Dear Friend,
Stewardship is always a tricky season as a pastor. On the one hand, it is fundraising—we need to raise the funds (through pledges) to create a budget for the upcoming year. And on the other hand, stewardship is so much bigger than just raising the money to balance the budget. It is an awareness that our faith encompasses the whole of our lives, including the ways in which we steward the gifts that we have been given, including our wealth. And it is a reminder that even though most of us work hard for our money, our faith reminds us that it, too, is a gift which God calls us to use wisely.
Our theme for Stewardship this year is A Future with Hope. It comes from a passage in Jeremiah when God is reassuring the people that even though everything looks bleak, God intends for them a future with hope. It is so easy to get tossed and turned by the news and crises of the day, but our faith calls us to take a larger view, to step back and remember that God is in the midst of it, and we are called to be agents of hope. And so one of the reasons we give (to the church, to good causes, to people who are in need) is to remind ourselves that we have hope in the future and to use our resources to help bring about that future.
May you catch a glimpse of a future with hope in the days to come,
Pastor Sarah
something Worth reading
Reverie Saves the Day
by Barbara Brown Taylor
I love the definition in this article about what a spiritual practice is: something that gives you life regardless of whether or not it is traditionally considered spiritual. And, at the same time, I completely resonate with Barbara Brown Taylor’s opening reflection that,
“As often as I say I believe in the primacy of being over doing, my actions call me out. If a person’s Higher Power can be described as whatever she spends most of her time thinking about, relying on, and giving the most energy to, then the name of mine is Getting Things Done.”
something worth hearing
A Good Day
J.J. Heller
One of the things Stewardship always makes me think about is my own definition of enough–what is enough, when is enough, etc. I like this new song by J.J. Heller (and it ties in nicely with the Song of Reflection that we’ll use in worship on Sunday) because it reminds me that often it is already enough if only I have eyes to see.
something worth watching
An artist’s remarkable new vision for St. Patrick’s Cathedral
CBS Sunday Morning
Here’s a short video about the new mural in St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. It depicts both a celestial apparition, but also incorporates images of immigration through the ages. The conversations in the video really speak to the tension many feel these days between politics and faith.
something worth praying
Using Our Wealth
God of extravagant and inappropriate grace,
we thank you for the wealth we enjoy,
and for all the opportunities we have to share it.
Where nations buckle under the stress
of impossible debts,
may we use our wealth of influence and voice
to bring about liberation;
Where communities wrestle
with inequality and dividedness,
may we use our wealth of love and welcome
to bring about equity and connection;
Where people suffer
from poverty, lack of opportunity and shame,
may we use our wealth of money
to bring about sufficiency and dignity;
Teach us, God, to release our devotion to meritocracy,
individualism and correctness,
and to embrace your inappropriate justice,
your scandalous grace,
and your indiscriminate love.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen.
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