Latest / Faith at Work / Courageous Restoration: From Scarcity to Abundance

Transcript

Courageous Restoration: From Scarcity to Abundance · Faith at Work

• 0:00
  Brothers and sisters,
• 0:03
  today we arrive at the fourth movement in our stewardship
• 0:10
  journey.
• 0:12
  after remembering and then releasing and then reimagining we
• 0:20
  now lean into
• 0:22
  restoration today's big idea is that restoration requires
• 0:29
  courage in the form of
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: vulnerability
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: Restoration also takes imagination.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: We talked about that last week.
• 0:41
  The ability and the willingness to see the beauty that once was
• 0:47
  and then to do the
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: work,
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: the hard work,
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: to bring that beauty back into our lives and into the lives of others.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: The work of restoration is both gentle and brave,
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: and it prepares our hearts for the Advent's quiet beginnings.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: Restoration rarely announces itself with spectacle or grand fanfare.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: Most often, God begins restoration in ordinary places,
• 1:24
  long before we recognize the transformation that is quietly
• 1:30
  taking shape among us.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: In Genesis 33,
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: verses 1 through 17,
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: which is one of our scriptures for this morning,
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: it gives us a story about restoration.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: Jacob approaches Esau, his brother, with a history story.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: betrayal and harm.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: Jacob had stolen his older brother Esau's birthright.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: Not only had he stolen the birthright and the inheritance from Esau,
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: but he had also stolen it from Esau's descendants.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: It was a despicable theft.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: And now, later in life, Jacob is returning to his native land.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: And he sends a caravan of gifts that represent confession with substance.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: They are reparations, repair rations, so to speak.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: He cannot undo the harm of the past.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yet,
• 2:44
  restoration begins as he takes responsibility for what he has
• 2:49
  broken and what he
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: has stolen.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: Esau's response is very unexpected, surprising, and moving.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: Instead of meeting Jacob with anger,
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: he runs to him,
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: similar to the story of the prodigal son,
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: and he embraces him,
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: and he weeps himself.
• 3:16
  And his words,
• 3:18
  I already have enough,
• 3:20
  my brother,
• 3:21
  echo the theme of this entire series.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: Enoughness is freedom rather than anger.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: It is abundance rather than a life of scarcity.
• 3:38
  Notice that after reconciling in this story,
• 3:42
  Jacob and Esau do not walk home together.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: Restoration does not erase the past.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: Restoration does not pretend wounds never happened.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: Instead, it honors hard truths.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: then repairs what can be repaired,
• 4:09
  and then ultimately blesses as people choose futures that no
• 4:17
  longer are forged in
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: resentment.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: Turning to the Gospel of John,
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: chapter 21,
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: 1 through 19,
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: we see another story of reconciliation.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: In this one,
• 4:32
  the disciples go fishing because their grief has left them
• 4:36
  disoriented after the
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: death of Jesus.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: And as they are fishing, their nets stay empty throughout the night.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: But then miraculously,
• 4:48
  Jesus appears on the shore and invites them to cast their nets
• 4:54
  on the other side.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: Restoration often begins with a change of direction and perception.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: And then the breakfast on the beach soon becomes a moment of healing.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus feeds them and then turns towards Peter.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: Shame sits heavily on Peter's heart.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yet Jesus does not mention his three denials.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: Instead, Jesus asks, do you love me?
• 5:35
  Restoration centers on love rather than accusation,
• 5:43
  invitation rather than shaming.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: answers with quiet sincerity.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: Three affirmations of love replace three moments of denial,
• 6:00
  and each of his yeses pulls him further from his shame and
• 6:06
  deeper into his calling.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus responds, feed my sheep, feed my lambs.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_00: Restoration always leads the disciple towards
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: Responsibility, generosity, justice, and calling.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: Now,
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: throughout this series,
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_00: we have examined our own money stories,
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: acknowledging how they were shaped by fear,
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: by scarcity,
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: by family patterns,
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: by the church,
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: or by silence in our lives.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: As we think about,
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: restoration begins when we allow God to rewrite these stories with trust,
