Pastor's Pen - July 2006

Dear Friends in Christ,

The Bible tells us that we as human beings are created in the image of God. Too often we use that as a way to try to understand God from our perspective rather than seeing ourselves from God’s point of view. Some have used that description as a way of making God more human. Rather than the Spirit that God is, humans try to give God a human form so that God simply becomes a slightly better model of human being. Rather than looking from ourselves to God we should look from God to us in an effort to understand what it means to be created in God’s image.

One of the qualities or characteristics of God that would be a part of God’s image and as such a part of us is generosity. God’s generosity is revealed again and again to God’s people throughout the scriptures as well as in daily life. God freely and graciously gives to creation and all of its inhabitants. We believe that one of the greatest examples to God’s generosity is the gift of salvation shared in Jesus the Christ. As the Apostle Paul wrote, God did not wait for humans to improve their performance before sending the Savior. The Apostle reminded his readers that it was while we were still in sin that God freely chose to send the Son. God was so generous that God was willing to risk everything for the redemption of the world.

Thus to be created in the image of God is for human beings to also have the need to be generous, just as God is generous. Unfortunately, it is not common that we recognize this need to be generous in the same way that we recognize human needs for shelter and food and fellowship with others. Yet, this need to give is equally important and life giving as the other needs that human share. A full life as a child of God is a life that is marked by generosity. This giving is not only to benefit those who might receive but is also important to the one who gives.

Despite the reports of recent days, generosity is not just for the most wealthy in our culture. All of us are blessed. All of us have the opportunity to share the gifts with which we have been blessed with others to fulfill one of the deepest needs and longings of our human nature, the need to be generous. Created in the image of God, we are created to give. Even death does not have to bring giving to an end as thoughtful estate planning can provide the means by which our giving can continue even after we are gone. To be faithful to its call, the church offers opportunities for its members to satisfy one of their deepest needs, the need to be generous, the need give away as freely as God has given to us.

A life of generosity is a life lived in the image of God in which it was first created.

Across the Pastor's Desk - June 23, 2006

Donald F. Rose

Pastor – Mansfield and United Lutheran Churches

Across the Pastor’s Desk for Friday, June 23, 2006

 

 

Churches that follow the liturgical seasons of the Church year have entered into the long green season of the Sundays after Pentecost. This is also known as the non-festival half of the year. In the northern hemisphere this is the season of growth that leads to harvest and so in the life of the Church the emphasis is also upon growth and harvest but from a different point of view.

 

That which is growing as far as God’s people are concerned is the very kingdom of God itself. As it grows so God’s people are also called to grow in faith and love and witness and service in the name of the Savior. With the right amount of rain and subsequent warm temperatures one can almost see the corn grow. It seems to change virtually over night. Other crops tend to grow less dramatically but grow they do nevertheless. So it is among God’s people as well. Some may have dramatic experiences that lead to change and growth in their lives. For others the growth is more slowly incremental but growth it is. The good news is that there is growth. The bad news is that some see the differences in the patterns of growth as indications of God’s favor or the lack thereof. Just as the growth of seeds in the ground does not ultimately depend upon their individual efforts, but rather results from fortuitous rain and heat. So the growth in faith among God’s people is not the result of individual worth or efforts, but is rather the result of the work of God’s Spirit in our midst.

 

As the Spirit blows among God’s people when and where it wills, there is never going to be a time when all of God’s people will be at a similar point in their faith experience as everyone else.  Thus there is no benefit to anyone or to the kingdom to spend time criticizing where someone else is in his or her faith journey. As brothers and sisters in Christ we may bring mutual consolation and encouragement, but at the same time it is important to recognize the Spirit’s work and presence in the other as well.

 

We are called to be mindful of the fact that we are growing towards the harvest of the kingdom. As a result even our growth as God’s people is not intended to point towards ourselves as much as it is to point to the one who gives us life and has promised to gather us in with all of God’s children in the last day. The one thing that is left to us is to not refuse the opportunities that God so graciously has provided and continues to provide for us to receive and grow in the gifts of the Spirit.

 

In this season of growth, we have the assurance that the Spirit is at work and as the beneficiaries of what the Spirit does, we grow as the children of God and into the fullness of God’s grace.