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Dear Friends in Christ,
October, as you know, is stewardship month at CTS, as it is in most Lutheran
parishes. Obviously, there is a strong fundraising component here, but Lutherans really try hard to "theologize" this time
so that it is not merely about bucks and budgets--we want it to be a serious time of reflection about discipleship and identity.
The spiritual writer, Philip Zaleski, is reaching for that when he writes, "Above all, almsgiving is a measure of who I am,
of what in me is in ascendance."
The notion of life as stewardship is yet another way in which Christianity
manifests itself as a profoundly counter-cultural, maybe even counter-intuitive, philosophy of life. Our Capitalist system
is predicated on life as a matter of getting--what is "in ascendance in me" is the profit motive. For Christianity, life is
a matter of giving, what is in ascendance is love.
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| Pastor Peter Bastien |
Capitalism and Communism establish a strict dualism of individual versus community;
one coming down on the side of individualism, the other on the side of collectivism. Christianity sees the issue very differently.
Communities exist to nurture individuals, every one of whom is sacred to God, but also individuals are meaningless surds without
communities in which to live and love. For Jesus and Paul, the common goal is not the good of the community as opposed to
the good of individuals--it is the goal of individuals within their absolutely necessary communities: absolutely necessary
in order for individuals to be fully rounded, fully actualized individuals. For Christian social philosophy, individual versus
community is the epitome of a false dichotomy. (I have come, however, and over long years of pondering, to believe that most
dichotomies are false.)
So in a Lutheran parish, you are asked to be a member of a community who lives
as a steward of your resources for the benefit of the whole community. It is not like a donation to a charity, it is a pledge
of a portion of your gifts (financial gifts, but also your time and talent) to be givenback to do the work of Christ in our
world. This requires prayer and deep thought. It is, as Zaleski says, a measure of who you are; it is a decision about what
really matters in your life.
Yours in Christ,
--Pastor Bastien
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