Good samaritan we are the innkeepers
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This is me sitting down at the end of the day, putting my feet up on a stool, preferred comforting beverage in hand, and immediately hearing, “Hey, Mom!?” We don’t know who this one is who is raising questions and wanting clarification of terms, but we get him. No sooner has Jesus spoken these words about prophets and kings who desired to see than we have a lawyer with unanswered questions. In Luke’s gospel, this is comedic timing. In processing the storytelling with the 70, Jesus turns back to the original small group of students and says just to them, ““Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.” The 70 go out, do as they are told, amazing things happen, they can hardly believe it, then come back to share with Jesus what happened on their travels. They must make that loving road by walking it. No amount of processing and preparing and problem-solving is going to make them ready. And Jesus is fully confident, even if they are not, that they have what it takes to represent the love of God as they go. Whether or not they are properly equipped, trained, and ready is not really part of the story. We know the parable but skip the context: Jesus has called a closest group of disciples, but by Luke 10 has expanded their teams and sent them out in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. That is happening in Luke’s gospel today. What we are considering, especially this week and next, is how the way we talk about money and fundraising and gathering and spending is an act of faith-is embodying our spirituality-is living out the very things we hold most deeply and claim to believe. The posture of sharing, hoarding, grasping for, or seeking money will extend to you a perspective of scarcity or abundance, of possibility or of fear. The way we talk about and think about finances brings with it a central invitation to a particular way of life. See, there’s a central role money plays in the life and work of any organization, and in an organization like ours, money is more than just a necessary, behind-the-scenes afterthought that makes the rest of life possible. And that’s not exactly what we’re talking about today, but it’s on the feasting table before us. Of all the things burdening your mind, fairly low on the list are dwindling congregations in historic sanctuaries designed to seat 1000. Most likely, it’s not the talk of old buildings and their adaptive reuse that has your heart aching right now. Whatever brought you here today, I suspect you’re not here to talk about money-either gathering it up or giving it away asking for it or being asked for it.
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And next week we will officially make our pledges toward both of these projects in addition to the 2020 operating budget. We’re also looking toward 100 years in this historic building and raising at least $2 million toward its preservation and continued use for the common good. Charles Center for Faith + Action, our new nonprofit working at the intersection of sacred story and social justice. If you’re visiting with us for the first time or haven’t been around here in awhile, the short version is: we’re raising another $90,000 to fully fund the St. Charles, we have entered a season of fundraising.