Introduction:
The Worship Committee realized a few weeks ago that there would be a collision between Lent, Holy Week, Easter, Earth Day, and the annual Stewardship campaign, which don’t all seem to fit together! And that was before we knew a candidate would be coming next Sunday! So, that’s a lot for one church at one time!
In that Worship Committee meeting, there was a funny moment when I said to April Conlee (part joking, part serious), “No, we cannot celebrate Earth Day on April 27th because that’s my only day to talk about money in the Church.” To which she muttered something disparaging about capitalism!
So, the challenge for today was how to address financial giving, generosity, and stewardship of the planet, all rolled into one service.
Luckily, I stumbled on Robin Wall Kimmerer’s book “The Service Berry”. Kimmerer is the author of “Braiding Sweetgrass”. Charles bought this book because we actually have a Serviceberry tree in our yard, and it was sitting on our kitchen counter just when I needed it.
So I stole it from him and found in here some ideas that helped me tie today together! This little book summarizes some of her teaching on reciprocity and gratitude in nature and in human economies. So, that’s what we’ll be reflecting on today.
Kimmerer is from the Potawatomi nation, and that reminds me that we worship on land that was historically Dakota and Anishinaabe land. At Lyndale, we keep exploring what it means to take, or be given, the gifts of the earth from others who came before us, how to show humility and gratitude about that, and how to give back to what has been given to us. That is part of the work of reparations. We seek to live in a posture of repentance and repair, reciprocity and gratitude with the land, with each other, and with the whole of God’s creation.
Gospel Reading: Luke 24: 13-43
- Have you ever noticed that most of the stories told about the risen Christ include food?
- Breaking bread on the road to Emmaus
- Asking for a piece of fish in the upper room
- Cooking fish on the beach in Galilee
- Food that came out of nowhere; fish caught when there were no fish biting;
- bread that just appeared on the table
- These stories echo other biblical stories:
- Manna falling from heaven: just enough for each day
- Elijah being fed by ravens
- The loaves and fishes passed out to a crowd;
- Whether its by the generosity of people, or by nature offering up its first fruits,
- Either way, God seems to activate abundance and generosity in people and nature
- It’s easy to forget these stories of generosity and abundance in the world today.
- We live in a dog-eat-dog, competitive society:
- you get what you pay for
- A society where everyone, even the church, is worrying, scheming and working for our piece of the pie!
- But stumbling across Kimmerer’s little book about the Service Berry has made me question my usual attitude about scarcity and competition for resources.
- Kimmerer challenges the idea we usually have that there is not enough to go around.
- Maybe there is enough, if we share what’s been shared with us!
- We happen to have a Serviceberry tree in our yard; and I read a little folklore about it which says
- It’s called the Serviceberry because it is the first tree to bloom after the ground thaws in spring,
- this used to indicate that spring burials of the dead could be carried out and the pastors could hold funeral services
- It’s called the Serviceberry because it is the first tree to bloom after the ground thaws in spring,
- But Kimmerer has a different story: she says they were named for the time in spring when roads became passable again, and circuit preachers could travel to rural churches and conduct services.
- They’re known for their beautiful flowers, and later, their berries which offer nutrition and a sign of abundance to animals and humans alike
- The Potawatomi word for the serviceberry is Bozakmin and the min portion of the word refers to “berry”, which is from the same root as the word
- So berries are considered a gift for the good of all
- She defines what a gift is this way:
- A manifestation of unconditional love
- An expression of generosity, care and creativity
- Offered to anyone freely, saint or sinner
- And it inspires gratitude in the receiver of the gift
- Gifts from nature teach us that everything we have or do is made possible by the free and generous gifts of the earth (and I would add God)
- Failure to show gratitude for these gifts dishonors the exchange, and may backfire in some form of judgment
- Kimmerer talks about reciprocity: we receive and we give, in the human world and in the natural world;
- In nature, there are all these symbiotic relationships
- Like the Three Sisters plants: corn, beans and squash; it’s an indigenous practice to plant them together because they benefit each other
- In the human world, we might form communities of mutual benefit
- Living in a city, I’ve seen a lot of mutuality I don’t see in my rural area, because people live closer to each other and tend to help each other more.
- In nature, there are all these symbiotic relationships
- And between humans and nature, there are so many ways we can be of mutual benefit:
- We received two beehives on the farm yesterday
- We house them, they pollinate for us and make us honey
- It’s a great reciprocal relationship!
- As Charles was preparing the boxes for them, he found so much honey from last year’s bees—
- they all died in the winter, but they left behind so much abundance we cannot even process it all,
- so we’re just leaving it out for the wild animals outside to enjoy
- Modern cultures, up to now, have focused on consuming resources without giving anything back
- Kimmerer is trying to teach us that reciprocity and generosity are the only ways to keep the planet and ourselves healthy and alive.
- The gifts we receive from nature or other people can be expressions of the holy “enoughness” of God’s world. There is enough for all!
- Unlike in capitalism, where acquiring as much as you can is the goal;
- The goal we’re after is the moment when everyone has enough
- Enough bread, enough fish, enough love and forgiveness
- If we follow cues from nature
- She points to examples of gift economies that demonstrate this;
What is a gift economy?
- It is an economy that “recycles” gifts from one form to another and pass them on
- in contrast to a capitalist economy in which individuals are free to acquire wealth, then use that to acquire more wealth in a spiral of acquisition that leads nowhere.
- The ancient Hebrews had their gift economy which asked people to bring “first fruits” as offerings for the poor and landless
- They had the concept of a Jubilee year, in which debts would be cancelled
- The early Church also practiced a gift economy where they shared resourced in common between rich and poor
- These systems have not always worked in practice! Humans can be greedy!
- But the aspiration toward equitable sharing is visible throughout the scriptures and in some religious communities through history.
- Today we see glimpses of a gift economy in ordinary local churches like Lyndale
- We try to practice mutual trust that everyone will give what they can
- That we will give from a place of love,
- not out of anxiety or the wish to control things, or look good
- not out of obligation or guilt
- But because we love what the Spirit is doing among us,
- And we love the feeling of being generous, sharing our creativity and expressing gratitude for our church communities and the world
- I see this in the most practical way when I observe that the most generous givers tend to be people who are deeply engaged in the everyday life of the Church;
- Their lives are interwoven with the life of this Church, in a beautiful connection of giving and receiving that blesses them and everyone around them.
- You are giving much more than money: you’re teaching a class or singing in the choir or serving on the Search Committee or baking bread for Communion.
- And you’re receiving something that can’t be valued in dollars, but enriches your lives in lots of other ways.
- You at Lyndale don’t like talking about money much.
- I’ve noticed that, when you do talk about it, some of you have this idea that the money will just take care of itself!
- And a few of you worry about money all the time
- There’s something a little dangerous—and refreshing-–about trusting the money will take care of itself;
- Kimmerer is teaching us that gift economies operate on mutual accountability, and celebrating every beautiful gift that is offered.
- Maybe “the money will show up” if we do good ministry and everyone gives what they have to give.
- You are about to enter a whole new chapter of your life together as a church.
- I am really excited for you!
- This is a time to really consider what you have to offer this ministry, financially and spiritually.
- Maybe you can give a little more money, and if you can, you should!
- Or maybe right now that’s not possible
- Maybe you’ve been on the sidelines waiting for a new pastor to show up, but its time to come back and explore what you can do to help Lyndale flourish with a new pastor alongside you.
- I think you should be grateful for what you have here and now: even before a new pastor comes;
- be generous in sharing it with each other and the world!
- God is doing a new thing here. And there will be enough of that good thing for all to enjoy!
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