by Sarah Dull
Giving and loving God, I am made of stories— stories of heartbreak and triumph, stories of love and tragedy, stories of families who belong and families who break, stories of loose ends and new beginnings. I have absorbed stories that live in me like an internal compass, and many that I do not wish to carry at all. But your story remains steadfast: I am loved. I am enough. There is enough for all. Enough. Enough. Enough. May this become my constant refrain. May I believe this is who I am. May I live trusting your holy design. Enough. Enough. Enough. Amen.
Finances have been a central concern for most of us throughout the pandemic – as they often are in life. As we transition to a post-pandemic world, whether we recognize it or not, we carry our stories with us, including our money stories. Perhaps we are living from a story of fear or shame. Or a narrative that the church is dying and no longer relevant. Or a story that our actions won’t have an impact. Or a narrative that we don’t have enough.
To speak of money is to invite tension into the room. We so quickly want to avoid it. But it’s time we reframe this. Money and possessions are one of the most common topics in scripture; Jesus talked about money more than faith and prayer.
In these stories, Jesus takes all our memories—the ways money has been used to control and the ways money has been used to liberate—and holds a new vision for us to behold: the kingdom of God. Here there is a new economy. Jesus takes bread and wine. He divides it up and gives a bit to everyone—to be fed, to have a taste of the new economy, to share that which is God’s in the first place.
Starting September 12, for four weeks, the 9am Faith Forums will explore God’s money story of liberation and justice. We will recall scriptures where Jesus teaches about money, power, and possessions and what he is showing us about faithful stewardship. Using scripture and art, this series encourages us to transform our discipleship practices into more full expressions of who we are and what we believe.
Each week has a theme; Remember, Release, Reimagine, and Restore. A member of St. John’s faith formation commission will present a passage of scripture and offer their reflections as it relates to the theme of the week. An artist from St. John’s community will present art and offer their reflections as it relates to the scripture and theme of the week. On the Wednesday before each forum we will email the parish with the scripture and art so you can meditate on them. During the forums, we encourage you to share your reflections.
In addition, there is a parish art project, “Washed, Marked, Sealed”. On September 18 and 25, from 9am to noon, there will be two separate opportunities to come to church and help create our own testament to this past year and a half. We will mark with stones what this time has meant, how God sustained and supported us, and how we have been shaped and changed by this shared experience of crisis. We will permanently capture in stone what we are all carrying.
Perhaps you have not before experienced art and stewardship combined. Maybe you’ve even thought of these subject matters as incongruous or unrelated. However, art-making, like discipleship, is a spiritual practice. The connective and prophetic power of art helps us join our hearts with our hands, our faith with our lives, and our mess with our God.
Try it now. Meditate on Exodus 16:1-18 (Manna in the desert).
Consider Erin Weber-Johnson’s reflection on this passage:
The theme of God supplying enough found here in this text is a recurring theme throughout the bible including Jesus’ feeding of the thousands. Here we see a people enslaved for generations moving from an economy of fear and deprivation to one of provision in the wilderness. Strikingly, God provides a concept for what “enough” looks like and guides the faith community into claiming a day of Sabbath, a practice that simultaneously provides rest and guards against hoarding.
Within this text readers can hear a faith community’s changing narrative of money—moving from one which Walter Brueggemann describes as “the endless rat race for sufficiency,” to that of living with enough. We are called both to individual and collective remembrance of our relationship to God and to reflect on our relationship to money.
Meditate on this digital painting Enough by Hanna Garrity, inspired by Exodus 16:1-18 (Manna in the desert).
Consider the artist’s reflection:
We have enough… I have been contemplating this phrase for the last two years. We recently moved. In the process, we downsized. How could so many things that I remembered paying money for now become so irrelevant that I would choose to put them in the trash? My Honda Accord had to hold our bags, the inflatable bed, the two children, and me. Sitting on my front stoop, I slowly realized that I had to send everything else to the dump. I had two hours.
1-800-GOT-JUNK was scheduled out for days, so was College Hunks Moving Junk. Glen from Stevens City was available. For $50/load, he would take everything left in the house in the back of his blue pickup. Four loads. I had always contributed one trash can per week to the landfill. This was different. It was jarring. I began to feel lighter, but heavier at the same time. Why had I purchased all of these things? Enough is better than more, more, more.
In this painting, I have overlaid my empty hand with sets of circles. The guilloché-style patterning is used by treasuries all over the world to secure paper currency by making it too intricate to counterfeit. Here, guilloché circles represent my deeply personal relationship with the money that supports our lives. Some money falls past my hand, some into my hand. Moses advises the people: take only what you need, one omer each. In this piece, the idea of enough money is layered with the idea of enough sustenance through manna. The manna is portrayed by another set of circles, reminiscent of the wafers that are used in some traditions as Communion bread. Enough. Thank you, God, for providing enough, that I would take what I need.
Meditate on the poem Nickels by Sarah Are.
My grandfather pressed a nickel into my hand— One of those small silver circles That countries are built on And people live and die for. I cupped my eight-year-old palm around it As if that gift could become a part of me. And once I had blessed it, And once I had tossed it, And once wishes had been made on heads and tails, It was time to let it go. I laid that cool silver circle That countries are built on And people live and die for On the railroad tracks. And after the train passed, I marveled at how something so small Could endure so much And still be here at all. But I guess you could say the same for me.
Offer your reflections on the scripture and art. If you need help getting started, consider these prompting questions:
- In your own life, when have you felt like the Israelites, wandering and doubting you would have enough?
- What is most striking to you about the painting? About the poem?
- How do you discern what is enough?
- What emotions emerge for you when you observe the painting? Read the poem?
- What does enough money, food, time and resources look like for you?
- Do you identify with the artist’s reflections?
- Can you determine when you have too much or too little?
- How does hearing the artist’s statement influence how you see the art?
- Identify a time in your life that felt like receiving manna—perhaps this was an unexpected financial gift, nourishing time spent with those you love, or a beautiful meal shared with family. What did it feel like to receive this?
- How is the imagery cohesive with the scripture?
- How do manna moments, like the ones you have identified in your life, impact your faith and your stewardship practices?
- If you were to paint this text, what imagery, colors, and details might you include? What poem would you write?
The best stories captivate and transform us—they change how we live. Thinking about God’s money story should be liberating, inviting, and transformative. This stewardship season, we invite you to remember, release, reimagine, and restore your money stories so that we can write the one God is begging us to live into.
God, author of salvation, write a story of money in my heart that remembers your faithfulness from generation to generation. God of Jubilee, upend my internal narratives about my worth and security. Gather me into your holy imagination of what is possible. Invite me into a new way of being. God, your love restores souls. Fill my story with healing, grace, and renewed life. Thank you for breathing in us new ways of being. Amen.
