Dana Reardon - God pushes us beyond our own paltry goals

God pushes us beyond our own paltry goals

Sometimes as stewardship leaders we get so involved in fund raising that we think that this is the goal. Even if it becomes the goal for us, it never becomes the goal for God.

The other day my husband said that recently his relationship with God has seemed a little like an Ollie and Lena joke. You know, Ollie says, "I'm going fishing," and Lena says, "No, you are cleaning the toilet."

I told my husband that I think that is a fine place to be in a relationship with God.

Lena has a different picture of who Ollie is than the picture he has of himself. It is not just that Lena wants him to do something he doesn't want to do, she knows him to be so much more that he has yet discovered. So when Lena is pushing Ollie to go in a different direction or do something he is not thrilled with, it is probably in his best interest to do what she wants. At least that is usually the punch line of the jokes.

God is often pushing us in a direction that is different than where we would go. It is not merely because of some task God wants us to accomplish or some gift God wants us to give, but because in the doing we become. God is working on all of us.

If we encourage people to be generous and give more to our churches or to World Hunger or the local food bank, we are certainly helping those causes. They are worthy causes to help.

But it should not be our end goal, because it is not God's. God calls us to give and to be generous because on our walk of faith we are turning into the likeness of the one who made us and saved us.

And the more we become like the one who is constantly calling us into this likeness, the more we will be championing those good causes instead of being pushed into giving to them.

When we become congregations of generous people then our churches will have plenty.

The good news is that God is never finished with us. God is constantly calling us to new tasks and to a new being in Christ.

Lord,

In the simple tasks and the work you call me to, help me to see your hand and your will that I might be more like you.

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.