Meditation:
 The end of the month rolls around and we look at the ending balance of our checking account. Things are getting tight and who knows what will happen next month! We can save away those few extra dollars this month, just in case the heating bill is higher or we have to get the car fixed or we need a new outfit.
Not often do we think about the church or those who live off of less than $1 a day in that moment. Rarely do we say “Oh, let’s catch up on those few missed offerings we had last month.”
We love the ministries that our church provides and supports – not only as a local congregation, but throughout all three expressions of the ELCA - doing God’s Work, but we often forget the responsibility that we individually have to enable those ministries through “our hands.”
Being the son of an accountant, I know the importance of fiscal responsibility, but how can we trust more that God will provide in our daily lives when we are willing to step up and be God’s hands for others?
David, the beloved king, is tempted to do his own number-crunching and examine his balance – not of money in this case but of people. Rather than trusting in God’s ability to save God’s people, David’s decision to do a census shows his reliance and trust in numbers rather than trust in God’s promises.
What are the areas in our lives that we put our trust in other things or people rather than relying on God’s presence and assistance? As good Lutherans, John’s message is engrained in us: we are in bondage to sin and will continually place our trust elsewhere despite our best attempts to live in God’s abundant love and care for God’s creation.
Thanks be to God that we have an example in Christ Jesus, that we may learn to continually rely on God and love our neighbor, and “walk just as he walked.”
May we, in this Lenten season, grow our trust in God so that we may be nourished to go out in this broken world, striving for justice and peace in such a time as this. |
