Jess: I always loved "catch-up" day in junior high, and I had one teacher who always called it "ketchup day," so there ya go. Wes made some grand promises the last time we posted and then we forgot to write for two weeks.
So Wes was gone to Tennessee November 18-21 for his conference on youth ministry. While he was away, I did a lot of random stuff (worked, went to the doctor, preached, watched way too many movies, set up the house for Thanksgiving, etc.). But I think the most important thing I did was really take a step back and try to simplify our life. I've always known that Americans have too much crap. Just drive down any highway in the nation and you'll pass several storage units that prove this fact. We have so much junk that we can't even keep it contained in our huge houses. Well, Wes and I did pretty well when we were living in the apartment, but now that we have a house, I was worried that our pile of junk had already expanded too much.
It turned out that I was correct, so I went through each room of the house, getting rid of stuff we didn't need. I donated two suitcases full of things that we just didn't bother to get rid of before, as well as stuff that we keep thinking we'll need but never use. I filled up our trash can (something we've never done before) and our huge paper recycling bin. We still have some stuff we probably don't need, but we're a whole lot better off!
This last week, of course, was Thanksgiving. We had Wes' brother Tomas and sister Katherine over, as well as our friends Tim and Brittany, from TLU. Another college friend, Kevin, stayed with us on Tuesday night, so our house was nice and full. We had some great times together and I think everyone really enjoyed Thanksgiving. I've never cooked a Thanksgiving meal before, so I was pretty nervous going into it, but everything turned out great and we stuffed ourselves, as is the custom. It was great to have so many people filling up our house, but I'm glad for the rest now between Thanksgiving and Christmas. It's just enough time to get everything back in order before people start showing up again.
We were really blessed to have everyone come to visit, and I'm so happy that we were able to open our house to them. Wes and I have a lot to be thankful for, and I hope that we remember that going forward.
Wes: I'd like to start by apologizing for Jess' bad grammar in her last sentence. It should be "Wes and I have a lot for which to be thankful." I am sorry for anyone who was as deeply offended as I was by this heinous misuse of the English language.
Now that that is out of the way, I want to share what I learned at the National Youth Workers' Convention in Nashville, Tennessee. I went there expecting a roller-coaster ride of worship, learning, equipping, and encouraging, and I expected to leave there much more excited about the ministry that I am doing. And, in a way, that is exactly what happened. I was able to reconnect with some beloved ministry friends from Texas, had a great time worshiping with David Crowder, Jeremy Camp, Starfield, and Jars of Clay, and learned a lot about the ministry that the church is called to do in the world today. But in another way, I had an altogether unexpected experience. Instead of leaving the convention each night feeling refreshed and invigorated, I left each night feeling convicted and confused. God was speaking some hard truths to me, truths that I did not think I was ready to confront, and I spent more time in prayer and contemplation than I did anything else.
I left that conference feeling like God had spoken directly to me--not just about the youth ministry that I was doing for the conference but the ministry of Crosswicks and Ellisdale UMC as well. God spoke to me about authenticity, and the difference between doing shallow ministry and engaging in deep, transformative ministry. I am excited about the work that God will be doing through others and myself in the next year, and I am anxious to see how God uses me to change the world.
After arriving back in New-to-the-Jersey, it was all hands on deck for Thanksgiving. Luckily, I have a wonderful wife who LOVES TO CLEAN, so there was not much more prep to do by the time I got home. We had a wonderful time with friends and family, though. The only downside to it is now I feel more homesick than ever and am really feeling the fact that we live so far away from any of my family. I am very much so ready to be done with school and back in Texas.
Now, we're gearing up for Advent, one of my favorite times of the year. But that is the stuff of another post for another day.
Thanks for dropping by! You stay classy, World Wide Web!
-Jess and Wes
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Captain Planet, He's Our Hero!
Jess: So, as some of you may know, I love books. I went to the library last week and got something like 15 books on various subjects. I would recommend any of these books (and pretty much any book, period) but the ones that I was super interested this time around were the ones on environmentalism/living green. After our weeks of reading about stewardship, I wanted to delve into the other side of stewardship: what does it mean to be good stewards of the earth (God's original call to stewardship)?
