I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart,
in the company of the upright, in the congregation.
Psalm 111:1
Today, as I am reflecting on the humor and fun-filled chaos we experienced in worship this past Sunday, I have been buoyed up by a joyous gratitude. Being in “the company of the upright” and both resting in the certainty of God’s presence with us and the assurance that we belong to one another, led to an experience of whole-hearted gratitude to God. Thinking about our sharing time and remembering Lina Morrison casting down her cane with a flamboyance that rivaled Jeremiah’s act of shattering that vase in front of the elders, and Bob Jensen, who was in worship via Zoom, donning his sunglasses as he commented on and gave thanks for Susanna Hoke’s radiant presence with us, makes me smile and lightens my load.
If you weren’t there, and don’t know what I am talking about, sorry. But let it be said that our worship last week was a picture of why the writer of Hebrews admonishes us to meet together. It was an experience of encouraging one another and stirring-up one another to love and good works (Hebrews 10:19-25). We have a lot to be grateful for; not the least of which is the gift we are to one another by merely showing up on Sunday and being ready to receive the grace of God, reflect God’s love to one another and listen for the invitations that God is sending our way to take up our part in the work he is doing.
Emboldened by this experience I want to use it as a springboard into my annual exercise of writing the pastor’s “end of the year giving message.” Normally it’s an exercise that I love to hate. I begrudgingly engage in the task of reminding you that it takes money to keep a church going, telling you that we are bit behind what we anticipated receiving and inviting you to consider making a generous gift. All of these things are true again this year. But these truths aren’t really the primary reasons that any of us give money to the church. We give because we are grateful. We give because we have received what only God can give us. We give because we want to invest in sustaining in our life together and our participation in the ministry of Jesus in our world.
That ministry is as much about laughing together as it is about planting the mustard seeds of the Kingdom of God in our world. It is about living in the Hope that enables us to “let our gentleness be seen by all because the Lord is near (Phil 4:4).” Thank you for another year of being a part of this work. Your faithful financial sustenance of Emmanuel Presbyterian Church is something I deeply appreciate. But what I appreciate even more is the gift that God has given us in one another and in acting on a common calling in the world. So “give thanks to the Lord with your whole heart.” Keep on doing what you have been doing and I am sure we will have what we need to act on the call God is giving us to reflect the light of Christ in our world.
David Rohrer
12/8/2022