Hello,
This past Sunday in worship we had a Slam Dunk Contest….not really, but
really.
In the worship service every week, we collect an offering….not to pay
our bills, but to offer an expression of thanks and trust to God who has been
bountiful in goodness to us.
It is thankfulness that gathers us, thankfulness that motivates us, and
thankfulness that sustains us. If
thankfulness is not the driving force for our offerings….that is to say that if
we are not able to derive thanks to God for the astounding grace that he has
give us, the grace shown in the death and resurrection of his Son, Jesus,
then clearly we have missed the
point of why we gather, of what motivates us, and our purpose for keeping on.
Given the “pay for fees” environment in which we live, thankful giving
is a hard thing to learn, practice and teach. That is why we start very young. While the offering plates wind their way through the
congregation, we invite the children to get up out of their seats and come to
the altar area and place their offering in the “Thank You Jesus” jar. To watch the children stroll up the
aisle with delight in their step, and sometimes run, is a witness to all of us
adults who do not always exhibit such delight and joy in giving an offering.
This past Sunday I experienced such a witness coming from a child of
less than two years old. I saw him
stroll tentatively up the aisle hand in hand with his grandmother. They walked together until they reached
the stairs where she let go of his hand and let him climb the three stairs and
walk the handful of steps to the altar area where the “Thank You Jesus” jar was
placed. The steps he took by
himself were slow and measured, often looking back at his grandmother to make
sure that he was doing what he was supposed to do, and when he reached the
“Thank You Jesus” jar, he looked back at his grandmother who motioned him to
drop his offering in. Giving him a
nod, he stretched out his diminutive arm over the large jar and from his hand
slipped a one dollar bill. The
bill hit the rim of the jar, but like a free throw dancing on the rim, it fell
in. Surprising to me, there still
remained one more dollar bill in his hand. How it didn’t’ slip out with the first, I don’t know…and I
think that he didn’t know either.
So, he took a look at that stubborn dollar still attached to his tiny
hand and with all the force that he could muster he flung it into the “Thank
You Jesus” jar. Slam Dunk! A dunk that outmatched any dunk of
Michael Jordan, the king of dunk.
A 10+. And just like a
basketball player celebrating having put down a dunk against a towering foe, a
big smile came across his face as he turned around and he dashed to his
grandmother, his short, stubbing legs churning in delight.
I learned something from watching that little child. I learned that giving my offering was
something to celebrate. True, I
don’t think that that child’s actions were a result of being thankful to God
for all of God’s goodness, but maybe it was his innocent and naïve understanding
of what he was doing that had the power to break through my adult hesitancies
and misgivings. I know that for
myself, my offering has a tendency to cling to my hand – stuck on my worries
and fears, my greed and pride, my cynicism and faithlessness – much like that
first dollar that found its way into the “Thank You Jesus” jar as it slipped
from that child’s hand and rim-shot its way in. But when I saw that child slam dunk that second dollar into
the “Thank You Jesus” jar, I saw in his dunk a defiance against everything that
makes us worry and fear, that turns us into hoarders of God’s goodness, and
that makes us people who live with “grab-itude” instead of gratitude. “In your eye!” (That’s basketball
jargon for “Take that!”), I heard him say with his dunk, even though he isn’t
able yet to verbalize much.
We do have so much for which to be thankful to God…every breath, every
moment, every thing, and especially every bit of divine mercy and grace. Sometimes I forget that, and because of
my forgetfulness I usually place my offering in the offering plate with a soft
drop. But maybe this week I will
remember….remember the over abundant grace of God, and when the offering plate
comes by I will slam dunk my offering in it, defiantly saying to everything
that tries to pull me down, “In your eye!”…and with celebration and delight
saying, “Thank You Jesus!”
Have a great week.
God’s grace and peace, (ggap)
Pastor Jerry Nuernberger
No comments:
Post a Comment