Today we finish our message talking about being owners of the earth instead of renters
• The norm in our society nudges us in the direction of renting
• But we’re talking about transcending that norm
• Earth-renters are earth-consumers, earth-users
• We are talking about rising above that norm
• Not taking from the earth what we need
• And instead learning to give to the earth what it needs
Instead of carefully coordinating our lives; our homes, jobs, neighborhoods to give us what we need…
• We are talking about looking at earth as an owner does
• Beginning to see what it needs
• And then, sensing the internal nudges of God, stepping out, and meeting needs
We’re talking about…
• Bringing to our jobs, the perspective of an owner
• Bringing to our homes, the perspective of an owner
• Bringing the attributes of life, love, goodness that are the fruit of God’s Spirit…
And asking ourselves how HS would have us bring these traits into being
…in the area of the earth that is ours to oversee
Owners watch over the earth they walk on, and steward it
Owners contribute, improve, enhance the earth
Owners develop things that would not be there w/o them
Owners expand possibilities
Find something that lacks and make it better
Find something depleted and enrich it
They take on this posture among their peers
With those who are younger than themselves
With those who are older than themselves
• In their neighborhoods
• In their network of friendships
• On their jobs
• In their homes
• In their city
Earth-owners recognize that a neighbor is lonely, and make a calendar note to call that person each week
• Earth-owner recognize a co-worker is struggling financially and slip a grocery store gift card into her purse w/ a note
• Earth-owners see an office being conflict-torn, and push for team-building training
This is what earth-owners do
Earth-owners value people enough to watch over them
• See people who need befriending and befriend them
• See people who need care, and care for them
• See people who need, and give of themselves to them
Owners vigilantly assess their own capacity
• Their own giftedness, their own abilities
• They then deploy those gifts/abilities to enhance the earth
• To make the lives of those around them more like heaven
• More like the principles/values of the God-Kingdom
Everyone has something to give to the world
• Owners assess what they have to give, start giving it
This can be as simple as creating the space where people eat together
• We own the earth, when we invite an irritating co-worker to eat lunch with us
• We own the earth when we eat a meal with someone who is isolated
• We own the earth when we create the space to eat together w/ someone we don’t know well
Sowing seeds of trust/affection
Making a network where there was none
People talk over food
People share life over food
• The environment of eating together is particularly conducive to creating community
• We create trust and affection when we eat together
• And community is particularly conducive to spiritual friendship
• We open doors to the spiritual community and spiritual transformation when we eat together
This is a good way to be earth-owners
• Jesus did this one a lot
• Consider how much of what we know about Jesus happened in the context of food
• Meals together w/ people
• Lessons taught over food
• Stories told about other people having meals together
• Principles of life/spirituality demonstrated at meals together
In fact, Jesus put so much emphasis on eating together that he was mocked as a glutton, wine-bibber
Why do you suppose Jesus did it this way?
• One of the most profound ways we move into earth ownership is to become integrated w/ others
• And to invite others to be integrated together as well
• And one of the best ways to do this, is to eat together
• At coffee shops, in break rooms
• At the company cafeteria
• At home
Story: I was delighted this week to hear…
• Doug, I listened to what you said a few weeks ago
• I’ve decided to act on it
• You notice the shift in the dining room?
• I’m in the middle of rearranging things
• Out w/ the exercise equipment
• In w/ a table and some chairs
• I’m going to make my life open to people
I’m creating space to share food with people
I’m creating the environment for community, spirituality, influence
We become owners when we create space to eat together
not so far from Jesus way
lk 16 Jesus tells story of a man who gets in trouble
starts buying friends and is commended for it
why? he’s being dishonest!
But Jesus is telling us to use our resources wisely, shrewdly
get something that matters for it
and getting friends, getting people
getting a spiritual network…
resources spent in pursuit of these…
those are resources well spent
Last week I talked about four reasons it is so difficult to take a place as earth owners
• We talked about several forces allied against us ever rising to take our rightful place
• Inappropriate yeses that make life overwhelmingly busy
• Specialization in our society that teaches us to leave more and more areas of life to the specialists
• The conspiracy of factors that makes us feel so inadequate, so un-grown-up
Could have added another…
• we’re wounded, broken, sinful
our internal self is wounded and lacks in self-esteem
• sometimes, however, our internal selves must be accepted and dealt with is just plain broken
• we look inside sometimes and see a sneaky little tyrant filled w/ prejudice, jealousy and fear
• we look inside and see sin getting the upper hand
• we don’t own the earth because this tyrant won’t have it
• we see people as upsetting instead of gifts
• people bring out the worst in us, so we avoid them
• especially true during times of stress
earth-owners don’t deny this part of themselves…
they don’t shove sin into closet and hope it never comes out
• no, they acknowledge reality of false self, and they work through the mess it makes for them
• the soul-closet doesn’t need to be totally clean for me to touch the earth
• I just have to decide to listen for the nudges and respond
Over time, God makes us new creatures, cleans out our soul-closets
• We become freed from fears, selfishness, anxiety, resentment, bitterness
• we realize that we are loved, and we can love in return
• we realize how we have received, we can give
when we are not free of our stuff, our time, our selves, giving ourselves away diminishes us
• we must be free in order to give ourselves away
But in the face of the four inadequacies we discussed last week, and this one as well…
• I want to read you a story
Story: widow of zarepahath (1 Ki. 17)
During the season of great drought and famine, God spoke to Elijah: “I want you to go live in Zarephath for a while. I’ve instructed a woman who lives there, a widow, to feed you.” So, he got up and went to Zarephath. As he came into the village he met a woman, a widow, gathering firewood. He asked her, “Would you please bring me a little water in a jug? I need a drink.” As she went to get it, he called out, “And while you’re at it, would you bring me something to eat?”
