October is one of my favorite months of the year. The crisp morning air brings a welcomed relief from the lingering heat of summer. The leaves on the trees begin to bring the colors of the rainbow to earth. High school and college sports are in high gear. The anticipation of upcoming holidays begins to build. This month provides a special atmosphere that stirs me, and many people, in unique ways.

In church life, the fall season is often the time for stewardship campaigns that challenge church members to consider how they will support the church financially, and in other ways in the coming year. It’s not quite like making New Year’s resolutions, but it is a time to take stock both of how God has blessed our lives and of how we will respond to God’s graciousness with our commitment of time, talent, and resources.

I was taught by my parents that “first fruit giving” was important for my growth as a faithful follower of Jesus Christ and that tithing was a baseline for faithful living. For my parents, both of whom had come to adulthood as the Great Depression began in 1929, generosity and faithful support of their church were starting points of their financial planning, even when they were living on a meager income. It was never a legalistic thing for them; they saw what they had as an opportunity to demonstrate their faith in and love for God and God’s abundant grace, as well as their commitment to the work of the church.

Our faithfulness as followers of Jesus is never about the abundance of our resources, but always about our awareness of God’s abundant blessings upon our lives. We live in a tumultuous time when it’s easy to let anxiety about the future drive our thinking about how to live as faithful Christian disciples. Care and prudence with how we handle our lives as people of faith are appropriate; however, scripture admonishes us not to focus on scarcity but on the abundance of God’s care and provision. The current of the seasons reminds us that although life has its ebbs and flows, its times of struggle and its times of abundance, God has so ordered our lives that all those times, whether good or bad, are opportunities for us to demonstrate our faithfulness as stewards of all God’s gifts: our time, our energy, our resources.

October makes me glad for the beauty of colored leaves and the relief of milder temperatures, but every month gives me a chance to respond faithfully to all the gifts and mercies God has poured out on me, most of all in the gift of Jesus, God’s own Son. Even in the tougher times, God’s abundant grace is a definite reason for my hope in difficulties, my gratitude in all circumstances, and my faithful response as a steward and servant of all God’s gifts. May this blessed reality challenge and encourage us all to be generous, compassionate, and loving!

 

In Christ,


The Reverend David Comperry
Field Staff Representative