Great Thanksgiving!

All things come of thee O Lord,
And of thine own have we given thee.

http://graceslo.org/site/post.aspx?li=More-on-Gods-Providence

These words from the Book of Chronicles have shaped our understanding of stewardship for generations. To slow down and listen to the words is a great experience.
All---things---come---of---thee--O Lord!  It means that we are entirely reliant, our very existence is dependent, on God.  Without him we would not breath. Our hearts would not beat.  We would not have our children, our jobs, our homes, food to eat, or possessions to own.

Pick up that favorite souvenir from your last vacation, or treasured possession, and ponder what it means: God has allowed you to have it.  Think on your children or siblings.  Think on your relationships with those you love, friends and family.  God has indeed given them to you.  And they are irreplaceable.

Many people will say to themselves that through their own hard work they have earned their position and possessions.  We have a mentality in our country that says work hard and your dreams will come true.  There is of course some truth to working hard.  But there is a contrary narrative to that truism. There are other people out there, just like you, that worked equally as hard, but did not receive the same reward.  They even may have received or earned less than what you have.  How do you account for those people who worked equally as hard or faithfully but did not receive the same accolades?

There are other people out there who didn't work at all, and they have received more of a reward than those who worked.  These are the ones mentioned so frequently in the psalms.  These are the ones we are warned: Do not envy or follow their examples.

Why is there this disparity?  I believe it is because all things come from God.  And we are each challenged to do the work he has given us to do and to accept his graceful reward no matter what it is.  It does not mean we should stop working harder or less.  It means simply that we live faithfully.  Doing the things he has called us to do.  And our response is the next phrase in Chronicles:

And---of---thine---own---have---we---given---thee.
In return we speak of giving all these things back to God.  Everything that we have and everything that we are is his.  The breath and blood of life are his.  If we believe that everything comes from him, then we also trust that the portion we return to him is our faithful and obedient response to his generosity.

The reason God teaches us to give back is not so that we can run the church, pay the utilities or salaries of staff.  It is not solely for the purpose of benevolent causes.  The reason God teaches us to give back is a reminder that we are dependent upon him and we are the benefactors of his generosity.  We cannot account for the riches of his blessing based on our own works or efforts.  Even if those works and efforts are very noble.

He makes the sun to shine and the rain to fall on both the righteous and the unrighteous.  So either way we respond to his generosity with our faithfulness that he has cared for us and will continue to do so.

Let us all give great thanks to him for the blessings that he has bestowed upon us!

Blessings,
Fr. Stephen+

Committment to All Saints

We've been talking about it over a month.  I hope all of you know that our theme for this year is Commitment to All Saints.  The genesis for this theme came from a heartfelt conversation in our vestry retreat.  That is, we really want to see every family of our church declare "God has called me here, and I am committed to my All Saints Family."  And we want to help discover each person's gift and how to put it to use in the life of All Saints.

Out in the world I hear a general mood from people saying that commitment in our culture is a thing of the past.  But I actually believe that commitment has not disappeared; it's just become fragmented.  We become committed to this organization or that organization.  We become committed to our school first or our sports team first.  We become committed to our jobs before family.  We become committed to everything else first and our commitment to God and his church falls somewhere after all that.

Commitment isn't the problem in our culture; it's prioritizing.   In the Book of Genesis when Cain and Abel brought their offerings to God Cain (a tiller of the ground) brought fruit of the ground for an offering; Abel (a shepherd) brought the first-ling of his sheep.  We are told that God looked favorably on Abel's offering but not Cain's offering.  There is debate about why God was pleased with Abel and not Cain.  But many scholars infer that Cain's offering was somehow less than Abel's because Abel brought his first (best) fruit and Cain simply brought an offering.  The New Testament also tells us that Abel's gift was given in faith while Cain's works were evil.

When God sent his Son into the world he was committed to us.  The Father sent his best and first fruit to reconcile us to him.  Jesus' birth, life, suffering, and death sums up the Father's total commitment to make you his child.  God did not offer just some sacrifice; he offered his best.  And he has faith in us to respond to him that his sacrifice would not be in vain. 

Likewise our Commitment to God is an act of faith.  We give every bit of ourselves to him and the furtherance of his Kingdom here at All Saints.  That means committing to God first.  It means giving your best to the Kingdom and to each other.  And it means that all of the other things you struggle to keep up with then find a backseat to the ideal of the Kingdom.

In our culture the reason so many people feel like they are pulled in so many directions is because they have not committed their best talents to God instead they commit to worldly things that pass away.  In order to put God first, you have to be willing to say "yes" to him and "no" to the world.  You have to be willing to make yourself a sacrifice to him.  And when you do that you'll find much of what you're distracted by was not important at all. 

Since our ministry leaders have been making their announcements we've already seen an increase (even before our Commitment Harvest Day Oct. 27) in participation and willingness to help in ministry.  If you haven't already decided what ministry you will give your time, that's okay. Keep coming and listening to the ministry leaders.  Some ministry will call your heart.

And then, knowing your commitment will help your leaders organize our resources in ways that will build on the foundations of our core values of Worship, Love, and Service.

As our facilities continue to need repair and maintenance, knowing your commitment to this Family will help your elected leadership know better where to put resources to help ministry grow not just maintain a building.

We would like to organize all aspects of the church to reflect God's calling in your life.  Our ministries, staff, budget, and campus should all reflect that values that emerge from your collective gifts.  God endows us with many gifts and he allows us to use them here.  Make sure as we approach the Oct. 26th Harvest Dinner and 27th Harvest Commitment dates that you have taken your commitment card and made your declaration and commitment to the All Saints Family.

God bless you,
Fr. Stephen+