Humbled

"The person who humbles themselves will be exalted." Luke 14:11

Dear People of St. David's,

I pray that you are well and are enjoying these final days of summer. I know some of us are getting ready to send our daughters and sons off to college or getting ready for school a little closer to home. Others of us are getting ready to get back into a fuller work "experience." The staff of St. David's is getting ready to welcome everyone back with the Kick-Off to our program year on Sunday, September 9th. Still others of us are simply enjoying a phase of life that is not seasonally or school based.

Every phase of life has its own challenges and victories, its difficulties or successes. It is amazing how life moves on and changes and how we are called to respond as best we can, (with God's help), to enjoy the gift of life and take the triumphs and trials as they come. Amy and I, for instance, are empty nesters for the first time in 24 years. Though we will never stop being parents, a different kind of life is opening for us this fall.  A life that we will take up, and with God's help, live as fully as we can.

And I think that's the key - with God's help. Too many times in life we think that we're supposed to be accomplishing what we are accomplishing and facing what we are facing on our own. And while it's a great feeling to do and to be and to make things happen in life, life's never quite as rich or peace-filled unless we invite God to be a part of our life. When we set aside our pride and invite God to help us or take a moment to count our blessings to see how many of them come from God, then our lives take on a depth and quality that is far greater than any life we can come to on our own. Setting our pride aside and remembering how God and others have helped build the life we are living opens the way for God's Spirit to enter in and fill us with the power and presence of God.

So humble yourselves, as Jesus says, and you will be raised up. You will be exalted by a power that can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine on our own. We will experience a deeper love and peace and sense of accomplishment in our lives as God makes His presence known to us and through us to others.

Grace & Peace,
WFA

Life's Inconveniences

"If only the Lord had let us stay in Egypt!" Exodus 16:3

Dear People of St. David's,

I pray that you are well and let me say that I am so thankful to be back after a two week vacation. It's helpful for our bodies and soul to take a break from our regular lives. I feel refreshed and renewed in my faith, in my family, and in the mission and ministry of St. David's Church.

Now coming back to work or school after vacation, retreat, or break, is not always a comfortable thing to do, as many of you would agree. I will admit to a sense of feeling inconvenienced that I have to rise early again and get ready to be at St. David's and out in the community instead of sleeping in after staying up late to watch the Olympics for example.
But those everyday duties are not an inconvenience, just simply my life. Easy or hard, I love the life that God is calling me to live and will take the inconveniences as they come because they lead to more life.

I think that's part of the challenge many of us face in our daily lives and especially in our lives with God. We want our lives to go the way we want them to - and we want what we want. When circumstances press us or don't go the way we want them to go we sometimes allow our frustration to keep us from facing what's in front of us and we take an easier path - a path of convenience. That challenge causes a little of the whining we hear from the people of God in the quote at the top from Exodus. In this reading, the Israelites have just been rescued from hundreds of years of slavery in Egypt, but want to return to it because their new life is not quite what they want it to be. It makes you want to ask, "Really? You'd choose slavery over trying to live a new life on the way to the Promised Land and a living relationship with God?" In their short-sightedness, the Israelites can't see that on the other side of their inconveniences there is always more life, a deeper sense of God's grace, and new horizons that we would not know without pressing on.

This coming week and this fall, we will experience a number of inconveniences at St. David's. The Fellowship Hall is closed so we can scrape the asbestos coating off the ceiling. It was put up decades ago and encapsulated to make the sound better and will be removed over a few weeks with a dustless, wet process that is entirely safe. Then, in September, when we have Fellowship Hall back, we will lose the lower level of the Chapel as we commence the first phase of construction for the Raising the Roof campaign. We will be inconvenienced and will have to modify our programs, but I am excited and convinced that it will help our entire community and make us a better church.

So smile when life becomes inconvenient. It may be the next step to ward more life.

Grace and Peace,
WFA

Ambassadors Revisited

"So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making His appeal through us." 2 Corinthians 5:20

Dear People of St. David's,

I thank God every day for God calling us together as St. David's Church and for the way he seems to be moving in so many of our lives and in our community. It's really a remarkable time to be a part of this church and I invite you to join me in praying for God's continued blessings and presence.

