August 4, 2022

I wanted to make sure I got this one out to you before Leigh and I head off to Churchwide Assembly to discern, decide, worship, and pray about matters facing our denomination. You can learn more about this trienniel gathering of our denomination by reading my August newsletter article.

Like a couple on the couch overwhelmed with the abundance of shows on Netflix that they browse for hours, overcome by anxiety, and never get to enjoy even a mediocre show for fear of missing out on the best, Jesus tells a parable of a man overcome with anxiety because of how abundantly his crops have produced.

This rich young man is possessed by his possessions and turns inward on himself, caring only for what will make his own soul relax, he can only think of increasing his storage barns, neglecting the opportunities for abundant life for him and for his neighbors if only he would turn out from himself and see that God is calling him to abundant life by way of generosity right here and right now.

I wonder what blinds us to opportunities for generosity?
I wonder how we have let our abundance overwhelm us in such a way that we miss the invitation to abundant life right in front of us?

In our adult Sunday School class we’ve been talking about St. Augustine. Augustine taught that we either love God most, or love our self most. We either seek and serve God, or are bound in self-serving ways. And in that place where greed and selfishness have so twisted us in upon our selves (sin, being in curvatus se) we miss our invitation to a full and abundant life and instead keep waiting and worrying that what we have, that we thought would finally make us happy, will be lost to us. That when the line stops moving up and to the right, all hope and joy are gone.

But we miss the reality that  this very night our lives are being demanded of us – and that in giving our life away we will truly find life and find it to the full in Christ. For rest assured, that the grace of God, which is all you need in order to experience the freedom of life with God now and forever, is already being given to you and cannot be lost against your will for it is your Father in Heaven’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

So do not fear, but rather live. Generously sharing what you have received – yourself, your time, your possessions. For life does not consist in the abundance of possessions, but in Christ in whom you have been baptized.

Grace & Peace,
Pastor Drew