Welcome to the UPCSA Month of Mission Devotions! This year we are focused on the theme of "Overcoming." As has been our tradition, we'll have contributions from members and ministers across the Denomination blessing us with their insights.
In this first week we will be grounding ourselves in God's plan for us and our call and mission - there is no point to overcoming if our purpose and direction is not clear...
Created for Harmonious Stewardship
We are human beings. I love the idea that we are "be-ing".We are a present-continuous tense.
We are unfolding.
We are works-in-progress.
And God has created us for fruitfulness and stewardship.
Both these concepts have been badly cheapened.
Fruitfulness is more than multiplication. It is quality as much as it is quantity. I believe God created us for healthy family and harmonious community. Have a look at the rules and feasts that governed Israel: Sabbath Rest; Passover Celebrations where even the children participated by asking questions; and the year of Jubilee which, although never put into practice, was about resetting balance and creating a just and fair society. And these are just some examples of God's call to grow a healthy and sustainable society.
For a long time "ruling over the earth" was understood as the right to take, take and take from creation. Now we understand that it means stewardship - that we are custodians of creation. Sadly, so much damage has been done that we are in serious catch-up mode...
As we emerge from the epicentre of the "Corona Crisis" many people express the need to return to "normality". But the "norm" we had before Corona was flawed and cracked - the virus has revealed that. We need to better than simply returning to what we had.
We need to set our standards higher:
- We need to strive for healthy societies that bear good fruit
- We need to take better care of our world.
May we overcome our own brokenness and the bad habits we have fallen into and be God's co-workers in a society that bears good fruit and cares for its world.
| So God created humankind in His own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground." Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground--everything that has the breath of life in it--I give every green plant for food." And it was so. (Genesis1:27-30) |
((Theo Groeneveld is married to Brenda, is dad to Caleb (20) and foster father to a long list of abandoned kittens that they have re-homed over the years. He has served Emmanuel Presby Church in Garsfontein Pretoria since 1997 and is the convener of the General Assembly Mission and Discipleship Committee. He enjoys cycling and tech stuff.)
