I go to a lot of meetings. A week does not go by without at least one meeting! The meetings include pizza and discussion, a weekly gathering at the school with the senior high talking about faith and life, Cooperstown Community Activity Authority board meeting, a group of people trying to make sure there is a fitness center in our small rural town, and synod functions including synod council, bishop's convocation, or synod assembly. It never seems to fail that at all of these meetings, we end up talking about money!
Money is a false god. Humans think that money will bring them peace. Humans think if they have a large enough IRA for their golden years, everything will be OK in life. Humans tend to think that if their bank account is full, then problems will cease and life will be grand. Humans tend to think that with enough money, everything will be OK, but someone, somewhere today will die from a hunger related illness or from a disease that they had no money to get the proper treatment for or from a war because of someone else's desire to have more money or more oil or more land. While we try to fill our IRA or bank accounts, the money monster will continue to rape and pillage people unless we do something soon!
People often think that taking an offering for the less fortunate will suffice, but that is an outright lie! That is feel good liberalism. That is trying to ease our guilt without asking for forgiveness or even repenting of our corporate sin. What needs to happen is a complete change in the human heart and way of life.
What would happen if we all, including all the leftist progressives and the militant neo-orthodox right, decided to change the system? What would the world be like if we all decided to stop using money as our trade system? What would happen if we used love instead of money as the system of compensation for goods? What would happen if everyone, everywhere had what they needed, nothing more, nothing less? What would happened if God's alien righteousness, infused into the heart of everyone, was enough? Wouldn't that be a neat trick?
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
A New Day
Good Evening all!
It has been a while since I have written anything on this blog. Sometimes I get lazy, sometimes I get busy, and sometimes I just don't remember to do it. I am not too good at writing, but I enjoy reading blogs so I am going to try to write something every week. Don't hold me to that, but I will try.
I just returned from the Eastern North Dakota Synod fall leadership conference. A friend told me at the conference that we here on the plains are embarrassed to admit that we have bishops so we refuse to call the conference a Bishop's Convocation, as other areas of the ELCA do, and I tend to agree.
At the conference, the bishop always gets a chance to tell us about the shape of the synod and the ELCA in general. This time Bishop Rindy spoke of a new day. The Churchwide organization is restructuring and basically cutting programs. They are doing this because people are in chaos. The chaos caused by a recession, more wars than we really understand, a right wing political and theological take over of the airwaves, and a walk out of wallets from some congregations. With all of this, we in the EaND have a choice.
Will we let the programs that were once sponsored and paid for by the Churchwide organization end, or will we do anything about it? Will we let the nay sayers who are angry about everything in the world win, or will we show them the door and do something new, something unheard of, something amazing? We in the EaND will not let the right winger have the last say. We will not let the ministries that are important to us die. We will support them. We will dig down in our own pockets and give what needs to be given so that the ministry of Jesus can go on. We will go the extra mile for ministry.
I hope that as we in the EaND start something new, the entire church will take it as a way to help the ministries that are important to them. Show the right wingers the door and God will pick up the slack through the hearts and hands of those who know the love of God. Amen.
It has been a while since I have written anything on this blog. Sometimes I get lazy, sometimes I get busy, and sometimes I just don't remember to do it. I am not too good at writing, but I enjoy reading blogs so I am going to try to write something every week. Don't hold me to that, but I will try.
I just returned from the Eastern North Dakota Synod fall leadership conference. A friend told me at the conference that we here on the plains are embarrassed to admit that we have bishops so we refuse to call the conference a Bishop's Convocation, as other areas of the ELCA do, and I tend to agree.
At the conference, the bishop always gets a chance to tell us about the shape of the synod and the ELCA in general. This time Bishop Rindy spoke of a new day. The Churchwide organization is restructuring and basically cutting programs. They are doing this because people are in chaos. The chaos caused by a recession, more wars than we really understand, a right wing political and theological take over of the airwaves, and a walk out of wallets from some congregations. With all of this, we in the EaND have a choice.
Will we let the programs that were once sponsored and paid for by the Churchwide organization end, or will we do anything about it? Will we let the nay sayers who are angry about everything in the world win, or will we show them the door and do something new, something unheard of, something amazing? We in the EaND will not let the right winger have the last say. We will not let the ministries that are important to us die. We will support them. We will dig down in our own pockets and give what needs to be given so that the ministry of Jesus can go on. We will go the extra mile for ministry.
I hope that as we in the EaND start something new, the entire church will take it as a way to help the ministries that are important to them. Show the right wingers the door and God will pick up the slack through the hearts and hands of those who know the love of God. Amen.
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