows from that. Stewardship is the “keep on doing the things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me.”  Stewardship is the doing – its living the life.  From Christ we learn what God is like, and from Christ we learn how to live into the image in which we were created.  It’s not enough to know who God is; we have to live the way God calls us to live. We have to be disciples to learn; and we have to be stewards to live the life.

So what is it that we learn from Jesus about God? What do we know about God?

You know the answer to that - it's so popular that it's on t-shirts and key chains. God so loved the world that he gave…..

God gives. God gives love, God gives presence, God gives gifts, grace, forgiveness. God gave us the world; God gave us life. God gave us God's son. God is generous.

And in Genesis, we learn that we were created in God's image. So not only do we learn what we should do from Jesus, but we also learn who we are from Jesus. We are beloved children created in the image of God. Amazing, isn't it? Created in the image of the one who created the universe. Who set the stars in motion and started our hearts beating. We are not only called to be like God; we are created to be like God. Extravagantly generous.

How do we become extravagantly generous? How do we live into that image of God? It’s starts with gratitude. It starts with seeing what we have been given. It starts with recognizing the abundance we have as children of God and as a church.

Once we see it – once we recognize it – THEN nothing will stop us from stewardship – living the generous life God has called us to live, living a life that is being transformed into God’s image.  But we have to see the abundance of what we have been given. Instead of living a life blinded by fear so that all we see and live is scarcity.

Beloved, once we see all in our lives that is true, honorable, just, pure, pleasing, commendable, excellent and worthy of praise – once we recognize the abundance of gifts we have been given by God, then we will see the presence of God in our lives – we will see the abundance of God’s presence around us – we will see that our cup overflows.

Nothing will stop of us from responding to God’s gifts with our own generosity. Nothing will stop us from being generous with our time, our gifts, our prayers, our service and our witness. We will not be afraid; we will be generous; we will be joyous. We will have moved steps closer - though God's sanctifying grace - of living into the image in which we were created. And when we do that – and when we, the church, do that – God will transform the world through us.

Open My Eyes, Part 4

The following post is the fourth in a series based on a sermon I preached in October.

On October 20, 1996, we were in worship. The lectionary reading for the day was from the epistle Paul wrote to the church at Philippi.  These are the words from Philippians chapter 4, verses 4-9 that I heard that Sunday morning:

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.  Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near.  Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.  Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.

In that moment, God, through this scripture, told me to stop looking only at the injury. Look at the child. This child, who is honorable and just and pure and pleasing, who is commendable, excellent and worth of praise. Think on these things, too.

I didn’t, of course, stop worrying or stop working to help Josh recover. But I did realize that I hadn’t been seeing anything except the injury. I was missing the gift of the son. I had been seeing through eyes of scarcity, and God opened my eyes to the abundance before me.

I think all of us are guilty of what I was doing 22 years ago – seeing only scarcity. We miss so much because we will not see.

I am grateful that Mark has invited me to share the word with you this morning – and that the invitation was for a return visit – I preached at this Church last year at about this time, and spoke about Stewardship.  I’m grateful to be asked to do that again - it’s my favorite topic.

Last year I told you that stewardship is the word that no one wants to talk about.  I feel sorry for the word. It’s such a great word, and we have relegated it to the back closet. If it’s a stewardship sermon, we don’t want to hear it. A stewardship Sunday school lesson? Nope. Maybe a workshop on Wednesday evening about stewardship? We would never do it.

It’s too bad – it’s a great word. But we can only understand it if we learn what I started to learn that day 22 years ago – we have to start seeing who we are and what we have been given with eyes of abundance instead of scarcity.

And I can guess what you’re thinking. Maybe. Some of you. “No wonder she’s taking about abundance – she wants me to give my money to the church – or at least more than I am – and she’s saying ‘Look, you have lots – give it to the church!’”.

Nope. That’s not my message today, not at all, and no matter what anybody tells you, that is not a stewardship message. But I do think that’s what we think stewardship is, and it’s no wonder we don’t want to talk about it.

