Dana Reardon - Leave the 'Feeding' to God

Just Preach the Gospel,
Leave the 'Feeding' to God

I guess I struggle a lot to teach people how to be generous and joyful, to really understand the heart of giving.

And sometimes I hear negative selfish comments that get me discouraged. But I remember the advice I received from Tim Wengert, one of my professors from Philadelphia Seminary, when I once emailed him with some problems. His advice was and always is, "Just keeping preaching the Gospel, Dana."

When we get frustrated with people who just don't seem to get it about God's abundance and love and just seem to not want to share it all, the preachers have a temptation to preach law. We want to beat people over the head with God and tell them how they ought to feel and act. A serious and awful temptation.

I told a story recently about a Native American shaman recounting a parable to a young Indian boy. "I have two wolves inside of me,” the shaman tells the boy. “One is selfish and greedy and voracious and mean. And the other one fights it. That wolf is loving and kind and generous and giving."

And the little boy says, "If they fight, who wins?" And the Shaman says, “The one I feed."

A nice Native American message and the sentiments are good. But it is not the gospel. It is law. It is good advice about how to live your life.

The gospel message is that God feeds the good wolf. That He died on a cross and offers himself as bread for the world to feed the good wolf. That is what makes us similar to Him: giving and loving and generous. All the advice in the world won't do it. Which wolf to feed? It isn't a choice we make. Because that can turn out different every day. God chooses.

So the advice to all of you is the same as to all us preachers. I know you get frustrated, especially if you are working in stewardship.

Just keep speaking the Gospel. Share the great news of the love of God. The Holy Spirit can work through that Word, through even our feeble words to tell it, and change hearts and minds. Let God feed the good wolf.

Lord,
Strengthen us when we get discouraged. Remind us when we forget, that the greatest truth we have to offer is the message of your love.

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 Izzo says much of what she knows of life she learned from them.