March 24, 2022 – “The Lord Bless You”

The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.”  Numbers 6:24-26

The Blessing that appears in Numbers 6:24 – 26 is, of course, my favorite. To receive this blessing is to truly be blessed.  When we hear and say these ancient words, we are connected to a worshipping community that stretches back thousands of years. 

Connectedness is so important as a community of faith, especially when one component of that connectedness is in the words of our liturgy—which come directly from scripture. This is one of the reasons that I am Lutheran. I have experienced many different worship styles, and I am never more connected to G-d and to a worshipping community, then when we share in the words of our Lutheran liturgy. It is in those moments that I truly feel blessed and kept, that I can feel the very real presence of the Lord’s grace shining on us, and am thankful that the Lord’s countenance is cast our way – for it truly does give one peace.

One of the other reasons I am a Lutheran is because our liturgy gives us words that we can use when life has punched us in the gut. When we cannot think of the words to say to G-d, our liturgy gives us such words, like Numbers 6. Just imagine, all of the Sundays listening to liturgy and the sermon have offered you words to strengthen your prayer life.

Let us pray

Lord, you give us the words not only of eternal life, but words of worship and prayer. Continue to guide me through your word and give me the words I need when life gets tough. Amen.

Pastor Dave

March 23, 2022 – “Giving it All”

And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny.And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.” Mark 12:41-44

“Giving it All”

Once again Jesus turns conventional thinking on its ear – the widow who puts into the treasury such a small amount has, in the mind of Jesus, given so much more than the large amounts given by the many rich people who also put money in the treasury box. Why? Because when the poor can give generously out of their lack of resources, how much more important and meaningful will that be to G-d than the rich who give out of their wealth. For the rich to give to G-d, it is often out of their abundance. For the poor, it is out of all they have to live on.

The rich man is told to sell all that he has and give the money to the poor. When he leaves Jesus, he goes away grieving because he is rich, and cannot seem to fathom giving even a part of all that he has away. Yet, this is exactly what the poor widow does – she gives all that she has.

Not everyone can give a large amount of time or money to G-d – but we all have some sense of what “sacrificial giving” means in our lives. This is what our stewardship should be grounded in—sacrificial giving—making our giving part of our worship of and for G-d.

Let us pray,

Lord Jesus, you modeled sacrificial giving when you willingly went to the cross. And your sacrifice continues to be our model for sacrifice. I pray today for your help so I can give generously every day. Amen.

Pastor Dave