The first book I read was The Armchair Environmentalist, which is a book made up of easily read sections about various little ways in which we can change our lives to better impact the world. A lot of it was stuff I've already heard and implemented in my life: turning down the heat/AC, driving less and using fuel more efficiently when you do, being careful about which cleaning products you use, minimizing electricity use, etc. I feel pretty comfortable with most of these basic steps to improving the environment and my life, so this book was a pick-me-up with a few new suggestions I want to implement.
The next book I read was Green You, which was not at all what I had expected. I was hoping for more tips on how to make my daily actions better for the environment. Instead, I got a book that made me scared to do anything lest I poison myself or the environment. There were so many scary statistics about what's in our air, our health care products, our food, our water, etc. that I just wanted to give up. Then I started to realize that there's no reason to be overwhelmed. It's clear that we as a nation are doing a lot of things that are bad for our bodies, our homes, and our environment. But getting worried about everything at once didn't help me. Plus, I was a little skeptical about this woman's sources, since she kept saying that widely publicized tests were not to be trusted, without any proof of her own.
So what did I learn from all of this? How am I going to let this impact my life? Well, I'm not going to stop eating meat. I AM going to try to start eating a more "plant-based diet." Meat is not something that's necessary for our bodies to survive; we can get all the nutrients we need from seeds, nuts, vegetables, etc. But I like meat, and I'm definitely not going to give up the occasional steak. If every American just began to cut down the amount of meat they eat in a week, our food industry would become more sustainable. I don't feel obligated to single-handedly revolutionize the food industry. But I will do my part. And it's good for my body to eat more fruits and veggies, more whole grains, and less meat.
I'm not going to stop taking Wes' suits to the dry cleaners, either; there aren't many other options. But I will hang his suits outside and let them air out so the chemicals don't make their way into our home. I won't get anything dry cleaned that doesn't need it, and I won't go more often than necessary.
I will, however, try to walk more often. I walked to church and back on Sunday so that Wes didn't have to drive the extra mile or so to the house and back, and so I didn't have to turn the car on just to drive it the mile home, then turn it on again to drive back to the church to pick him up. Little changes like this are going to make an impact on the environment AND on my waistline. I'm going to continue to do what I can to help the planet, but I'm not going to try to save the thing myself.
Wes: There's no force on God's green earth that will keep me from enjoying my steaks. And my hamburgers. And my ribs. And brisket. And beef stew (which I made the other day. It. Was. Awesome.). That being said, I do agree that if something does not start happening soon, God's green earth will continue becoming less and less green. And that is reason enough to take a serious look at how we utilize the resources available to us.
I know that I am horrible at this. And it's not as if I mean to be, I'm just an idiot who can't remember to do certain things, like turn off lights and lower the heat whenever I leave the house. I accidentally leave things plugged in, or I'll forget to make sure the door closes all the way behind me. I'm actually worried that one of these days, I'm going to walk in the house and find that Jessica has posted little signs everywhere that say things like "Our A/C works hard enough as it is. Don't make it cool the outside too!" or "If you don't want to have a fight, light a candle and turn off that light!" I'll feel like I'm back in preschool, where everything either rhymes or has a picture on it of a cute little animal frowning up at me. That'd be worse than a horror movie!
But I'm trying my best to do my best with reducing, re-using, and recycling, and I think we're making a difference. We're doing our part at the house, and we're also looking at how the churches can be better about using their resources as well. We didn't turn on the lights at Ellisdale last Sunday, but instead we opened the doors and windows and let God illumine our place of worship. We've cut the size of the bulletin down from a full page front and back with inserts to a half-page front and back and the very occasional insert. Good things are happening at both places, and I'm excited.
Well, I guess that's all from us for today. Check in next week to hear about my fun trip to Nashville, TN for the National Youth Workers' Convention, and then the week after to hear some of our thoughts on Advent.
