A Shepherd of Abundance
Psalm 23; Acts 2:42-47; John 10:1-10
Recently I ran across a story of a rich beggar. Of course, we think of beggars as being people who have circumstances that have left them poor, without resources, and they find that seeking the generosity, or the pittances of others enables them to have food to eat. Well, there was once this beggar who was indeed poor. Due to injuries and the stigmas he carried in his village, he found that he was unable to make any meaningful money, so he had to beg. He also prayed. Regularly, he prayed for the means to live so that he would not need to beg. One day, he was visited by a messenger who carried a special bag.
The messenger explained that in the bag there were six silver coins. Once he removed those six coins, there would be six more coins. The bag would provide an endless supply of six silver coins. The only catch is that the moment he spent even one of the coins, the bag would stop producing. The messenger showed him the coins, the he gave the coins to the beggar and gave him the magical bag. Well the beggar was ecstatic. Finally, he could be able to provide for himself.
He ran home with the bag and sure enough there were six more coins. The rest of that day he would take coins out of the bag and hide them around his hut. And then he remembered, if he were to spend one coin, the bag would stop producing. So the next day, he was back out on the street begging, as usual, then he would rush home in the evening and gather more coins from the bag. This went on for weeks, and into years. The beggar regularly sought help from others to buy his bread. He lived in ragged clothes that people discarded. Then he would take more coins out of his bag. When the day came that the beggar died, his hut was found to be filled with piles of coins, greater than you would care to count. He died a rich beggar who could not enjoy the wealth he had for fear of losing it.
The story of the rich beggar exposes how we can miss the abundance that is right in front of us.
By most accounts, we would probably agree that we are living in a time of scarcity.
Consider a few examples that may seem familiar:
-- Watch the news about politics and government and what do you see. Present day politics is all about scarcity. There is a scarcity of resources so we need to cut salaries, we need to cut services, we need to cut taxes so that people with scarce resources can have a little more to work with. Of course, cutting taxes and cutting services creates more scarcity for wherever there are cuts.
-- Decisions in the church are often about scarcity. We hold the line on developing programs, we get anxious about sending too much money to support missions., especially missions that are far away or outreach to people who are different from us. We hear pleas for disaster relief, but there are more disasters than there is relief available. And of course, that leads us to be anxious about membership. If we could draw in more members, and if members would give more generously, THEN we could do more.
-- And, frankly, many of us in our own homes and families know about scarcity. We’ve been in some pretty tight times, economically. I would say that we are all feeling the pinch of scarcity in terms of higher gas prices, higher food prices, higher costs of living and our salaries are remaining flat, if you are fortunate enough to even have a job.
So, yes, we know something about scarcity.
And it is in this context that we hear the gospel message: where Jesus says, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly”
We know where to see the scarcity. Can we learn to see the abundance?
This past Monday evening I attended a meeting sponsored by our church's Justice Ministry. The focus of the meeting was on Human Trafficking and efforts to combat it. Did you know that we have a shelter here in Clay County for women who are rescued from human trafficing? It’s a place where they can be safe. They are not kicked out after an arbitrary period of time, but they are given real help. They are provided counseling so that they can find healing. They are provided a sense of community with women volunteers who simply spend time with them. They learn a sense of self worth as well as skills for living in a society that is sometimes radically different from the one where they grew up. They receive the kind of help that will give them the chance to not fall back into the trap of modern day slavery. It’s called Tabitha’s House. It is funded with donations and depends of a core of volunteers. And it's right here in Clay County.
Did you know that every single day in Clay County and Orange Park there are hundreds of volunteers at work. Volunteers are helping elderly, are working in our schools, are helping children with special needs. Volunteers are helping people who are living with life limiting illness, and people who are at the end of their earthly life. We also have volunteers who are making a difference with our river and tributaries, people who are picking up trash along the roads, not so much to keep the roads looking nice, but also to keep the trash from impacting the environment. I wonder, how many of you have done some sort of volunteer work over the past six months.
Do you know what the primary reason is that people say keeps them connected with a church? Do you think it is the excellent preaching or teaching they receive? When a new person truly connects with the Orange Park Presbyterian Church, it’s not because of the preaching and worship that warms their hearts. It’s not because of the sound teaching in Sunday School or a small group. that challenges their minds. They join because they feel connected with a sense of community. It is the friendships that people build that keep them connected with the community of the church.
Here is a little secret: What you focus on determines what you see. If you focus on what is wrong, if you pay close attention to dis-satisfaction, if you worry about what is missing, then what you will train yourself to see is the scarcity that is present. On the other hand, if you practice the discipline of daily giving thanks, if you pay attention to the evidence of Divine that is present in the other person, even a person you may not like, if you look for the evidence of love being shared, you will begin to see an abundance.
