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Pastor's Message
Faithful to a Fault
He opened the book and found the place where it is written, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." And he closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant, and sat down.
Luke 4:17-20
A Lesson in Culpability: A man was in a hot air balloon and hopelessly lost. He released some air to lower the balloon so he could ask directions, and seeing a woman, hailed her:"Pardon me, but could you help me please? I promised to meet a friend an hour ago, but I don't know where I am."
The woman below responded, "You are in a balloon, perhaps 30 feet from the ground. You are between 39 and 40 degrees north latitude and 74 and 75 degrees west longitude."
"You must be an accountant," said the man.
"Yes, but how did you know?" asked the woman.
"Because," said the balloonist, "everything you have told me is correct, but I have no idea what to make of it and, in fact, I'm still lost. You haven't been much help at all, and you've delayed my trip."
The woman replied, "You must be in management!"
"I am," said the balloonist, "but how did you know?"
The woman answered: "Simple. You don't know where you're going. You have risen to where you are due to a mass of hot air. You've made a promise you've no idea how to keep, and you expect someone beneath you to solve your problems. In fact, you are in precisely the same position you were before we met, but now, somehow, it's my fault!"
Who is to blame? We all are to blame. Henry Ford ran his successful motor company with the rule, "Don't find blame, find a solution!" World hunger, Iraq, terrorism, the church's line of credit, coverage in the nursery during worship - if we all are to blame for the problems facing us, then we are all free to take responsibility for finding solutions as well.
Jesus came to bring about a new world, a place where kindness and compassion were more important than power and influence. "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me," he said as he read in the synagogue from Isaiah, "because the Creator has anointed me to preach good news to the poor, the recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." Figuring out how we got in the state we are can be useful for a million reasons. Yet in one sense it really doesn't matter - inasmuch as it prevents us from moving forward, assigning blame is worse than useless. Imagine forgetting blame and viewing the world differently, perhaps through the imagination of a person like Joan Chittister:
The simplest arithmetic tells us that spending a billion dollars on the production of guided missiles creates 7,000 to 9,000 jobs. If the same amount were spent on pollution control, it would create 16,000 jobs. A billion dollars spent on local transit creates 21,000 jobs. A billion dollars spent on educational services creates 63,000 jobs. According to Employment Research Associates, a $40 billion economic conversion in this country could bring a net gain of more than 650,000 jobs. Spirituality and Health Magazine, November/December, 2003, p. 31
Just imagine the result of viewing the world differently. Just imagine God is choosing to make changes through us. Truly, God has called all of us to be accountable for what we do, and to do the work that makes the world more whole, more kind, and more compassionate. Just imagine, day by day, becoming a little more like Jesus.
Wishing you a future more like Jesus.
Russell J. Atkinson
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