Celebrate!

You have now completed this introduction to the six paths to growth.  As you continue your walk of faith, consider what paths you would like to explore further and what your next steps might be.  In addition to taking part in organized studies of the various paths, other possibilities include the following:

The Path of Worship

Become more deeply involved in the worship life of your congregation.  Attend worship more regularly; help create new worship opportunities; become involved in a prayer ministry; use your gifts to make existing services more dynamic.  Set aside a daily time in which you privately pray and worship.

The Path of Community

Continue to take part in a small group, whether your existing group continues or a new group needs to be formed.  Be intentional in reaching out to your fellow church members, and be a source of encouragement.  Seek out those with whom you have had differences and pursue reconciliation.

The Path of Learning

Become an advocate for the educational ministries of your church.  Offer to help in planning the classes and workshops that are offered.  Become involved in personal study, using devotional guides like this one or more intensive studies from reputable Christian publishers.  Ask one of your pastors or a Christian educator for study suggestions.

The Path of Service

Become involved in an ongoing service ministry of your church.  If you don’t find a project that appeals to you, consider creating a new service ministry.  Ask one of your pastors about how to create this new ministry.

The Path of Invitation

Look for opportunities to invite people to experience Christ through your Christian community.  You can invite them to worship or to other “less threatening” opportunities like church dinners and fellowship events.  You might also be able to help your church plan special invitational events and encourage others to become involved in the ministry of invitation.

The Path of Stewardship

Search for ways you can be a better steward.  Become an advocate for environmental stewardship in your church or community.  Ask one of your pastors about how you can discover your spiritual gifts and put them to use.  Consider ways you might make more faithful use of your time or material resources. 

Generosity Is a Blessing

Remember this:  Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.  Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.  And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.  2 Corinthians 9:6-8

Reflection

Some people love to give.  Whether it is through monetary donations, acts of service, or the gift of time, there are those who thrive on giving to others.  It makes them feel good, and they experience it as a blessing.  I used to know one family that was generous in every way imaginable.  They gave sacrificially to the church’s ministry.  They regularly opened their home to others and shared the gift of hospitality.   They put in a lot of time in service to their church and their community.  At the same time, they were incredibly supportive of their family and friends.  These people were a delight to be around and not just because they would give you food or do things to help you.  Above all else, it was their attitude that made them a pleasure to be with.  This is because they practiced their generosity with joy and gladness.  They were cheerful givers.

In our reading, Paul encourages us to be cheerful, generous givers.  As he says, you can’t do this with reluctance or under external pressure.  You can only be cheerfully generous because you want to be, because you decide to be.  It is no blessing for someone to give sacrificially and then complain about it or act like a martyr.  Who wouldn’t prefer such people to keep their gifts and keep silent?  Real joy is found when people give of themselves because they want to, because they enjoy it, and because they find it a personal blessing to bless others.

As stewards of God’s gifts, it is our calling to become cheerfully generous, to give freely and regularly to God’s work in the world.  We do so not just with money but with our time, our acts of service, and the way we use our abilities and talents.  Such stewardship is not a chore or a burden but a liberating act of love for God and the world God has created.  The challenge is in rising to this level of love and faith.

Activity

As you go about your daily activities, look for opportunities to give.  Many stores and restaurants have collection boxes for charitable causes.  Sometimes you will encounter people raising money by selling cookies, coupon books, or flowers.  Make up your mind to give cheerfully to every charitable opportunity you encounter for one day.  If someone asks for your help, cheerfully say yes.  If someone wants to talk and needs you to listen, cheerfully sit down and give them your time.  If only for a day, cheerfully give of yourself.  See how it feels.  Perhaps it is a practice you will want to continue.

Prayer

God of Creation, You are the giver of every good gift:  My possessions, my abilities, and my life itself come from You and will return to You.  Forgive me when I fail to be grateful or refuse to share.  Open my eyes to Your amazing generosity, and return me to the path of faithful stewardship.  Help me to give freely and joyfully so that I might truly reflect Your nature.  Thank You for giving so much to me:  in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Key Thought: The goal of stewardship is to give freely and joyfully so that we might share God’s love.

