The calendar seems not to have worked to the advantage of the Stewardship Committee and the Church Council this fall. Both groups had originally schedule Consecration Sunday, the climax of our stewardship campaign, the weekend of November 12-13. The date seemed ideal, until someone at our last council meeting observed that 11/12-13 is the weekend of the NJ teacher’s convention, and many of our families would take advantage of the long weekend and hit the road. We then decided that the following weekend, November 19-20 would be a relatively late but acceptable time for Consecration (Saturday and) Sunday. We were then reminded that the Wayne Interfaith Network would be using our Fellowship Hall on 11/19 to pack Thanksgiving Baskets for distribution to families in need.

We’ve decided to keep Consecration Weekend on November 19 and 20 and to modify the way we thank the congregation for their generosity (think BIG coffee hour with gooey desserts!). While Thanksgiving may crowd our schedules as we approach the last days of November, giving thanks and giving alms, time, and talents are inextricably linked.

The emphasis of Consecration Sunday is for us to determine what God is calling us to give. Hearing the voice of God may be tricky, especially apart from Word, Sacrament, Scripture, and “the mutual conversation and consolation of the sisters and brothers” (the churchly ways in which God speaks to us). We pray to our communicative God and sometimes wonder where, apart from the list I mentioned, God responds to us. One big way in which God answers prayer is through what we have received from Him to sustain us in our daily living. Time, talent, and treasure are key ways in which God communicates to us. We ask, God listens, and we receive. As he explains the first article of the Apostles’ Creed in his Small Catechism, Luther observes, “God daily and abundantly provides shoes and clothing, food and drink, house and farm, spouse and children, fields, livestock, and all property – along with all the necessities and nourishment for this body and life.” While we might substitute cars and electronic devices for farm, fields, and livestock, we get the idea.

Is there a better time of year than late November to consider what portion of our time, talents and treasure God wants us to give? As we count our blessings in preparation for the Thanksgiving holiday, we remember that giving God thanks is what the Christian life is all about.

In Jesus’ name,

Pastor Robert M. Mountenay