3rd Sunday of Lent
14 March 2004
Praised be Jesus Christ! Now and forever!
Dear Friends in Christ,
In our spiritual relationship with each other in this parish, do we think of ourselves as members of a club we joined for our benefit or as disciples of the Lord Jesus who has called us into communion with each other through our communion with Him? This distinction is crucial to our self-understanding as Christians, as members of this parish family, and as stewards of God’s gifts.
"You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit….This I command you, to love one another" (John 15:16-17). These words of the Lord Jesus leave no doubt about the cause and purpose of our "being together" (the meaning of communion); we have been chosen by Christ, called into communion by Word and Sacrament, and for only one purpose: to bear spiritual fruit for the salvation of the world by loving each other in the truth. We do not "join" the Church as we would join a civic club or professional association; we are chosen out of the world to be members of Christ, children of God, and heirs to the Kingdom of Heaven. And being chosen in this manner places on us the privilege and duty of following the Lord Jesus by surrendering our entire lives in the obedience of faith to the Gospel.
It is with this understanding of our relationship to each other that I wrote last week to the entire parish about stewardship. We are called to be good stewards because we are first called to be faithful disciples, and those who are not yet living as good stewards have not yet grasped what it means to be a faithful disciple. This is why my preaching and teaching have focused for nearly three years on the nature and cost of Christian discipleship. Stewardship naturally follows from discipleship, and I want everyone who is part of this spiritual family to understand clearly and embrace joyfully the duties and privileges of being both disciples and stewards.
If you did not receive my stewardship letter and financial report, then either you are not yet a registered parishioner or we don’t have your correct address. In either case, we’d like to hear from you so that you can be a true part of this parish family. If you did receive my letter, then I ask you again to consider carefully and prayerfully how you should respond to the call of the Lord Jesus to be both a faithful disciple and a good steward.
Father Newman