Saint Paul Lutheran Church - Wheaton, Illinois

ACTs Newsletter

Worship & Music

Witness/Nurture

A message from Senior Pastor, Melody Eastman		A message from Associate Pastor, Mark Williamson
Stewardship as a Way of Life Life is complicated. Really, really complicated. There isn’t a day goes by that most of us don’t feel pulled six ways from Sunday (one of those phrases, incidentally, where you don’t know what it means exactly, but you still know exactly what it means….). Every day, there are hard choices to make, varying important demands to balance (including the demand to balance everything), and confusing decisions to be made. For some reason, this time of year always seems even more complicated than the other months—but maybe that’s just because this is where we are and it always feels this way. Of course, in the midst of this comes the annual conversation about stewardship. Which, given the complicated nature of life, is also a very, very complicated issue. Too often, of course, pastors can oversimplify the conversation about stewardship: “It may be hard, but it’s simple. Give more.” That’s not very helpful. This is the kind of thinking and talking that makes conversations about stewardship the thing congregation members dread and avoid. Stewardship isn’t supposed to be the thing that makes us feel even more awful. It’s supposed to be the thing that helps us, for heaven’s sake! The reason we don’t understand this is because we really don’t understand what stewardship is. And, as is so often the case, one of the ways to understand what stewardship is, is to be clear about what it isn’t. Stewardship is not an appeal to balance the budget. This is fundraising. Fundraising is not an issue of spiritual wholeness; stewardship is. Stewardship is not a guilt trip. It’s not about comparing who gives more or who loves Jesus more, as proved by the amount of time/resources/sanity sacrificed to the institution. Stewardship is not an annual program that you can avoid by skipping church for a month. ‘Nuff said. So what is it? Stewardship is a way of life. It’s based in an intentional awareness of your baptismal identity, and your desire to honor God. Stewardship is the process of setting your priorities. It’s taking the time to figure out (and be honest about) what matters most to you. And deciding how your life will have the meaning you want it to have. Stewardship is deciding how you will use your life—your whole life. It’s about time, and energy, and relationships, and talents. And yes, it’s also about your home, and your money, and your stuff. Stewardship is choosing control over your possessions, instead of letting them control you. Stewardship is choosing control over your time, instead of letting someone else’s agenda control you. Stewardship is learning to say “no” to some good things, for the sake of your “yes” to even better things. This includes time, and energy, and material things. Stewardship should not be a stressor or something we avoid. God means for it to be the way we experience peace in the middle of a really, really complicated life. It should bring you a sense of contentment, because even though life is complicated, you’ve made some decisions that are important to you, and you know why you made them. God’s hope, of course, is that your stewardship will bring you peace at the deep level, because you have listened deeply to God’s Word for you, and asked God to guide you in your discernment. God’s understands how the world pulls at you. God wants you to have life that is full in God’s terms—which is a very different thing from what the world will consistently try to sell you. And God is faithful to you—abundantly and consistently. Any stewardship choices we make depend on that truth; the more we know it, the more of a gift stewardship becomes.		Discovering Where Faith and Culture Meet “Culture is what human beings make of the world. It’s when we take the raw material of the world and make something out of it that then becomes a part of our world. I think every Christian effort to contribute to culture, to participate in culture, should begin by understanding that Jesus is already present and working in every human culture. It’s realizing that Jesus is already committed to the redemption of every human being and every cultural setting. And so the question for us is ‘How can I join what he is doing? What is he doing and how can I be a part of it?’” That’s how Andy Crouch, the designer of the series Where Faith & Culture Meet, invites us to dwell with Christ and invest ourselves anew at the intersection of the church and the world. Where Faith & Culture Meet is our theme this Lent at St. Paul, and whether you’ve been a part of Wednesday evening Lent gatherings in the past or not, I invite you join us and make these six evenings a part of your spiritual practice during this special season. Starting with Ash Wednesday, February 17, out midweek Lent gatherings will again feature a shared meal at 6pm in the Fellowship Hall, worship at 7pm, and small groups from 7:30-8:30pm. The tradition of soup suppers at St. Paul has become a much-loved connecting time over the years; groups and individuals (mostly groups now) take turns hosting the meals and offering the soup. It’s an intentionally simple meal to remind us of all those around the world with little to eat. At the same time, it’s no secret that there are a lot of tasty soups to try and people enjoy sharing recipes or joking (in my case, at least) about how our special family recipe comes from the family who runs the Chinese restaurant down the street. New to Lent Worship this year will be a time set aside in the ten minutes before the service for meditation, aided by images of fine religious art set to music like Peter Gabriel’s Passion. Also special to our Where Faith & Culture Meet series will be a chance to experience, via documentary short film, five inspiring stories of people who have responded to God’s call in bold ways—through the art of painting, by building relationships with immigrant communities, pursuing reconciliation with First Nations peoples, mentoring vulnerable youth, and grounding oneself in the rhythms of ancient Christian spirituality. We’ll match these testimonies with our own, as St. Paul members and friends share stories about how they too are living at the intersection of faith and culture right here in own context. (Talk to me or Pastor Eastman if you think the Spirit might be tugging you to share a story!) Small groups were much appreciated last year in our series on the Lord’s Prayer, so we’re making sure to have another opportunity for this as part of Where Faith & Culture Meet. You can find a sign-up poster in the narthex and you’ll want to order a participant book as well ($8, but sharing allowed)—we’ll place an order early in the month, so don’t delay. Small groups are a great way to get to know people in your church better, as you dig into the Bible together and tell stories about where faith is meeting culture in your own life. For parents with younger kids, there will be childcare available during worship and small group time until things wrap up at 8:30pm. The season of Lent at St. Paul offers a fresh opportunity to go deeper in your walk with Jesus. I hope you’ll be a part of it…and maybe even bring a friend or two.

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515 S. Wheaton Avenue - Wheaton, Illinois - 60187

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