Memorial United Methodist Church

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Today we baptized Devon Taylor Santiago. We promised to nurture him. What is the primary message we are going to give to him? Life is filled with abundance? Or life is limited by scarcity?

Jesus’ question about abundance and scarcity

Jesus asks a very important question in the face of 5000 hungry people, “”Where are we going to buy bread for these people to eat?” Here are the answers that might come from many contemporary congregations – not Memorial, of course:

• One person might point out a money-management concern saying that the congregation doesn’t take in enough revenue to support such a project. We are $55,000 in arrears right now. People need to eat but we need to be realistic.
• Another might say we have allocated our money to our existing projects and there is none left over for this new project.
• Another might say our church building is getting old and may need major repairs. Mission is important but we have to take care of our home.
• Another might say we are always talking about mission. Let’s focus on attracting new people who can help us pay the bills around here.
• Another might say that we shouldn’t sit all these people on the lawn (Jesus sat 5000 people on the grass) as it might ruin our landscaping.
• Another might ask what does feeding people have to do with religion? We are supposed to be teaching people about faith, aren’t we.
• Very few would expect any miracles. They are probably people who set reasonable achievable goals, put workable plans in motion and carry out their endeavors with the resources at hand.

Abundance and scarcity as experience by our work team

All of these responses are based on an economy of scarcity, a sense that there is just so much resource available and we need to carefully decide where it is used. Our mission work team of eight youth and adults experienced a sense of abundance for 10 days. We stopped the first night, July 12, at the Church For All People in Columbus, Ohio. The congregation started as a Free Store and now it is a store front United Methodist Church. Its pastor, Rev. John Edgar says,

We either live in a mistaken assumption that ours is an economy of scarcity, or there's a doorway into an economy of abundance by God's grace, if we will only believe enough to share…Everything we do is centered in the belief that there's "a divine economy of abundance." God has provided us with more than enough if people will only give the best of what they've received.

In just a few years the Church For All Peoples, serves meals daily to the people in it neighborhood. With no questions asked it gives up to 10 items to anyone who comes to its Free Store. It has started a jewelry business housed in its new 18,000 square foot building. Worship services are up to an average of 150 people. Its youth group works in the Free Store.
We stayed five days in Clinton, Oklahoma where we were welcomed with pizza and space on the youth room floor for sleeping by the youth group of First UMC of Clinton. They joined us every night for partying. Each night was a testament to abundance. We went to work each day, teaching vacation church school at the Clinton Indian Church. A few years ago the adults of this church got agitated with the pastor and they all left. The pastor looked around and saw no adults – so he left. The District Superintendent came to the property to close the church and she was met by two young Native American girls, under ten. They pleaded with the DS, “Please don’t close our church.” So she didn’t. The DS became the pastor for one-half a year and the girls told her how we worship and how we serve communion, etc. Now, through our apportionments, there is an ordained pastor there, a Native American graduate of Drew Theological School. The church is all children and youth and it is growing. You would have been proud of Kiara, Maddie, Katie, Raffi and Olivia. They led the Vacation Church School. They told the adults; Matt, Dana and me; they would call on us when we were needed. We were not. The youth of our church served with the children and youth of another church. This isn’t scarcity. This is God’s abundance.
On the way back we stopped at a United Methodist Church in Davenport, Iowa. It is a church of people mostly in their sixties – young people in my mind. The middle school youth group got the idea to start a skating group in the parking lot. It soon became the center for a lot of youth in Davenport. The middle school youth prayed for a facility. A furniture story went out of business next to the church. The youth and their advisors prayed for a way to get the building. The cost was set at $1,700,000. They prayed for $1,700,000. A person gave them the money to buy the building. They did and then prayed to raise another $1,700,000 for renovate the building. The matching money came. The youth and their leaders arranged for the building to be given to the church. There are now three levels of skate parks within the building -- all built by the youth and their leaders. If a youth wants to change one of the skate platforms, they bring in a plan, get friends to help and the leader, an experienced construction person, helps them design and build it. Now there are many youth-serving organizations at the Center in a community that started with some middle school youth with a sense of God’s abundance.

The question of scarcity and abundance for Memorial

Our scripture today tells us of what God can do with the generosity of one young boy who shared his lunch. Our mission trip showed us what God can do with the generosity of some people who start a  Free Store, some children with a vision of keeping their church alive, some youth from Memorial who committed their time (Is there time scarce or abundant?) to teach vacation Bible School, and some middle school youth who prayed a youth center into being.
So Memorial, here are my questions for us today, based on our mission statement which says: “We invite and welcome all people to the abundant way of Jesus Christ through a balanced journey inward and journey outward.”

• Is our understanding of church based on scarcity or abundance?
• Would anyone(s) here give us $17,000 so we can change our income-earning Thrift Shop into a Free Store and become known as the church that gives a way 10 items to anyone who comes, with no questions asked.
• Will we make the Clinton Indian Church our sister church and go with our youth next year and do what we can to help and learn from this church of children and youth. By the way, our youth want to fly this time. They have had their 6-day road trip. Once is enough.
• What is the equivalent of risk for us to turning an old furniture store into a Youth Center and Skate Park for the youth of Davenport, Iowa.

How we answer these questions says a lot about what we meant when we baptized Devon this morning. Will we nurture him to think about life as scare or abundant? It will matter in his life – and ours.