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: compassion,
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: and courage.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: In Genesis, restoration required returning what was wrongly taken.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: In John, restoration required healing what was deeply broken.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: But in both cases,
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: restoration transformed not only individuals,
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_00: but also the communities that they engaged with.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: Those stories of restoration expanded.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: Blessings were multiplied.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: Restoration sent ripples beyond the immediate circle.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: Jacob became Israel.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: And Peter became a founder of the church of Jesus Christ.
• 7:54
  Now,
• 7:55
  on this first Sunday of Advent,
• 8:00
  we remember that restoration almost always begins small.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: The renewal of the world begins not with power, but with a baby itself.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_00: In a manger,
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: God's restoration begins in vulnerability,
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: in quietness,
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: in the fragile hope a newborn life has crying for his mother.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: Advent each year teaches us to trust small beginnings in our lives.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: God restores through humility.
• 8:44
  tenderness and the unexpected arrival of Christ this child will
• 8:51
  grow into the one
• 8:52
  who heals feeds forgives and proclaims justice restoration
• 8:59
  begins quietly and then
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: grows into an abundant field we see this truth in our days as well
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_00: I found a story.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: Several years ago,
• 9:15
  national news outlets reported on what has now become known as
• 9:20
  the Layaway Angel
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: Movement.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_00: Has anybody heard of this?
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_00: The Layaway Angel?
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: One person.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so you know it's true now.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: The Layaway Angel Movement.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: One other person other than the internet has heard about this.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_00: It began when one person
• 9:38
  anonymous donor paid a single layaway account at a Walmart
• 9:45
  store just before Christmas.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not sure quite how anybody found out about it.
• 9:55
  But soon after,
• 9:56
  within days,
• 9:56
  really,
• 9:57
  other donors began doing the same thing.
• 10:00
  People who had never met one another started paying off toys
• 10:05
  and coats and shoes
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_00: and household essentials for strangers.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_00: Some stores saw every single layaway account paid off in full.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: There was a donor in Pennsylvania who simply said,
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_00: I remember when someone helped me,
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: so now I help.
• 10:32
  Families arrived expecting to make payments and instead found
• 10:36
  their debt erased.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: Many cried in the aisles.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: Some prayed and gave thanks to God.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: One of the parents told reporters...
• 10:49
  this lifted a weight from our whole christmas someone gave us
• 10:55
  hope when we did not
• 10:59
  expect it a small act of generosity grew into a movement of
• 11:06
  restoration and jubilee
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_00: for the world
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: This is how restoration works.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: Something tiny becomes something abundant.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_00: Trust spreads.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_00: Hope multiplies.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_00: Lives get changed.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: A single seed of generosity grows into a field of blessing.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_00: Advent tells us the same truth.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: One child changes everything.
• 11:44
  one quiet beginning becomes the turning point for the world so
• 11:53
  I ask where does
• 11:56
  restoration need to begin in our money story where might
• 12:03
  honesty create healing
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: Where might small acts begin significant change?
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_00: Where is Jesus asking you, do you love me?
• 12:20
  Not as a test,
• 12:23
  but as an invitation into deeper generosity and discipleship.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_00: Imagine restoration shaping our congregation in the coming year.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_00: Imagine a budget that is guided by trust rather than anxiety.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_00: Imagine giving shaped by gratitude rather than guilt.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_00: Imagine our church at home, at work, and on the playground.
• 12:58
  Imagine a community where generosity flows from enoughness and
• 13:03
  where restoration
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_00: becomes shared practice instead of a silent burden.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: Never forget, restoration begins with willingness, not perfection.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_00: Esau did not wait for Jacob to deserve forgiveness.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus did not wait for Peter to explain himself.
• 13:31
  Restoration begins whenever we choose to love as our next
• 13:38
  faithful step in discipleship.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_00: So today we pray.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_00: Restore us, O God.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_00: Help what is broken in our story.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_00: Heal it.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_00: Mend what fear has frayed in our lives.
• 13:59
  Let Advent light begin small within us the way your love began
• 14:07
  small in Bethlehem.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_00: Lead us into generosity, compassion, and courage.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: Make us a people who feed your sheep.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.