Over this past year, we've been focusing on our roles as God's Ambassadors in the world. We've been talking and preaching and learning about representing God, and how God is making His appeal to others through us. I think a lot of us caught on pretty quickly to the idea that how we treat one another in church and in our every day lives speaks volumes about our Christianity. Our actions are always more powerful than our speaking and so when people come to St. David's and are welcomed; see God's love at work in our community; and see the difference we are trying to make in the lives of others through our pastoral care and outreach, their lives are changed. Let me give you an example of what I mean.

I received a letter from a new member in the fall thanking me (us) for making St. David's such a welcoming and vibrant Christian community. "When we moved here," they wrote," we didn't know anyone and now we feel like we are part of a family. Thank you for your part in building this kind of Christian community."

It matters to people who come to St. David's and it matters in the world we live that we live and act as God's ambassadors. And while we will soon be embracing a new theme, I invite you to hold to this year's calling and live your life as God's ambassador every day. If you will, then others will be drawn to God through you.

Grace and Peace,
WFA

Following Christ Through Thin Times

"But I tell you, unless you repent...." Luke 13:3

Dear People of St. David's,

I pray that you are well. I am writing ahead of my vacation to share some comments about our national church and Jesus' call to follow Him.

St. David's is part of a national body of Christians known as the Episcopal Church. As part of the Episcopal Church, we belong to a huge mosaic of Christian communities and Christian individuals that are varied and different, similar and alike all at the same time. Sometimes this great community looks a lot like St. David's and your Christian life and sometimes it's hard to tell if we share anything in common. And if you've been following the news about our denomination and this most recent General Convention that I attended in Indianapolis, you can get a sense of the variety.

I write about this because several of you have expressed your dismay and disappointment at the downward direction the Church seems to be taking or about decisions that have been made by our community on a number of issues. We as a denomination have seen a decline in rolls like all of the main line denominations. We have also been struggling to find center after several decades of cultural upheaval and change, which to many of us, feels like sifting sands. With these changes, we wonder about the future of the Church and what's next.

These are thin times for many congregations and Dioceses and for our national Church in many ways, yet I am confident and fearless that God is in fact leading the Church and is in the process of renewing it-though it looks much more like Good Friday to some people rather than Easter morning.

This is a long way of saying pay attention to your own following of Christ. It is interesting to have opinions and even judgments about where our Church is going, but if it becomes a distraction from following Christ, then let me invite you to set those opinions aside. I've found, as have many of you, that following in the ways of Jesus is a pretty full-time commitment. So turn to it. Lift your cares and concerns to God and then allow God to make you into the best Christian you can be so that you may experience God's grace and presence and draw others to him by your shining example.


Grace and Peace,
WFA

Rest Awhile

And Jesus said, "Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest awhile." Mark 6:31

Dear People of St. David's,

I pray that you are well and that you are enjoying these warm and beautiful summer days. This is an amazing part of the world for seasonal variety and is worth our thanksgiving to God.

I've been away a good bit this summer, but not for vacation until now. I flew to Guatemala for the start of the mission trip and to renew our relationships with our companions there. I spent ten days in Indianapolis as a Deputy to our Church's General Convention to participate in the life of the national Church and to make connections to support our mission and ministry. But no vacation until this coming week and I'm ready.

It's important in all of our lives to take a break from the regular. It's so easy to get caught up in our day to day lives with all its activities and commitments and people that it become harder and harder to remember why we're living the way we're living much less hear God's voice in our lives. Even Jesus understood the value of going away from His busy schedule to rest, reflect, renew, re-energize and His life is marked by a pattern of rest and activity, rest and activity.

So, as Amy and I head out on our little vacation adventure this coming week, I encourage you to come away from your life. Be still. Think deep thoughts. Listen for God. Eat good food. Look at your life. Do something ridiculous and rest awhile from your regularly and sometimes over scheduled life and allow the presence of God and God's love to seep into your soul. You'll be glad you did and so will all those around you.
   
