No big shocker that I never got around to finishing last years recap. Life continues to propel me forward despite my attempts to catch up. Can we just say 2021 was good and wipe our hands of it? lol
So much of my heart is about the church right now, with our pastoral transition, with Covid, with my role there. I no longer have defined strategic goals. All my grad school lessons are out the window. In fact, I've found that the way forward is in what I see God revealing to me through my own weaknesses.
Last week our church had a hard conversation about the decrease in giving and what that will mean for our current staff. Every program has been cut to bare bones and the only thing that is left are salaries and the people attached to those. If people don't tithe, we will have to let someone go.
For a small church, this is a big deal. Everyone is connected through jobs, children, ministries. Generations of ties.
This is heavy on my heart this week but not a new thing by any means, in fact similar stories are scattered all throughout the bible. I was reading about the building of the tabernacle in Exodus. Moses goes before the people of Israel, and with no rousing speech, but in a simple and straightforward way, tells them what God has commanded.
35:5 "Take from among you a contribution to the Lord. Whoever is of generous heart, let him bring the Lord's contribution."
21 "And they came, everyone whose heart stirred him, and everyone whose spirit moved him, and brought the Lord's contribution to be used for the tent of meeting, and for all its service.. All who were of willing heart brought brooches and earrings, and signet rings and armlets, all sorts of gold objects, every man dedicating an offering of gold to the Lord."
24 "Everyone who could make a contribution brought it as the Lord's contribution. And every skilled woman spun with her hands, ad they all brought what they had spun. All the men and the women, the people of Israel, whose heart moved them to bring anything for the work that the Lord had commanded by Moses to be done brought it as a freewill offering to the Lord."
36:2 "And every craftsman in whose mind the Lord has put skill, everyone whose heart stirred him up to come to do the work. And they received from Moses all the contribution that the people of Israel had brought for doing the work on the sanctuary. They still kept bringing him freewill offerings every morning."
And they melted the gold and made the tabernacle and all the things in it.
40:34 "Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
And I think about our modern day tabernacle. Our little church on Centinela Avenue that was built on the backs of Japanese men and women. Walls built with their contributions of gold and silver. Those same walls upheld today by our hands. Painted and washed, chairs cleaned, ministries moving, children being taught. So much of our tabernacle, sustained and propelled forward by the skilled craftsman among us - the teachers, therapists, the evangelists, the singers, the small group leaders, cooks.
I see us moving towards a holier community. I mean, look at us! A melting pot of ethnicities, young and old, republicans and democrats, wealthy and not wealthy, single and married, vaccine or no vaccine - being thrown the mess of this world, social justice issues, Black Lives Matter, a pandemic, mental health, I mean, come on! I see us! Choosing the person over the problem, choosing to LOVE.
And I don't know about you, but I have been so thankful for this church community that has welcomed me as is. Allowed me to make mistakes and still encouraged me to get up and keep trying. The kindness of our Savior to say, you are welcome in my Kingdom, the kindness of our church in saying, YOU ARE WELCOME HERE.
What a refining God has taken us on!
There is no excess anymore, every person, and their contribution counts. One loss is a big hit. But if this is the sweet spot of a people who truly glorify the Lord with their lives, then this is exactly where we want to be. The time to be a consumer in the church of God has come to an end. You, your skills, your gifts, your gold and silver, your time - it is needed here, in our little church, and in your little church too.
"We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, for in severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints - and this not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord, and then by the will of God, to us."2 Corinthians 8:1-5