You stay classy, World Wide Web!
-Jess and Wes
The first book I read was The Armchair Environmentalist, which is a book made up of easily read sections about various little ways in which we can change our lives to better impact the world. A lot of it was stuff I've already heard and implemented in my life: turning down the heat/AC, driving less and using fuel more efficiently when you do, being careful about which cleaning products you use, minimizing electricity use, etc. I feel pretty comfortable with most of these basic steps to improving the environment and my life, so this book was a pick-me-up with a few new suggestions I want to implement.
The next book I read was Green You, which was not at all what I had expected. I was hoping for more tips on how to make my daily actions better for the environment. Instead, I got a book that made me scared to do anything lest I poison myself or the environment. There were so many scary statistics about what's in our air, our health care products, our food, our water, etc. that I just wanted to give up. Then I started to realize that there's no reason to be overwhelmed. It's clear that we as a nation are doing a lot of things that are bad for our bodies, our homes, and our environment. But getting worried about everything at once didn't help me. Plus, I was a little skeptical about this woman's sources, since she kept saying that widely publicized tests were not to be trusted, without any proof of her own.
So what did I learn from all of this? How am I going to let this impact my life? Well, I'm not going to stop eating meat. I AM going to try to start eating a more "plant-based diet." Meat is not something that's necessary for our bodies to survive; we can get all the nutrients we need from seeds, nuts, vegetables, etc. But I like meat, and I'm definitely not going to give up the occasional steak. If every American just began to cut down the amount of meat they eat in a week, our food industry would become more sustainable. I don't feel obligated to single-handedly revolutionize the food industry. But I will do my part. And it's good for my body to eat more fruits and veggies, more whole grains, and less meat.
I'm not going to stop taking Wes' suits to the dry cleaners, either; there aren't many other options. But I will hang his suits outside and let them air out so the chemicals don't make their way into our home. I won't get anything dry cleaned that doesn't need it, and I won't go more often than necessary.
I will, however, try to walk more often. I walked to church and back on Sunday so that Wes didn't have to drive the extra mile or so to the house and back, and so I didn't have to turn the car on just to drive it the mile home, then turn it on again to drive back to the church to pick him up. Little changes like this are going to make an impact on the environment AND on my waistline. I'm going to continue to do what I can to help the planet, but I'm not going to try to save the thing myself.
Wes: There's no force on God's green earth that will keep me from enjoying my steaks. And my hamburgers. And my ribs. And brisket. And beef stew (which I made the other day. It. Was. Awesome.). That being said, I do agree that if something does not start happening soon, God's green earth will continue becoming less and less green. And that is reason enough to take a serious look at how we utilize the resources available to us.
I know that I am horrible at this. And it's not as if I mean to be, I'm just an idiot who can't remember to do certain things, like turn off lights and lower the heat whenever I leave the house. I accidentally leave things plugged in, or I'll forget to make sure the door closes all the way behind me. I'm actually worried that one of these days, I'm going to walk in the house and find that Jessica has posted little signs everywhere that say things like "Our A/C works hard enough as it is. Don't make it cool the outside too!" or "If you don't want to have a fight, light a candle and turn off that light!" I'll feel like I'm back in preschool, where everything either rhymes or has a picture on it of a cute little animal frowning up at me. That'd be worse than a horror movie!
But I'm trying my best to do my best with reducing, re-using, and recycling, and I think we're making a difference. We're doing our part at the house, and we're also looking at how the churches can be better about using their resources as well. We didn't turn on the lights at Ellisdale last Sunday, but instead we opened the doors and windows and let God illumine our place of worship. We've cut the size of the bulletin down from a full page front and back with inserts to a half-page front and back and the very occasional insert. Good things are happening at both places, and I'm excited.
Well, I guess that's all from us for today. Check in next week to hear about my fun trip to Nashville, TN for the National Youth Workers' Convention, and then the week after to hear some of our thoughts on Advent.
You stay classy, World Wide Web!
-Jess and Wes
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly...
