Stewardship 2 - Taking a Drink

This is the second post in a series of four on stewardship that reflect 4 sermons leading up to our annual stewardship campaign.
On Sunday September 28 we focused on Exodus 17:1-7. Again it is a follow-up reading that continues the journey of the Israelites on their way to the promised land. Once again we see that folks are complaining about the state of things as they are running short of good fresh drinking water and complain to Moses that they would have been better off remaining in Egypt gathered around the flesh pots. Of course we know that this isn't true and yet we can hear the frustration and concern from the community. The story goes that once again God hears the complaints of the people and direct Moses to strike a rock at a place that gets names massah and meribah. God says to Moses that when he does this water will come forth like a spring. Moses obeys and the people receive life giving water.
The second sermon in our series is focused on worship and our need to commit ourselves to regular attendance in worship as part of our stewardship. It builds from last week that first you have to commit yourself to a vision and then you have to live it out. As a faith community the most basic and fundamental way in which we live out our vision is through worshiping together.
While this might not seem like an obvious link to the Exodus reading, I'll ask you to think about water as a metaphor - as something that gives life; as something that is basic; and as something that every person needs in order to live life abundantly. When you see the image of water in this light it is possible to see worship in the same way.
Worship is a basic element of who we are as Christian people. It defines us, shapes us, nurtures us, challenges us, comforts us and afflicts us. Worship calls us to empty ourselves in order that we might be filled-up by the Spirit. Worship takes us on a journey into a deeper relationship with God through Jesus our Christ. Worship provides us with a space to reflect on our everyday lives and how we are living out our discipleship. Worship renews us and while it calls us in it also sends us out with a vision and a mission into the world. Worship is our water! Without it, as a Christian, we would surely perish.
The second part of our annual stewardship campaign is to ask people to pledge regular worship attendance. It builds on committing to the vision of our congregation for it is in and through worship that we discover how that vision is to be lived out in a manner that is rooted in our tradition and the bible. The vision sets the boarders and worship starts to fill in the empty space. Can you commit to regular worship attendance?

Stewardship 1 - Living With a Vision

This is the first post in a 4 post series focusing on Stewardship and the four sermons leading into our annual stewardship campaign.
Our focus text for Sunday September 21, 2008 was Exodus 16: 2-15. In many ways its a familiar story that now sees the Israelites having traveled some distance away from the Rea Sea. Now they are hungry as food stocks are running low and they begin to complain that Moses' plan is flawed and that they were better off in Egypt suffering under the cruel whips of their task masters. The story goes that God hears the complaints and through Moses, supplies both bread (manna) and meat (quail) for the people. One at sunrise and the other at dusk. Yet it isn't the miracle that I want to focus on this week, rather its the doubting of the vision that is contained within this story.
Moses had a vision. It was given to him by God and people had committed to that vision as part of their journey out of Egypt. Yet now that things were getting tough in the wilderness, the people doubted the vision. Its as if they had somehow lost their way as a community and doubted the ability of their leader to set the course aright. You see the vision is the boundary of the map. It sets the limits of what can be done and what will be worked towards. For Moses the vision and the boarders of his map can be summed up in the Kingdom of God, yet what about us? If the destination is directly linked to our ability to develop and agree on a vision, then what is the vision of this congregation?
One year ago we developed a vision statement that we all agreed would serve as the border for our ministry map. It says, "Christ United Church endeavors to be a family oriented, faith community called to share the love of Christ with all, regardless of race, gender, age, sexual orientation, social standing or creed." That is how we have defined our promised land. When we reach it we'll know that we've arrived in the Kingdom of God. When the vision statement was presented as a congregation we agreed that it would inform our actions, who we were trying to be as a faith community and as individuals, that it would shape the initiatives to be started and the direction the Council would take. That was one year ago and like the Israelites some of us have forgotten that vision and some of us remember only parts of it.
Part of any stewardship campaign is being able to clearly state who you are and where you are going - in other words your vision statement. Likewise, while its important to have one, if it only exists on paper and doesn't resonate in the lives of the congregation - then its a dead document, a waste of time - it looses its ability to shape and inform our actions.
Without a vision we have no parameters to our map and no sense of where we are going. Without dedicating ourselves to our vision we're left fumbling around from one idea to the next. Its for this reason that the first thing we're going to ask people to do as part of the stewardship campaign is commit themselves to our vision. That's the first step of being a congregation of good stewards - having a common vision. Are you ready and willing to say yes?

Steardship

Beginning next Sunday, September 21, 2008, I'll be sharing a 4 part sermon series on stewardship and its role in our congregation. Each week I'll post "Sermon Notes" here so that if you miss one of the sermons you'll still be able to follow along as we get ready to launch our Annual Stewardship Campaign for 2008.
Over these four Sundays we'll be exploring together:
1. What it means to be committed to our church's vision.
2. The role of regular worship attendance.
3. The importance of active involvement.
4. A commitment to regular monthly giving.
Each Sunday while addressing a particular piece of what it means to be a "faithful and wise steward" will also link how stewardship informs our daily lives as we seek to live out the call of Jesus our Christ to be the church in the world.

Need More Space

I was travelling up Hwy 29 the other day a noticed a curious sign. It insinuated that empty nesters, people whose children were no longer at home, needed more space. In deed the sign actually gave the impression that this was space that these now childless parents had been doing without for some time and now was the time to reclaim it for themselves! Of course in order to do that you needed to purchase certain items to aid in the transformation of what once were bedrooms into…offices…dens…exercise…computer…sowing…games…(can you think of any other) rooms. My thoughts didn’t turn to whether or not these were appropriate uses for these rooms, but to the idea of space itself. When in our history did we all of a sudden become such consumers of space? That is what we’ve become as we treat space as a commodity that is packaged, wrapped, and valued just like any other commodity. The days of children sharing a bed room (which even I had to do for a little while) and people building and living in modest size homes is long gone. Even the styles of shopping centers we’re constructing are “growing to serve you [us] better.” Why do we need so much space? There once was a time when family members literally tripped over one another and now we live in house where we can’t even hear one another unless we’re yelling at the top of our lungs, let alone actually see one another or cross one another’s paths. And that still isn’t enough space because as soon as the kids are gone – there’s the chance to swoop in and convert now useless “them” space into meaningful “Me” space. In the process I think we’ve lost an understanding that space has power and meaning for us as individuals, as families and as a community. The burning bush story in Exodus 3 bring to mind this sense of space as sacred when Moses approaches the bush and hears a voice telling him that this is sacred ground and that before he could approach any further he was to take off his shoes. For sure this story makes direct reference to ground, that is earth and stone and sand, yet it also makes reference to seeing space as sacred. Space has meaning. I remember growing up hearing stories about different places. Sometimes they still existed, sometimes they had succumbed to the passage of time, yet there were some that would last forever. These were places that defined a people, where they fished, how they made their living, where the safe waters were, and what was passed on to the next generation. Space you see has power. Space informs what we think is important and how we treat our space tells others about what we think is important. SO why do we need so much space? And why are we in such a hurry to strip meaningful space where our children have lived for years as soon as they’re gone out the door? What is it saying about us and what is it saying to them?