Abundance: The Grace of Christ, The grace of the Law

Yes, there will be an abundance of flowers and singing and joy! The deserts will become as green as the mountains of Lebanon, as lovely as Mount Carmel or the plain of Sharon. There the Lord will display
his glory, the splendor of our God.
Isaiah 35:2

From his abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another. [Or received the grace
of Christ rather than the grace of the law
John 1:16




What a great Worship Service we had this morning! The music was truly magnificent. The choir, the Beeber family, Meggan and Alex on the piano were all so Heavenly. I love our Music Ministry. We have Bluegrass, Classical, Blues, Rock and even more. The amazing thing is that they all sound wonderful.

Well, here is one of my favorite topics: God’s abundance. Rick’s message this morning on the Advent Love theme focused on the parable of the workers who, no matter how much they worked during the day were all paid the same amount. Abundance, equity, love: what do they have in common?

To me, this is a core message of Jesus. I like the teaching I heard on the Lord’s Prayer. “Give us, this day, our daily bread.” This was explained to mean that we may expect that our needs, today, will be met, today, and that tomorrow’s needs will be met, tomorrow. So if we Elders are working together, I will, most likely, not make decisions on the basis of fear, of shortage, or calamity or other such crisis. I believe that we, the Church, need to model faith and to practice faith.

This morning Rick gave the congregation a bowl of 36 bows (ribbons for gifts). He said members could give a bow to someone who has served the Church this year. Of course, more than 36 people have served us this year. Some people “regifted” their bow to another who had also served. This is certainly an example of how God leverages his resources and provides abundance in blessings. Those 36 bows recognized many more than 36 people and more than 36 people made statements about gratitude. What a beautiful lesson.

People were recognized who put in hundreds or thousands of hours of work in our Church. Others were recognized who are new or who had a less time-consuming job. All the work was important. Every minute of effort added to God’s work. I am certain, that everyone who contributed was not recognized in this way, this morning. Everyone was compensated. I am a believer in all those worker rights kinds of issue. “Equal pay for equal work in the workplace,” and all that. It is right that people be compensated for their work to support their family and build our community. This is man’s way of seeing things, perhaps a little simplistic. The child care worker barely gets a wage to watch over our most precious resources, our children, while others are paid obscene amounts to create inequities amongst us all (An example of grace under the law.).

God’s equity, emanating from His Love, is more precise. Give us, this day, our daily bread. Why do we need more than that? I cannot say what the right amount is for anyone. What you need this day is most certainly different from what I need. I certainly have more than I need every day. God loves every one of us. God does know our needs. If we listen, we will know His will. He has sent the Holy Spirit to help us learn and grow.

I hope we, as Elders, can practice, what I believe, is God’s abundance. After all, our Father is the owner of the universe. Why shouldn’t we expect that He will provide what we need in carrying on His work here in Lansing and beyond? We must work to banish fear and embrace love and abundance in our leadership and stewardship of the gifts and mission before us. God is with us. He will bless our efforts to serve Him and His people.