I have to say that I’ve really enjoyed reading peoples ‘#GodOnTheMove” and “#35DaysOfThanksgiving” posts over the last ten days. It’s been quite an eye-opener how many various and sundry things we see God’s fingerprints on and footprints in if we really pay attention, and quite a testament to God’s presence in all things.  We have seen God in situations ranging from the sublimely serious to the ridiculously funny, from the deeply spiritual to plainly secular, from our ministries at St. Nick’s to our day-to-day life in the world. We are learning that there is no part of our lives that God does not sustain, no part of our living that God does not enable.

Yes, sooner or later we will talk about money. If we measure what is important to God by how much Jesus spoke about it in the Gospels, then how we think about our money and what we do with it has to be one of the most deeply spiritual considerations of our entire lives. As Jesus said, “Where your money is, there your heart will be also.” He seems to strongly imply that there is a deep and two-way relationship between the disposition of our hearts and the disposition of the contents of our wallets.  In fact, he seems to be warning us that if we do not take the time to discern our hearts desires and how God is calling us to invest in them, then our money will get the upper hand and start shaping our hearts, when what we really want is the reverse to be true.

Stewardship is an attitude of the heart:  an attitude of thanksgiving and an act of love.

Stewardship is also a pro-visioning of our future: a proactive and imaginative envisioning of and investing in our future.

That is why we are putting so much emphasis on our individually and collectively looking out for #GodOnTheMove and specifically expressing our thanks to God for what we see during our #35DaysOfThanksgiving. Whatever we ultimately decide to give of our money and whatever we decide to give of our time and our talents, it is critically important that the reason WHY we give is our thankfulness for Christ’s love and the infinitude of other ways God has touched our lives, and also in thanksgiving for the vision of our future that God continues to plant in us as a congregation. There’s nothing wrong with being an informed giver…it’s good to know the church’s financial needs and to budget responsibly for them. Still, those are the “how” and the “what” of giving and they pale in importance compared to the “WHY.”

God IS on the move at St. Nick’s AND in the world around us. Type in #GodIsOnTheMove or #35DaysOfThanksgiving in your browser or your Twitter or Facebook search bar and see for yourselves. And then add your own.

In Christ’s love,

Ken+