Today’s Lectionary Readings: Psalm 80; Deuteronomy 9:4-12; Matthew 10:1-15; Galatians 4:21-31; Psalm 16
Recently, I had a rather unpleasant experience of what it means to live into Jesus’ words from today’s passage from Matthew. Let me tell you what happened. I was sitting in a meeting with leaders from a faith-based non-profit. There were representatives from another non-profit there who were asking for assistance. Since the missions of both organizations were closely related, I assumed it only made sense to join our efforts and resources together and move forward. Instead of doing that, however, members of one organization began to pull back from a commitment to join our efforts together. I wondered why. After a few moments of listening, however, I realized why. Members of the group were operating from a perspective of scarcity. Assumptions were made that both groups were in competition with one another for the same limited resources. If we joined together, it was suggested, it might hurt the group’s ability to generate contributions of their own. Sadly, this is the same dynamic that many local churches get into when they consider whether their resources should be spent on the care of their own existing members or whether the resources should be spent in mission and outreach (in case you are wondering, I would say this is a false choice as we are called to give our resources to BOTH areas!!!). In the back of my mind, Jesus’ words from today’s passage sprung forth: “Freely you have received, freely give…” (Matthew 10:8 – NIV). The experience reminded me just how different the values that flow from our faith from the values that flow from the world. For instance, the world tells us to hoard our resources for ourselves; our faith, however, calls us to give freely to others. The world tells us to compete against others; our faith calls us to collaborate with others. The world tells us to fear; our faith calls us to trust. As we go forth into the world today, may we claim the values that flow from our faith and live lives of abundance, hope, and love – knowing that the world will question our values and choices at every turn. If the world doesn't question our values, then it just might be time for a values check. Til next time…
Recently, I had a rather unpleasant experience of what it means to live into Jesus’ words from today’s passage from Matthew. Let me tell you what happened. I was sitting in a meeting with leaders from a faith-based non-profit. There were representatives from another non-profit there who were asking for assistance. Since the missions of both organizations were closely related, I assumed it only made sense to join our efforts and resources together and move forward. Instead of doing that, however, members of one organization began to pull back from a commitment to join our efforts together. I wondered why. After a few moments of listening, however, I realized why. Members of the group were operating from a perspective of scarcity. Assumptions were made that both groups were in competition with one another for the same limited resources. If we joined together, it was suggested, it might hurt the group’s ability to generate contributions of their own. Sadly, this is the same dynamic that many local churches get into when they consider whether their resources should be spent on the care of their own existing members or whether the resources should be spent in mission and outreach (in case you are wondering, I would say this is a false choice as we are called to give our resources to BOTH areas!!!). In the back of my mind, Jesus’ words from today’s passage sprung forth: “Freely you have received, freely give…” (Matthew 10:8 – NIV). The experience reminded me just how different the values that flow from our faith from the values that flow from the world. For instance, the world tells us to hoard our resources for ourselves; our faith, however, calls us to give freely to others. The world tells us to compete against others; our faith calls us to collaborate with others. The world tells us to fear; our faith calls us to trust. As we go forth into the world today, may we claim the values that flow from our faith and live lives of abundance, hope, and love – knowing that the world will question our values and choices at every turn. If the world doesn't question our values, then it just might be time for a values check. Til next time…
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