Do people think of a generous God when they look at all that they have? I’m not sure. I think it’s more of a challenge in our culture than it is elsewhere around the world.
Consider this story from one of our sister churches in Africa. A young man in our church body was working through his vicar year in Africa. His father was a world missionary. He recounts the story of three seminarians in that country being dismissed due to a witchcraft scandal. One student’s child died suddenly. This father and his friend, also a student at this African seminary accused a third student of witchcraft. The accusation was the this third student cast a spell on the child killing it. All three were dismissed because their reputations were so damaged.
He shared this story with a classmate back in the states who couldn’t help but wonder why anyone would believe in witchcraft!? Witchcraft in the bush of Africa is part of the culture. Everyone knows about it and believes in it. And in the same way we have cultural blind spots too. He said, “If students from the seminary here in Africa were to visit our seminary in Mequon, and if they would see all the new cars in the parking lot and then hear the students complaining about the food in the cafeteria, they would think that we are the most godless and thankless Christians they had ever met.”
This isn’t a sermon on witchcraft, it’s on our generous God and how we are blind to the idolatry of materialism, just as the Africans are to witchcraft. Which problem is worse? They’re both bad. There are just as many people consumed with the possessions of life that they are possessed by them. How can we stay focused on our generous God? Watch this Sunday’s sermon taken from Psalm 24.
Book(s): Psalms
Series: Joyful Generosity
Tag(s): Creation, Thanksgiving
Speaker(s): Fred Guldberg