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Foreign does not have to pertain to another
country. It can just be something unfamiliar.
Since Sept. 11 it has often felt as though we are
living in a foreign land. Things have changed
substantially. Our sense of safety has been
shaken.
Yet there is one thing that has not changed, and
will not change. Emmanuel, our God is with us! He
is, and always will be, “the rock of our
salvation”… when we claim that relationship.
In reality, we have always lived in a foreign
land. This is a world beset by evil that we seek
to tame in the name of Jesus, with His help. It is
a world often hostile to those who come in the
name of the Lord. Yes, a foreign land. Yet God is
sovereign.
So Psalm 95, the Venite, proclaims, “O come, let
us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to
the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his
presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful
noise to him with songs of praise! For the LORD is
a great God, and a great King above all gods. In
his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights
of the mountains are his also. The sea is his, for
he made it, and the dry land, which his hands have
formed.”
Our song, our joyful noise, comes in our acts of
gratitude to our “rock.” As we give of our time,
our abilities, and our money, we “enter his courts
with thanksgiving.”
Tithing, giving to God’s work the first 10 percent
of our income, has been recognized by the General
Convention of the Episcopal Church to be the
minimum standard of individual giving for
Episcopalians. As we seek to increase our parish
budget by 20 percent in order to build on the many
outstanding ministries of Christ Church, consider
tithing as your act of faith in response to God’s
abiding presence in this foreign land. Consider it
as one of the verses you sing in this foreign
land. |
