It’s Not Mine
This coming week we celebrate Thanksgiving. Have you heard that some stores will be open on Thanksgiving night for “holiday” shopping? It’s upsetting and disappointing that opening at midnight Thursday or 1:00 am or 4:30 am Friday apparently isn’t disruptive enough for folks who have to leave their families to work to appease consumers and corporate bottom lines. To me, something is wrong when there can’t even be one day when people can be with their families or friends or simply have a day to give thanks without having to go to work so people can buy more stuff. Especially when so many people already have to go to work ridiculously early on Friday as it is. I will definitely not be out shopping Thanksgiving evening, and not just because the New England Patriots have to work that night. I will enjoy being with family, but I will also be thinking of so many people whose circumstances are different than mine.
November 18, 2012
Psalm 24, It’s Not Mine
Doug Scalise, Brewster Baptist Church
It’s Not Mine from BBC Staff on Vimeo.
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My heart aches this Thanksgiving week for a lot of people. For the many families from church who have lost loved ones this year who will feel their absence on Thanksgiving. For Jean Anderson and her family as she faces a tough road ahead with inoperable cancer; Jean has been such a faithful presence as our organist at our Traditional Service for a decade and I miss having her here. I feel for the people who lost loved ones, homes or businesses in the storm Sandy who will have to be more intentional and basic when it comes to looking for reasons to give thanks in face of a very uncertain future.
I also am praying for and grieving for the Palestinians and Israelis who are liked two wild animals locked in mortal combat both afraid to disengage out of mutual fear and mistrust. So the land where Jesus was born and taught and where the descendants of the earliest Christians live in ever- shrinking numbers is once again filled with war and grieving families.
It wasn’t all bad news this week, I was glad to have my dad and sister here visiting for a few days. One of the things my dad did was to look through hundreds and hundreds of photographs that are in our home. These were pictures from as far back as the early 1950’s when he was stationed in Japan with the US Air Force. It was something to watch him and listen to him describing people and events from his life sixty years ago up to the present. My dad, Jill and I also enjoyed meeting Wednesday morning with missionaries Wayne and Catherine Niles who serve in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They are doing great work and are very insightful.
We also had another wonderful Brewster Business Person’s lunch on Thursday at BBC thanks to Earl Caudill, Bill Carter, Kevin and Judy Jamison, Bob Linnell, and host of bakers making pies and friendly people serving. Saturday Pastor Mary led a retreat for our Deacons and last night Sharon and Tim Kautz & Bob & Dot Linnell helped our students put on a lovely Italian dinner. We have some terrific students, I enjoy being with them, watching them serve and talking with them. Thanks to everyone who came out for dinner.
On Friday I spoke with a childhood friend, who along with his wife, have a four-month-old daughter who has dramatically changed their lives.
I’m also thankful that we have new members joining BBC today; that’s always a joy and a reason to be grateful. Someone asked me this week how I cope with all the hard things that happen every week in the lives of people we know much less the wider world. It is so difficult when we’re made aware of so much pain and suffering that we can do little about. My answer is I read the Bible, pray, and do what I can to try and make a difference. Reading the Bible reminds me that humanity has been struggling with many of the same issues for centuries. Humanity has a hard time remembering this is God’s world, not ours, and we’re just living in it for a short time. Often times when I read the Bible I think, “If I could live truly obediently to this one verse, it would change my life.” If Christians could truly live in the knowledge and practice of one verse of the Bible it would change the world. I think this about many verses. One that struck me a little while ago was the first verse of Psalm 24. Listen to the whole Psalm:
“The earth is the LORD’s and all that is in it,
the world, and those who live in it;
2 for he has founded it on the seas, and established it on the rivers.
3 Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place?
4 Those who have clean hands and pure hearts, who do not lift up their souls to what is false, and do not swear deceitfully.
5 They will receive blessing from the LORD,
and vindication from the God of their salvation.
6 Such is the company of those who seek him,
who seek the face of the God of Jacob.
7 Lift up your heads, O gates! and be lifted up, O ancient doors!
that the King of glory may come in.
8 Who is the King of glory? The LORD, strong and mighty,
the LORD, mighty in battle.
9 Lift up your heads, O gates! and be lifted up, O ancient doors!
that the King of glory may come in.
10 Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory.”
Think with me for a few minutes about these words: “The earth is the LORD’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it.”
Ask yourself if you believe that is true. Do you believe the earth is the Lord’s? Does your view of the earth, the ocean, the air, the water reflect that you believe it all was created by and belongs to the Lord? Do you believe that every plant, tree, insect, animal, fish, shellfish, mammal, reptile, and bird is the Lord’s? The whole world – every living creature and the people who live in it of every color, nation, tribe and language, every living person belongs to the Lord, do you believe this? Do our lives reflect that we believe this is true or do they reflect something else?
Psalm 24:1, like many other verses in the Bible, is one that many Christians act as if we don’t believe it or that it’s not true. We look at the earth and all that is in it from a far less sacred, far more selfish perspective. We look at it as something to be used and exploited for our gain. How would our lives be different if we believed and acted like the claims of the Bible, such as Psalm 24:1, are correct? How would things change if we understood that all we have really belongs to God, and is entrusted by God to us to manage for a short while?
