Welcome to the Monday Mailing #37 –
The Giving Tuesday Edition
Who would have thought we would label the days after Thanksgiving. . .and even the first few days in Advent (most years) in this way. I understand Malls were crowded on Friday for the “festivities.” Personally, I gave up that pursuit many years ago. Cyber Monday is in the bag, or box in this case, although I am still seeing some ads online for deals. Which brings us then to Giving Tuesday.
It began as a way to, in some way, balance out the excess of the weekend’s pursuits, and remind us of needy organizations to which we could spread our extra/leftover funds. Surely the educational institutions you graduated from. . .or the ones you paid for your children to graduate from (!) have sent you an appeal. The Salvation Army and City Mission were some of the first appeals I received.
Where we put our money – from the money we can spare, and from the money which is a sacrifice to share – shows what we value. In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus reminds us:
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Or, as Eugene Petersen put it in The Message translation:
“Don’t hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or—worse!—stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it’s safe from moth and rust and burglars. It’s obvious, isn’t it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.
On this Giving Tuesday, I invite you to look at what you have. . .a gift from God
. . .and where there are needs in this world. Frederick Buechner, Educator, Writer, Theologian, and Presbyterian clergy reminds us: “Your vocation in life is where your greatest joy meets the world’s greatest need.”
Where is the need which sparks your joy? An extra gift to the Food Pantry, Cornerstone Campus Ministry, Wizard’s Wardrobe, or even HUPC would be so very welcome.
Where is your vocation, people of God?
Pastor Janice