Two Sundays ago, on our Homecoming Sunday (when we bounced back to church), I read a poem from the Christian poet Rainer Maria Rilke who prayed, “May what I do flow from me like a river, no forcing and no holding back, the way it is with children.” I invited us to live our lives like a river, carried by the surprise of its own unfolding. On this Sunday, as we begin our stewardship campaign, I invite us to continue reflecting on this image of a river, specifically the great river of the Holy Land: the River Jordan. Even more specifically, I invite us to reflect on the two bodies of water into which the Jordan River flows: the Sea of Galilee up in the north and the Dead Sea in the south.
Today, you can visit both of these bodies of water as I know some of you already have. And if you do, you will likely experience the Sea of Galilee as cool and refreshing and teeming with life and activity; and you will experience the Dead Sea as very salty and muddy and dead. The sea of Galilee supports an abundance of marine flora and fauna, including the delicious Galilaea tilapia which is known locally as “St. Peter’s fish”; but the Dead Sea, which is more than 8 times saltier than the ocean, supports no life.
One of my clergy colleagues, the Rev. Ed Bacon, explains that the reason for the stark contrast between the two bodies of water is simple: “the Jordan River flows both into and out of the beautiful and vibrant Sea of Galilee. Inflow and outflow. Inhale and exhale. Receiving and giving, like our relationship with [God]. From the southern banks of the Sea of Galilee the river makes its way into the Dead Sea, but there the river stops. There is no outflow from the Dead Sea.”
“The human spirit, just like the seas, needs both inflow and outflow in order to foster life and create energy. When love flows out from within us, more flows in. When we open our hearts to love, we not only spread that love to others but also open ourselves to receiving love from others. Our outflow determines our inflow. The more we give, the more vital our lives, the bigger our spirits, and the deeper our living. When people are on the receiving end of Generosity, it opens their hearts in a way that is deeply transformative and sends ripples of love outward into the universe.” [1]
The Scripture readings this morning invite us to live our lives like the Sea of Galilee, as vessels for the inflow and outflow of divine generosity, as faithful stewards who bear the “joyful responsibility of sharing with others what [we] have received from others.”[2] In this morning’s Psalm, the poet gladly promises and pledges, saying, “I will offer you a freewill sacrifice and praise your Name, O LORD for it is good.” Now there were many different types of sacrifices and offerings that were expected to be made in the ancient Jewish Temple: the burnt offering, the peace offering, the sin offering, the guilt offering and much more. However, the freewill offering or the freewill sacrifice was completely voluntary. It often included some flour mixed with oil and wine and an animal, like a lamb. And sometimes it was given in the form of worship supplies, like acacia wood or bronze or silver or incense or spices. Whatever it was, it was meant to be given freely, as one felt moved to do so by the Lord. It was not to be given out of guilt or force or for the purpose of prestige or power. It was meant to flow from one’s heart like a river, no forcing and no holding back, the way it is with children.
In the Gospel, as Jesus and his disciples pass by the Sea of Galilee, he describes how he will offer himself freely and fully in self-giving love even to the point of death, knowing that by giving his life away completely he will receive life everlasting. “When love flows out from within us, more [love] flows in.” The disciples clearly have no idea what he’s talking about and when they become obsessed with hoarding power and prestige for themselves by arguing over who is the greatest, Jesus gently nudges them away from this “Dead Sea mentality.”
Jesus invites a child into the conversation and says, “Whoever wants to be first must be last” and then he essentially says, “If you want to be in my good graces, make sure you are in the good graces of this child here, because the way you treat the children among you is the way you treat me. So don’t you dare be unwelcoming to the children among you. And don’t you dare mistreat them.”
Jesus actually wants us to emulate the children among us because the children often understand best how dependent they are on the love and generosity of others for their survival and wellbeing. They have not yet fallen under the illusion that they are fully independent self-made men and women. None of us are. Although many of us have indeed worked very hard to earn a living (and I am not belittling that at all), it is important for us to remember what the Bible clearly teaches us about money. All of the money we have is a gift from God. We say that every Sunday: “All things come of thee, O Lord,” but let’s let that sink in this morning. Everything we have, every penny we have is a gift from God.
I personally find that biblical truth challenging because I’ll admit I sometimes want credit for the money I feel I’ve earned and worked hard for over the years. But the Gospel reminds us that everything is gift. We give to the church to be reminded that everything we have is a gift from God. We give to the church so that it can continue fulfilling its mission to glorify God, to follow Jesus Christ, and to serve all people through the power of the Holy Spirit, thus sending ripples of love outward into this community and beyond. We give to the church to move more deeply into that ever-giving flow of divine generosity, knowing that it is by giving freely that we open ourselves up to receive much more like the inflow and outflow of the Sea of Galilee. We give to the church to move away from that Dead Sea mentality, which leads to stagnation and eventual evaporation. St. James, in his brilliant and challenging Epistle, describes this Dead Sea mentality of hoarding, envy and covetousness as “bitter” and “selfish” and ultimately violent and lifeless. St. James also describes the wisdom of living our lives like the Sea of Galilee as wisdom from above, as wisdom that is pure, peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and abundance.
In the first chapter of his Epistle, St. James says, “Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light.” (James 1:17). Everything is a gift from God so may all our giving flow from us like a river, like the River Jordan, no forcing and no holding back, the way it is with children.” May our giving today and this year open “our hearts in a way that is deeply transformative,” sending “ripples of love outward into the universe.” [3]
[1] Ed Bacon, 8 Habits of Love: Open Your Heart, Open Your Mind (New York: Grand Central Life & Style, 2012), 1 – 2.
[2] Ed Bacon, 8 Habits of Love: Open Your Heart, Open Your Mind (New York: Grand Central Life & Style, 2012), 25.
[3] Ed Bacon, 8 Habits of Love: Open Your Heart, Open Your Mind (New York: Grand Central Life & Style, 2012), 1 – 2.
DANIEL DeFOREST LONDON 