Based
on Heb. 11:24-12:2
First
delivered Aug. 18, 2019
Rev.
Dr. Kevin Orr
This weekend is the 50th
anniversary of Woodstock. I wish I could have been there. Born in the wrong
generation I guess. Not that I couldn’t have been there if my parents were
interested in going. There were babies there. So mom and dad could have carried
their not yet one year old son with them to Woodstock. But let’s just say going
to Woodstock was not on their agenda. At any rate, it would have been cool to
have been there just to say you were there. It was surely an epic moment in
human history.
I do know someone who went to
Woodstock. His name is Howard Harris. He was my youth leader for a couple
years. Howard was one of the coolest people I knew when I was a kid. He would
make these weird sounds that made everyone giggle. He had the amazing ability
to tickle people just by pointing at them. I can’t even explain how he did
that. He led these Bible studies at his apartment and did an amazing job of
explaining the Bible in ways we could understand and asking us questions that
led to great discussion. Howard drove the church van out to where me and some
other church friends lived to pick us up and bring us to youth group on Sunday
nights. When we got in the van he asked each of us to say where we had seen
Jesus that week. He introduced us to Jesus music like Larry Norman, Keith Green,
Phil Keaggy, 2nd Chapter of Acts, and Michael Card. He also
introduced me to Grand Funk Railroad, but that’s another story. Howard was so
authentic and relatable. He was a powerful influence on my life.
Then there was Dr. David Thomas. He
was the senior pastor when I was a youth. He was a kind man, always positive,
with a big grin. I don’t really remember his sermons. But I do remember that after
a powerful church retreat in which I first made a sincere commitment to be a
Christian that he said he saw something in me. He encouraged me to consider a
call to ministry. He mentored me toward that calling. I have to say that without
Dr. Thomas I don’t know who would have helped me answer the call to ordained
ministry.
My parents got suckered in to buying
a timeshare on Padre Island. What a scam those things can be. We were there one
summer. The TV at the condo had access to a premium movie service. I think it
was Starz. They were showing the movie Brother Sun, Sister Moon by Franco Zeffirelli.
This was my introduction to St. Francis. I don’t know if any of you have seen
this movie. Let’s just say it was a movie of the times. St. Francis was
portrayed as a proto-hippie. The soundtrack was written and performed by
Donovan for heaven’s sake. But with my young, impressionable mind, this movie
was life altering. I was so inspired by how St. Francis was portrayed. A man
who gave up wealth and privilege in his pursuit of being faithful to the way of
Jesus, choosing to live the life of a beggar, being in community with the
lepers and the discarded in society, communing with nature, living with such simplicity
and humility. My young and idealistic self wanted to be like that. I obviously
didn’t choose that path. But St. Francis remains an inspiration to me as
someone who lived an authentic Christian life. The prayer of St. Francis is a
classic.
“Lord, make me an instrument of thy
peace; where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is
darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy. O Divine Master, grant that I
may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood, as to
understand; to be loved, as to love; for it is in giving that we receive, it is
in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to
eternal life.”
He is the one people have attributed
the saying that we are to preach the gospel at all times but only use words
when necessary. He is a faith hero.
Then, of course, there were my
parents who helped shape my faith. They were not overly religious. But they
were faithful worship attenders. We never missed church. When we sat down
together for dinner my dad would say grace. My dad sang in the choir. I wanted
to sing too. Even though our church had a youth choir, they let me sing in the
adult choir also so that I could be with my dad. Every fall the choir would go
to Camp Egan to start learning the music we would sing the next several months.
I will never forget sitting around the table playing UNO with those choir
members. The laughter and the gentle ribbing…it was so fun! As a kid being in a
safe environment with those adults who were faithful to Christ and the church,
who loved each other and loved me, it made such a positive influence on me.
Who are the ones that have
influenced your faith? Who are your ancestors in the faith? We are all here
this morning because someone influenced us to be here. Maybe it was our parents
who brought us. Or it was a friend who invited you. Or it was your husband or
wife. We come to faith in Jesus because of the witness of others, people who
have inspired us and loved us, mentored us, included us. Each of us could take
turns and call the roll of those who had a hand in bringing us to the life of
faith and who keeps us in this race.
