Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton tells a story from when she was a pastor serving a congregation. One Sunday during offering, a little girl pleaded with her dad until he handed her a bill.
The little girl ran up the aisle calling, “Wait for me, wait for me! Here’s mine! I want to put some in!” She dropped it in the plate, beamed with joy, and then danced her way back to her dad’s side.
Later, Bishop Eaton (then Pastor Eaton), was chatting with a parishioner and said, “Wasn’t that little girl beautiful? It would be so wonderful if everyone could give as joyfully.”
The parishioner said, “Well, it’s easy for her–it’s not her money!”
Pastor Eaton replied: “No.” And she paused, “It’s her father’s.”
Everything we have comes to us from our loving and generous God, just as that little girl’s offering came from her loving and generous dad. Everything. When we give, we are simply using what God has already given us to support God’s work.
This message is excerpted from “Everything we have comes to us from God” by Audrey Novak Riley from the April 29, 2018, blog of the Women of the ELCA. Today is the Eighth Sunday after Pentecost.
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