If stewardship isn’t me asking you for money, then what is it?

Stewardship and Generosity, Part 3

Continuing my thoughts from yesterday - are the words stewardship and generosity synonyms?

A stewardship that is an outgrowth of true discipleship, can't help but be a generous stewardship.  As disciples we learn about what it means to follow Christ. As stewards, we put what we have learned into action.  One of the ways we are Christ following stewards is that we give of what we have received, and in that giving, we reflect the nature of God in which we were created.

We are created in the image of God. As disciples, we learn what that means, and what God is calling us to do. As stewards of what we have learned and been given, we relect the nature of God within us.  What does that mean? 

As stewards, we are creative. We are kind. We love, we forgive, we stand for justice. And as stewards, we are generous - with our time, our heart, our gifts, and our money.  

Are stewardship and generosity synonyms?  No, I don't believe they are, but they are so wrapped up in each other that we might not be able to separate them.  The steward who is putting feet on his discipleship will be generous.  

It reminds me of the "great debate" over the words of James: "faith without words is dead." Works are such an expression of faith that without the words, we question the faith. Without generosity, we question whether the steward is reflecting the image of God and behaving as a disciple.

Stewardship and Generosity, Part 2

Continuing my thoughts from yesterday - are the words stewardship and generosity synonyms?

Yesterday, I wrote about my perceptions of the words discipleship and stewardship, largely formed from Dan R. Dick's book, Beyond Money.  I wrote about particular definitions of each word, and how they relate. 

Today, let's define generosity.  Bishop Robert Schnase, in his book Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations, defines extravagant generosity this way:

As people grow in relationship to Christ, they grow also in the practice of extravagant generosity, offering more of themselves for the purposes of Christ and providing the resources that strengthen ministry and that help the church touch the lives of more and more people in thee same way their own lives have been transformed by God.

For me, generosity is a characteristic of God.  God has given us life, all that we have, all the gifts we possess, all that is good around us.  God gave us his son, and his son gave his life for us.  We are created in the image of God, and by grace, we become (are transformed) more and more into that image every day.  Generosity, as one of the spiritual gifts we receive as we grow more like God, is one of the ways we reflect God's image in us.

Stewardship and Generosity, Part 1

Sorry to have been gone so long - it's been busy, and there have been many Sundays (when I usually write for the blog) where I've been out of town.  There are a few more coming - I'll hope to work ahead, but if you see I'm gone for a week or two, that's why.  We should be back to normal in November.

Anyway...

A friend said to me the other day, "Aren't the words stewardship and generosity synonyms?"  Yes, I talk about stewardship and generosity with my friends, so what?

Anyway, I said that to me, they weren't the same.  I'm preparing to help with a presentation in Ohio about Creating a Culture of Generosity, so the question itself has been rattling around in my mind.

My foundational reading - over a decade ago - about stewardship was from a book called Beyond Money by Dan R. Dick.  He talks about the relationship between discipleship and stewardship this way: 

"One way to look at the relationship [between discipleship and stewardship] is to define the terms: disciples are students, followers, and apprentices; while stewards are teachers, leaders, and practitioners.  Disciples gain new knowledge and skills, while stewards manage this knowledge and skill and put it into practice.  However, one cannot happen without the other.... in all times, we are both disciples and  stewards."

This perspective on stewardship - as the doing of discipleship - has stuck with me, has wormed its way into sermons I have preached, lessons I have taught, and conversations I have had about stewardship.  For me, it removes the idea that stewardship is solely about fundraising, that stewardship is a "campaign" we have in church in the fall to fund the next year's budget, and it eliminates the perception that stewardship is something we can avoid talking about.  How can we be active in the work of God as God "makes disciples" if we only talk about stewardship once a year? And in a way that is only about money?

First Fruits

He held the offering in his hand.

Wheat, first fruits from his field.

Looking at it, he remembered

the seed.

The promise of it.

The fear in it.

The possibility of famine or feast

that had rested in it.