Perhaps most of those who influenced
you to run this race of faith are now in the cheering section rooting you on to
persevere. They have finished their race. They are now looking down on us to
cheer us, to encourage us to remain faithful to the way of Jesus, no matter the
obstacle or the times of discouragement and frustration that we sometimes have
to make our way through. When we hit those walls of discouragement, of
hardship, even of doubt, we have our ancestors in the faith who are there to
remind us that we will make it. Our ancestors had struggles as well. They had
times of discouragement and frustration. They had times of doubt, of heartbreak
and worry. Yet, they stayed with Jesus through it all. And now they are our
biggest fans, assuring us that we can persevere just like they did. They didn’t
give up so we keep pushing forward.
The church I was ordained in was my
home church, St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Oklahoma City. The sanctuary
has a balcony. When I knelt down at the altar and Bishop Dan Solomon put his
hand on my head, I imagined a heavenly balcony just above the balcony in that
sanctuary where my mom and dad were sitting. And as they looked down on me that
moment, I imagined they were beaming with pride. I still think about my mom and
dad from time to time. Remembering them, and knowing that they are praying for
me, and are proud of me, it keeps me grounded. It reminds me of the commitments
I have made, the commitment to follow the way of Jesus as an ordained minister.
During times of discouragement, even when the temptation lies around the corner
to walk away, mom and dad show up to remind me that this is a race that takes a
lifetime. They are cheering me on to persevere, to finish the race. So, I keep
going. Who is in your cheering section? Who is it that shows up in your mind
when you go through times where you feel like calling it quits? Maybe for all
of us it is our mothers. Or maybe it’s your grandmother. It is someone who has
made a mark on your life, who you don’t want to let down, who reminds you of
who you are, who loves you and is proud of you and is rooting for you. It is
those ancestors that keep us going.
It is encouraging during times of
struggle and doubt to remember the mighty cloud of witnesses that cheer us on,
to encourage us not to give up even when times are tough and doubts stir
within. It is a reminder that we are all a part of something much bigger than
ourselves. We are part of a line of the faithful that stretches back from
generation to generation. We are not alone. We stand on the shoulders of those
who have gone before us. And knowing this gives us the encouragement we need to
keep running our race, to persevere in the faith, to keep being followers of
Jesus because we don’t want to let down the mighty cloud of witnesses all
around us.
This man had heard about this great
church located in this city he was visiting. It was an historic church, Russian
Orthodox, known for its beautiful liturgical worship. With anticipation he
entered the church one Sunday anticipating a moving worship experience. The
current state of the congregation did not reflect what he had heard about this
church. There were only a few widows scattered about the sanctuary. After
worship was over, he went up to visit with the priest. He expressed wonder how
the priest kept at it with so few people who come to worship. The priest looked
at him and shook his head, saying, “What do you mean only a few people? When we
gather for worship we are joined by the great cloud of witnesses, with angels
and archangels before the throne of grace. The church is full of saints!” Are
we not surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses?
The mighty cloud of witnesses, those
who persevered in their faith in the ups and downs of life, urge us on to
persevere. They encourage us to remain faithful to God as long as we have
breath. They inspire us to be an inspiration for others, our descendants in the
faith. This is our task, to be witnesses of Jesus to others, by our words and
deeds, just like our ancestors in the faith did. They have passed the baton on
to us and now we carry it until we pass the baton to others when we join the
mighty cloud of witnesses someday. We will then be in the cheering section
encouraging those who follow us.
So, let us keep running the race set
before us. We face all kinds of challenges, obstacles and setbacks. The race of
faith is not always easy. Just like it wasn’t always easy for our ancestors.
But they made it to the end of their race. To finish the race of faith like our
ancestors did is a victory in itself. Whether you are running, walking or
crawling, keep your faith, keep your commitments to God, keep on the way of
Jesus. He is with us all the way to the end.
Based
on Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16
First
delivered Aug. 11, 2019
Rev.
Dr. Kevin Orr
This will be the one that will
finally get Congress to act. Where have we heard that one before? After every
major mass shooting the national conversation goes back to legislating gun
reforms. The shooting is so heinous and shocking. People cry out “enough is
enough” and “do something” and “save your thoughts and prayers.” It happened
after the Aurora shooting. It happened after Sandy Hook. It happened after
Parkland. It happened after Orlando. It happened after Las Vegas. It happened
after Charleston. It happened after Pittsburg. It is happening now after El
Paso and Dayton. Is this the one that will finally turn the tide? Will our leaders
at the federal level finally pass meaningful gun reforms in an attempt to
reduce the madness?
