“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”

Luke 6:38

Beloved of God,

November is a month of Thanksgiving in more ways than one.  It begins with our celebration of ALL THE SAINTS on November 6^th and the lifting up of their legacy to us in faith.  That legacy has been impressed upon me each year as we re­member those from our community who have gone on to join the heavenly chorus.  Some of those Peace saints have chosen to leave a legacy gift so that ministry through our congregation could continue with strength even though they were no longer present to contribute regular offerings.   Some will recall how, on the cusp of our congregation’s 75^th Anniver­sary celebration in 2019, we learned that founding Peace Pastor Luther Anderson and his wife Lilian had left a bequest to Peace in their will.  Their generous gift and foresight helped enable us to complete our narthex remodel project on time.  Talk about God timing!  But more than that, their legacy gift reminded us that building A CULTURE OF GENEROSITY at Peace has been part of our congregation’s DNA from the beginning. (You can read more about the timely gift from the Andersons HERE.)

As we bring our ANNUAL GIVING CAMPAIGN to a conclusion this month, our theme: BUILDING A CULTURE OF GENEROSITY is an invitation to continue the legacy of those Peacefolk who have come before us.  But it’s more than that.  It’s an opportunity to reflect on the impact the ministries of Peace are making in our lives and the lives of our households now and to envision how—through our intentional choice to grow our own generosity—we can make certain that Christ’s mission through Peace will continue to impact lives within and beyond our doors for years to come.

The MISSION MOMENT speakers during this campaign have each testified to the role that cultivating generosity is play­ing in their lives.  Amazingly, during the last three pandemic years new avenues of generosity have been in evidence at Peace, enabling us to continue ministry with strength and purpose in spite of the pressures the pandemic has brought to bear.

Generosity is more than a concept—it is a way of life we are called to make our own. Not out of guilt. Not because someone is twisting our arm.  Not so that we can bargain with God.  We cultivate generosity in our lives because we see such generosity reflected in the very design of the universe, in the superabundance of natural world, the life of Him who emptied himself so that we might be filled.  In the life we share with other siblings in Christ at Peace.

How will we grow our congregation’s “mission footprint” in 2023?  How will we meet the challenges that beset our world while grounding ourselves in the compassion and hope that comes with knowing we are part of the KIN-DOM of God?   Generosity will be a crucial ingredient in how all this plays out.  Our growth in generosity—multiplied like loaves and fishes—will bring our plans and ideas to fruition.  We’ll get there, together.

With you on the Way,

Pastor Erik

“I am grateful to God…when I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day.  Recalling your tears, I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy.  I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you.”

1 Timothy 3:1-3

Beloved Siblings in Christ,

I remember with fondness and gratitude the letters my mother wrote, faithfully and dependably, during the years when I and my young family were separated by the miles from the rest of the family.  Those letters in her neat, careful script (before emails and social media were a thing!) were her way of extending her love and making our connection even stronger.  Later, when we moved closer so I could begin seminary, we had the privilege of being together on a regular basis, often traveling “over the river and through the woods” to join the rest of the family for holidays and special occasions.  To this day I don’t know how Mom, with all her other obligations, managed to find time to write those letters.  I see it now for what it was—a true act of generosity.

Paul’s second letter to Timothy is like those letters I received from home – personal, affectionate, encouraging.  Paul longs to see his young co-worker in the flesh.  He knows there is no substitute for the joy of being physically together. Because we are, as Paul says elsewhere, members of the one body of Christ, we need each other to be whole.  No one can be a Christian alone.  This is a primary reason why our efforts are trained on inviting you back into the rhythm of in-person worship and activities at Peace.  Your physical presence—makes all the difference, for without you we are not the same!  The wonderful level of participation on Rally Sunday was a resounding affirmation of the truth that in baptism God has made us siblings and called us into community together.  Ours is an EMBODIED faith, and you, dearly beloved, are physical embodiments of the gracious presence of the triune God.  Gathering together around God’s word and sacraments, beholding each other, making new connections, strengthening bonds for mission, discovering gifts—all this grows from being together.  (BTW, if you missed my sermon on September 18 where I explore this idea further, you can request a copy or find it HERE.)

October is month of harvests.  In coming weeks our family will make its annual trek to the Snoqualmie Valley to celebrate the generous way which Earth brings forth its gifts so that all might be fed.  The month will also include keeping an eye out for returning salmon in the Cedar River and Fauntleroy Creek—Sockeye and Coho making their final journey to spawn a new generation.  If there is a more profound picture of generosity in nature, I know it not, for these salmon come, as David Duncan has written, to nail “their shining bodies to lonely beds of gravel, not for anything they stand to gain, but that tiny silver offspring and 300 salmon-eating species of flora and fauna may live and thrive.”[1]  God’s benevolent, abundant design is behind it all—the Great Giver.

This month we will be launching our annual giving campaign—the first in three years—under the theme: CULTIVATING A CULTURE OF GENEROSITY AT PEACE.  Over a six week period we’ll explore this theme in a variety of ways, hearing from a variety of voices about the IMPACT Peace ministries are having in our lives and the larger community. Just as Christ did not live for himself alone, we do not live for ourselves alone.  The salmon knows this.  We know it too.  The gifts and resources with which God has blessed us are meant to be pooled and shared, bolstering our mission in Christ’s name in strategic ways, seeding a new generation, equipping us to continue our good work for the sake of this world God so loves.  I sense a growing momentum as I sit in on ZOOM meetings and hear of ideas and plans for growing our congregation’s “mission footprint” in 2023.  Generosity will be a crucial ingredient in bringing those plans and ideas to fruition.

With you on the Way, Pastor Erik

[1] David James Duncan, God Laughs and Plays. P. 167