She stopped, turned to him, and said, “I swear, as surely as your God lives, I don’t have so much as a biscuit. I have a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a bottle; you found me scratching together just enough firewood to make a last meal for my son and me. After we eat it, we’ll die.”
But Elijah said to her, “Don’t worry about that. Do what you’ve planned to do. But first make a small biscuit for me and bring it back here. Then make a meal from what’s left for yourself and your son. And here’s a promise I’ll make you from God. Your jar of flour won’t run out and the bottle of oil won’t become empty until God sends rain on the land and ends this famine.’”
And she went off and did it, did just what he asked. And it turned out as he said —daily food for her and her son. The jar of flour didn’t run out and the bottle of oil didn’t become empty: God’s promise was fulfilled to the letter, exactly as Elijah had delivered it!
if anybody was entitled to be an earth-user, an earth consumer, it was this woman
• if anyone was ever justified in not earth-owning it was her
• If anything, she needed another to come tend to her life
• but in this story, God asks her to take care of a wandering prophet who needed to eat
• this makes no sense: widows don’t have anything
• this makes no sense: others were better equipped
• this makes no sense: she had the lowest social status, the most meager of resources
• if God was going to ask anyone in the village of Zaraphath to care for this wandering prophet…
• there had to be somebody better able than her
…yet this was God’s plan for the tending of the earth
…it was to her that the nudge of the Inner Voice came
Why?
Well, I suggest it is precisely because this woman was in such dire straits
• This woman needed to be a giver
• This woman needed to see herself differently
• And she needed to see reality differently
As she took her place as an earth-owner, she tapped into an important dimension of earth owning
Earth owners receive as well as give
For her, things turned around as she began to give
(later her son gets sick and Elijah heals him)
as soon as she rises to take her place as a contributor to the earth…
• as soon as she becomes more than a user, more than a consumer…
• the universe did what the universe does…
• it blessed the heart of a giver
Jesus said it his way:
Once you become a giver, you find that the world gives back to you
• Give, he said, and it will be given unto you
—
Many people wish they had a deeper spirituality
Many people want to see a broader dimension of God
Many people hunger for authentic experiences of divine intersection in their lives
Many want their spiritual journeys to have a greater expression of purpose and meaning
well…
there Jesus is, out there on the earth
• out there among those who have needs
• among strangers who need to be invited in
• among the lonely, the confused, the hungry, the needy
and as we allow ourselves to be the people through whom God makes the earth as it is in heaven…
• we open ourselves to encounter life, light, God
earth owning doesn’t just take from us…
earth owning gives us gifts
• we should anticipate spiritual gifts as we become stranger-welcomers
• as we become need-servers
• we should anticipate gifts that come from God
• and if we have open eyes, we’ll see those gifts
maybe not American gifts
Americans are conditions to look for new stuff, better stuff
• more possessions, more successes
• greater advancement
• more social status
and from time to time, God gives these
certainly has for me
but I encourage people to look for other important gifts
• more freedom
• deliverance from stuck points in our souls
• eyes to see the glory of life as it swirls around us
• capacity to savor love that is all around us
in the reality the Bible lays out
the reality Jesus lays out
• we can expect surprises when we become givers to the earth
• we can expect that strangers will bless us
• we can expect that clarity will come to us
• we can expect to see a bigger picture of life
• that Light and Life will break into our vision and we will know the Truth, and it will set us free
and for these reasons, I invite use to become owners of the earth
first, because the earth needs us
there are people God has assigned us
people for whom there is no backup plan
if we don’t go find them
if we are not conduits of goodness to them
if we do not invite them into life, love, freedom
there will be nobody who will
and second, because we need to become owners
we need to open ourselves to the role God sets before us
the people of God giving the gifts of God
it is our natural place
it is our rightful place
Today we finish our message talking about being owners of the earth instead of renters
• The norm in our society nudges us in the direction of renting
• But we’re talking about transcending that norm
• Earth-renters are earth-consumers, earth-users
• We are talking about rising above that norm
• Not taking from the earth what we need
• And instead learning to give to the earth what it needs
Instead of carefully coordinating our lives; our homes, jobs, neighborhoods to give us what we need…
• We are talking about looking at earth as an owner does
• Beginning to see what it needs
• And then, sensing the internal nudges of God, stepping out, and meeting needs
We’re talking about…
• Bringing to our jobs, the perspective of an owner
• Bringing to our homes, the perspective of an owner
• Bringing the attributes of life, love, goodness that are the fruit of God’s Spirit…
And asking ourselves how HS would have us bring these traits into being
…in the area of the earth that is ours to oversee
Owners watch over the earth they walk on, and steward it
Owners contribute, improve, enhance the earth
Owners develop things that would not be there w/o them
Owners expand possibilities
Find something that lacks and make it better
