Pastor’s Points of Light – October  2004 52:10

I asked God for all things that I might enjoy life. God said,” No. I will give you life, so that you may enjoy all things.”

 

The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."   The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him."

Genesis 2:15-18

AND / OR

On November 25th, we will be celebrating one of the most wonderful and uniquely American holidays, appropriately called Thanksgiving.  This celebration comes from a truly Christian tradition of recognizing God’s goodness in the midst of difficulty and is a perfect way to return not only thanks to God, but to what we are and to whom we belong. 

As Christians, we have so much to be thankful about yet often fail to recognize, in the midst of the commotions of our busy lives, just how gracious is our God.  It is so easy according to our fallen human nature, to complain about our lot and to see things in a pessimistic way, rather than being thankful for the goodness and the revelation of God’s comfort and love in our lives—just listen to many of our politicians.

We expect more and believe that we deserve better.  For us as fully subscribed members of our consumer society, it is never enough.  This is the same attitude that got our first father Adam, and mother Eve in trouble. 

Yes, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree—literally, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil! (Gen 2:9;17)

When God created mankind, He created us to live abundant lives (Jn. 10:10).  He provided a cornucopia of richness and the fullness of His eternal Presence in the midst of the Garden of Eden.

Was this good enough for them?  Adam and Eve, wanted more—they wanted the  Knowledge   of   Good   and Evil!—fooled into thinking they would become like God.  We as their heirs, suffer from the same spiritual immaturity.

We were created in God’s image.  He wanted to give us freedom and the happiness of the enjoyment in His eternal treasures.  All we had to do was love Him, worship Him and offer Him true and proper praise in thanksgiving.  If you think about it, these works sound an awful lot like the ministry of priesthood!

My dear faithful, we were created, each of us, for a priesthood, to offer sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving, to render to God all that is His and all that comes from Him, our Time and our Talent and our Treasure.  Notice that it is not about choices, one over and against the other.  The priesthood to which we are called in baptism is not about decisions or choices.  We are equipped to offer everything up to God and trust that He will care for every one of our needs.

Likewise, our Church membership shouldn’t be about decisions, but about THANKSGIVING!   When we make our offering on the Table of the Lord’s Presence, we offer everything, our very best, the first fruits of our labors.  Its not an and/or decision.  St. Paul in his teaching about stewardship does not reimpose the tythe, but merely says about the faithful that they gave “according to their ability, and beyond their ability, they gave of their own accord” (II Cor. 8:3).  In other words, people responded to the needs of the church and to her holy work by giving beyond measure and ability.

He goes on to say that stewardship is not only for the wealthy but for all and that we should give according to what we have been given and not according to what we have not been given.  It is about being ready to respond to the call with all that we have.  Paul says, “For if the readiness is present, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have.” (II Corinthians 8:12)

This year, as the Year of Stewardship, we have heard the expression, Time, Talent, Treasure.  The fact is that it’s not about giving one or the other, but of all and for all.  Our Lord when calling His disciples simply invites them by saying,” Follow me.”  He doesn’t give them a bunch of choices from which to pick.  A life in Christ is one of total commitment.  We are called to offer unto God our best, AND from our Time AND from our Talent AND from our Treasure, each according to his/her ability. 

May this Thanksgiving be the best ever and may the glory and grace of Christ enlighten your hearts and minds to see how gracious He is in the countless ways that offers His love to us, in Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

Prayerfully, In Christ,

Der Shnork