SOLI/Update - Aug. 15, 2005

Six years ago we watched, horrified, while the Twin Trade Towers in New York City crumbled to the ground, smoke poured from the Pentagon and a jet nosedived into a Pennsylvania field. Are we safer now? Have we learned any lessons that will help ensure that our great-grandchildren will grow up in a world that is as secure and full of opportunities as the one we ourselves enjoy?

The traditional fall stewardship season is gaining momentum in our congregations, yet the anniversary of Sept. 11 gives us pause to look at the wider picture. Church fund-raising and budget-making will mean very little if 50 years from now the planet has been rendered uninhabitable by terrorism or nuclear aggression.

Following Sept. 11 the United States launched an ill-planned war that rages out of control with no end in sight. The Iraq war has multiplied our enemies worldwide and strengthened their resolve to harm us. The choice of war is sad for a Christian nation whose Lord and Savior taught us (in Luke 6:27-28), "love your enemies; do good to those who hate you; bless those who curse you; pray for those who mistreat you."

Inspired by the Gospel, the United States might have chosen instead to tighten security to keep our borders safe -- of course! -- but spend billions not on bombs, but on development, agriculture projects, schools and hospitals throughout the Muslim world. If we had followed Jesus' advice and done good to those who hate us, then maybe Muslim mothers across the globe would not be sending their sons to be suicide bombers in Baghdad.

To hate is always easier than to love because it requires simply going along with the ways of the world and following the mob (who cried, "Crucify him!"). But the Gospel calls us to challenge the world's values, go against the crowd and change our hearts, or rather to let the Holy Spirit change our hearts, that we see the world as God does.

With a promise, Jesus concludes his teaching about loving our enemies and doing good for them (Luke 6:35b-36): ""Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful."

Stewardship of life means that we dare to embrace the radical message of the Gospel, in order that our hearts may be transformed, our lives turned towards God, and God's will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. If this happens, our church budgets will take care of themselves.

Reprint rights gladly given to congregations for nonprofit use. Please just include this notice: "Copyright (c) 2007, the Rev. Robert Blezard, www.stewardshipoflife.org. Used by permission."

New This Week:

Faithful Living: A Biblical Ethic of Financial Stewardship
Journal of Lutheran Ethics

This is a must read for members of your congregation's Stewardship Committee! Noted scholar and author Mark Alan Powell outlines four keys to faithful living and financial stewardship. Click here for "Faithful Living: A Biblical Ethic of Financial Stewardship," from the Journal of Lutheran Ethics.

Not Mistakes, But Teaching Moments
Reardon

"If we are sure that we are not allowed to err, that we have to be infallible, then our failures can make us smaller. They can diminish us. Our spirits shrink when they should be freed. We become paralyzed by the thought that it could happen again, because it will.." Click here for “Not Mistakes, But Teaching Moments ,” this week’s essay from The Rev. Dana Reardon, our regular columnist. Click here to read archived essays.

The Quick and Simple Congregational Asset-Mapping Experience
Congregational Resource Center

The asset-based approach to church budgeting, as opposed to the traditional need-based approach, can transform your congregation's experience. Is it for you? This resource outlines a workshop that will give your church a taste of asset-based planning. It's a good way to introduce the concept in your church. Click here for "The Quick and Simple Congregational Asset-Mapping Experience," from the Alban Institute's Congregational Resource Center.
Bonus Resource: Read more about asset-based planning with this article, previously highlighted, from the CRC: "Need-Based Planning Versus Asset-Based Planning."