He remembered throwing it into the field.

Praying for rain.

Praying for not too much rain.

Praying for sunshine.

Praying for not too much baking sun.

He remembered watching the tiny plants sprout,

hoping for growth.

He thought of plucking the wheat from the field,

the first to become fruit.

So far, it was the only to become usable wheat.

He had pulled it,

made a sheaf,

and brought it to the Lord.

He offered it to God,

hoping that his first fruit

would not be his last.

Praying that there would be enough.

Enough to feed his family

Enough for seed to next year.

His offering of first fruit

was an act of faith.

An act of obedience.

It was worship that beat back fear.

It was ritual that spoke of his faith in God.

Balance

Please read Psalm 147:12-20

My husband, Steve, is a Cyclist. With a capital C. And it amazes me. He rides miles and miles and miles on a road bike that has tires about an inch wide. A few years ago, he rode with a group of men from Huntington to Washington D.C. to raise money for homeless veterans in our town.  There are seven mountains between Elkins and Petersburg. Imagine for a moment the amount of balance it requires to control a two-wheeled pedal-powered bicycle with one-inch wide tires moving down a mountain at 40 miles an hour in traffic. He was continually making hundreds of decisions regarding speed, direction, weight distribution, application of brakes and choice of gears.

Balance.

I was reading this morning about free will – the truth that God has given us the ability to make choices, and that those choices have consequences. A consequence can be as small as a hurt feeling that is quickly forgotten to as large as a life changed forever to as monumental as the world turned upside-down. We have free will.

And yet, Psalm 147:15-18 says this: “He sends out his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly.  He gives snow like wool; he scatters frost like ashes.   He hurls down hail like crumbs—who can stand before his cold?  He sends out his word, and melts them; he makes his wind blow, and the waters flow.”

God created the world. The sun rises and sets, the rain falls, the snow flies. It is so foundational that we probably don’t even think about it. AND God has given us dominion in the world. Dominion. God-given responsibility. Our choices in the stewardship of what is around us have consequences.

Balance.

The sun rises and sets, the rain falls, the snow flies, but what we do has consequences. Even in something as foundational as creation. We must remember, like the bicyclist speeding down the hill, we are have been given the responsibility for the precious balance that keeps everything in working order.

Imagine for a moment if my husband had decided that his decisions and actions on the bicycle had no impact on his descent down the mountain. Disaster. 

And so it is with us.

Prayer: Creating God, guide our steps, open our eyes to the world around us and to the consequences of our obedience to you. In your son’s name, Amen.

Team: Start with Yourself

As I planned the lesson I talked about yesterday, the following song came to mind (it's written by Glen Ballard and sung by Michael Jackson):

I’m starting with the man in the mirror

I’m asking him to change his ways

And no message could have been any clearer

If you wanna make the world a better place

Take a look at yourself, and then make a change

If you are building a team for a vision that is important enough that God has called you to lead the effort, then the first place to start is with yourself.  

What change do you need to make in your life in order for you to lead the team you are trying to form?

Are you trying to form a team to lead an evangelism revolution in your church? Do you invite people to know Christ? Make a change.

Are you trying to form a team to discern God's vision for your church? Is your heart and mind open to whatever the answer will be? Make a change.

Are you about to lead a team to recruit new officers for the church? Does that team need to lead a revolution, asking new people to serve? Seeking officers with unexplored gifts? Are you willing to ask the hard questions of yourself? Make a change.

Team: What's the Vision?

A few weeks ago I taught a Sunday school lesson using the book Generosity Rising by Scott McKensie. The chapter I used as the basis of the lesson was chapter two, and it's theme was how to build a revolutionary team for a generosity ministry in a church. As I taught it, I thought much of the lesson could apply to any team any of us are building. 

First, it is important to define what your team's mission will be. Do this before you form the team. 

What change is God calling you to lead? What is this team supposed to do?

To often I have seen teams that are formed only because we've always had a team assigned to this particular task, and with no goals at all. The goal seems to meet, so we have meetings. How does that change the world or start a revolution?

