Gratitude and thankfulness go hand in hand… Jeff and I are so blessed and filled with gratitude and thankfulness for all the wonderful gifts of time, talent, and treasure that you shared with us for our wedding. The cookie reception, with all the wonderful cookies was amazing. The hospitality that you showed our family and friends was filled with grace. The gift of money, that got used at the beach, as we didn’t have to worry about if there was enough money for the great seafood, was over the top gracious. We are so blessed. We know that we are loved and that fills us. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU
And actually this gratitude fits beautifully with the Stewardship theme for this year; which is “Go and do likewise.” This is taken from Luke 10:37. This is at the end of the story of the “Good Samaritan”, someone who was so radically different that helped a person who was beaten. This Samaritan, took the time to help a fellow human, talk to that human, bind their hurts, feed and house this human, give money without counting the costs. This Samaritan took the time to love unconditionally.
We are called to be radically different, to “Go and do likewise”. Share off the top with God. To give and love unconditionally as Jesus did. We sometimes think, at least I sometimes think, that oh… I need that, I want that, I can wait to give my treasure to God. But what this story and these words teach us, is that giving unconditionally is what Jesus is teaching us through this parable and many other teachings.
We live in a world where we just have to look around and there is some company, or person trying to sell us something to make our lives better. The thing is this, Jesus makes our lives better. God makes our lived better. We can’t buy happiness or love. When we love and live with God first in our hearts and lives, all falls into place. That is “Go and do likewise”.
I invite you to be gracious, to love unconditionally, to stand up for injustices in our world, to be radically different than the world. And I invite you to “GO and do likewise”.
Blessings and gratitude abound. I am hopeful that we can share our treasure, our time, our very beings with God, first. Thank you for the blessings and gifts you have bestowed upon Jeff and myself. We are so filled with thankfulness.
Going and doing likewise….
Pastor Mindy