Find something depleted and enrich it
They take on this posture among their peers
With those who are younger than themselves
With those who are older than themselves
• In their neighborhoods
• In their network of friendships
• On their jobs
• In their homes
• In their city
Earth-owners recognize that a neighbor is lonely, and make a calendar note to call that person each week
• Earth-owner recognize a co-worker is struggling financially and slip a grocery store gift card into her purse w/ a note
• Earth-owners see an office being conflict-torn, and push for team-building training
This is what earth-owners do
Earth-owners value people enough to watch over them
• See people who need befriending and befriend them
• See people who need care, and care for them
• See people who need, and give of themselves to them
Owners vigilantly assess their own capacity
• Their own giftedness, their own abilities
• They then deploy those gifts/abilities to enhance the earth
• To make the lives of those around them more like heaven
• More like the principles/values of the God-Kingdom
Everyone has something to give to the world
• Owners assess what they have to give, start giving it
This can be as simple as creating the space where people eat together
• We own the earth, when we invite an irritating co-worker to eat lunch with us
• We own the earth when we eat a meal with someone who is isolated
• We own the earth when we create the space to eat together w/ someone we don’t know well
Sowing seeds of trust/affection
Making a network where there was none
People talk over food
People share life over food
• The environment of eating together is particularly conducive to creating community
• We create trust and affection when we eat together
• And community is particularly conducive to spiritual friendship
• We open doors to the spiritual community and spiritual transformation when we eat together
This is a good way to be earth-owners
• Jesus did this one a lot
• Consider how much of what we know about Jesus happened in the context of food
• Meals together w/ people
• Lessons taught over food
• Stories told about other people having meals together
• Principles of life/spirituality demonstrated at meals together
In fact, Jesus put so much emphasis on eating together that he was mocked as a glutton, wine-bibber
Why do you suppose Jesus did it this way?
• One of the most profound ways we move into earth ownership is to become integrated w/ others
• And to invite others to be integrated together as well
• And one of the best ways to do this, is to eat together
• At coffee shops, in break rooms
• At the company cafeteria
• At home
Story: I was delighted this week to hear…
• Doug, I listened to what you said a few weeks ago
• I’ve decided to act on it
• You notice the shift in the dining room?
• I’m in the middle of rearranging things
• Out w/ the exercise equipment
• In w/ a table and some chairs
• I’m going to make my life open to people
I’m creating space to share food with people
I’m creating the environment for community, spirituality, influence
We become owners when we create space to eat together
Story: little girl giving money away
why, honey? I’m buying friends
not so far from Jesus way
lk 16 Jesus tells story of a man who gets in trouble
starts buying friends and is commended for it
why? he’s being dishonest!
But Jesus is telling us to use our resources wisely, shrewdly
get something that matters for it
and getting friends, getting people
getting a spiritual network…
resources spent in pursuit of these…
those are resources well spent
Last week I talked about four reasons it is so difficult to take a place as earth owners
• We talked about several forces allied against us ever rising to take our rightful place
• Inappropriate yeses that make life overwhelmingly busy
• Specialization in our society that teaches us to leave more and more areas of life to the specialists
• The conspiracy of factors that makes us feel so inadequate, so un-grown-up
Could have added another…
• we’re wounded, broken, sinful
our internal self is wounded and lacks in self-esteem
• sometimes, however, our internal selves must be accepted and dealt with is just plain broken
• we look inside sometimes and see a sneaky little tyrant filled w/ prejudice, jealousy and fear
• we look inside and see sin getting the upper hand
• we don’t own the earth because this tyrant won’t have it
• we see people as upsetting instead of gifts
• people bring out the worst in us, so we avoid them
• especially true during times of stress
earth-owners don’t deny this part of themselves…
they don’t shove sin into closet and hope it never comes out
• no, they acknowledge reality of false self, and they work through the mess it makes for them
• the soul-closet doesn’t need to be totally clean for me to touch the earth
• I just have to decide to listen for the nudges and respond
Over time, God makes us new creatures, cleans out our soul-closets
• We become freed from fears, selfishness, anxiety, resentment, bitterness
• we realize that we are loved, and we can love in return
• we realize how we have received, we can give
when we are not free of our stuff, our time, our selves, giving ourselves away diminishes us
• we must be free in order to give ourselves away
But in the face of the four inadequacies we discussed last week, and this one as well…
• I want to read you a story
Story: widow of zarepahath (1 Ki. 17)
During the season of great drought and famine, God spoke to Elijah: “I want you to go live in Zarephath for a while. I’ve instructed a woman who lives there, a widow, to feed you.” So, he got up and went to Zarephath. As he came into the village he met a woman, a widow, gathering firewood. He asked her, “Would you please bring me a little water in a jug? I need a drink.” As she went to get it, he called out, “And while you’re at it, would you bring me something to eat?”
