Friends,
Last week, I preached about the practice of 'Reimagine.' We dug into the hard good news the prophet Jeremiah offered to his country-people in exile, and the hard good news Jesus offers in seeing the faithfulness of the Samaritan healed of leprosy. In both those stories, God is in the business of helping us reimagine things for a hopeful future. God asks that we do the long, practical, one day at a time work of trusting that God’s triumph over death is more real than the hardships we face. You can listen to the sermon here.

Last week, we did more of that reimagining at our Wednesday evening session. We talked about the story in which Jesus notices the faithfulness of the woman at the Temple who gives her last two copper coins, "all she had to live on." Many of us have been taught that Jesus held her up as a model to emulate. Put on your 'reimagining' hat here with me for a moment: What if Jesus was lamenting her gift? What if Jesus was pointing out the hypocrisy of a system in which the wealthy could easily give large sums out of their abundance, while expecting sacrificial gifts from those most in need? Read that story -- Mark 12:38-44 -- and then read the prayer below if you want to go deeper, and listen in to our conversation here.

With love,
Susan+

A Prayer to Help us Reimagine

Jesus of Nazareth,
In scripture we hear of a woman who gave her last coin away.
You pointed her out, but you did not say, “Go and do likewise.”

So we cannot help but wonder—did you point her out to ask,
“Why does this one have so little when others have so much?”

Did you point her out to help us see the injustice that led to her suffering?
Maybe.

So today, for her, and for you, and for every person who cannot afford to give to God
And put food on the table, we offer our gifts.
We pray that you would use them for your good.
Right what is wrong.
Balance the systems of injustice.
Use these gifts to build the world that we can only imagine
But you can bring forth.

In hope we pray,
Amen.

Tags: Rev Susan, Reimagine, Hope

Friends,

I hope you'll join us to reflect on the practice 'REIMAGINE' as part of Our Money Story. Scroll down for a brief prayer to start you thinking.

On Sunday, our deacon postulant / intern Huldah Niles preached on Jesus' words about faith being like a mustard seed. She talked about what a process of growing in faith might look like. You can listen to the sermon here.

In Love,
Susan+

A Prayer to Help us Reimagine
Jesus of Nazareth,
In scripture we hear of a woman who gave her last coin away.
You pointed her out, but you did not say, “Go and do likewise.”

So we cannot help but wonder—did you point her out to ask,
“Why does this one have so little when others have so much?”

Did you point her out to help us see the injustice that led to her suffering?
Maybe.

So today, for her, and for you, and for every person who cannot afford to give to God
And put food on the table, we offer our gifts.
We pray that you would use them for your good.
Right what is wrong.
Balance the systems of injustice.
Use these gifts to build the world that we can only imagine
But you can bring forth.

In hope we pray,
Amen.

Tags: Reimagine, giving, Faith, growth