The Last Sunday after Pentecost-The Rev Melanie Lemburg
The Rev. Melanie Dickson Lemburg
Last Sunday after
Pentecost-Christ the King Year A
November 26, 2023
A number of years ago, I attended a conference
that was put on by TENS—The Episcopal Network for Stewardship. The speaker talked about how our
understanding of generosity is deeply connected with our first memories of
money and this, in turn is deeply connected with our understanding of who God
is. The speaker asked us to recall our
first memory of money, to reflect on what it taught us about generosity and how
it impacted our understanding of who God is and to share that in our small
group setting.
My first memory of money began with my
paternal grandfather, who also happened to be a Methodist minister. Pop was a growly, gruff, manly-man who was
known to be a successful boxer in his youth.
My brothers and boy cousins were all slightly terrified of him as he would
often growl at them, “Boy, I’m gonna bite your ankles.” And they never really knew if he was serious
or not. But I was the first
granddaughter, and so I knew him differently.
And one day when I was staying with my grandparents, Pop took me in his
car to the bank where he opened a savings account in his and my names. (I still have the little bank book that they
gave us where we wrote our deposits.)
And over a period of time, Pop would save up the quarters that he
emptied from his pockets every night; we’d deposit them in our bank account;
and after we had saved enough money, we made a withdrawal to buy me a used
piano that we could have in our home that I could practice on while I was
taking piano lessons.
As an adult revisiting this memory, I
was struck by the fact that I didn’t have to do much of anything to participate
in my grandfather’s generous act of saving up his quarters. I didn’t contribute anything except by riding
with him in the car to the bank, and yet, I felt like I was a full-participant
in the endeavor of saving quarters to get my piano. This memory gives me a tiny glimpse into what
my relationship with God is like. How
all I really have to do is (barely) show up, and God invites me to be a full
participant in God’s generosity.
Today is the last Sunday of the church
year, the last Sunday after Pentecost, also known as Christ the King
Sunday. It’s also the first Sunday of
our church’s annual giving campaign which is titled Generations of
Generosity. Eleanor Foster, the
senior warden and I, chose this campaign because it is a way to tell the
stories of those who have come before us, in our lives of faith and in the life
of this congregation, as we approach the conclusion of our centennial year-long
celebration. Each week for the next three
Sundays, you will be invited to contemplate questions to help you reflect on the
generations who have helped nourish and shape your faith, on what it means to
live lives of generosity, and to tell those stories as a part of our common
life. This will culminate on December 17
with a storytelling event, where we will share a video of many of you sharing
your stories about how you have been nurtured by this faith community and your
hopes for its present and future.
In our gospel reading for today, we have
the third in a series of three parables that Matthew’s gospel gives us in Jesus’s
final hours. The first parable which we
read two weeks ago is the parable of the wise and foolish bridesmaids in which
Jesus is inviting us to live a mindful, joyful life. Last week, we had the parable of the three
slaves who were given talents by their master and is an invitation by Jesus for
us to live a daring, fruitful life. And
then this week, we get Jesus’ last public teaching in Matthew’s gospel, the
parable of the last judgement, in which Jesus invites us to live a generous,
compassionate life.[i]
It’s tempting to read this parable as
Jesus showing us that we can earn our place in heaven, or that our place in God’s
kingdom is a reward for righteous behavior.
But notice that the Son of Man says to the sheep, “Inherit the kingdom
prepared for you from the foundation of the world…” which shows that those who live
lives of compassionate generosity are invited to join in the creative work that
God has already done, as a free gift from God, an invitation to participate in
God’s creative work and in God’s generosity;
that when we practice our own compassionate generosity in our dealings
with our fellow humans, then we are already active participants in God’s
kingdom of eternal life, even here and now.
Your invitation this week is to consider
our questions for small group discussion: What is your first memory of money
and how is that connected to your understanding of God? What important lessons
have your learned from the members or events of a previous generation at St.
Thomas? How has the influence of past
generations affected how we have evolved as a congregation? Is the vision for
how we live together as the body of Christ changing? In what ways? What stories does our church
have that we should preserve and share? What is your vision of this church for
future generations?
Comments
Post a Comment