Jesus and Giving

When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, ‘Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.’ - John 6:12

I attended the ELCA GLobal Mission Event in Baltimore this past weekend. It was a very good event - I highly recommend the experience. I am still processing what I learned from it, but one thing that stood out from the beginning was the persistent challenge to think about giving, receiving, and sharing in radical terms. Here are a few examples:

- From an African theologian, I learned a good definition of sharing. Sharing is not "I don’t need it, you can have it". Sharing is "I need it, but I see you need it too – let’s share".

- From the Director of ELCA Global Mission, I learned that mission is about restoring community. It’s not about us vs. them. It’s about taking a good look at your community and realizing that it is wanting, needing, missing, broken. That a broken community realizes it can only be made whole again by going out and restoring.

- From a couple of young adult missionaries to Argentina for a year, I learned that that being away from everything that made your life comfortable means that you understand more than ever that God is in control, that you must live on your faith alone, that you will learn and receive more than you can give and that it is the journey with others that is important.

- From an ELCA Mission Director, I learned that "If God wants you to do something, God has already given you what you need to get started".