Let me come at it from a little different direction: in the Book of Acts, the end of chapter two, the Spirit of Pentecost has been unleashed and the disciples have been shaped into the church. So in Acts 2:42-47 we read: . . . . .
Acts 2:42-47
They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread
They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread
and the prayers. Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being
done by the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they
would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need.
Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and
ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the
people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.
What we have here, is a snapshot of the earliest church. Some aspects of the early church can never be recreated. There was a newness about this movement. It was not yet defined by theology and doctrine. They had this notion that Jesus was coming back at any time, so pooling all their resources seemed natural as they planned for the short term. There was a spiritual high from Pentecost and from their closeness to God that their hearts were unusually open to expressions of love and compassion. Even though we could not re-create the experience of others, there are some things we can learn from this picture of the early church?
There are three practices of the early church that opened them to experience abundance:
-- They sought to learn.
-- they practiced prayer
-- they joined together as a community, which included worship, fellowship, ministry
As they were open to learn, as they practiced prayer, as they shared together in one community, they also experienced an abundance in their lives, and their life together. Everyone had their needs met. No one was left wanting. That abundance is also expressed in the final statement that “day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.” Now that is an abundance worth noting.
Jesus used the metaphor of the shepherd and sheep, of the sheepfold and the gate. Jesus states that he has come that we might have life and have life in abundance. Jesus does not promise that if we proclaim him Lord and Savior that we will suddenly have all the financial resources for a comfortable life. Jesus does not say that if we come to worship every week that we will be spared the more unpleasant parts of life, like job loss or serious illness. And there is no magic bag of coins that allows us to draw out as much money as we want, as long a we don’t spend it.
But God HAS filled the world with an abundance of the Divine.
The more you open yourself to learn, there is an abundance of new learning.
The more your practice seeing people as the children of God, there is an abundance of children of God waiting to be discovered.
The more you practice your own creativity, there is an abundance of creative ideas and abilities in each one of us.
The more you practice gratitude, saying “thank you” for simple things in your life, the more you will discover people, events, happening, wonders, opportunities, for which you can be truly grateful. There will be an abundance of good things.
The more you participate in a community of caring people (of course, participating in a caring community begins with showing up, but participating means more than warming the pews), and the more we participate in community of caring the more we discover a abundance of people who care -- care about me, care about you, care about others.
Jesus came that you might have life and have life in abundance. I pray that you do not miss the abundance that is present in our life by focusing too much on the scarcity.
What we have here, is a snapshot of the earliest church. Some aspects of the early church can never be recreated. There was a newness about this movement. It was not yet defined by theology and doctrine. They had this notion that Jesus was coming back at any time, so pooling all their resources seemed natural as they planned for the short term. There was a spiritual high from Pentecost and from their closeness to God that their hearts were unusually open to expressions of love and compassion. Even though we could not re-create the experience of others, there are some things we can learn from this picture of the early church?
There are three practices of the early church that opened them to experience abundance:
-- They sought to learn.
-- they practiced prayer
-- they joined together as a community, which included worship, fellowship, ministry
As they were open to learn, as they practiced prayer, as they shared together in one community, they also experienced an abundance in their lives, and their life together. Everyone had their needs met. No one was left wanting. That abundance is also expressed in the final statement that “day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.” Now that is an abundance worth noting.
Jesus used the metaphor of the shepherd and sheep, of the sheepfold and the gate. Jesus states that he has come that we might have life and have life in abundance. Jesus does not promise that if we proclaim him Lord and Savior that we will suddenly have all the financial resources for a comfortable life. Jesus does not say that if we come to worship every week that we will be spared the more unpleasant parts of life, like job loss or serious illness. And there is no magic bag of coins that allows us to draw out as much money as we want, as long a we don’t spend it.
But God HAS filled the world with an abundance of the Divine.
The more you open yourself to learn, there is an abundance of new learning.
The more your practice seeing people as the children of God, there is an abundance of children of God waiting to be discovered.
The more you practice your own creativity, there is an abundance of creative ideas and abilities in each one of us.
The more you practice gratitude, saying “thank you” for simple things in your life, the more you will discover people, events, happening, wonders, opportunities, for which you can be truly grateful. There will be an abundance of good things.
The more you participate in a community of caring people (of course, participating in a caring community begins with showing up, but participating means more than warming the pews), and the more we participate in community of caring the more we discover a abundance of people who care -- care about me, care about you, care about others.
Jesus came that you might have life and have life in abundance. I pray that you do not miss the abundance that is present in our life by focusing too much on the scarcity.
Jess McCrosky
Orange Park Presbyterian Church
Orange Park, FL
May 15, 2011
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