Jess: So I read a briefing in Time before church this Sunday that really upset me, and I still don't quite know what to do about it. It was about how homosexuality is against the law in Uganda, and that a newspaper has been printing the names and addresses of homosexuals in the area. It went on to say, "Homosexuality is outlawed in Uganda. Some US Evangelical groups are backing a bill, currently under review in parliament, that would make homosexuality punishable by death." I'm still so shocked by this that I can't figure out how to respond. I know it's going into the sermon I'm preaching for Wes on the 21st, but I just don't know what else to do.
I don't care what your personal opinions are on the "hot" issues (homosexuality, abortion, stem cell research, going 'green,' etc.), but we Christians HAVE to figure out a way to express our opinions while still loving God and loving our neighbor. I'm reading the book unChristian by David Kinnaman right now, and learning a lot about how those outside of Christianity perceive us. We are seen as judgmental, hypocritical, and worse. Yet we claim to be Christ followers. How can we be followers of a man who healed the sick, lifted up the lowly, and stood by the downtrodden yet persecute those who are different from us?
Whatever your personal opinion on one thing or another, Jesus told us that the greatest commandments are to love God and love our neighbor. Loving God means following his commandments: worship only the one true God, keep the Sabbath holy, honor your parents, don't covet, don't steal, and DON'T MURDER. Again, no matter your opinion on whether some people deserve to be punished/to go to hell/whatever, one of God's number one commandments is to not kill. There is no provision for killing those who are doing what you think is wrong. And Jesus would say that backing the bill to allow murder makes you just as guilty as the people who carry it out.
Now, I don't say all of this to accuse anyone or to make us feel bad about ourselves as Christians. God knows we're bad and that we've been bad since the beginning of time. Just check out Genesis. But our first task should be to figure out how to love God. Our second is to love all of God's created people, whether they're "good" or "bad." There is only one judge, and that judge definitely isn't just a human.
Wes: So anyone who has known me for very long has probably heard me tell the story of Telemachus in a sermon. I won't ruin the story for any who haven't, but what it gets down to is that there is a right way and a wrong way to change the world. God calls us to change the world, but God calls us to do so in a very special way: through love. There are many, many things wrong with the world, and we are called to do everything we can to right all of the wrongs that we see. But the way in which most Christians choose to go about this work is very, very wrong.
Once again, we are called to love. We are even told that our love is the standard by which the world will know that we are Christ’s disciples. Love is absolutely crucial for the faithful follower of Jesus. Our purpose in life, therefore, is to show everyone we meet the love of Jesus Christ so that they might know that we are Christians and so that they might some day come to know Christ as we do. We do this by living our lives in a way that reminds the entire world who we are and Who’s we are.
The truth, though, as scary as it may be to admit, is that the church has not always been good about this. Time and again throughout history we fall into sins of pride as individuals and people, raising ourselves up while at the same time beating others down. Whether we speak of the crusades, the inquisition, the treatment of slaves, or any other myriad of topics, it is easy to see that the command to love is sometimes lost on the people who should be upholding it.
And, sadly, this is something with which we as the church still struggle today. We have groups here in America that preach a gospel of hate across the nation, so caught up in their personal piety and so high up on their personal soap boxes that they either cannot see or refuse to see how their actions are widening the schism that forms between the church and the world. We have actual churches that will picket soldiers’ funerals to speak out against the war, disrupting an event already hard for many to bear to push their ideals at people who are hurting and struggling with the loss of a loved one. We have actual churches with websites such as godhatesfags.com that are so entrenched in getting their point across they do not see how they are hurting, alienating, and humiliating people that already struggle with their identity in a world that has constantly marginalized them. We have actual churches that will crowd around the sidewalks of abortion clinics, yelling until they are red in the face at young women entering and exiting the building, many of whom are drowning in shame already and do not need anyone else telling them that they are evil and that they are murderers. We have actual churches that would rather burn another religion’s holy book than work hand in hand with them to strive for peace in a war-torn world.
