October 29, 2017                          Blessings  
              
              From October 29th, Union Congregational participated in a four week stewardship program that focused on blessings, mission, dedication and thanksgiving. For these four weeks we did not follow the lectionary.
                                                                         

In one of his books, world religions professor Huston Smith compares the scientific world view, with the religious world view. The scientific world view tells us that the universe came into being through a big bang, that there is no meaning or purpose to life, that we are all just free to use and discard the world as we see fit. The  scientific worldview tells us that this life is all there is, and that the goal of life is to get as much as we can out of life before we die, no matter what the consequences for others. Huston says, that to live by a scientific worldview leads to chaos, disorder, violence and death in human society.

In opposition to this is the religious worldview, which tells us that creation came into being at the direction of our creator, that the meaning of our lives is to realize our creator’s purpose, and that purpose is to care for creation and each other. In this view, who we are and how we live has positive consequences for our life in this world, and for life beyond this world. The value of religion, Huston says, is that it gives order and direction to our lives, and creates communities in which people discover and share the abundance of life that is given to us. 

Let me be clear. For the first two years of college, I studied Bio-chemistry. I have no problem with scientific facts, or the scientific method for discovering facts about the physical world. Further, there is no problem for me between science and religion. Science tells us about the truth of the physical world, religion tells us about the spiritual truth of our lives. Science as a world view is hopeless and destructive, but religion, when not corrupted, has the ability to give hope and create order and life. 

I thought of this because the Hebrew people, through the story of creation announce this religious world view, they announce that the world was created by God, that God had a purpose for us, and that purpose was to be stewards of creation. In doing so, the image of God would shine forth in each of us. For when we live in God’s image. Creation is something to be cared for, not stripped of it’s resources. People are valuable in and of themselves, they are not disposable creatures. The gifts we are given are blessings to be shared, not hoarded away or hidden in the ground. And everything including ourselves belongs to God, even ourselves.

When Bob Scheiler used to do Stewardship messages for churches in the Illinois Conference, he used to lay out for them all of the blessings that God had given to them. God gave to us, the Sun, the Moon, the planets and stars, the mountains, the forests, the oceans, the deserts. God gave us vegetables, minerals, animals, and yes, even those annoying insects. God gave us air to breath and water to drink. All of these things, given to us by our creator, for they are his, and we are called to care for them.

God gave us people. God made us in God’s image, and caused us to be born in a certain time and place, God gave us the parents and grandparents, the brothers and sisters, the aunt’s and uncles, the husbands and wives, the friends and coworkers, the people of our towns, cities, states, nation, and even the people of the world. All of these, were given to us by our creator, for they are his, and we are called to care for them.

God gave us our talents and abilities, our hair and eye color, our size and shape, our uniqueness in that no two people out of billions, would be alike. God gave to us experiences to help us grow and to use those abilities. God gave us vocations, callings to use the gifts we have been given, and God created the jobs that we have found to use those gifts to earn a living for ourselves, and to help others. All of these gifts were given to us by our creator, for they are his, and we are called to share them.

God gave us Jesus Christ and through him, the Church. So that we might know the message of God’s steadfast love and faithfulness, so that we might know that the world is filled with and abundance of grace and blessing, so that we might know of God’s love towards us. In that church, God gave us people of faith, people who became our brothers and sisters, people who set an example for us in giving God praise and worship, people who walked with us in our times of darkness, people who sang in the choir, joined together in missions, taught Sunday school, cared for us in times of sickness and loss, and worked to build up the church, and gave of their time, talents, and treasure, to make sure that the gospel message was proclaimed in the world.  

God gave us all these blessings, so that we might realize our purpose as God’s creations, that we might be the images of God that we were created to be. That we may be a blessing to one another, that we may give blessings as God has blessed us, that we may love one another as God has loved us. And there’s an important point here, God’s love for us comes first – proving God’s faith in us, and the way of faith is for us to give of ourselves first, to love others first, for that is part of God’s image. As Paul says, the world thinks this is foolishness, but it is the way of salvation.

This religious worldview of blessing is what allowed the widow in Jesus day to give her two copper coins. She gave all she had because she believed that God would take care of her. And I believe God did!  A number of years ago, I went to visit a construction worker who got laid off. He had one kid in college and two in high school, a house payment, health insurance issues, and etc. I expected him to be down in the dumps, but he wasn't. He told me that he had been laid off once before and that his family had gotten through it. He found a way to make ends meet, mostly through family and friends who gave him opportunities to work, and through cutting back to those things in his life that were really important. He believe that God would show him a way to keep going, and would walk with him each step of the way. Sure enough, 6 months later, this big tough construction worker, was making enough money selling tea cups and china on the internet o get him through his layoff!

This theology of blessing has saved many a life, and given hope to people in hopeless times. It has filled them with the power to pick themselves up and look for the many blessings God has provided to us. It is indeed a worldview that leads to life. And that is the Good News of Jesus Christ!