After the Sandy Hook massacre, when
all those children were killed in school, when a poll indicated that 90% of
Americans supported the legislation being considered in Congress, and yet the
legislation was not passed…many people, myself included, thought that the
debate was over. If legislation could not be passed after Sandy Hook, then no
legislation will ever be passed. At least not for a generation. We are
horrified by the mass shootings, although not as horrified as we used to be.
Regularity leads to normalcy. Becoming numb to the pain and horror is a
survival mechanism for our psyches. Apparently mass shootings are part of
America, a unique experience that is a manifestation of who we are. We don’t
like it but there’s nothing we can do about it. That’s what I thought when
after Sandy Hook nothing changed. It wasn’t the last one. And there will be
more. Many more.
It’s not just mass shootings. Homicides
continue to plague our streets. A few days ago, I was walking up Hague between
Mound and Sullivant and saw two memorials of young people whose lives were
taken by gunfire. Too often we hear of some kid playing around with a gun and
it accidently goes off and kills their friend. I recently heard of a family who
were responsible gun owners. The gun was in one place. The magazine was in
another and the ammunition in a third location. It was all locked up.
Nevertheless, their child broke the locks of all three locations and ended
their life. There are more guns than people in our nation and every year
thousands of people lose their lives at the hand of a gun, either by their own
hand or someone else’s. This has been going on for decades. It seems hopeless
that it can change.
Still, when these shootings happen
people call out for action. A week ago, when Gov. DeWine was at the vigil for
the victims of the Dayton shooting, he was drowned out with people in the crowd
chanting, “Do something!” Two days later, the governor held a press conference
where he outlined a series of things that he wants to do with the support of
the legislature, including universal background checks and the passing of a red
flag law. Our president came out vocally in support of background checks and
said that majority leader McConnel was on board and that the NRA will come
along. Public outcry surely had an impact on getting these political leaders to
at least say what they want to do rather than what can’t be done.
But will the talk become action?
Will we ever get to a time where mass shootings are a thing of the past, when
it will only be read about in the history books? I wonder if we can get to the minimum
standard of universal background checks.
So far, the evidence suggests that
things won’t change. That in the end our political leaders will buckle to the
pressure of the gun lobby and a vocal minority of their constituents and not
pass any meaningful legislation. That is what we have seen time and time again.
If nothing changed after Sandy Hook, why will this time be different?
Politicians talk, but there is no
action. People gather to protest and hold vigils, but nothing changes. So, if
it’s the same lack of results time and time again, why should anyone push for
change in our gun laws? What’s the point of speaking up and applying public
pressure if it appears nothing can be done to stop these mass shootings? The
evidence suggests it is wasted effort. It appears the prudent thing to do is
adjust to the new normal, be vigilant, be prepared to run, hide or fight. The
evidence suggests that change is hopeless.
Why keep pressing for change? If we
rely only on past experience, then there is no reason to keep pushing. We
aren’t going to find any inspiration for bringing about gun reforms in our
society if we rely on past experience. So where will the inspiration come? What
will keep us from falling into despair over the reality of gun violence in our
communities? We keep pushing for change because we believe that things
don’t have to be this way. We believe that mass shootings are not the new
normal, not something to get adjusted to, not something we just have to accept.
It is belief that things can change, in spite of the evidence, that gives us
the strength to keep pushing for change in our society.
And this is where hope and faith
come in to play. We hear in the scripture this morning that faith is assurance
of things we hope for and certainty of things we do not see. If we don’t see a
society in which mass shootings no longer happen and we don’t see any action to
reduce gun violence, that is where we have to draw on our faith, to believe
that the way things are is not permanent, that things can be different, that mass
shootings can be a thing of the past. Faith is the capacity to have vision for
what will be. Faith is what allows us to envision a future where gun violence is
a thing of the past. Faith and hope are what gives us the strength and
inspiration to keep pushing for change, to not settle for the status quo or
give up in despair that nothing will ever be different. I’m talking a lot about
gun violence because that is at the front of all of our minds. But this is not
only about gun violence. It is our faith and hope in God, the belief that God
is making all things new, that God is about the work of redemption, of
restoration, of reconciliation, of healing…that’s what God is about. And that’s
what we are about as children of God. This is our task as Christians, to
be about God’s work of mending society as we follow Jesus and live out the way
of Jesus. We are God’s workers, we are the hands and feet of Christ, we are the
ones through whom God is working to bring to pass the kind of world God
desires. The beloved community that God envisions for the world does not come
to be by magic. It doesn’t suddenly appear. It is a process of becoming through
human actions guided by the Spirit of God. It is our faith and hope in God that
keeps us engaged in this redemptive work that we are all called to participate
in.