We as a church must come to understand that above all else we must act out of love. We cannot try to impact and change the world by hate or by violence or by any other means but love, because to do so would be to abandon the very thing for which Christ stood. This has nothing to do with my political views or your political views. This is about how we choose to represent our God and our faith. Nothing more.
So this was a rather... hard hitting blog, but we hope you find it interesting at least!
You stay classy, World Wide Web!
-Jess and Wes
I don't care what your personal opinions are on the "hot" issues (homosexuality, abortion, stem cell research, going 'green,' etc.), but we Christians HAVE to figure out a way to express our opinions while still loving God and loving our neighbor. I'm reading the book unChristian by David Kinnaman right now, and learning a lot about how those outside of Christianity perceive us. We are seen as judgmental, hypocritical, and worse. Yet we claim to be Christ followers. How can we be followers of a man who healed the sick, lifted up the lowly, and stood by the downtrodden yet persecute those who are different from us?
Whatever your personal opinion on one thing or another, Jesus told us that the greatest commandments are to love God and love our neighbor. Loving God means following his commandments: worship only the one true God, keep the Sabbath holy, honor your parents, don't covet, don't steal, and DON'T MURDER. Again, no matter your opinion on whether some people deserve to be punished/to go to hell/whatever, one of God's number one commandments is to not kill. There is no provision for killing those who are doing what you think is wrong. And Jesus would say that backing the bill to allow murder makes you just as guilty as the people who carry it out.
Now, I don't say all of this to accuse anyone or to make us feel bad about ourselves as Christians. God knows we're bad and that we've been bad since the beginning of time. Just check out Genesis. But our first task should be to figure out how to love God. Our second is to love all of God's created people, whether they're "good" or "bad." There is only one judge, and that judge definitely isn't just a human.
Wes: So anyone who has known me for very long has probably heard me tell the story of Telemachus in a sermon. I won't ruin the story for any who haven't, but what it gets down to is that there is a right way and a wrong way to change the world. God calls us to change the world, but God calls us to do so in a very special way: through love. There are many, many things wrong with the world, and we are called to do everything we can to right all of the wrongs that we see. But the way in which most Christians choose to go about this work is very, very wrong.
Once again, we are called to love. We are even told that our love is the standard by which the world will know that we are Christ’s disciples. Love is absolutely crucial for the faithful follower of Jesus. Our purpose in life, therefore, is to show everyone we meet the love of Jesus Christ so that they might know that we are Christians and so that they might some day come to know Christ as we do. We do this by living our lives in a way that reminds the entire world who we are and Who’s we are.
The truth, though, as scary as it may be to admit, is that the church has not always been good about this. Time and again throughout history we fall into sins of pride as individuals and people, raising ourselves up while at the same time beating others down. Whether we speak of the crusades, the inquisition, the treatment of slaves, or any other myriad of topics, it is easy to see that the command to love is sometimes lost on the people who should be upholding it.
And, sadly, this is something with which we as the church still struggle today. We have groups here in America that preach a gospel of hate across the nation, so caught up in their personal piety and so high up on their personal soap boxes that they either cannot see or refuse to see how their actions are widening the schism that forms between the church and the world. We have actual churches that will picket soldiers’ funerals to speak out against the war, disrupting an event already hard for many to bear to push their ideals at people who are hurting and struggling with the loss of a loved one. We have actual churches with websites such as godhatesfags.com that are so entrenched in getting their point across they do not see how they are hurting, alienating, and humiliating people that already struggle with their identity in a world that has constantly marginalized them. We have actual churches that will crowd around the sidewalks of abortion clinics, yelling until they are red in the face at young women entering and exiting the building, many of whom are drowning in shame already and do not need anyone else telling them that they are evil and that they are murderers. We have actual churches that would rather burn another religion’s holy book than work hand in hand with them to strive for peace in a war-torn world.
We as a church must come to understand that above all else we must act out of love. We cannot try to impact and change the world by hate or by violence or by any other means but love, because to do so would be to abandon the very thing for which Christ stood. This has nothing to do with my political views or your political views. This is about how we choose to represent our God and our faith. Nothing more.
