From the Pastor

What is Stewardship?

Part One: Embracing Stewardship.

 

The Council and I are beginning a study based on the book, Embracing Stewardship, by Charles Lane and Grace Duddy Pomroy.  Now the concept of "embracing stewardship" may leave many of us a little cold, maybe even a little frightened. It may feel like kissing a zombie -- why would I want to embrace that?  "Stewardship" is often that other "S" word that we don't like to talk about in polite company (because, you know, it's about m.o.n.e.y!).

 

Stewardship is often off-putting to many of us because of the way it has been presented to us in the past.  It may have been some slick and fancy program with a quite a few cute gimmicks, or it may have been a guilt-heavy pressure presentation, but in either case, it was primarily designed to get us to promise to give money. Now, even if it is for a very good cause, none of us like to feel pressured or gimmicked into giving. Instead, I think what we all want is an honest, adult talk about what is going on and what we might do to help. To accomplish that, the first thing we need to do it to remove the term "stewardship" from any connection to "just paying the bills" or even fund raising. The main problem with presentations in the past is that: Stewardship is not really about money.

 

So, what is stewardship?  Three things are the basis for a wholesome understanding of stewardship.  First, we recognize that God is the Creator. The Bible is clear that everything belongs to God. " The earth is the  Lord's and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it," the Psalmist declares. (Psalm 24:1) Even what I earn, or what I make, I earn and make with the body and intellect given to me by the Creator of all.  Second, we recognize that the Creator has entrusted you and me to take care of the things God owns. We are stewards, care takers of the Creation.  That's our vocation or calling the world. That also how we are called to live out our vocations/occupations, how we use what God has given us. Third, our stewardship is really a faith relationship. Reminded that God is God and we are not, we joyfully take care of the things we have to give glory to God's name, not ours.

 

So, yes, stewardship is about money, but so much more. It's really about my relationship God and God's creation.  One way to think about it is: down, in, and out. God has made a decision about us, a positive one of love and grace. God's love comes down to us, chiefly in the person of Jesus Christ, to liberate us from our selfishness, and from despair. God comes to us in our real physical world. God comes in Jesus as a real human being and is concerned with our real human needs and existence. From this existence, God calls us out to think and act beyond ourselves to take care of (steward) our neighbors and creation, doing God's work in the physical creation.  Stewardship, therefore, is really, as someone has said, "everything I do after I say, 'I believe.'" It is all of us. It's all our lives. It's all of our discipleship as followers of Jesus. In this way, it is really all about God's love for us and our love for God.

 

We can embrace stewardship because we have been embraced by God's love. We gather together as a community of fellow believers as a congregation in Jesus' name to celebrate God's love and to reach out to others. Within that congregation, we as individuals share our time, our talents and abilities, and our finances to express that stewardship of love - both by thanking God for the gifts we receive, and to share God's love and concern in and for the world.

 

So how do we do this embracing? The next instalment of this series will give some practical ways in which we can express of faith in our stewarding of all we have and all we are. It's not about gimmicks and it's not about guilt, but it is about an honest and grace-filled conversation and encouragement on each us of might expand and enhance our faith practices in our stewarding of God's gifts.

 

In God's Work Together,

Pastor Martin

From Our Bishop

It has happened again. Addressing the multiple layers involved in preventing mass murders will take courageous leadership from people of different perspectives on gun ownership. I am confident that the majority of gun owners are in favor of common sense restrictions. But we've allowed ourselves to take polarizing positions as if that addresses the reality that no other country has the rate of gun violence in our schools that we do in the US. We are the adults who need to protect all children. Movie theaters should be safe places. Public gatherings with politicians should be safe places. Sunday worship should be a safe place for people to gather without fear.

One adult in my family does not own a gun. Many have concealed carry permits. I am a good shot. And I hate that guns are common in my family for protection from bears and neighbors.

The Conference of Bishops wrote the pastoral letter below, following the murder of students and staff at Sandy Hook Elementary. We all have work to do.

A Pastoral Letter on Violence adopted by the ELCA Conference of Bishops, March 4, 2013

"A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more" Jeremiah 31.15 and Matthew 2: 18.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

Every faithful caregiver who sits with victims of violence knows what we know - as God's church, we are called to reduce violence and should, in most cases, restrain ourselves from using violence. Whether or not statistics show that overall violence has declined in recent years, every person wounded or killed is a precious child of God.

As bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, we lament the tragedy of gun violence in our country. We are grieved by the way violence threatens and destroys life. We affirm the current soul searching and shared striving to find a way to a better future.

While the church grapples with this call to reduce violence and make our communities safer, we recognize that before God we are neither more righteous because we have guns nor are we more righteous when we favor significant restrictions. Brokenness and sin are not somehow outside of us. Even the best of us are capable of great evil. As people of God we begin by confessing our own brokenness - revealed in both our actions and our failure to act. We trust that God will set us free and renew us in our life's work to love our neighbors.

In this time of public attention to gun violence, local communities of faith have a unique opportunity to engage this work. As bishops, we were thankful to recognize the many resources our church has already developed (see below). We begin by listening: listening to God, to Scripture, and to each other. Providing a safe place for people to share their own stories, together we discern courses of action. Together we act. And together we return to listening - to assess the effectiveness of our efforts to reduce violence.

In the Large Catechism Luther says, "We must not kill, either by hand, heart, or word, by signs or gestures, or by aiding and abetting." Violence begins in the human heart. Words can harm or heal. To focus only on guns is to miss the depth of our vocation. Yet, guns and access are keys to the challenges we face.

We recognize that we serve in different contexts and have different perspectives regarding what can and should be done. But as we live out our common vocations, knowing that the work will take many forms, we are committed to the work of reducing and restraining violence. This shared work is a sign of our unity in Christ.

We invite you, our sisters and brothers, to join us in this work:

In this, as in all things, Christ is with us. Thanks be to God. Important Resources:   http://elca.org/Faith/Faith-and-Society/

Intern Corner

The Season of Lent

Have you ever heard the phrase "Jesus is the reason for the season"? Maybe you heard it as a kid around Christmas. But have you ever heard it in relation to Lent? Probably not. We generally think of Lent as a season of emotional heaviness, spiritual draining, and ... maybe depression. Unlike Advent when we are preparing for the birth of Jesus, in Lent we are contemplating, reflecting, and evaluating life and death. The season begins with Ash Wednesday, reminding us of our inevitable deaths, climaxes in Holy Week which is punctuated with a triumphant ride into Jerusalem, the Passover meal, and finally Jesus' execution. We end our Lenten fasts celebrating Jesus' resurrection. Jesus is the reason for the season.

But who is Jesus?

In the West, we're familiar with a white, or fair-skinned, Jesus, with blonde or light-colored hair, and blue eyes. This Lenten season we will reflect on who Jesus is for people across the globe- what he looks like when they imagine him, and what his primary messages are in these different locations. Please join us each Wednesday for a soup supper at 6:15, followed by a worship service at 7:00 where we will learn and think about Jesus with our global neighbors.

Global Perspectives on Jesus

Feb 21      Asian- Jesus originated on the Asian continent

Feb 28       African- African locations are often named in

                Scripture

Mar 7        Latin American- where liberation theology was

                first developed

Mar 14      Native North American/ Native Alaskan- we

                occupy Native land

Mar 21      Orthodox- a return to the East, and found in the

                West

Coming Week's Calendar

Finance Committee Update

  The Joy of Reading Book Club