Wednesday 17th June - The Calling

DAILY BYTE

Only recently, have I begun to understand giving money to the church as a calling, an opportunity to serve God that I can choose to ignore. If we can ignore it, then we can also choose to accept it, receiving then the chance to experience the abundant life that can come out of sharing our individual resources and our combined resources as a community of faith.

Now, my dad could have spent the money for the feast he gave me and my friends on a lot of other things - lottery tickets, a second car, a fancier meal for only himself… And it’s easy to argue that spending thousands of rand on a feast is not being a good steward of resources. Let’s be clear. I’m not challenging you to go out and buy all your neighbors trout and chocolate mousse…

But the prophet, Isaiah, asks a crucial question about how we do spend our resources: “Why do you spend money for what is not bread, Your earnings for what does not satisfy?”

We do spend our money on many things that bring little real satisfaction in life, don’t we? We buy the twentieth pair of shoes because they’re on sale and they’re in style and ever so slightly different from the 19th pair we already have. We spend money on the newest gadgets available so that we can barely find our way from one end of the street to the other without consulting the GPS. Even at seminary, where little extraneous income was to be found, there was still a lot of what we would call somewhat affectionately, “retail therapy.” Yes, we do spend a lot of money on the shoes, the gadgets, the chips and popcorn and nachos of this world that ultimately won’t give us any satisfaction or nutritional value, while at the same time, we are each individually and all as a community of faith called instead to set a feast of love with our resources together – a feast that will offer the only true therapy - covenantal, everlasting, love and grace.

We are called to allocate our income in ways that provide physical and spiritual nutrition to ourselves and others! In other words, Isaiah challenges us all to share together and to “eat what is good!”

Isaiah challenges us, the people of God, on God’s behalf to “Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear and come to me; listen, so that you may live.” This is the scripture’s challenge for you today! Isaiah urges the people of God to listen for how God is calling us to live.

Isaiah tells us to turn to God – to accept the calling to take care of our human bodies and the bodies of others but also to nourish our souls and the souls of others. Because - all are called to eat God’s free feast of grace and love, and we are all also called to prepare that feast for others.

How are you allowing God to nourish you? Are you eating what is good? How are you nourishing others so that they may also live full, rich lives? Are you accepting this calling?

GUIDING SCRIPTURE

Isaiah 55:2b-3a (NRSV)

Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear and come to me; listen, so that you may live.