For last week’s Make A Difference efforts, six of our church’s adults went to Our Saviour’s Shelter to lead a bingo event for the homeless residents there. By all accounts, they had a rewarding and enjoyable evening, returning with a few anecdotes. One story they shared was that it was the first night for a young woman to be there, and she was filled with anxiety and uneasiness. But the simple joy and fun of a bingo game made her feel welcomed and comfortable at the shelter, such that she told the volunteers how meaningful it was to have the game there that night.
Another anecdote that was shared with me spoke volumes in regards to good, healthy stewardship.
Our Family of Christ adults had each brought some simple prizes, such as $5 Target gift cards, gloves, or a stocking cap. They donated these to be prizes that the bingo winners could then claim. Our volunteers noticed something interesting happen as the evening’s entertainment unfolded: Once winners won two prizes, they stopped calling out their bingos, because they wanted to step back and let other residents have a chance to win. They did this without being instructed to do so, out of their own sense of fair play. They didn’t want to take more than a fair share, and they wanted to make sure everybody had a chance to win.
Isn’t that a beautiful image to hold in your mind’s eye? Here were people who had so little, and could easily be forgiven for wanting to win as many prizes as they could. And yet, they saw to it that everybody had a chance to win a prize, even if it meant sacrificing their own ability to win.
Generosity is not only a virtue, it is one of the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). We Christians like to think about our ‘giving’ as a faith-filled response to the many and greater gifts that God has first given us. Further, we want to be much aware of our neighbor’s needs, so that our gifts benefit others, and we make sure everybody gets a fair share of God’s grace – which truly is God’s prize.
Remember that all through November we are sharing in stewardship education. November 18 will be Celebration Sunday, when we will invite members to bring forward their pledges for our ministry together in 2013. And we’ll have rolls served all morning long as a big thank you for all the offerings shared throughout this past year.
This week in worship we’ll continue to hear about why we do the many ministry things we do.
See you in church! ~ Pastor Josh
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