All that said, Heb. 11:13 resonates
in a big way. Our ancestors in the faith “did not receive the things God had
promised.” In their lifetime their hopes did not become reality. They lived and
died without God’s promises being fulfilled. The promise of God is that one day
justice shall roll down like water and righteousness like an ever-flowing
stream, when nation shall not take up the sword against nation, neither shall
they learn war anymore. And the promises of God remain unfulfilled.
But what does it say? Our ancestors
who died in faith were not bitter or resentful, so the author of Hebrews
writes. They saw the promises of God fulfilled from a long way off and they
welcomed the fulfillment of the promises. They had visions of what God’s
fulfilled promises would look like. They did not let their current circumstance
limit their vision of what God will accomplish. As the old saying goes, our
ancestors kept their eyes on the prize. Verses 15 and 16, “they did not keep
thinking about the country they had left…instead, it was for a better country
they longed for, the heavenly country.”
Our ancestors trusted in God, the
one who made visible what was invisible by speaking it into existence. If God
can create the heavens and the earth, surely God can and will bring to pass the
new heaven and the new earth. Our ancestors were confident that God will
fulfill what God has promised. It wasn’t in their lifetime. But they saw it as
a future reality that one day their descendants will enjoy. God will keep God’s
promises. That is the faith that sustained our ancestors. It is this faith that
can sustain us in these trying times when it seems this earth is far from
heavenly.
Will we see the end to mass
shootings and gun violence in our lifetime? It is possible. Thirty years ago, when
the Berlin Wall was torn down, I remember my dad say he never thought he would
live to see that day. Twenty years ago, few believed that they would see a
black man as president of the United States in their lifetime. Ten years ago,
few believed that gay marriage would be legal in this country in their lifetime.
Who is to say that five years from now mass shootings are no longer something
we experience as a society? If enough people act, it could happen. Or not. But
the time will come. Of that we can be sure. Why? Because we have the promises
of God who loves the world so much that God sent his only son so that everyone
who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent the son
into the world, not to condemn the world but to save it. And that salvation is
not only about going to heaven and avoiding hell. Salvation is about overcoming
sin and death with righteousness and life. It is about being made right with
God. It is about experiencing new life, forgiveness, new possibilities, peace,
wholeness, and joy in this life. Salvation is not just a future
experience but a present reality. God is in the business of salvation, of
redemption, of restoration, of making all things new. And what God has set out
to do will be completed. The new heaven and the new earth will one day be
manifest. Heaven and earth will be one. On these promises we must stand, firm
in our faith, our hope placed on God. Not looking back. Not frozen in place.
But, as Abraham of old, moving forward on the journey toward the land that God
will show us, a vision of what God will do, a commitment to be the instruments
of God’s unfolding vision. Now, more than ever, we must cling to this faith.
Brothers and sisters, we live in a
time where God needs us to be instruments of peace, to speak words of truth and
comfort, to proclaim good news, to incarnate Jesus in the world. We live in a
time where we need to open ourselves to the Spirit of God to give us dreams and
visions of God’s beloved community and then to live into those visions. Now is
the time for all of us to keep the faith, to be a people of hope who worship
the God of hope, and keep moving forward, following Jesus, who is the author
and perfecter of our faith. May it be so.
Based
on Luke 12:13-32
First
delivered Aug. 4, 2019
Rev.
Dr. Kevin Orr
Who wouldn’t want to win the
lottery? When the Powerball gets to be
in the tens of millions of dollars, I confess, we go buy a ticket. What’s two
bucks, right? To win the lottery would definitely be a life-changer.
A few weeks ago, our family went to
Door County, Wisconsin. It is a peninsula that juts out into Lake Michigan to
the south of Green Bay. It is absolutely gorgeous. It is not overdeveloped.