What change is God calling you to lead? Define it. And then decide if the change you are trying to bring about is important. Is it necessary? Is it life changing? Does it bring us closer to the Kingdom of God? Is God in it at all?

If you can answer yes, and if you can define the vision, then you are one step closer to forming a team.

Radical Prayer

This is what I read this morning, from Henri Nowen's little book, The Spirituality of Fundraising:

To pray is to desire to know more fully the truth that sets us free. Prayer uncovers the hidden motives and unacknowledged wounds that shape our relationships. Prayer allows us to see ourselves and others as God sees us. Prayer is radical because it uncovers the deepest roots of our identity in God.

Do we see prayer that way? Do we want to experience prayer that way? 

I remember years ago (why do so many of my stories start with the words "years ago." I wonder if it is my version of Once Upon a Time).  Anyway.... I was attending an Emmaus Gathering, and the Community Spiritual Director used Psalm 139 as the basis of his communion mediation. It's a great Psalm until you get the last verses, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." When you get to that verse, a Psalm that seems like a wonderful poem becomes personal. You realize the meaning of the whole thing. Who wants to be known by God like that? 

Do we pray for that kind of relationship with God? Do we see prayer as a way to achieve it? Or do we only see prayer as a time to ask God for what we want done in the world?  Do we really want God to know our hidden motives? Truthfully, do we really want to know our hidden motives and do we want to face up to the unacknowledged wounds that shape our relationships?

If we thought that was the purpose of prayer, would we ever pray? Are we brave enough?

Fundraising and Relationships

One of the challenges I have encountered when I was involved in the stewardship campaign at my church is that some programs required that we contact every person on our membership list and invite each of them to a consecration dinner. It's a wonderful idea to call everyone on the church's list to invite them to an event, but because this was a stewardship event - even though we weren't asking them to make a financial commitment - it was perceived as the leadership contacting those who were not attending only to ask them for money. All of us realized that we should be calling them more than just one time a year during the stewardship campaign. Visitation programs sprung up from this experience.

Nouwen says, "Asking for money is a way to call people into this communion with us. It is saying  "We want you to get to know us." Gathering together by our common yearning, we begin to know this communion as we move together toward our vision."

Anyone who has had any fundraising experience knows that fundraising is about relationship. You have to build, strengthen, and maintain relationships in order to be successful. If we get the order wrong, though, it feels manipulative. 

Spiritual fundraising is inviting people into a relationship with God - with their neighbors (us) - so that they can experience the communion of the kingdom of God, and participate in the work of the kingdom by giving of themselves - their time, their gifts and their possessions - to the work of that kingdom. It isn't asking for money so that the church we love and function. It's inviting people to be a part of something larger. It's knowing that our own lives will be enriched by their participation, and knowing that what we offer - Church - will enrich their lives through the presence of God.

It is about relationship - about communion. It's not relationship for our own profit. It's relationship for the building of the kingdom of God.

Relationship with Money

No servant can be the slave to two masters: he will either hate the first and love the second, or be attached to the first and despise the second. You cannot be the slave both of God and of money." (Luke 16:13)

What is our relationship with money? Henri Nouwen asks that question in his book, "The Spirituality of Fundraising." Is it something we are comfortable talking about? Was money something your parents talked with you about? Do you talk about it with your children? Why is money so secretive?

The United Methodist Church passed a new rule in the discipline (Paragraph 340.2.c.(2)(c)) that the pastors will have access to giving records of members. Why do you think the person who is essentially the CEO of a church wouldn't have access to giving records? And why did we need to pass a rule that provides for that access? Why are giving records a secret from pastors who have a responsibility in fundraising? And why is it that there are pastors to don't WANT that information?

The most common response I hear to that question from pastors is that he or she is afraid that information will lead to the pastor treating people differently. Could it be that they are already are, based on what they think they know? 

Why are people afraid for their pastors, who know everything about them, including their addictions, their family issues, their grief, their medical complaints - to know about how much they give to the church?

