August 20, 2015
Dear MLEPC Members and Friends:
Last week I received a wonderful gift, a new Bible. For anyone who has noticed the pages falling out of mine and the cover falling off for the past several months, know that I'm finally giving it up - at least temporarily until I see if it can be rebound. Why have I hung on to that well-used Bible? Because I'm one of those people who writes notes in the margins, and my precious notes from the past ten years of sermons and Bible studies at MLEPC are in that Bible. I'd probably need more than a few weeks to transpose all those notes into a new Bible . . . or maybe I just start over with new notes? Hmm, an interesting thought!
My new Bible includes study notes to help interpret the scriptures, notes from theologians who have studied the scriptures in depth, not notes handwritten by me as a result of my reflections or a sermon heard. As our summer small group met last week to study the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, those study notes were very helpful. Our scripture lesson this week is the Parable of the Rich Fool, Luke 12:13-21. Although the Pokrajacs will be away this weekend, I went ahead and worked through our lesson book so that I'd be prepared to write this letter, and found the notes in my new Bible to be helpful and thought provoking once again. It was interesting to see that as Jesus' teaching on anxiety follows the parable (12:22-34), the two passages are really related. In verse 22, Jesus says, "Therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, not what you eat, or about your body, what you will put on." The word "therefore" connects the two passages. Although both of these passages are teachings of Jesus, I see this second passage on anxiety as the life application of the teaching in the parable. Money generates greed and covetousness as we learn from the character in the parable, and therefore, the application relevant for us yet today is that the wrong attitude toward money can create anxiety in us. If we let go of our goods and money and trust in God, He will provide for our needs because of His great love for us. The Parable of the Rich Fool ends with a warning not to lay up treasures for ourselves but to be rich toward God. The application that follows ends with words we know well, "for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Our real treasure is "a richness toward God", which just happens to be the title of this week's sermon.
This week we welcome Rev. Lee Clark to our pulpit. Pastor Lee is an active part of our church family and we thank him for stepping in while Pastor Tim and I are both on vacation and Pastor Steve leads in worship. My husband and I will be heading to the Ohio Pyle area on Friday evening for a weekend of camping with long-time Dormont Presbyterian Church friends who have camped together for over 20 years. What began as family time with as many as 30 or 40 of us taking over a whole wing of the campground with tents, trailers, children of many ages and bikes of many sizes, has become a small group of "aging" friends who enjoy sitting around the fire at night, "remembering when." As I was thinking about Luke 12, I remembered how our financial situations have changed as jobs changed and needs went from raising families and putting kids through college to now thinking retirement. I admit to having anxiety over money through those years, but I can look back and see how God provided for us in those years, which includes the treasure of Christ-centered friends with whom Paul and I have shared life together. But my best treasure is, as Jesus tells us in this teaching, richness toward God. I love Jesus' words in Luke 12:32, "Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."
I've placed my first handwritten note in my new Bible, that Jesus' teaching on anxiety is my life application of the parable found right before it. I encourage you to read both of these passages before worship on Sunday. If you have anxiety about your financial situation or anything else, Jesus' words may speak to you as they have to me in seasons of my life. The timing of our study of this parable is so appropriate, as there is a great opportunity to take charge of your financial situation by attending a Family Fusion workshop offered this fall on Financial Peace. Pray about being a part of this workshop! You can obtain more information through the bulletin or the MLEPC website.
May your Sunday be blessed as you worship, wherever God places you, even as I look forward to worship time with "old" friends in the beauty of God's creation! And maybe I'll find opportunity to add a few more handwritten notes to my new Bible . . .
Love, in Christ,
Linda Pokrajac, Director of Congregational Care
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