5[God] brought [Abram] outside and said, “Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then [God] said to [Abram], “So shall your descendants be.” 6And he believed the Lord; and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness.
~ Genesis 15:5-6
The title of this article comes from the great Casey Kasem, who, in addition to being the voice of Shaggy on the Scooby Doo cartoon, led the American Top 40 Countdown. I grew up listening to Casey sign-off on TV and the radio with this phrase: “Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars.” I loved it because it was both realistic and hopeful – it was forward-looking, eager, optimistic.
I think there is some wisdom for Bethel in Casey’s sign-off. Since May, Ministry Teams have been considering what they feel God has called them to do. Each team has tasks and responsibilities that are roughly the same year-to-year, but they also have ideas about expanding and trying some new things. We met in June to put a draft calendar together. In August, budget requests were sent to the Finance Team. In October, the draft budget was approved by the Mission Council. Many eyes have been on this budget and much thought has gone into it.
As we prepare for the Annual Congregational Meeting on Sunday, November 17, I hope that we do keep our feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars. As we do so, we must consider the ground upon which we are standing. The ground of reality is not our budget. The ground is not even our best plans. The ground is Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2 reminds us: “So then you are … members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.”
To say that our foundation is Christ is not to say that we become fiscally irresponsible or that we forget any sensible approach to running the church. Budgets, pledge reports, time and talent sheets, calendars – these become not the foundation but tools for accomplishing God’s mission. We exercise good stewardship always reaching forward and trusting God.
God’s promise to Abram was that he would make his descendants number as many as the stars in the heavens. Remember, this promise was made when Abram and Sarai were both old and Sarai was barren. But Abram trusted God’s promise. And, after 25 years of hearing God’s promises, Abraham and Sarah gave birth to Isaac. What if Abram had not believed? What if Abram didn’t move with his family to the land of Canaan? What if Abram and Sarai said they trusted God’s promises, but stopped trying to have a baby? What if Abraham thought it was too much for God to ask to make circumcision a sign of their covenant? What if Abraham didn’t choose to so completely trust God with his son Isaac even though he didn’t know exactly what God would do or how?
We’ll never know the answers to all of these “what ifs”. But what we do know is that God loved Abraham and that Abraham trust God. And Abraham was calleda “the friend of God” (2 Chronicles 20:7; Isaiah 40:7; James 2:23).
As you read this article and the rest of the November Bell Tower, if you haven’t already, put Bethel on your daily prayer list that we would “keep our feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars!”
In Christ,
Pastor Jeff
Epicurious Lutheran 