Luke 12:32-40
In 2009 my wife came with me to my seminary's summer sessions. It was a great trip for us as we were able to be with one another for our 10th wedding anniversary.
The seminary program I attended was the Native Ministries Program at the Vancouver School of Theology in Vancouver, Canada. The program focuses on working within the different cultures of indigenous peoples from across the world. The summer school community in which I spent 6 summers comprised of First Nation People of Canada, Native Americans, Native Hawaiians, Marshall Islanders, and people from Korea, Africa, Australia, and more. It is a vibrant program which allowed for each person to voice their individual concerns of being Christian in a world of cultural duality (Native or Christian, you can't be both).
As one might imagine, families were abundant and welcomed. There was even a special program for the children and youth who came with their families. This program used arts and crafts to show that it is possible to be both Native and Christian. The arts consisted of cultural dances, playing musical instruments, and learning different languages. The crafts included mask making, clothes painting, and jewelry making.
My wife wasn't there to attend classes, but she wanted to be a part of the program so she helped with the youth and children's program. She jumped right in and made things like leather bracelets, beaded necklaces, sequined handkerchiefs, and leather medicine pouches. As an anniversary gift she gave me one of those medicine pouches, but since I don't have medicine to carry around I use it as a coin purse.
I keep it in a secure place and try my best to ensure it doesn't get damaged or lost. Sure, it's a little beat up, but there are no holes in it so that nothing can fall out. I want to be sure that whatever I put in there can be held safely until the time it's needed.
My coin purse is kept in the same place so that it's very easy to get to and I am always ready to use a penny when needed or put away a penny for future use. The place I keep my coin purse doesn't really allow for it to be stolen unless the thief decides to take a lot more than just the coin purse; a lot more.
I tell this story because I want you to know that I will forever hold this anniversary gift made for me by my wife and given to me with all the love a life-partner possesses in a place that no harm can come to it. I also tell this story to point out that this is the same way we should keep that which is most entrusted to us - God's kingdom.
God has entrusted to us the care of his creation and all that dwells in it. Every blade of grass and trunk of a tree has been entrusted to us. Every drop of rain and every teaspoon of the ocean has been entrusted to us. Every bird of the air and beast of the ground and fish in the sea has been entrusted to us. Most importantly, every human being that lives within God's creation has been entrusted to us.
What does the coin purse you keep God's gifts in look like?
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