Pastor's Paragraphs

Pastor Mark Sherwindt

April 2007

Cindy Ferry got it exactly right. She opened her first in a series of stewardship letters with some high praise, followed by a cautionary note. “Zion shined in 2006! The congregation gave generously to support the church and our many good causes. We raised enough to cover the sound system, meet our budget, and end the year with a surplus of $2,741.67! WOW! We could all enjoy basking in our accomplishments; however, 2007 will, no doubt, give us the opportunity to once again challenge ourselves and re-evaluate our stewardship commitment.” She was right on target. Our great finish in 2006 has given us a couple of months of basking; and now it's time to take a closer look at the challenges of 2007.

According to our Treasurer's latest tabulations, February added almost $4,000 to the deficit with which we began the month, leaving us with a year-to-date shortfall of a tad over $7,250. We've had a whopper of a gas bill, along with some very hefty snow-plowing and salting charges. We're not much worse off than we were last year at about this time. Winter has a way of doing that to church budgets. There's no reason not to remain confident that income and expenses will even out over the course of the first four months. Month-to-month fluctuations can be very erratic. January-through-April provides a better look at how we're doing. Lent reminds us of the cost of discipleship, and Easter offers a taste of the new life that has broken into our world through the victory of Christ's resurrection.

Jesus has a knack for putting everything in perspective. In his first major address on the cost of discipleship, he begins with that now-familiar call, “If any would come after me, let them deny themselves, take up their cross and follow me.” [Mark 8:34] And immediately afterwards he poses a couple of tough questions: “What will it profit us to gain the whole world, but lose our soul?” And then there's this one: “What can a man give in return for his life?” This is the question of the season. Our stewardship awareness program encouraged us to think about the connection between our walk with Jesus and our weekly giving. There can be no doubt that how we give and how we live are important measures of our commitment to God; but far more important than our commitment to God is God's commitment to us. That is the Good News that this season proclaims. What can we give in return for our life? Not nearly enough … ever! God has done what we could not. God gave His Son in death, that we might find true life in Him.

We are about to enter into the mystery of Holy Week - following Jesus' journey into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, listening to him teach about love on Maundy Thursday, watching him live that love as he marches up Golgotha to the Cross, where he gives His life to redeem ours. Nothing we do could compare to what Jesus has done. Nothing we give could ever be enough for what Christ has already given. Holy Week is filled with life-changing reminders of God's great love for us. Three years ago this February a film was made that was met with great controversy, and whatever one thinks of the film's producer, the riveting images cast by The Passion of the Christ can pierce through the hardest heart as we move through this holy season of Lent leading to Easter. Whether we see it on film or hear it in church, it is this Passion narrative that forces us to focus on what the gift of grace cost God, and only then, after our eyes are opened to the costly grace of love incarnate hanging on the Cross, can we begin to see what it might cost us.

In His service, and yours,
Pastor Sherwindt

Pastor Sherwindt