Why is our relationship with money? Do we see it as security? Do we equate money with personal worth? How does God enter into that equation?

Nouwen's thesis is that we, as church leaders, will be uncomfortable inviting people to give if we ourselves don't know how to relate to money. That's true, but it impacts much more than that, don't you think?

Fundraising

Have you ever served on a Stewardship and Finance Committee  Have you had the meetings where the committee talks about what "stewardship" program to use for the coming year in order to raise funds for ministry? Have you been a part of the discussion that includes worries over expenses, and the resulting "letter of appeal" to the congregation outlining the dire circumstances of the church's finances and how everyone must give now? Have you been in the congregation on "commitment Sunday" and heard the whispered groans (or made them yourself): "I hate it when the paster talks about money."

Read this from Henri Nouwen's book, "The Spirituality of Fundraising":

Fund-raising is precisely the opposite of begging. When we seek to raise funds, we are not saying,"Please, could you help us out because lately it's been hard." Rather, we are declaring, "We have a vision that is amazing and exciting  We are inviting you to invest yourself through the resources that God has given you - your energy, your prayers, and your money - in this work to which God has called us."

The truth I've read says that appeals for money based on scarcity ("Pay now, or the electricity will be cut off.") are less successful than appeals that are based on abundance. (We're having Vacation Bible school - look at the good is will do in our neighborhood! Please come be a part of it.)

One of the best "fundraising" talks I've ever heard wasn't about money at all. It was a mission project director describing the situation in the area his mission project serves - the circumstances and challenges faced by those who live there (and they were desperate circumstances). He then went on to describe what the mission project was doing to help people face the challenges. At the end, once the vision was declared, there was an invitation for people to help. And by that time, I would have given him my shoes if that was what was needed to help people. He never talked about how short their supply of funds was, or about how they struggle to meet ends meet, or even how frustrated he can get in the running of the mission project. He declared the circumstances and explained the ministry to meet them.

Fundraising is ministry. It's inviting people to give all they have (including their money) to the work of the kingdom of God. 

Finance as Ministry

A few times this spring, I have been asked to teach a church finance class. I've served on both the Finance Committee and the Lay Leadership Committee in a church, so I know the conversation that happens when it is time to appoint Finance Committee members. "He's a banker - he should serve." "She's an accountant - let's ask her." There is nothing wrong with this - except that it can create a committee that is rather one sided; it can create a committee that believes it lacks creativity - and might believe that the idea of using creativity in Finance is not necessary.

Have you ever heard a Finance person talk about stewardship to a congregation? I can recognize that the person is a banker or a CPA - there is a way of speaking about money that they have been taught. And, again, there is nothing wrong with that, but it doesn't always communicate well with people who are not financially minded.

I talk to the church treasurers, the chairs of finance and stewardship, and the financial secretaries about the need to be creative in their ministries. How we communicate about money can require some creativity, but they feel unable to do it.

Here are my two suggestions:

1. Appoint people to the Finance Committee who are creative. Round out the membership. Or appoint a Stewardship Chairperson who is creative.
2. We (all of us) need to stop thinking we are not creative. We were created to create. Don't be afraid to step out of the box in which you are comfortable. 

I think it all can be summed up with the sentence: "Finance administration in a church is a ministry." Live into it.

Tzedaka

I was reading a giving article in a magazine this morning.  The author, David Kottler, spoke about "the Hebrew concept of tzedaka.  The word is commonly used to refer to charity, but it's much more.  It also carries a sense of obligation to recognize what we have comes from God and we're merely a conduit for redistributing it."

My understanding of stewardship is much the same as this.  Stewardship isn't fund raising, as so many churches have defined it.  Stewardship is putting what we have learned as a disciple into action.  As a disciple, we learn about how to live our lives - as stewards, we live them.  As a disciple, we learn that the gifts we have come from God; as s steward, we use those gifts.  As a disciple, we learn the calling God has placed on our lives; as a steward, we act on that call, putting all we have been given to work in the mission God has given us.