Grace and Peace,
WFA

Giving: How Much is Enough

"And so the people were restrained from giving because there was more than enough." Exodus 36:7

Dear People of St. David's,

I pray that you are well and have been considering making plans for your giving in these quieter summer months. It makes such a difference to have a plan. It brings purpose. It brings joy. It makes a difference to the receiver and in your own life. Being proactive in your giving opens the way for God to guide you and encourage you and will give you a better sense of God's generous giving in you life.

All well and good, you say, Frank, but how much is enough? Well the Bible and our Church teach tithing or giving away ten percent of your income for God's purposes and for the good of others. It doesn't have to be to church alone, though I do have a slight bias that way. There are certainly important causes and institutions outside the church that need our support. And please don't make it some kind of legalistic challenge for your life. That's the quickest way to spiritual failure I know and may limit some of you in how much God may be calling you to give. I like to think of the tithe as a goal, like loving your neighbor as yourself. Some days are better than others, but we strive to reach it and trust that God will use our giving in effective ways and forgive us when we fall short.

I don't know the answer to how much is enough, but there is an upper limit as witnessed in the quirky little scripture quoted above from the Book of Exodus. Moses and the Hebrews are gathering treasures to build the ark and the tent of meeting to worship God in their desert wanderings. They pray together and people being bringing gifts to be used for the construction of the worship space. At some point their generosity exceeds the needs of the plan and Moses has to tell them to stop giving because they already have more than enough. I'd like to see that in our own time, but it does give us a sense that giving has limits. That there will be moments, milestones, achievements that let us know that we have given enough and can either rest or invite God to redirect our plans to some other purpose.

When I was younger and even less subtle than I am today (hard to imagine), a friend once asked me how much was enough to give. I responded without even pausing for breath, "That God has given you everything you have and only wants ten percent back. You get to keep ninety percent and in giving will get to see God at work." He reminded me of this years later and I apologized for being so blunt. Apparently he wasn't looking for an apology, but was bringing it up to thank me for setting him on the right path of giving. It has been his pattern for over twenty years and his stories and the people he has come to know through his giving has helped to make his life as rich as anyone's I know.

When you're making your plan, set a limit for your giving. See how it goes and then, if you can, push it a little. I think you will find that you won't miss it, even at ten percent, and your life and the lives of those around you will be blessed immeasurably.

Grace and Peace,
WFA

Joy-filled Giving

I pray that you are well and want to spend a little time this week and next week talking about your giving and mine - and specifically as it relates to giving money. We are in an important capital campaign and will have our annual financial stewardship campaign coming up in October. In the quiet of the summer, I want to offer some thoughts to help you take control of your giving, to be proactive, thoughtful and generous all at the same time.

If you're like me, you are inundated with people asking you to donate to this worthy cause and that worthy cause. The mail is filled with letters asking for our support of people and institutions and research that will make a difference in the lives of others. Even our church asks us for money to support the mission and ministry and to help build buildings. Too many of us, me included, get tired of everyone having their hand out and trying to encourage or guilt us into giving money. We don't have a plan or any kind of theology of giving. Most times we feel pressed and confused about what our best course of action may be. So, sometimes, we give in and write a check or make a pledge. And when we give in this spirit, the joy of giving is lost somehow.

How can we give joyfully? Assuming that you and I will give over the course of our lives, we need to make plans. In fact, having a plan for giving is the start of changing our hearts and making a difference that matters. Think for a moment about who and what is important in your life. That's probably a place where your money will make a difference. Look at what communities and institutions are important to you and to the life of the world and set aside some funds for them. Stop being a reactionary giver and make plans so that you can give to make a difference for others and in your own heart. St. Paul says God loves a cheerful giver, but it's unlikely that you and I are going to be cheerful unless we are thoughtful and proactive about our giving.

God has given all of us gifts. In fact, there is not one thing that you are or one thing that you have that God didn't give you in some way and for some purpose. So, just as God has freely given, make plans to give of yourself. It will fill your heart with both joy and love while making a difference in the world, all at the same time.

Grace and Peace—
WFA