Give Until You Feel It

Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury.  Many rich people threw in large amounts.  But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny.  Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others.  They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”  Mark 12:41-44

Reflection

It’s a strange feature of America’s religious landscape that people with lower incomes seem to give more than those who are financially well-off.  The actual amount given may or may not be higher; but, as a percentage of income, those with lower incomes often tend to be more generous.  Why is this?  It may have to do with priorities.  People accumulate wealth by prioritizing wealth, which could make one less inclined to give.  Those with less money may also be more compassionate toward people in need.  They know what it is like to be short on resources, so they might give more readily to help those in similar circumstances.  On the other hand, those with wealth may be less in touch with feelings of compassion and more inclined to blame the poor for their plight.  However you account for the phenomenon, this situation relates to an important principle of Christian stewardship:  Our giving means more when we feel it.

As Jesus watched people giving in the temple, he announced that the poor widow gave more than all the rich people giving far greater amounts.  Why is this?  Because, in God’s eyes, the size of a gift is determined by the size of the sacrifice it involves, not by the actual amount.  The rich people were evidently giving out of what they had left over.  They weren’t going without anything in order to make their extravagant contributions.  The widow, however, was making a big sacrifice.  She wasn’t giving out of her surplus income.  She was giving money that she could otherwise have used for essential things.  This goes very much against a modern middle-class sensibility.  Were we present, we’d probably try to make the woman take her offering back.  She needs the money!  But to do so would be to miss the point of her giving and rob her of a bigger blessing.   When you are truly in love with God and devoted to God’s purposes, there is satisfaction to be found in making sacrifices for God.  It’s not the kind of fleeting satisfaction we receive from a good meal or the purchase of merchandise.  It is the deeper, lasting satisfaction of being in partnership with God.  We humans are always at our best when we act in an altruistic way in service to a higher purpose.  This isn’t the sort of giving than can be coerced or done out of guilt.  It can be done only out of love and devotion to God.  I suspect that is why God is most pleased when we really sacrifice something in order to give.  It shows the depth of our love!

Activity

Review your usual pattern of charitable giving.  If you have the resources and if you can do so without resentment or guilt, try doubling the amount you give for one month.  If you aren’t ready or able to take this step, find another way you can experiment with giving in a way that you can really feel.  View it as a spiritual experiment.  Do you feel the impact of giving more than you did before?  Does it give you any extra satisfaction?  Does it increase your sense of love for God?  It may be that you find your spiritual life improves as a consequence of increased giving.  What is it like to have your giving make an impact on the way you live?

Prayer

God of Creation, You are the giver of every good gift:  My possessions, my abilities, and my life itself come from You and will return to You.  Forgive me when I fail to be grateful or refuse to share.  Open my eyes to Your amazing generosity, and return me to the path of faithful stewardship.  Help me to give in such a way that it makes a true impact on my life.  Thank You for the opportunity to grow as a steward of Your gifts:  in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Investment Opportunities

“Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them.  To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability.  Then he went on his journey.  The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more.  So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more.  But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.  After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them.  The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five.  ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold.  See, I have gained five more.’  His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant!  You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.  Come and share your master’s happiness!’  The man with two bags of gold also came.  ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’  His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant!  You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.  Come and share your master’s happiness!’  Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed.  So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground.  See, here is what belongs to you.’  “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant!  So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed?  Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.  Take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags.  For those who have will be given more, and they will have an abundance.  As for those who do not have, even what they have will be taken from them.  And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”  Matthew 25:14-30

Reflection

When I was in college, my grandparents gave me a gift of several thousand dollars.  In an attempt to use the money wisely, I made my first investment in the stock market.  Unfortunately, this was in 1987, immediately prior to a major drop in stock prices.  I was appalled that I had so quickly lost a large portion of my grandparents’ gift.  I was angry at the stock market, my broker, and myself.  It was to be some time before I made any more investments in the market.  In the meantime, I didn’t invest anything.  Can you guess when I lost the most money?  It wasn’t in the crash of ’87 but rather during those years when I was afraid to invest.  This reflects the situation we see in Jesus’ parable.

