“Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that their will not be room enough to store it.” (Malachi 3:10)
Blessings for the month of October, a month of thanksgiving, of harvest, of blessing.
We have much to give thanks for. In September, we ordained Mona and Reba to the transitional diaconate, we welcomed Jonathan as our dean and we welcomed Jenny as our canon for lay-led parishes and parishes in transition. God is blessing us with the people we need at the time that we need them. The future is not going to look like the past and the future is bright.
October is also the time when parishes should be conducting annual stewardship campaigns. Before we do the work of creating budgets for 2025, we need to ask all of our members to prayerfully consider what they might be able to pledge for the upcoming program year. If you, or your parish, are not in the habit of doing this, please talk to your wardens and incumbents, and refer to the giving section of the diocesan website, which has all the resources you need to easily do a stewardship campaign.
This year, as you think about stewardship, I’d like to draw your attention to chapter 3 of the Book of Malachi. It’s a few years after the return from the exile in Babylon, and Malachi is frustrated with the people’s (particularly the priests) lax religious and social behavior:
“Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord Almighty.
“But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’
“Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me.
“But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’
“In tithes and offerings.” (Malachi 3:7-8)
And then we have the beautiful promise from God, “Test me in this … and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that their will not be room enough to store it.” (Malachi 3:10)
I love this exchange as it’s a reminder to us all that God’s ability to bless is so much greater than our ability to give. We are called to give so little really, only 10% of what we have, and God, God pours out an abundance of blessings upon us so much greater than we can ask or imagine.
This October, I invite you to test God, to give your full tithe and see if God does indeed throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room to store it. From where I sit, in my ministry of oversight of this beautiful diocese, I do indeed believe that we have more blessings than we are able to count or store.
