Title: “Loving God Back” (Stewardship Sunday)
Luke 12:13-34 (Not lectionary)
Rev. Joy R. Haertig
A Jesuit spiritual director and writer named Anthony
de Mello tells this old tale:
A man took his
new hunting dog out on a trial hunt.
Presently he shot a duck that fell into the lake. The dog walked over the water, picked up the
duck, and brought it back to his master.
The man was flabbergasted! He
shot another duck. Once again, while he
rubbed his eyes in disbelief, the dog walked over the water and retrieved the
duck. Hardly daring to believe what he
had seen, he called his neighbor to go hunting the next day. Once again, each time he or his neighbor his
a bird, the dog would walk over the water and bring the bird in. The man said nothing. Neither did his neighbor. Finally, unable to contain himself any
longer, he blurted out, “Did you notice anything strange about that dog?” The neighbor rubbed his chin pensively. “Yes,” he finally said. “Come to think of it, I did! The son of a gun can’t swim!”
Life is full of miracles – daily ones, perhaps not
the ones we may wish to see – but miracles nonetheless. Anthony de Mello comments: “It isn’t that
life is not full of miracles. It’s more
than that: it is miraculous, and anyone who stops taking it for granted will
see it at once.”
So it is with the miracle of abundance too which is
at the heart of today’s scripture stories from Luke. The parable of the rich fool who stores away
his abundance, taking it for granted and keeping it all for himself.
Or the familiar words of Jesus when he said to his
disciples, “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your
body, what you will wear…Consider the lilies.”
Worrying blocks our ability to see even the smallest
miracles of abundance that surround us every day.
This fall season of Stewardship in our church has
been a time to really note the miracle of abundance that is in our midst. The stewardship moments from our willing
volunteers have opened our eyes and hearts to seeing the abundance that is
right in front of us; to pause for a moment and not take it for granted. For that I want to say thank you. Thank you Dan Thomsen, Martha Clay, Louis
Harrison, Karien Balluff and Bill Lerch. Thank you for reminding us to not take
this place and this community for granted.
Today, on this Stewardship Sunday it is my turn to
tell you how I see and experience God’s miracle of abundance in this
place. So often we see only one aspect
of our life together, usually the aspect you happen to be involved in or even
just Sunday morning worship. As your
pastor I want to help you get to the balcony and look at the big picture of the
ministry of this congregation. I’m going to begin with what is most recent and
then branch out here and there in celebration of how God is still speaking in
this place, in your lives, and how you love God back in so many powerful ways.
My most recent experience of abundance was with
those 53 adults, youth, children and babies that spent the weekend together on
retreat out in
This weekend the RBCC players in their 22nd year are
entertaining audiences in our Pilgrim Hall once again. Since September a band of people have been
learning lines, practicing their blocking and building community in preparation
for bringing us joy. Each year I witness
the regulars who thrive on acting join together with the “newbees” who have
never memorized a thing or stood in front of a crowd to perform. Each person is gently received and
encouraged; friendships are formed and the show goes on; yet another miracle of
abundance. Last year I was one of those
newbees. One Saturday we were rehearsing
at the back of the sanctuary. I was
tired and a bit on the grumpy side that day, Dan – our wonderful director who
volunteers hours of his time twice a year for these productions – was trying to
give me direction about how I did a particular part. At one point I stamped my feet and had a
little melt down. After I was done he
gently said, “Well Joy, you are a real actress now!” I thought that was a wonderful response to a
grumpy pastor.
These past weeks we have prepared the transitional
house for another family to move in. Mike Nouwens from outreach board oversaw
it for the first time and did a wonderful job.
Out of the woodwork come people to repair leaks and fix broken doors,
cleaners and furniture movers. Donations
were brought in and the cupboards and refrigerator well stocked.
“I was hungry and you gave me food, thirsty and you
gave me drink. I was a stranger and you
welcomed me.” One of the most concrete
ways this congregation loves God back is through the transitional house. Thank you for knowing that you have more than
enough to share.
These last couple of years we have been setting up
chairs in the back of the sanctuary for an overflow of people coming to worship
on Sunday mornings. Our joys and
concerns have become more and more earnest, lay preachers have been willing to
risk sharing from their hearts and minds in the pulpit. We almost don’t have room up front for
children’s time.
In so many creative and varied ways we explore and
celebrate our faith journey and deepen our relationship with God.
We have prayer circles, prayer chains and prayer
shawls that are strengthening and transforming lives. We break bread and share the cup – knowing
that ALL are welcome in this place, that all are welcome at the table of our
Lord.
We are blessed by our children and adult choirs;
soloists, instrumentalists and dancers that connect us to the Divine in ways
that the spoken word falls short.
My word there is an abundance of gifts and
dedication from Sharon, Ron, Noel, Staci, Melissa, Betsy, and David (our
janitor). They are so dedicated to this
church and their ministry with and for you.
And we in turn are blessed by how you as a congregation appreciate and
affirm us, your staff.
Sunday school is lively and the children are
learning the stories of our faith and experiencing God’s love through one
another and their wonderful teachers.
Jr. and Sr. High youth groups tricker-can for the hungry and buy toys
for migrant farm worker children, they are building a sense of community and
learning that God’s love is about having a safe place to grow and learn respect
for all.
Adult Formation classes invite us to wrestle with
our own faith questions and gain tools for prayer as well as Biblical history
and study.
In October, 45 of us marched to the Richmond Beach
Park on our first Children’s march for Peace.
Every few months people gather to cook food and serve it to the women at
Mary’s place; quarterly we make sandwiches for the people at the Center for
Adult and Family services. In addition
to special offerings and our annual support of the United Church of Christ we
tithe our church budget every year, making sure that at a minimum, 10%
of it is used to help those outside of our church who are in need in the
broader community.
300 school children in Port Elizabeth and Emfudwini,
South Africa are receiving lunch every day they are in school through our
Loaves and Fishes Project.
Every day our building is bustling with the sound of
children learning at Horizon School, almost every night one or more of the
rooms are being used by twelve-step programs or a condo association, Brownies,
Girl Scouts or this or that community organization.
And we are a part of a wonderful denomination – we do
not do our ministry alone. We are linked
with other UCC churches and organizations all over the country and the world. God is still speaking.
RBCC UCC does not store up its abundance in barns
and lock the doors – your doors are open wide.
From the outside it looks like your average church
building – well, perhaps above average now that we have a lovely new roof! But if all you do is look at the building you
miss the miracle of what is on the inside and how those miracles flow out far
beyond its walls.
It is easy to miss the miracle of our lives because
we take them for granted or because our eyes have glazed over from stress or
fear.
Remember the lily of the field. Remember the song of the bird.
So often we let the terror of the world cloud out
the astonishing power of love, the beauty of relationship, the proof of our
oneness and our interdependency. Being a
part of a church community can foster hope and caring relationships rather than
fear and hatred. We are blessed to be a
part of something that spreads God’s love!
On this Stewardship Sunday I encourage you to not
take this special community for granted.
We do not walk on water, by any means – but with God’s love we do know
how to swim!
We are a work in process, God is not done with us
yet – yet we are an expression of God’s shalom right now, today.
Let us celebrate the miracle and the wonder that is
RBCC, UCC.