Dana Reardon - A generous leap of faith

A generous leap of faith

They say that seeing is believing, but that is not the Christian witness. Paul tells us that Faith is the substance of things not seen.

So sometimes you need to take the leap of faith before you discover in truth what joy their is in this Christian life. This is very true about giving.

I sat the other day with a woman who told me a story -- a story I have heard over and over from people in similar situations. She married a man who had grown up in a faith tradition where tithing was simply what you did. And she had not. So when Her new husband started talking about giving as they sat in front of their budget, she though he was crazy. It was too much. It was unnecessary. It would be too hard. She listed the expenses they already had including the costs of raising his two children.

So they decided to compromise until she heard the witness of another tither. And decided she needed to consider it seriously. And it was hard. And it was scary. And I know that too. Whenever I decide to increase my giving I get nervous.

It is a little like jumping off a cliff into the water below. You can hear it but you can't see it. So you trust that it is there. It really does catch you and hold you and refresh you when you hit it.

That water that we jump into is Baptismal water. It is God's grace. And we get to know what it is like to trust that God will provide just as God has provided all 100 percent of what we have been given.

You won't know until you try. Come on in the water's fine.

Lord, even our faith comes from you and the courage to live in your grace each day. Grant us what we need for today and the courage to live it. Amen

The Rev. Dana Reardon is pastor at St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church, Warwick, RI. A lifelong Lutheran, she came to ordained ministry after 21 years in nursing, mostly in pediatric intensive care. She graduated from Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia in 1998 and served 4 ½ years in Upstate New York before becoming a New Englander. She is still trying to understand the accent. While in the Upstate New York Synod she chaired the Stewardship Team. That began her fascination with what makes stewards -- and more, what makes for generosity. She has three amazing daughters: Pastor Reardon says much of what she knows of life she learned from them.