Jesus tells the story of a wealthy man who gives three servants varying amounts of money to manage while he goes on a journey.  The first two invest the money and return it to him with a profit.  The third servant was afraid to risk what he’d been given, so he buried it and then dug it up when the man came home.  He presents his master with the same amount he’d been given-no more, no less.  The master is not pleased with the servant’s failure to invest the money and takes from him what little he has and ejects him from the premises.

Jesus uses this story to teach us about our management of the resources God gives us.  It’s not strictly about money but rather about everything God gives us:  time, money, property, talents, abilities, relationships, and more.  Everything we have is given to us on a temporary basis by God so that we may learn to become faithful stewards.  As in the story, faithful stewardship calls for investment.  It calls for some measure of risk.  The worst thing we can do with God’s gifts is to sit on them and pretend they aren’t there.  We are instead called to put them to use, even if that means risking failure or loss.  By using our gifts, we exercise our faith and grow in spiritual maturity. 

Suppose you have a gift for hospitality.  Do you risk using that gift to invite others into Christian community, or do you reserve your hospitality for other purposes?  Maybe you are relatively wealthy.  Do you invest that wealth in helping others and spreading God’s love, or do you hold onto it because you fear what might happen if you are too generous?  Perhaps you are a great speaker.  Do you speak to others about your faith, or do you keep quiet about the role God plays in your life?  Whatever gifts God has given us, Jesus uses today’s parable as a reminder that God wants us to use those gifts for God’s purposes.   

Activity

Think about the gifts God has given you.  Make a list of the ways you use those gifts.  To what extent do you use them for your own satisfaction?  Do you use them to benefit others?  How do you invest those gifts in Christ’s mission?  If you find that your investment in God’s realm is minimal, consider what fears keep you from being a better steward.  Prayerfully offer your fears to God, and make a plan to stretch beyond your comfort zone in investing God’s gifts.

Prayer

God of Creation, You are the giver of every good gift:  My possessions, my abilities, and my life itself come from You and will return to You.  Forgive me when I fail to be grateful or refuse to share.  Open my eyes to Your amazing generosity, and return me to the path of faithful stewardship.   Let me be a good manager of Your gifts.  Thank You for entrusting them to me:  in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Key Thought:  We are accountable to God for how we manage God’s gifts.

Priorities

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 

Matthew 6:19-21

“No one can serve two masters.  Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve both God and Money.  Matthew 6:24

Reflection

Who wants to be a millionaire?  I suspect just about everybody . . . except for billionaires!  Every so often I amuse myself by thinking about what I would do if I suddenly came into a large amount of money.  Oh, the things I could buy!  To be honest, a large infusion of cash is something most of us would welcome.  Money is an essential ingredient to functioning in our world.  Our ability to acquire housing, food, transportation, and all sorts of other material comforts depends on the amount of money we have.  So, why wouldn’t we make the pursuit of wealth our top priority?  Jesus tells us in today’s reading.

Money itself is not the problem.  The problem arises when money becomes the goal and organizing principle of our lives.  If we put money first, it becomes our god.  But the Bible teaches us that we are to have one God only, and that God is not material wealth.  Rather, we are to worship and serve the One who creates, redeems, and sustains us–the God we meet in Jesus Christ.   God will not share center stage in our lives with any other priority.  In fact, the acquisition of wealth is probably the priority that is least compatible with following Christ.  This is because the accumulation of money is often at odds with the principles of generosity and giving that are at the core of Christianity.  You can’t be generous and giving if you are busy jealously guarding your assets.  Jesus points out that focusing our lives on monetary gain is ultimately a foolish investment.  Our wealth can buy us comforts in this life only, but we have been created for eternity!  The kind of investment that really pays off is an investment in God’s eternal purposes-an investment in caring for others and building a just, compassionate, and faithful community.  There used to be a saying:  “He who dies with the most toys wins!”  There was an alternative saying:  “He who dies with the most toys still dies!”  Of course, it’s the second saying that is true.  Jesus calls us to invest for the long term by focusing on God’s priorities.

