[Propertalk] Fwd: Easter 4A - Stewards' Stirrings 2014

[Joe Parrish]

Forwarded:


Stewards' Stirrings - 



Easter 4A







This is a resource here in the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia to help point to some stewardship themes in the weekly lectionary to make it easier to preach, teach, study, pray and speak about stewardship throughout the year.  
 
 
Refrain for Easter 4A
The LORD is my shepherd; *
I shall not be in want.




Click  Easter 4A  for a link to this Sunday's readings which include: Acts 2:42-47; Psalm 23; 1 Peter 2:19-25; and John 10:1-10.
 
The Steward's heart is steeped in the theology of the 23rd Psalm, the Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want.  Our readings this week each reflect this theology which is not only a theology of stewardship, but also is the theology of our faith.
 
Our reading from the Acts 2 gives us a snapshot of the responsive community that witnessed the risen Christ and saw the theology of Psalm 23 in a prismatic depth that had eluded them before.  With a deepened understanding of God's provision they acutely lived into the characteristics of the Beloved Community long before Dr. King articulated his dream.  This is a community that lived into the reality of their inextricable connection to one another and surrendered their resources for the common good with the confidence of the Psalmist, that no matter what God will provide and they will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.  To say that they held onto their resources loosely but responsibly is an understatement, seeking the well-being of all and sharing what they had in common.  This community operated under the threat of persecution, but they faithfully persevered in living the Gospel in their Apostolic teaching, fellowship, worship and prayers echoing the verse,
 
Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, 
I shall fear no evil; *
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
 
We can envision that the two beams of the Cross of Christ represent the rod and staff of the Shepherd. It is with this understanding of the transcendence of God's Kingdom come that the Acts 2 community no longer clung to the security of their possessions.  Their security was found in God and this released them from the anxious false-security of temporal resources and allowed them to see both themselves and their neighbors as God's beloved, like a good shepherd's sheep safely in the sheepfold.  Peter's words to the Church this week reflect this same theology encouraging perseverance in faith and living in righteousness without fear, for it is through Christ's wounds on the cross and his resurrection that we all have been made whole (healed).  Trusting in this theology sets us free from the anxious and brutally wounding lies of the pursuit of "worthiness and acceptance" through cultural values of power and possessions.
 
In our Gospel lesson this week Jesus rightly tells us he is the Gate through which we find abundant life.   The "thieves and bandits" of a theology of materialism, power, and position rob us of the safety of living in the awareness of our being unconditionally loved by God. Adopting these cultural values as our "shepherd" is life-stealing for our souls and endangers us from truly living in the freedom of God's abundant love and providence.  These "thieves and bandits" kidnap and blackmail us, always demanding more from us to be loved and accepted, but Jesus the Good Shepherd has ransomed us from their false-arrest.  All we need do is claim Jesus as our Shepherd, and we shall not be in want.  The Acts 2 community understood this and claimed Jesus as their Lord living as stewards of God's love and providence.  Will we, as the 21st Century Acts community follow Jesus' voice?
 
Green pastures await.
 
Blessings,  


Lance 


The Rev. Canon Lance Ousley 
Canon for Stewardship and Development
The Episcopal Diocese of Olympia
1551 10th Ave E.
Seattle, WA  98102
(206) 325-4200  office
(360) 499-6070  cell

 
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