Sunday, January 20, 2019

Spiritual Gifts



John 2:1-11
1On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine." 4And Jesus said to her, "Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come." 5His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you." 6Now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. 7Jesus said to them, "Fill the jars with water." And they filled them up to the brim. 8He said to them, "Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward." So they took it. 

9When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom 10and said to him, "Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now." 

11Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him. 

This is the Word of the LORD
Thanks be to God

I Corinthians 12:1-11
1Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. 2You know that when you were pagans, you were enticed and led astray to idols that could not speak. 3Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says "Let Jesus be cursed!" and no one can say "Jesus is Lord" except by the Holy Spirit. 4Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; 6and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. 

7To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.

This is the Word of the LORD
Thanks be to God.

Saturday, January 19, 2019

Ministry and Economics: How Impulsive Politics Hurts my Community

Hi.

I'm Pastor Joseph. I lead a small PC(USA) Congregation about 30 minutes west of Charlotte, NC. Sometimes I wear a kilt to work. I only wear the green hat when we're celebrating St. Patrick's Day, but the kilt is semi-regular.

I love Jesus, I love my family, I love my congregation, I love my community. I'm grateful to be an American.

But the political climate right now is actively interfering with my congregation's ability to do its job. I'd like to break that down. First, a couple of caveats:

  1. My criticism is not limited to either major political party. All sin, all fall short of the glory of God. Likewise, God is working to do God's will through both political parties.
  2. I'm not interested in blame. I'm interested in people taking responsibility for themselves, and their actions.
  3. I have almost no background in economics or political science. My training is in theology (as a huge blanket term) and emotional systems.
  4. The Gospel is political. That said, I'm going to try and keep this as non-partisan as possible. Where I fail, please know that I apologize, and I am eager to continue the conversation in respectful ways.
The current political climate is hindering my congregation's ability to share the love of Christ with our community by helping take care of the poor.

Right now, our political leaders are, with a few exceptions, ruled by impulsiveness and reactivity. Which means that those in charge (again, with a few exceptions) are either doing whatever feels or seems right to them at the time, or they are reacting to what's going on (by doing whatever feels or seems right to them at the time). This is bad. It's what we, as a democracy, have chosen for ourselves, but it's bad. It has led to a volatile stock market, and has led to a government shutdown.

My congregation supports local crisis ministries. Like many small churches, we can't do much, but when we pool our resources together we can make a much larger impact on those who need it. Unlike many small churches, we are blessed with a large endowment. This is the generosity of previous generations, invested wisely so that the ministry of our members may outlast them. Most of our financial support of our local crisis ministry comes from the growth of that endowment.

The stock market wasn't good to us in 2018. It wasn't good to a lot of people in 2018. With our investments, we're trying to help people keep their lights on, or not get evicted, or help pay for an unexpected funeral. When the stock market loses money, as it did in 2018, supporting that ministry becomes much more complicated. We cannot write the big check when there's no growth in the fund.
Here's what that looked like. I used https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/index/djia/charts
One of the reasons the stock market did poorly in 2018 is that the political climate is so unpredictable right now. Investment is an emotional process, and any economist will tell you that things tighten up when people are scared. Nobody wants to make a bad investment, and when the political climate is all over the place, it's hard to know what is a bad investment, so the stock market goes down.

Impulsive politics leads to poor stock performance. Poor stock performance means the local crisis ministry will not have as many resources. Fewer resources mean than the people in my community who need help will have a harder time finding it. Impulsive politics hurts poor people.

But the stock market is not the economy, right? Unemployment is low, wages are rising, maybe there won't be as much need this year!

Isn't it pretty to think so...

As of this writing, the government is in the midst of the longest shutdown in our history. Not every part of the government is affected, but some VERY important parts are. Federal Workers are either furloughed (on leave without pay, but are limited on travel and other employment options) or are working without pay.

These Federal Workers will need help during the shutdown. Maybe they'll be able to pay it forward once they get back pay, but they need help in the meantime keeping their bills paid, and buying food and stuff that can't be put on hold indefinitely.

These Federal Workers are suffering because of the impulsive and reactive political climate. They want to work. They want to be paid for their work. Their work matters. Don't let anyone tell you, or them, otherwise. They're out of work because the legislative branch and the executive branch have not passed a budget for their department. I have my opinion over whose fault that is, but that's my business.

These Federal Workers are a new group in need. But they're not the biggest need for the crisis ministry my congregation supports. Food stamp programs are also affected by the shutdown. 

A friend of mine shared this flyer on Facebook.
People on food stamps have been given money for a certain time, but they do no know when the next time they will have money for food will be. They are being urged to stretch their food stamp funds by visiting food pantries and crisis assistance ministries first, and then using their food stamps to fill in the gaps.

This means the crisis assistance ministry is about to have INCREASED need, at the same time that they will have DECREASED ability to help.

Impulsive Politics leads to government shutdowns. Government Shutdowns mean greater need from non-profits. Greater need from non-profits means that the Crisis Ministry's limited resources will be exhausted faster. Impulsive Politics makes it harder to help.

I lead a congregation that and has members of both major party affiliations. I love them all. I have voted for candidates from both major parties, and will do so again in the future. But the things that happen politically have real consequences for people in my neighborhood. My congregation will continue to be faithful, but if we could make the political climate more principled, our faith could have a much bigger impact on helping those who need it most.

Pray for them, pray for us. Remember that in this country we have a right to petition our government.

Sunday, January 6, 2019

By Another Road




Isaiah 60:1-6
1Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. 
2For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you. 
3 Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn. 
4Lift up your eyes and look around; they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from far away, and your daughters shall be carried on their nurses' arms. 
5Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and rejoice, a because the abundance of the sea shall be brought to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you. 
6A multitude of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall proclaim the praise of the Lord.

This is the Word of the LORD
Thanks be to God

Matthew 2:1-12
1In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2asking, "Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage." 3When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; 
4and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 5They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:

6'And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.'" 

7Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. 8Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage." 

9When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was 10When they saw that the star had stopped, g they were overwhelmed with joy. 11On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

This is the Word of the LORD
Thanks be to God.