If we achieve a measure of wealth in the process of living faithful and generous lives, that is a great thing.  It is a blessing that comes with a responsibility-the responsibility to exercise our faithfulness and generosity on an even higher level.  But if we never become wealthy, that is not a mark against us.  Our success as human beings has nothing to do with our accumulation of assets or possessions.  It has everything to do with how we invest our lives in other people and the growth of God’s kingdom.

Activity

Look at one of your recent bank statements.  If you can, print out a cash flow analysis.  What patterns do you see in your use of money?  In what do you invest your earnings?  To be sure, the biggest portion will be used for housing, food, and essentials like medical care.  But beyond that, there is spending we have a choice about.  What choices do you make?  What priorities do those choices reflect?  Consider how your current investment strategy fits with Jesus’ teachings.  Do you need to make any changes?

Prayer

God of Creation, You are the giver of every good gift:  My possessions, my abilities, and my life itself come from You and will return to You.  Forgive me when I fail to be grateful or refuse to share.  Open my eyes to Your amazing generosity, and return me to the path of faithful stewardship.  Help me to invest Your gifts of financial and material resources in the extension of Your kingdom.  Thank You for giving me what I need to live and to share:  in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Key Thought:  We are called to invest our money and material resources in God’s kingdom.

Gifts That Keep on Giving

For by the grace given me I say to every one of you:  Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.  For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.  We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us.  If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.  Romans 12:3-8

Reflection

Everybody is different!  Some people are outgoing and social, while others are shy and like to keep to themselves.  Some people are very organized and controlled, while others are much more spontaneous and risk-taking.  We each learn, communicate, and express our feelings in different ways.  God has made us so that no two people are the same and so that we each have a variety of gifts to contribute to our communal life.  While it may at times be frustrating to deal with someone who has very different ways, we need the full spectrum of human personalities and abilities to find wholeness in our lives.

Our reading from Romans focuses especially on the diversity of gifts for ministry that God gives each follower of Christ.  These spiritual gifts are distributed among God’s people for the well-being of the entire church (the Body of Christ.)  We can’t all do the same things, which means we need to work together with people of varying gifts and abilities to accomplish the church’s mission.  You might be good at singing but lack organizational skills.  On the other hand, you might be a great organizer but have no teaching skill.  You may be gifted with extraordinary faith or the ability to pray well, or you may be the kind of person who is great at fixing mechanical equipment. (Church boilers come to mind.)  No one person has all the skills the church needs to do its work.  It is only when we come together and share our gifts that we can be what God created us to be.  To the extent that all members of Christ’s Body share their gifts, the church will be healthy and strong.  If some choose to sit on the sidelines and not use their gifts, our mutual ministry will be weakened.  Our abilities and spiritual gifts are not our own.  They belong to God and to the ministry of God’s people.  As stewards of God’s gifts, it is important that we use them in God’s service.

Activity

Think back over the course of your life to date.  What abilities do you seem to naturally possess?  What skills have you developed over time?  Is there anything you have yet to do that you think you might be good at?  How are you using these gifts in God’s service?  If you have gifts you aren’t sharing with God’s people, make a plan to do so.  Talk to a pastor or other church leader about how you can use your God-given abilities.

Prayer

God of Creation, You are the giver of every good gift:  My possessions, my abilities, and my life itself come from You and will return to You.  Forgive me when I fail to be grateful or refuse to share.  Open my eyes to Your amazing generosity, and return me to the path of faithful stewardship.  Help me to discover my gifts and put them to use in your service.  Thank You for giving each one of us a role to play in sharing the Good News of Your realm:  in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Key Thought:  We are called to be stewards of the spiritual gifts and abilities God has given us.

