Andy's Blog: A Personal Word
October 2007 Archive
October 31, 2007
Oct. 31, 2007Our sound system went on the blink Sunday. It’s one of those things you don’t notice is there until it’s gone. Trying to make yourself heard in a room that seats a thousand people went from being easy to very difficult. I found myself almost shouting. Thankfully, by the second service, the problem was resolved.
There is so much that we don’t notice until it’s not there. At Trinity, we are truly blessed with so much – great music, beautiful facilities, great Sunday School classes, caring people, a wonderful staff, tremendous children’s and youth ministries, and a dynamic ministry of outreach and mission. On a given Sunday, literally hundreds of people are involved in making each Sunday Service engaging and authentic: choirs, musicians, ushers, greeters, flower arrangers, acolytes, sound and technical crews, and prayers. Our worship would be greatly diminished without them.
So, thanks to the sound system going out – I would like to say thanks to all of you who give time, abilities, money to the ministry of Trinity. We couldn’t do it without you. This place is a dynamic witness to the love of Christ because of you.
We are truly a church of many gifts, but one Spirit. It takes all of us to be the church that Christ calls us to be.
October 24, 2007
Oct. 24, 2007As a sophomore in college, I was privileged to be a part of a group of Christian students traveling to the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War. While in Moscow, we attended a service in a protestant church one Sunday. The church was packed – standing room only. We sat in the balcony overlooking the
congregation.
We didn’t speak the language so we could not understand what was being said, but we understood when large cups of wine and loads of bread were brought forth, blessed and distributed to the congregation. As the bread and wine made its way around, people stood to receive, some with tears in their eyes. It finally made its way to us, but somehow, with the crowd, the bread passed me by without my receiving any. I stood waiting for the cup, when I felt a tap on the shoulder. I turned around to see the wrinkled face of an old Russian woman – a babushka – smiling at me. She held a piece of bread in her hand. And as she smiled, she broke it and gave me half. She didn’t have to do it. I was a stranger. But she understood what it meant to be the church. It gave her joy to share.
Since that day in Russia, I have never thought about giving in the same way. It is not something extra we do – it is at the heart of what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ.
Our stewardship theme for this year – Many Gifts, One Spirit – reminds all of us that we are gifted, and gifts are meant to be shared. To withhold our gifts, to think that they are “ours” alone denies the very nature of what it means to be the church – the body of Christ. It also deprives us of the joy that comes when we share what God has given.
Sunday is Celebration Sunday. It is the day when we commit to the ministry of our church for the coming year. This day always calls me back to that Sunday in Russia when bread was shared with me. May it be a day when all of us share what God has given so that others may fully know the love of Christ.
October 17, 2007
Oct. 17, 2007Why?
When our children were pre-schoolers, they went through the “why stage.” Every request was answered by the question “Why?”
It’s time to go to bed. ... Why?
Eat your vegetables. ... Why?
Look before you cross the street. ... Why?
Asking “why?” is a good thing. It’s a part of learning for ourselves and internalizing the answers.
So why is giving important for Christians who are serious about their faith? The Bible provides a number of answers why:
• We give in response to God’s giving. Giving begins with God. It is an act of gratitude for all that God has given us. Giving is an act of gratitude.
God so loved the world that he gave his only son… John 3:16
• Our giving recognizes the ownership of God. All that we have comes from God. We are stewards, trustees of God’s gifts and accountable to God for our use of what he has entrusted into our care.
The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof… Psalms 24:1
• God gives us the awesome privilege of sharing in his redeeming work in the world. Through our giving, we enter into a partnership with God. We give because God wants us to do good in the world.
We are God’s servants, working together… I Corinthians 3:9
• Giving opens our lives to a fuller experience of the joy of life that comes with gratitude. What we give comes back to us. Generous people experience more of life’s joy.
The measure you give will be the measure you get back… Luke 6:38
• Giving sets our priorities. It helps us to put first things first and order our lives in a proper way. It gives God the proper place of honor in our lives.
Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also… Luke 12:34
Giving is an essential part of what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ.
October 3, 2007
Oct. 3, 2007In his book Authentic Happiness, psychologist Martin Seligman points out the correlation between positive feeling and positive character. In it, he points out the fallacy of trying to use shortcuts in order to feel good. Our culture has invented hundreds of these shortcuts: drugs, chocolate, loveless sex, shopping, and television are some examples he lists. The belief that we can rely on these shortcuts to happiness, leads people to a kind of spiritual poverty, where they are starving in the midst of abundance.
Authentic happiness, Seligman says, comes from the exercise of personal strengths and virtues. In one of his classes, the students wondered if happiness comes from the exercise of kindness more than it does from having fun. So they each decided to engage in one pleasurable activity and one philanthropic activity and write about each.
The results were life changing. The afterglow of pleasurable activities like hanging out with friends, or watching a movie, paled in comparison with the effects of the kind action. One student told about her nephew phoning for help with his third grade arithmetic. After an hour of tutoring him, she was astonished to discover that, for the rest of the day, she could listen better and was more mellow.
A genuine and lasting sense of well being in life comes from the exercise of our strengths and virtues which gives our lives authenticity. We are doing what we were created to do and be.
One of our core values at Trinity is the belief that each one of us is gifted by God and called by God to use those gifts in ministry. Behind this value is the conviction that when we discover and use our strengths, those gifts given to us by God – then we will also discover authentic happiness.
Our stewardship theme for this year is “Many Gifts, One Spirit.” In I Corinthians 12:7, Paul writes “To each is given the manifestation of the spirit for the common good.” Gifts are given to be shared. In sharing our gifts, we discover our most authentic selves.