Martha and MCC - distraction free

Martha was a woman of faith - she was a friend of Jesus who regularly welcomed him into the home she shared with her sister, Mary, and her brother, Lazarus. She knew Jesus as Lord and Savior, as teacher, as virtual brother and friend. She cared about extending hospitality to him and was close enough to him to cross conventional boundaries between men and women to speak openly and honestly with him about her feelings. When she does so in story recounted in Luke 10, Jesus tells her she's anxious and distracted by many things. She's a woman of faith, working for the Messiah (preparing his lunch!) and yet she's distracted.

We, too, are a people of faith. We know and love the Risen Christ, feel God's presence regularly in our midst and we often seek the movement of the Holy Spirit to guide us, empower us in loving our neighbors, and renew our souls. We are people of faith, who do a lot in the name of the God of love. And we've been greatly distracted for the last several months by money issues. Well, the Board has been, anyway. I suspect a lot of us have been, but money is such a taboo subject that outside the Board meetings, it was probably the invisible elephant in our midst a lot of the time!

We've been anxious and distracted, because our members and friends have felt the pressure of the global economic troubles and every month that had total offerings lower than what we needed to pay the bills, we took money out of the only "savings" we had - the building fund. The Board tried to juggle funds as best it could, and instituted a number of cost saving measures. We switched phone and Internet providers; we reduced the number of color copies we produce (black and white is cheaper!); we reduced the number of copies we produce, regardless of color; we programmed and reprogrammed the thermostat to reduce energy consumption when the building is empty; we leave lights off in the halls and rooms that aren't in use; we recycle both aluminum and metal cans brought in by members and friends for cash; we've switched nearly all the light bulbs to compact fluorescent ones, and the rest will be switched soon; we planned and executed as many fund raisers as we could think of. The Board and finance committee explored a number of things that didn't pan out in the end, but they brainstormed and checked everything they could think of to lower our expenses. And still the distraction remained - would we have to borrow from the building fund again this month? Finally, a second distraction became the size of the building fund itself. If we used much more of it, we wouldn't have any for emergency repairs. We were anxious, distracted, and worried about the finances.

It would be nice to say that we all prayed, and Jesus healed our anxiety, and we were reassured by the promise that if we sought the dominion of God, all would be provided. That's not the case. We couldn't shake our anxiety that way, yet we knew it had to be shaken off or we would not be able to choose the better part - to sit at Jesus' feet to learn and grow, to love our neighbors, to seek God's realm among us. So, the Board opted to do the only other thing that seemed viable - remove the thing that distracts us by making one more cut to our expenses so that the income we have will be enough. For sure. No doubts. No borrowing. No distractions. The only thing left to cut was the pastor's salary. And so, my hours were also adjusted, so that I'd work 2/3 time for 2/3 pay for the rest of 2010. It is the hope of the Board and the finance committee (and this pastor!) that we'll be able to go back to full hours and full pay in 2011, but the reduction may extend into the first quarter. We'll have to see how the economy goes.

Here's the funny thing, though: the Board wrestled with this decision for a few months and during that time, our offerings began to increase. In fact, we've paid all our bills, including the mortgage out of the general fund (no borrowing from the building fund) for May, June, July and August. We had nine friends of the church pledge a special donation - they believe in us - and yet the regular offerings seem to have gone up as well. Together, the worries are gone. Having recognized that too much energy was going into worry, and being willing to give up our worry in a practical (if not entirely spiritual) way, God seems to have responded by inspiring greater generosity. As we continue to let go of our worry, and focus on loving our neighbors and planting seeds for the dominion of God, I believe we will be taken care of. I will be taken care of. We will all sit down together and our gifts will be blessed and multiplied, and no one will go away hungry.