Small Group Meeting

A Christ-Like Mindset

In your relationships with one another, have the same attitude of mind Christ Jesus had:  Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.  And being found in appearance as a human being, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death — even death on a cross!  Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.  Philippians 2:5-11

1. Building Community

Take turns answering the following question:  What is the biggest sacrifice you ever made?

2. Learning

Today’s reading is about how Jesus lived his earthly life with humility.  He didn’t focus on his own comfort or status.  Instead, he dedicated himself to serving and giving.  By so doing, he fulfilled the Divine plan and opened the way for us to experience God.  We are encouraged to share his attitude in our relationships with one another.

a.      What do you think it means that Jesus is “in very nature God”? 

b.   What do you think Jesus sacrificed by not using his divine status to his own advantage?  What might his ministry have been like if he didn’t do this?

c.   How is it to our advantage that Jesus took on the nature of an obedient servant? 

d.   Why is God glorified by Jesus’ sacrifice?  What does it say about God that this is so?

e.   How might our lives be transformed by adopting the priorities of Jesus?  Consider how following this path might affect your use of time, resources, and abilities, as well as your relationship with others.

f.    How might your church embody Jesus’ self-giving, sacrificial mind-set?

3. Serving

Take a moment for group members to think about this assignment:  In light of today’s reading, decide on one sacrifice you can make in order to serve another person.  You don’t need to share this with the group, but prayerfully make your commitment to God.

4. Worship

Allow time for each participant to share one thing they have learned about following Jesus from this six- week study.  Give thanks for all you have learned.  You may invite a volunteer to close in prayer, or the group can close by saying the Lord’s Prayer together.

5. Inviting

Finalize plans for your celebration meal.  You may also consider whether you would like to continue meeting as a small group.  If so, your celebration meal can be both a conclusion to this period of study and a beginning for what comes next.

6. Practicing Stewardship

Take a final collection for your group’s mission of choice.

Help your host clean up.  Recycle waste if you can. 

It’s About Time

“Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the LORD your God has commanded you.  Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God.  On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns, so that your male and female servants may rest, as you do.  Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm.  Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.”  Deuteronomy 5:12-15

Reflection

Have you ever felt like you had too much to do and too little time in which to do it?  Life rushes by so quickly!  This is an age of high-speed transportation, instant communication, and high expectations.  The intensity of this lifestyle often results in stress, anxiety, and unhappiness.  But what choice do you have?  You’ve got a job to do, appointments to keep, errands to run, and other people who are counting on you.  While most of us could use a break, it is hard to find the time.

Today’s reading has to do precisely with this kind of situation.  Even though life moved at a much slower pace in the days of ancient Israel, God recognized the people’s need for rest.  God tells us to “Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.”  And this isn’t just a bit of incidental guidance.  It is on the list of the top-ten things God wants us to do (the Ten Commandments).  Obviously, this is an important issue to God.

What does it mean to observe the Sabbath?  If you read through the Biblical references to the Sabbath, two main themes emerge.  First of all, the Sabbath is to be a period of time you set aside to honor God.  This doesn’t mean simply attending a church service.  It means recognizing your personal dependence on God.  One way this has traditionally been accomplished has been through the second aspect of Sabbath:  taking a break from work.  God establishes the Sabbath because we need to rest–as do the others around us.  In ancient Israel, everybody was commanded to stop work on the Sabbath.  It is to be a time of relaxation and refreshment.  As we allow our minds and bodies a chance to regroup after a week of frantic activity, we also find ourselves realizing that the world does not revolve around us.  We find that we can take a day off without everything falling apart.  We learn that it’s okay to be still and trust God to care for us.  By observing the Sabbath, we honor God through our faithful rest.  For those who feel constantly driven by pressure to achieve, this should come as especially good news.  One thing God wants you to do is relax!