As a church leader, it is important to remember, I think, that moving people to stewardship isn't about funding a budget.  It's about shepherding people from discipleship to action.

Facts and Emotions

One more story about the Conference I attended a couple of weeks ago.  It's funny to me how much listening to my lunch neighbor complain about the keynote speech the night before has solidified my thoughts about the keynote.

(There is a side lesson in that for all of us.  Don't just listen to those who agree with you.  Listen to those who don't agree with you - not to argue your point, but to come to a better understanding of your own thoughts.)

My lunch neighbor said the people he encounters in his own planned giving work don't want to hear stories.  They aren't interested in emotion.  They want to know how the money is managed.  They want to know returns and facts about diversification.

Again, I think he missed the point.  Do I think donors want to know about how the money is managed? Absolutely!  Being passionate about what I do doesn't mean that I'm not smart and knowledgeable about what I do.  It's my responsibility to know about returns and the security of the money being managed.  It's my job to understand how the tools of planned giving work and how they can help the donor in front of me.

Emotion doesn't make me stupid or uninformed.  It makes me better at all of the above.  And I would be fooling myself (as I think my lunch companion is) if I ignored the need the person I'm serving has to make a difference.

Stories show the other kinds of returns - the impact of the money.  It's all about making a meaningful difference.

In the work you do in your church, are you involved in stewardship?  Do you only share the budget and the shortfalls of the income?  Do you believe that is all the congregation wants to know?  If that is the case, I think you might be wrong.  Tell the stories.  Show the passion.  Help people understand that the gift of money they give to God through God's church does God's work.

Dropsy

Today I read Chapter 14 of the book of Luke. The chapter starts with a description of the healing of a man with dropsy.  This is why I love Study Bibles.  The notes in my Bible (The New Interpreters' Study Bible) tell me that dropsy was the swelling of the body due to an excess of fluid --what we would call generalized edema.  In that time, it was used as a "metaphorical label for the greedy."  A person with dropsy would crave water in spite of the fact that their bodies were filled with fluid.  In this opening passage, Jesus heals a man with dropsy.

Luke is a wonderful writer.  In the sections that follow, he tells us about Jesus counseling dinner attendees to choose a place of low honor at a banquet instead of lusting after (my words) the places of honor and prestige at the table.  Jesus tells those gathered to invite the poor and marginalized to meals rather than those who can "return the favor."  He tells a story of a person having a great dinner.  All those he invited turned him down, so he angrily sends his servant to gather the outcast and bring them to the meal.  The chapter ends with Jesus discussing the cost of discipleship.

Are we like the man with dropsy?  Are we swollen with our need for prestige and power, and yet we crave it with an insatiable desire?  I think one of the messages of this passage is that Jesus stands ready to heal us -- to make us whole and well.  At the same time, he points to those who have nothing, and tells us to minister to them.  To take it even a step further, perhaps in this service, we will find our healing from Christ.

Investing in God's Work

In Joe's sermon today, he said, "We cannot place our money in God's hands, but we can invest in God's work."

What does it mean to invest in something?  I think of the vows we take as members of the United Methodist Church.  We promise to give of our time, our talents, our gifts, our service and our witness.  All of that is investing.

We invest in God's work when we listen to God's people.  We invest in God's work when we pack a box for Samaritan's Purse.  We invest in God's work when we give time to teach a child or hug a friend or carry a burden.  We invest in God's work when we feel the pain of another and are moved to offer help.

Offering our money, our faith, our trust, our emotions, our time -- all are investments in God's work.

A Covenant with Creation

Sunset on Kanawha River

Yesterday, I talked about the Noah covenant in Genesis 9.  Look at this again:

Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the cattle and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark.  I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth. (8:9-12)

Something I hadn't noticed before is that the covenant is not only with Noah; it is also with creation.

What does that mean?  If God values creation enough to include it all in the covenant, then we have a model for what we should value.  How does the idea that creation is valuable to God impact how we interact with creation?