She stopped, turned to him, and said, “I swear, as surely as your God lives, I don’t have so much as a biscuit. I have a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a bottle; you found me scratching together just enough firewood to make a last meal for my son and me. After we eat it, we’ll die.”
But Elijah said to her, “Don’t worry about that. Do what you’ve planned to do. But first make a small biscuit for me and bring it back here. Then make a meal from what’s left for yourself and your son. And here’s a promise I’ll make you from God. Your jar of flour won’t run out and the bottle of oil won’t become empty until God sends rain on the land and ends this famine.’”
And she went off and did it, did just what he asked. And it turned out as he said —daily food for her and her son. The jar of flour didn’t run out and the bottle of oil didn’t become empty: God’s promise was fulfilled to the letter, exactly as Elijah had delivered it!
if anybody was entitled to be an earth-user, an earth consumer, it was this woman
• if anyone was ever justified in not earth-owning it was her
• If anything, she needed another to come tend to her life
• but in this story, God asks her to take care of a wandering prophet who needed to eat
• this makes no sense: widows don’t have anything
• this makes no sense: others were better equipped
• this makes no sense: she had the lowest social status, the most meager of resources
• if God was going to ask anyone in the village of Zaraphath to care for this wandering prophet…
• there had to be somebody better able than her
…yet this was God’s plan for the tending of the earth
…it was to her that the nudge of the Inner Voice came
Why?
Well, I suggest it is precisely because this woman was in such dire straits
• This woman needed to be a giver
• This woman needed to see herself differently
• And she needed to see reality differently
As she took her place as an earth-owner, she tapped into an important dimension of earth owning
Earth owners receive as well as give
For her, things turned around as she began to give
(later her son gets sick and Elijah heals him)
as soon as she rises to take her place as a contributor to the earth…
• as soon as she becomes more than a user, more than a consumer…
• the universe did what the universe does…
• it blessed the heart of a giver
Jesus said it his way:
Once you become a giver, you find that the world gives back to you
• Give, he said, and it will be given unto you
—
Many people wish they had a deeper spirituality
Many people want to see a broader dimension of God
Many people hunger for authentic experiences of divine intersection in their lives
Many want their spiritual journeys to have a greater expression of purpose and meaning
well…
there Jesus is, out there on the earth
• out there among those who have needs
• among strangers who need to be invited in
• among the lonely, the confused, the hungry, the needy
and as we allow ourselves to be the people through whom God makes the earth as it is in heaven…
• we open ourselves to encounter life, light, God
earth owning doesn’t just take from us…
earth owning gives us gifts
• we should anticipate spiritual gifts as we become stranger-welcomers
• as we become need-servers
• we should anticipate gifts that come from God
• and if we have open eyes, we’ll see those gifts
maybe not American gifts
Americans are conditions to look for new stuff, better stuff
• more possessions, more successes
• greater advancement
• more social status
and from time to time, God gives these
certainly has for me
but I encourage people to look for other important gifts
• more freedom
• deliverance from stuck points in our souls
• eyes to see the glory of life as it swirls around us
• capacity to savor love that is all around us
in the reality the Bible lays out
the reality Jesus lays out
• we can expect surprises when we become givers to the earth
• we can expect that strangers will bless us
• we can expect that clarity will come to us
• we can expect to see a bigger picture of life
• that Light and Life will break into our vision and we will know the Truth, and it will set us free
and for these reasons, I invite use to become owners of the earth
first, because the earth needs us
there are people God has assigned us
people for whom there is no backup plan
if we don’t go find them
if we are not conduits of goodness to them
if we do not invite them into life, love, freedom
there will be nobody who will
and second, because we need to become owners
we need to open ourselves to the role God sets before us
the people of God giving the gifts of God
it is our natural place
it is our rightful place
so I invite you…
owners all
renters no more