Of course, the challenge is in finding a way to observe the Sabbath so that it really is a restful blessing, not a frustrating restriction.  Our world does not operate according to ancient timetables.  The Israelites celebrated the Sabbath on Saturdays.  Christians have observed Sunday as the day of rest.  In our time, it is difficult to do either.  Society does not recognize Sabbath as a value; and so we might find ourselves having to work on the weekend, running errands we haven’t had time for earlier in the week, or bringing our children to activities that are scheduled without regard to our need for rest.  Thankfully, the Bible does give us some flexibility with regard to Sabbath.  The Apostle Paul allows that different people may dedicate their time to God in different ways (Romans 14:5).  The important thing is that we make time both to rest and to acknowledge God as the giver of true rest.  In doesn’t matter if you choose a whole day, a portion of each day, or some other scheduling option.  Just be sure that you really find it restful and worshipful. 

Activity

Take a look at your calendar of activities.  When do you make time to relax?  Are you getting the rest you need?  How does God figure into your weekly schedule?  Consider ways you might carve out Sabbath time for yourself and your family.  It may be that, in order to take care of yourself, some of your priorities may need to change.  Remember, God wants us to observe the Sabbath for our well-being.  Be good to yourself and make time for some holy rest!

Prayer

God of Creation, You are the giver of every good gift:  My possessions, my abilities, and my life itself come from You and will return to You.  Forgive me when I fail to be grateful or refuse to share.  Open my eyes to Your amazing generosity, and return me to the path of faithful stewardship.  Help me to manage my time faithfully and to schedule a regular time of Sabbath rest. Thank You for caring about us so much that You made rest a sacred activity; in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Key Thought:  God calls us to be faithful stewards of our time by making time for rest and worship.

Groundskeepers for God

Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”  So God created human beings in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.  God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.  Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”  Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it.  They will be yours for food.  And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.”  And it was so.  God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.  And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.  Genesis 1:26-31

The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.  Genesis 2:15

Reflection

My father has always been into landscaping.  When I was growing up, he was continually at work in the yard–building rock walls along the stream that ran though our property, planting bushes, and shoveling tons of decorative stone.  He loved doing this and took great pride in the results.  Unfortunately, I didn’t experience it as such a joy.  Being the only child, I often got dragged into whatever project he had going.  It would be an understatement to say that I grew up disliking yard work.  Even so, as an adult, I have done my share of it.  When you have property, you’ve got to take care of it.  You can’t let the lawn grow to be two feet high or allow the bushes to grow wildly out of control.  Not only will it cause problems with the neighbors and the town, but also it will negatively impact your property value and ultimately your own happiness.  You’ve got to take care of the place where you live, even if it takes some hard work.  This is a lesson we find in today’s reading, as we begin the path of stewardship.  As God’s people, we are given the responsibility of caring for God’s creation.

It’s strange that, out of all the things written about our mission as Christians, relatively few of them have addressed our role in caring for the environment.  For many years, Christians assumed that the Biblical task of “ruling” over creation meant we could do whatever we wanted with the planet and its creatures.  There are still those who believe this.   Just recently I read about a man who ran what is called a “puppy mill” on which dogs were bred for sale.  The animals were kept in tiny cages in conditions that could only be described as inhumane.  But the owner felt no guilt over this because he felt that the Bible gives humans authority to do with animals as we like.  This is not a proper understanding of Scripture.

In the story of creation, God places humans in the garden to work it and take care of it.  This is a symbolic description of humanity’s role on the planet.  We are to work for its well being and productivity.  We are to guard the other creatures from harm and provide for their care as best we are able.  You would not want a gardener who neglected your garden or acted so as to destroy it.  While a gardener may be given a certain amount of authority to work in the garden, it is never authority to destroy, only to exercise proper care.   Nobody would hire a gardener to kill their garden.  So when the Bible talks about our having authority over creation, it is an authority that carries responsibility.  We are to take care of the environment, not destroy it.