So this was a rather... hard hitting blog, but we hope you find it interesting at least!
You stay classy, World Wide Web!
-Jess and Wes
Friday, November 5, 2010
Money, Money, Money Must be Funny in a Rich Man's World...
Jess: So, after our wonderful 10 months and 4 days of blissful marriage, we have really only had one thing that we don't like/basically annoys the crap out of us. Those of you who are really perceptive probably discovered from the title that it's money. What a pain in the butt money is, especially when you don't have a whole lot of it.
Over the past few weeks, Wes and I have been reading a couple of books about stewardship and Wes has given two sermons on the topic. It's really had both of us thinking about stewardship in general, especially with regard to our situation. I will admit that we have not been perfect stewards of our money. When we first got married and moved up here, I was the only one working and we had a very limited income. We had no choice but to be good stewards of our resources or face not being able to pay our bills. Now that Wes is working, life has been a lot easier. Not only do we have more income, but we don't have to pay for utilities or our house.
Our problem is that, now that we have a bit more money, we are tempted to use it for ourselves and trick ourselves into believing we still don't have enough. Ironically enough, one of the books we read is Enough by Adam Hamilton, which is a wonderful book I would recommend for everyone. It explains that Americans desire to have more and more, but there is a point where the possessions we have no longer satisfy us. Instead, we want to keep buying and consuming and never enjoy the stuff we have. The result of this is that we have bills we can't pay, debt we can't get out of, things we never use, and we wonder why we're not happy.
So we have committed to being better stewards of what God has given us. We are going to hold off on buying a second car until next summer, because our schedules mesh well enough until then. We have not gotten cable at our house because there is no reason to pay $50 a month for cable when we can pay $8 a month for Netflix, watch basic cable, and use Hulu if we want anything else. We only eat out once a week, and we got a BJs membership, saving us probably $50 a month on food. I think we're doing a good job, but there are clearly other things we need to do. It's going to take a lot of work to stop our desire to "keep up with the Jones'" and be content to "use up" all of our stuff. For example, I'd love to have a new pair of tennis shoes, but mine are good for at least a little longer, so I'm going to wear them out!
I read a news story a little while ago about a couple that super-simplified their life. They got rid of all but 100 of their possessions, downgraded their house, sold their car, got rid of their TV, etc. Although I don't think we all should/need to be this extreme, I think they've set a great example for the rest of us. We are stewards of God's earth and everything with which he has blessed us. We're trying to be more environmentally, fiscally, and generally responsible. So here's to continuing that awesomeness!
Wes: As Jess mentioned, I just had the immense pleasure of giving a two-sermon series on stewardship. I tried breaking it up into two topics: (1) hilarious generosity and (2) stewardship as a spiritual discipline. Now, I have struggled for a long time in how to best articulate the subject of giving in the church, because I have heard some really bad stewardship sermons in the past. I did not want my homilies to come across as a "give me money" plea. Instead, I wanted to make sure that my message came across as a call to continued discipleship. So I broke my sermons up accordingly.
The first one, hilarious generosity, was based off of 1 Corinthians 9:7, which says that we should give joyfully. Stealing from the pastor of my home church, Charles Anderson, I talked about how the Greek word that is used for the word "joyful" in this is the word hilarion, which is the same root from which we get our word "hilarious." So maybe, the better translation of this verse would instead be "give hilariously," not "give joyfully." Now, for me, this is much easier to understand. I struggle with the phrase "give joyfully," because sometimes it is hard to be joyful about parting with our things. But to give hilariously, to give when it doesn't make any worldly sense to do so, to be outrageous in our generosity, this is something to which I can grasp on. We are called to be in this world but not of this world, and we are called to trust in the wisdom of God, not the wisdom of the world. Now, I did not mention the term "tithing" or "stewardship" at all in this sermon. Instead, I tried to focus as much as possible on the generosity of the faithful disciple to those who are in need. I challenged my friends present to pray about their acts of generosity and how they could give even more hilariously.