One of the arguments you can hear between very young, pre-school age children is when they argue about something being, “Mine.” It’s mine, no, it’s mine…” Sesame Street even ran an episode to help children understand a condition called, “Mine-itis”. If you’ve ever watched two children play, you have been exposed to and are quite familiar with Mine-itis. Children have no problem saying, “That’s MINE!” Have you ever had one of your children run into the living room and say, “Johnny took MY truck or MY Barbie doll or MY whatever it is?”
The crazy thing is that Mine-itis never goes away; children are just honest about it. As adults we say things like, “that’s my money” or “my car.” Scripture teaches that we really don’t own anything. “The earth is the LORD’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it.” If we live into this Biblical truth it will impact a great deal of our life. The whole idea of saying a blessing of thanks before a meal is because we are thankful and understand that our food is made possible through God’s grace though often planted, nurtured, harvested, or transported by people. No one will ever mistake the Scalise family for the Von Trapp’s, Osmond’s, or Jackson’s, but we do often sing a blessing at dinner which is simply singing five times “Thank you God,” then each of us says something for which we’re thankful. There are worse ways to begin a meal. I know some people who are doing a 30 Days of Gratitude Challenge to help them focus each day on all they have to be grateful for (see http://www.30daygratitudechallenge.com/ ). If we strive to be thankful people who have a holy view of the earth and all that is in it, then I believe we also will tend to be generous and grateful. If we view the earth and all that is in it only from a perspective of utility, how we can use it and selfishness, what it can do for us then we end up with a different world view and a different world in which to live.
Psalm 24 is an example of the truth that we become like what we praise. If we praise a generous, creative, life giving God, we hopefully will become generous, creative people who value all life. Notice the last few verses of Psalm 24 that speak repeatedly about the King of Glory, the Lord of hosts who is the God our salvation and the God of Jacob. God is glorious; Handel got these verses right in his incredible work The Messiah.
Not only do we become like what we praise, we become like who we spend our time with, this was shown in a recent study on vicarious dishonesty, You’re More Selfish When You Feel Close to a Selfish Person. People who were encouraged to identify with a selfish individual became more selfish, keeping 11% more cash when they were asked to divide money between themselves and another person, say Francesca Gino of Harvard Business School and Adam D. Galinsky of Northwestern University’s Kellogg School. The reason for the effect: When people feel psychologically close to someone who behaves selfishly, they’re more likely to consider the behavior to be less shame-worthy and less unethical, the researchers found. (Source: Vicarious dishonesty: When psychological closeness creates distance from one’s moral compass)
To help us to understand what is the Lord’s listen to a few other verses to go with 1 Chronicles 29:11-18 and Psalm 24 that we’ve already heard in worship today. In Psalm 50:10-12, God says, “…for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird in the mountains, and the insects in the fields are mine,… for the world is mine, and all that is in it.”
Haggai 2:8, “The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the Lord Almighty.”
Leviticus 25:23, “The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you reside in my land as foreigners and strangers.”
These verses tell me about the world and whatever I have, “It’s not mine.” To say “mine” about anything is to not clearly understand the purpose of resources. Think and pray about these verses, especially the verse that relates most to your life. Ask the Lord to help you know what is God’s and what is yours.
We are stewards of what we have. Stewardship is about:
- Caring for and managing God’s abundant gifts
- Counting our blessings intentionally
- Giving as we have received—and the giving of “first fruits”
- Allowing our passion for mission to take flight
- Focusing on abundance rather than scarcity
- Developing our charitable giving
- Teaching committed giving to the next generation
- Walking our talk
John Wesley said, “When a man becomes a Christian, he becomes industrious, trustworthy and prosperous. Now, if that man when he gets all he can and saves all he can, does not give all he can, I have more hope for Judas Iscariot than for that man!” Sharing, saving and spending are all influenced by our understanding of stewardship. Hopefully we aren’t infected with “Mine-it is.” As adults, we teach our children to share. When children share their life is better. We also have the opportunity to make our life better through finding joy in saying, “it’s not mine, it’s the Lord’s.” Everything we have belongs to the Lord and that includes not just resources and possessions but our life. Henry Van Dyke said, “Remember, what you possess in the world will be found at the day of your death to belong to someone else, but what you are will be yours forever.”
Prayer:
Lord, keep us from following the gods of pride, stubbornness, selfishness, vanity, sloth, greed, and comfort that beckon for our allegiance every day. We pray to follow you along the path of thanksgiving, gratitude, generosity, humility, love, compassion and service throughout this day and every day. Amen.
Blessing from 1 Chronicles 29
Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours.
Yours, Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all.
Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things.
In your hands are strength and power to exalt and you give strength to all.
Lord of hosts, may we also live as your grateful, thankful, loving people.
Questions for Reflection or Discussion
What if I grounded my sense of self in my baptism, and recognized that in God’s eyes what I have doesn’t have any relationship to who I am?
What if I rejected the notions that what I have defines who I am, that all the stuff around me is really mine and that how much people have becomes a means by which I value them and myself?
What if my relationship with myself and other people began with the assumption that those who have the same parent are by definition brothers and sisters? What if there really is such a thing as enough? What if I could give stuff away first and generously not in order to get something I want but simply to do good?
What if I refused to compartmentalize my life into one box labeled “faith” and another box labeled “finances”? What if I believed and acted like there are infinite connections between my faith in Jesus Christ and my financial life, and these connections go both ways? What would it look like if my faith informed my financial life, not just in terms of what I give away, but also in terms of how I spend that which I “keep” for myself? How is it that what I do with my finances really does profoundly impact my faith in Jesus?