Our most recent edition of Generously Speaking comes from our Conference Treasurer, Christine Dodson. Feel free to utilize this in worship, either as a bulletin insert or by reading this before the Sunday offering is received.
Generously Speaking 6.0
Have you ever noticed how God can place a conviction on your heart from a place you least expect it? That happened to me and the conviction came through comedian Chris Rock. If you are familiar with Chris Rock, then you will know why I would say he would not be a source where you might expect to hear much word from God. I remember watching Chris doing a stand up show many years ago. I don’t remember much of the show now except one very brief part of the show when Chris was talking about children in Africa with no clean water. He said (paraphrased of course) – isn’t it something that there are people in Africa without water to drink or to use to care for themselves and we’re over here splashing around in it in waterparks? That line stung a little because I had never heard it so personally before – I like waterparks. I like going to the pool. I bathe every day in clean water and have plenty of clean water to drink.
I have always taken for granted that God will provide enough to meet all of our needs. If that’s true, then why are there some who go without? Why do we splash around in waterparks and others don’t even have clean water to drink? The thing I have come to realize in pondering this one line from a comedy show years ago is that God has provided enough to meet our needs – and “our” includes everyone, everywhere. There is more than enough capacity for clean water in the world. There is more than enough food in the world for everyone to eat and be nourished. The problem is location. The abundance of the Lord is hoarded and concentrated in certain areas. Just consider how much money is spent each year in the United States by those of us trying to lose weight and not to eat too much.
So, what’s the solution? If the problem is location, then the solution is distribution. How? Jesus told us by working together and loving each other. Feed each other. If we know there is more than enough, then we distribute it. It’s that easy. We have more than enough capacity for clean water – so we help distribute the equipment and knowledge to produce it. Again, it’s that easy – we just can’t hoard it. There are always other complicating factors but the first step seems doable to me.
We are blessed to be a part of a connectional church that gives us an easy avenue to distribute. As United Methodists, we contribute to build an infrastructure to support the building and distribution projects for these life-giving resources. Working together we can put resources in place to put God’s abundance where it is so desperately needed. Support this work through giving to apportioned ministries and advance specials. We can do more with our resources when we work together. Let’s not hoard in our season of abundance – let’s share. I mentioned that I believe that God gives us enough for all of our needs. I also believe one of our needs if we want to grow closer to God is to share – we need to share if we are to ever begin to feel how deep our blessings really are. Once again, we have more than enough capacity for that – we just have to do it.
Christine Dodson
Treasurer, NC Annual Conference