The second sermon's premise was taken almost completely from Adam Hamilton's book, Enough, that Jess mentioned above. I talked about how we are called by God to be faithful stewards of the world's resources, and a large part of this is to give back to God from the resources God has given us. We are called to do this lovingly, and as an act of worship. This is, of course, the first ways in which God's people worshiped God: by building an altar and placing on it the first fruits of their bounty. We should take just as much care and pride in our offerings to God as a Abraham and Jacob did in building their altars and placing their sacrifices upon it. Then I had them do something crazy. I had them take part in the weekly offering in the same way that our sisters and brothers in Rwanda do their weekly offering: by walking up to the altar railing and dropping their offerings in it while grasping one arm with the other (a sign of respect in Rwandan culture). By doing this, they were shaking hands with God, and showing God the highest amounts of respect. And I was pleasantly surprised by the response. Everyone happily stood up and took part in this outward sign of worship to God.
So now Jess and I are joining our churches in looking at our own giving to the church and our own stewardship practices. And let me tell you, this is not always easy. I have an Xbox game reserved that comes out in two weeks that I have been waiting for with great expectation. I want a new pair of boots because the soles on mine are wearing down. I want a flat screen TV that doesn't weigh 250 pounds like the one we have. There is a book that just came out--the twelfth and penultimate book in a series I've been reading since I was in 6th grade--that I have reserved at the library instead of buying to be a step closer to completing my library... There are so many things that I wish that I could be spending our money on, but they are not things that we need or can't live without. We are upping our giving so that (after a few months of gradually increasing the amount) our monthly tithe will exceed the 10% that should be our minimum. We are also looking at starting or contributing to a scholarship fund for seminary students to help support people like ourselves going into ordained ministry. And we cannot do these things if we are spending all of our money of the... niceties of life.
So that has been our trip down stewardship lane. What has been your experience with churches and the topic of tithing and stewardship? Have you heard a good sermon on it, or have they all been kind of oppressive? I have very strong views on the role of the disciple when it comes to giving, but I feel like this has not been very well translated into the sermons that we give on Sunday mornings. I would love to hear from you about your thoughts on it and how you see your walk with Christ in respect to your money and resources.
Well, that's it for us! You stay classy, World Wide Web!
-Jess and Wes
Over the past few weeks, Wes and I have been reading a couple of books about stewardship and Wes has given two sermons on the topic. It's really had both of us thinking about stewardship in general, especially with regard to our situation. I will admit that we have not been perfect stewards of our money. When we first got married and moved up here, I was the only one working and we had a very limited income. We had no choice but to be good stewards of our resources or face not being able to pay our bills. Now that Wes is working, life has been a lot easier. Not only do we have more income, but we don't have to pay for utilities or our house.
Our problem is that, now that we have a bit more money, we are tempted to use it for ourselves and trick ourselves into believing we still don't have enough. Ironically enough, one of the books we read is Enough by Adam Hamilton, which is a wonderful book I would recommend for everyone. It explains that Americans desire to have more and more, but there is a point where the possessions we have no longer satisfy us. Instead, we want to keep buying and consuming and never enjoy the stuff we have. The result of this is that we have bills we can't pay, debt we can't get out of, things we never use, and we wonder why we're not happy.
So we have committed to being better stewards of what God has given us. We are going to hold off on buying a second car until next summer, because our schedules mesh well enough until then. We have not gotten cable at our house because there is no reason to pay $50 a month for cable when we can pay $8 a month for Netflix, watch basic cable, and use Hulu if we want anything else. We only eat out once a week, and we got a BJs membership, saving us probably $50 a month on food. I think we're doing a good job, but there are clearly other things we need to do. It's going to take a lot of work to stop our desire to "keep up with the Jones'" and be content to "use up" all of our stuff. For example, I'd love to have a new pair of tennis shoes, but mine are good for at least a little longer, so I'm going to wear them out!