There remains lots of farmland growing hay and fruit orchards. The small towns
are quaint. You will find no Kroger or McDonalds. I’m not sure how wonderful it
is up there in the winter. We giggled over the snowmobile hazard signs
everywhere along the roads. But in the summer…you can’t beat it.
So, Kim and I were fantasizing about
buying a house up there to live in during the warmer months when we retire. Of
course, to purchase a lot would be $1 million even before you consider the
price of the home. For this fantasy of buying a vacation home in Door County,
Wisconsin to happen, we knew we would first have to win the lottery.
The lottery is sort of like
receiving an inheritance, except getting an inheritance is much more likely
than winning the lottery. Sure, the inheritance you receive will most likely
not be as big a windfall as winning the lottery. But there’s a good chance that
the inheritance you receive will give you a nice financial boost. You may be
able to pay off some debts, have a nice amount to invest or save, it could be a
fresh start for you.
And that’s what the man wanted when
he came to Jesus to ask him to tell his brother to give him his portion of the
inheritance. Apparently, his brother was holding out on him. It was simple
fairness for him to get what was his due.
But Jesus not only refuses to
arbitrate this matter, he also launches into a teaching about greed. Why? How
was this man being greedy? All he wanted was what was due to him to receive. Or
maybe Jesus was thinking about his brother who wasn’t giving over the
inheritance. I guess you could say he was being greedy. But why did Jesus not
want to get involved in the matter? Maybe he didn’t want to deal with the
drama! Or he didn’t believe it was the best use of his time, that it was a
distraction from his mission. It’s not clear what about this situation
triggered Jesus to teach on greed but that’s what Jesus does. He uses the
occasion of a man wanting his inheritance to talk about greed.
What is so great about receiving an
inheritance or winning the lottery is the financial freedom that comes with it.
With all that money you have more freedom to do what you want, or not want to
do. Don’t want to work for a living? Quit. Want to take that trip, buy that
house, get a place along Lake Michigan? Go for it. Want to pay for your kid’s
college education? Awesome. You want to start a foundation so you can support
non-profits addressing issues you care about? God bless you. To have that
windfall makes possible the ability to be self-supporting, to be independent,
to not have to rely on anyone else. It is to have freedom. What’s wrong with
that?
Jesus tells a story about a man who
was blessed with huge crops one growing season. He looks at all the grain that
has been harvested. Whether he harvested it or he had workers that did it, we
do not know. Whether he even planted the crops or it was done by sharecroppers,
we don’t know. For all we know he may have just been the landowner and others
did all the work. At any rate, he looks at the big mounds of grain and then
looks at his barns and decides to tear down those barns and build bigger ones.
I wonder if he is the one who will be building those barns or if others will do
the work? He decides to store all the excess crops and live off it for the next
several years. He has nothing to worry about. The next few years could be
terrible growing seasons but what does he care? He is self-supporting now. He
has the freedom to kick back, relax, and enjoy all this excess…for himself.
What about the people who we assume work for him? It appears he is only
thinking about himself. He doesn’t even offer up a word of thanks to God for
providing such good weather and fertile soil. It is as if this man is in his
own little world.
What was it about this man that made
him a fool? Doing the hard work of planting and reaping so that there can be a
big crop is not foolish, assuming he was actually doing this work. Arranging
for the crops to be stored rather than to go to waste is not foolish. Think of
the time when Joseph instructed Pharaoh to store up the grain for seven
consecutive years when the yield was plentiful so that when the seven years of
drought came the nation would have enough surplus to survive. It’s not foolish
to store up surplus for the lean years that are bound to come, especially when
farming is concerned.
I think Jesus points to the man’s
foolishness with the question he places in God’s mouth. “This very night your
life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will
they be?” The man was foolish in that he presumed he would be alive for many
years when we can’t presume that we will live past today. Each day is a gift.
But he was also foolish because he claimed all those crops as his own. He never
thought that others may have a claim on those crops. The abundance wasn’t meant
only for him.
Jesus goes on to say that we ought
to be rich toward God. What does that mean? I wonder if it has something to do
with where we put our energies. Do we focus on getting rich with material
wealth or do we focus on having a rich relationship with God?
