There are certain touchstones in the Bible that help me to understand who I am and how my relationship with Jesus shapes my life. One of the most important of these jewels is found in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. It gives me an understanding of just how my spiritual self was formed, but it also helps me to answer the question that is so important to anyone who desires to follow Jesus; how then shall we live? Paul tells us that “by grace we have been saved through faith, and this is not our own doing; it is the gift of God-- not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life. (Ephesians 2:8-10)

In these two verses Paul explains the relationship between God’s Grace and our good works which is probably one of the most difficult parts of our life with God for us to understand. It is easy for us to focus on what it means to receive God’s grace, to be forgiven and become a child of God. And as the text tells us it is a free gift of God and not the result of our actions, nor is it something that we can work toward so we are deserving. It is simply God’s love in action in each of or lives. So far it is simple. But how does this relate to the way we should live? Paul continues this passage by saying that we are what he has made us. Birds fly, horses run, and the children of God were created in Christ Jesus for good works. Doing good for a Christian should be as natural to us as breathing. And like breathing there is no life within us unless we do those things which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life. So it is not a big deal that those who follow Christ do good things, what would be remarkable would be a disciple of Christ who chose not to do the will of God. This is as true for a community of believers as it is for a single life… God’s grace transforms us into a Resurrection people, a people for whom doing the will of God is as natural as breathing.

It takes thought, prayer and planning to actually discern and do the will of God. The council, the chosen leaders of our community, spends a lot of time doing just that. They try to predict the needs of our community of faith and the needs we can address in the tri-valley area and the world at large. One important form those predictions take is the budget. It seems like a boring business like

piece of paper but in truth it is the breath of God within us, the good works which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life. Without this kind of planning we would not be able to accomplish even a portion of the things we do. Not everything that we do as a people of God fits within the budget. It is only a plan, and as we all know “the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray.” This year was an exceptional year for RLC. We accomplished a great deal, much of it not anticipated by the budget.

Take the Mexico trip for example. It was a tremendous success, yet the size of the group and the price of gas were not anticipated. Hurricane Katrina, the roof, Heifer, camp Quest, the childcare center remodel and the Cancer relay for life, all of these were things we raised money for outside the budget. And all of them I believe were things God firmly led us to do. Just a rough estimate of these things is about $65 thousand dollars. Well done good and faithful servants!
But the mundane things in the budget, paper towels, salaries for the staff, keeping up the buildings, all of these are needed too. And we are almost 20% behind in our giving toward those very essential things that make up our everyday life as a people of God. Sometimes just breathing, doing the things we know God is leading us to do can be a real effort. This year is one of those times.
The question is it worth it? To answer that we have to think not in dollars and cents but the way God thinks, in lives and love. How many lives have we touched this year? The homeless of Hurricane Katrina, our youth and a family in Mexico, a couple of hundred children in our childcare center, the poor who receive a few chickens or maybe a cow, the families of people who suffer from cancer? All of these and more live a life that has been touched by God this year because of you, and your God created generosity. It feels good, but like anyone who has run a difficult race there is a little hard breathing at the end. The two pictures with this article show the faces of just a few of the people whose lives your faith has touched this year. There are hundreds more. But like Paul encourages us; let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up. So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith. (Galatians 6:9-10) The budget is for us the family of faith, the legs we stand on as we reach out to the world around us. It is a hard race, and at times we might be breathing hard, but God is most certainly with us and our efforts are changing lives…. Praise God.

Pastor Jim Bliss
May 2006