Before the Bible describes any other path for our growth or well-being, it gives us this job:  to tend the garden of God’s creation.  Any approach to a purposeful life that ignores this fundamental fact is inadequate.  We might not like the responsibility this places on our shoulders or the hard work it calls for.  But we live in God’s world, and we have to take care of it. 

Activity

Take a garbage bag and some gloves.  Go on a walk in your neighborhood and pick up any litter you encounter.  When you finish, note how much garbage you found.  What would it take to rid your neighborhood of all litter?  Consider ways you might be a better steward of the environment.

Prayer

God of Creation, You are the giver of every good gift:  My possessions, my abilities, and my life itself come from You and will return to You.  Forgive me when I fail to be grateful or refuse to share.  Open my eyes to Your amazing generosity, and return me to the path of faithful stewardship.  Help me to take good care of this planet and its creatures.  Thank You for the beauty and goodness of all You have made; in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Key Thought: God has created us to be stewards of this planet and its creatures.

Mixed Results

Again Jesus began to teach by the lake.  The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water’s edge.   He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said:  “Listen!  A farmer went out to sow his seed.  As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.  Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil.  It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow.  But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.  Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain.  Still other seed fell on good soil.  It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.”  Mark 4:1-8

Reflection

Just about everything I’ve ever done has had mixed results.  In school, I did better in some classes than others.  Some of my relationships have been successful, while some could easily qualify as failures.  I have experienced different levels of achievement over the course of my career.  There have been times when I wanted to give up on certain classes, relationships, or jobs.  No doubt you have had similar experiences.  It is easy to become depressed or despondent when we find ourselves failing to achieve our goals.  As we follow the path of invitation, we may be especially prone to discouragement.  But no matter how many times we are disappointed, that doesn’t mean we can give up.  Most of us have already learned this lesson for life in general:  Just because you give up on one thing doesn’t mean you should give up on everything.  There is always another opportunity, a chance to try again, and the possibility of doing things differently.  In spite of the pain of failure, the possibility of further learning or success calls us forward.  In life, none of us experience success all the time or in everything.  Even so, we keep trying to succeed, believing that our efforts will eventually be rewarded.  That is the message of today’s scripture.

In his parable about the sowing of seed, Jesus gives us a picture of mixed results.  This is meant to symbolize the way people respond to the invitation to God’s kingdom.  There are people who will let the invitation go in one ear and out the other without giving a response or showing interest.  Others will respond with enthusiasm but never follow through.  Some will be too preoccupied with other concerns to ever take Jesus’ invitation seriously.  And yet there will be others who hear the invitation and respond in the affirmative, living lives that glorify God and produce good results.  The idea of seed producing a crop “multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times” is phenomenal.  In Jesus’ day especially, seed didn’t produce that kind of yield.  What Jesus is saying is that, even though many people will ultimately refuse our invitation, those who do will be very fruitful.  Their lives will be changed, and the positive effect they have will be substantial.  Even though it is sad when people refuse the invitation to God’s kingdom, we must be true to our mission because it makes all the difference in the world.   We need never be discouraged when people reject the invitation to experience God in Christian community, because the impact of those who say “yes” will more than make up for those who say “no.”

Activity

Review the successes and failures you have had in your life.  You almost certainly have had your share of both.  What have you learned from the failures?  What have your successes taught you?  Would you be the same person you are today without them both?  Consider how even our failures in the ministry of invitation can teach us and become opportunities for growth.

Prayer

Welcoming God, You continually reach out to us in love:  You invite every person to experience your goodness and grace.  Have mercy on me when I lose sight of the infinite worth of each person.  Help me to walk the path of Jesus by extending your invitation to others and by joining them on their journey.  Enable me to persist in this ministry without becoming discouraged.  Thank you that all our efforts will bring about a worthwhile result:  in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Key Thought: Although we may be discouraged when the invitation is refused, we can trust that the overall results will be well worth the effort.