Jesus gets at that by talking about
how God provides for us so that we have no need to be anxious about what we
will eat or wear. Ravens don’t plant or reap, they don’t have barns, but God
feeds them. Lilies don’t toil or spin, yet God clothes them. If God provides
for birds and flowers, how much more will God provide for us? Of course, this
doesn’t mean our food and clothes drop from the sky or magically appear. We
obviously have to work and earn money so we can buy our food and clothes. But,
if all else fails and you are in need, you get your food at the food pantry at
Parkview and your clothes from the free store at Westgate. Our needs will be
provided for, one way or another. God will make sure of it. Because people who
have more than they need share their food and clothing for those who lack.
That’s how God makes sure that we all have what we need, through the generous
sharing of abundance.
So, we are not to pursue these
things, what we will eat or what we will wear. This will all be provided for.
Instead, let’s pursue the kingdom of God. Let that be our focus. Let’s spend
our energies on this pursuit. But the good news is that it is God’s pleasure to
give us the kingdom. We are pursuing something that God is happy to give us.
What does this mean? How does God give us the kingdom?
In the book of Acts, we read of how
the believers pooled all their resources into a common fund that everyone had
access to if they had any need. There was enough for everyone. This is a
manifestation of the kingdom of God.
In the story of the prodigal son,
when the older son is complaining to his father that he never gave him even a
young goat so that he could celebrate with his friends, his father said, “Son,
all I have is yours.” He could have helped himself to a goat any time he wanted
to. There was enough. This is a manifestation of the kingdom of God.
How are these two examples a
manifestation of the kingdom of God? Because when resources are shared, what is
created is an interdependent community. People depend on each other to have the
needs of all met. It is not a collection of individuals struggling to meet
their own individual needs on their own. By working together and sharing
resources, depending on each other, then there is more than enough. Working
together and sharing reflects the character of God. The kingdom of God is a
community that reflects the character of God.
God is love. God is creative. God is
relational. So, wherever there is created a community of loving relationships,
the character of God is being manifest, and thus the reign of God is being
manifest. When a community uses their combined resources for the benefit of the
whole, this manifests a community of interdependent relationships. The sharing
of resources manifests the reign of God that we are to pursue and to receive.
This past week was band camp for
many high schools across central Ohio. My youngest son participates in the
Westerville North marching band. From 9 am to 9 pm every day this past week, he
and his mates were at the school learning the music and the drill. For band
camp to work, it required a lot of parent volunteers to be around and take care
of things. It required the donations of food. Every evening there were group
building activities that required the donation of various items. Band camp was
a great success because so many people gave of their resources. A community of
interdependent relationships was formed. On Friday the kids demonstrated to us
all they had accomplished so far as a group. It was beautiful. This is a
manifestation of the reign of God.
Think about the way Westgate and
Parkview share resources for the good of the whole. Tithes and offerings are
given so that bills can be paid. The two churches together provide my salary
and benefits. Both buildings are open and used by the community for all kinds
of meetings and ministries. In fact, the very presence of our buildings is a
visible reminder that God is present in this community. In all the ways that we
share the resources we have we are creating a community of interdependent
relationships. And that is a manifestation of the reign of God.
This is what God has given us. God
has given us our community as brothers and sisters in Christ. We have each
other. We are committed to each other. There is a bond of love for each other.
We are not a collection of individuals. We are the body of Christ, bound
together by the Holy Spirit. Our life together is the kingdom that God
has given us.
We can be rich toward God then by
nurturing our relationship with God, with each other, and with the wider
community. As we live into our interdependent relationships, our lives are
enriched, our community is enriched, our relationship with God is enriched. And
this is something worth striving for, not food and clothes that are provided
for us one way or another. They seem so trivial in comparison to the pursuit of
a life enriched by God, one another, and the community that we find ourselves
in.
Here is the good news: if we are
mindful of the resources available in our community, there is more than enough
to meet our needs. Not one person can meet the needs of all of us. But if we
make our resources available, and not just our resources, don’t forget the
resources of others who live in this community…there is an abundance.
So, let’s not be anxious about how
we will pay the bills. You may have to remind me sometimes that I just said
that! As we experience a fresh start with me coming alongside you for a while,
hopefully a long while, let us all recommit ourselves to pursue the reign of
God by pursuing the creative building up of community. With creativity, with
love for God and for one another, let us all enrich our lives together as
beloved children of God. And all these things will be given to us as well.
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