I read a news story a little while ago about a couple that super-simplified their life. They got rid of all but 100 of their possessions, downgraded their house, sold their car, got rid of their TV, etc. Although I don't think we all should/need to be this extreme, I think they've set a great example for the rest of us. We are stewards of God's earth and everything with which he has blessed us. We're trying to be more environmentally, fiscally, and generally responsible. So here's to continuing that awesomeness!
Wes: As Jess mentioned, I just had the immense pleasure of giving a two-sermon series on stewardship. I tried breaking it up into two topics: (1) hilarious generosity and (2) stewardship as a spiritual discipline. Now, I have struggled for a long time in how to best articulate the subject of giving in the church, because I have heard some really bad stewardship sermons in the past. I did not want my homilies to come across as a "give me money" plea. Instead, I wanted to make sure that my message came across as a call to continued discipleship. So I broke my sermons up accordingly.
The first one, hilarious generosity, was based off of 1 Corinthians 9:7, which says that we should give joyfully. Stealing from the pastor of my home church, Charles Anderson, I talked about how the Greek word that is used for the word "joyful" in this is the word hilarion, which is the same root from which we get our word "hilarious." So maybe, the better translation of this verse would instead be "give hilariously," not "give joyfully." Now, for me, this is much easier to understand. I struggle with the phrase "give joyfully," because sometimes it is hard to be joyful about parting with our things. But to give hilariously, to give when it doesn't make any worldly sense to do so, to be outrageous in our generosity, this is something to which I can grasp on. We are called to be in this world but not of this world, and we are called to trust in the wisdom of God, not the wisdom of the world. Now, I did not mention the term "tithing" or "stewardship" at all in this sermon. Instead, I tried to focus as much as possible on the generosity of the faithful disciple to those who are in need. I challenged my friends present to pray about their acts of generosity and how they could give even more hilariously.
The second sermon's premise was taken almost completely from Adam Hamilton's book, Enough, that Jess mentioned above. I talked about how we are called by God to be faithful stewards of the world's resources, and a large part of this is to give back to God from the resources God has given us. We are called to do this lovingly, and as an act of worship. This is, of course, the first ways in which God's people worshiped God: by building an altar and placing on it the first fruits of their bounty. We should take just as much care and pride in our offerings to God as a Abraham and Jacob did in building their altars and placing their sacrifices upon it. Then I had them do something crazy. I had them take part in the weekly offering in the same way that our sisters and brothers in Rwanda do their weekly offering: by walking up to the altar railing and dropping their offerings in it while grasping one arm with the other (a sign of respect in Rwandan culture). By doing this, they were shaking hands with God, and showing God the highest amounts of respect. And I was pleasantly surprised by the response. Everyone happily stood up and took part in this outward sign of worship to God.
So now Jess and I are joining our churches in looking at our own giving to the church and our own stewardship practices. And let me tell you, this is not always easy. I have an Xbox game reserved that comes out in two weeks that I have been waiting for with great expectation. I want a new pair of boots because the soles on mine are wearing down. I want a flat screen TV that doesn't weigh 250 pounds like the one we have. There is a book that just came out--the twelfth and penultimate book in a series I've been reading since I was in 6th grade--that I have reserved at the library instead of buying to be a step closer to completing my library... There are so many things that I wish that I could be spending our money on, but they are not things that we need or can't live without. We are upping our giving so that (after a few months of gradually increasing the amount) our monthly tithe will exceed the 10% that should be our minimum. We are also looking at starting or contributing to a scholarship fund for seminary students to help support people like ourselves going into ordained ministry. And we cannot do these things if we are spending all of our money of the... niceties of life.
So that has been our trip down stewardship lane. What has been your experience with churches and the topic of tithing and stewardship? Have you heard a good sermon on it, or have they all been kind of oppressive? I have very strong views on the role of the disciple when it comes to giving, but I feel like this has not been very well translated into the sermons that we give on Sunday mornings. I would love to hear from you about your thoughts on it and how you see your walk with Christ in respect to your money and resources.
Well, that's it for us! You stay classy, World Wide Web!
-Jess and Wes
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