October 11 2015 (full size gallery)
After last week’s downpour, we saw a number of leaves beginning to turn, especially on the maples and less so on the sycamores. The temperatures have varied – this morning we had ground fog. This occurs in early fall when when nights get longer, airmasses begin to cool, and land and water surfaces that have warmed up during the summer are still evaporating alot of water into the atmosphere. When that evaporated, beautiful sunshine filled the day.
Catherine was away at Prescott, Arizona at Credo at part two of a course to help promote clergy wellness. The service today was Morning Prayer with Eunice as Lector and Cookie as Officiant. Dr. John Sellers was the preacher. We had a small service – only 22 with only Brad in the choir loft.
We had a number of guests, Sylvia Sellers and her daughter and her husband reside in Maine. They enjoyed taking pictures and getting a brief tour of the church. Betty had her granddaughter who resides in Seattle.
John in his sermon concentrated on the life and example of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. (As I told him later we actually took up Bonhoeffer’s life and two chapters from Life Together in late 2010 during Christian Education)
Bonhoeffer was a German intellectual and theologian hung in 1945, 10 days before the allies could have liberated him for his activities against Hitler. As John said World War II destroyed the great promise of Bonhoeffer’s family. There were 8 children. Another brother was hung by the Nazis and two of his sisters lost their husbands that way too.
John considered some of the contradictions in his life – a pacifist who participated in the effort to assassinate Hitler for which he was arrested in 1943, a "mavrick" Christian who became critical of how churches were functioning in Germany, a man who talked about a "non-Christian theology" who could not believe in Jesus until he could experience him. He was critical of church policy which did not give almost all away to the poor. Another contradiction was that Bonhoeffer, a brilliant scholar, who had earned a doctorate at age 25 and had written two books, who travelled to the US in the 1930’s and became very dedicated to the working people especially the poor. He was ready to leave his academic learning behind and actually attended the Abyssinian Baptist Church while in New York in contrast to his Lutheran background. Bonhoeffer came from a family that was a contradiction in itself – an atheist father and religious mother.
Bonhoeffer saw the German threat early particularly in relationship to the Jews and the use of the Lutheran church for Hitler’s benefit. He actually worked with some of his Hitler’s espionage activities until he had to give it up and go into hiding and in promise for boarding educated ministers. At different times he could have escaped but wanted to be with his German people and not escape his fate.
Lectionary commentary by Canon Lance Ousley, Diocese of Olympia
I define stewardship as the giving and utilizing all that we are and all that we have for the proclamation and establishment of God’s kingdom on earth. The gospel lessen for this week is one of the scriptural texts that informs that definition for me and it is full of launching points for stewardship formation and the blessings of faithful stewardship in our lives.
While the man had met the requirements of the Ten Commandments his heart was hungering for something more that tasks or wealth could not provide. What he was seeking was the richness of life that comes in a committed relationship with God. The problem he had was that his wealth and material possessions were encumbering his ability to make room in his heart for God’s love to provide him what his soul desired. His trust in his own ability to provide for himself through his keeping the law and his trust in his possession to give him peace left him empty. The truth is that there is only one place we can find the fullness of our true selves and the security of being loved and accepted unconditionally no matter what our actions or our financial statement claim.
This text is also the one I often point to when teaching about the tithe as a biblical minimum instead of a biblical standard. This isn’t because God needs or wants our money, but because God desires our hearts and the abundance of life that comes to us with our fully giving God our hearts. Giving God our hearts fully frees us from the self-devaluing failure of works righteousness and the anxious demands of mammon on our lives.
This passage in Mark also illustrates that while 10% is the minimum, what Jesus is asking us is to surrender all for the good of God’s kingdom. But I’m not saying that Jesus is asking us all to sell everything we have and give it to those in need. What I am saying is that Jesus wants us to give at least the 10% minimum financially and also to take a look at the rest of our financial and material resources and leverage them for God’s kingdom work. For instance, how might you use your home or car for God’s kingdom proclamation or establishment? In doing this with a kingdom perspective we begin to see our lives and possessions in a new way. No longer are we burdened by the things of this world, but we see them as tools for God’s kingdom. No longer are we burdened and heavy laden with material baggage that gets in the way of our navigating the Eye of the Needle. It now has become a fulcrum for seeing God’s kingdom becoming present in our midst.
So what are you struggling to let go of so that you can follow Jesus and make room for God to enter your heart fully? What about your congregation?
Remember all things are possible for God, but first we have to let God into our hearts.