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I have decided not to think that I know the mind of God. One of the greatest gifts God has already given me is God's son who taught us to pray for the things that we need. And then I will let God do the answering. |
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Ask God -- the Answer May Surprise You
Part of a Pastor's job is
to ask people for things. It is not the part of the job that we
like the most, but it is a part of the job. If we have a big enough
church, maybe we can delegate some of it, but it is still our job.
We ask people for money to
run the church, we ask people for money for ELCA World Hunger and
many other things. We ask people for their time. We ask for their
possessions, such as, "Do you think that pool table in your basement
would fit in the youth room?"
The biggest roadblock and
the biggest reason that we hate doing this is because we already
know the answer.
If I ask Susan to teach
Sundays, school she will say she is busy. If I ask Karen to serve on
this committee, she will say she had done it before and it never
worked.
If I ask the congregation
to give more, they won't because they will think I want a raise. If
I ask Mary to give more, it will be a hardship for her.
I have taken a stand to
stop putting words in people's mouths and reasons in their heads and
simply ask them for what is needed. They can say yes and they can
say no or they could say something surprising.
As I am writing this I
realize that I do the same thing when I want to ask God for
something. God will say I don't deserve it or that I have already
been given so much. Or maybe I decide that God doesn't want me to
ask. God is really busy you know.
I have decided not to
think that I know the mind of God. One of the greatest gifts God
has already given me is God's son who taught us to pray for the
things that we need. And then I will let God do the answering.
I am so sure that God will
surprise me.
Lord,
Create in me a clean heart and mind that I might hear you when you speak to me and not what I thought you were going to say. Amen Copyright (c) 2003, The Rev. Dana Reardon. Used by permission. The Rev. Dana Reardon (Mspastor@aol.com) 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.
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