“When Jesus heard that, he said, ‘Then there’s only one thing left to do: Sell everything you own and give it away to the poor.  You will have riches in heaven.  Then come, follow me.’  This was the last thing the official expected to hear.  He was very rich and became terribly sad.  He was holding on tight to a lot of things and not about to let them go.  Seeing his reaction, Jesus said, ‘Do you have any idea how difficult it is for people who have it all to enter God’s kingdom?  I’d say it’s easier to thread a camel through a needle’s eye than get a rich person into God’s kingdom.’  ‘Then who has any chance at all?’ the others asked.  ‘No chance at all,’ Jesus said, ‘if you think you can pull it off by yourself.  Every chance in the world if you trust God to do it.’”   Luke 18:22-27 (from The Message) Dear Family, I am a person who loves to feather his nest.  I am told that persons born in my month (May) tend to like nice things.  It is certainly true for me:  I like nice clothes, furniture, fine art, great music, good food and wine and the company of friends.  I remember my neighbor in the condo complex in Miami, where I was pastor, saying to me when I moved in, “It’s obvious you have never been through a major hurricane.”  “Why?” I asked.  “You have so much ‘stuff.’”  (She had just recuperated from Hurricane Andrew.)  It is true: I like stuff. So did the man in the Bible passage above.  And while I don’t think that Jesus is calling all of us to sell everything, he is trying to teach us the importance of priorities, especially those of us who live in the US, the wealthiest country in the world. In Jerusalem, in Jesus’ day, there was a gate in the city wall called The Eye of the Needle.  It was small; small enough that a wealthy person would need to get off his or her camel, and take their possessions off the beast, in order to pass through the gate.  It is not wrong to have “stuff” but if that stuff gets in the way of our following Jesus, then it is hard for us to be disciples.  We are to have humility, and perhaps sometimes give away some of that stuff to those less fortunate, so that our journey with Jesus is not quite so burdensome.  While many of us at St. John’s are on fixed incomes, we are still the wealthiest persons in the world.  (In fact, Charlie Tanner shared with our 75+ members at their birthday party recently, that over $90,000 of the whole $392,000 pledged to our Capital Campaign, has been pledged by those very members who are over 75 years of age.  Our elders are leading the way!)  Discipleship and giving go hand in hand.  One cannot be a faithful disciple of Jesus if one is unable or unwilling to “give up some stuff.”  Where are you in your faith journey?  How is your being a disciple going?  Can you release some of your funds and your time to help us realize the vision that God has put in our hearts?  Our future mission and ministry is very bright: a new hall for our fellowship events, a basketball court for our teams, a youth center, expanded Nursery School, Senior Adult Day care, a beautiful mediation chapel, more Sunday School classrooms and Lutheran Social Services working in our midst.  Can we do it alone?  No way.  But, as the scripture says, “Every chance in the world if you trust God to do it.”  We do trust God, and we trust that you will want to be a part of realizing the dream.  God has blessed us with many resources.  Now God calls us to share those resources so that we can be an even more effective Beacon of Hope.  I boldly ask you today to join with me, the other leaders of our congregation, and our wise elders in sharing of your resources so that God’s ministry can flourish in this place.  I promise you, your path of discipleship will be blessed as you do. In Christ’s Name, Pastor Paul