Setting the Table - An Urban Abbey Stewardship Devotional
DAY 1
We are working to make room for everyone to have a place at our table of God’s love. Everyone has unique gifts and precious resources. Giving as a spiritual practice is not about zeros and commas but percentages and intention. Every gift will be a different number, but I hope that every gift shares the same purpose, passion, and love. I hope every gift is significant to the giver and offered in gratitude as a sign of God’s love flowing through us.
So please, join me in prayer and meditation as you consider how to support our mission and ministry in downtown Omaha. How will God’s love flow through me to set the table and throw the door of welcome open wide?
There is a short devotional, scripture, poem or prayer for each of the days ahead to undergird all that we do in intentional reflection and discernment. In addition to these communal readings and reflections, I invite you to share in our Guiding Prayer each day as well.
Space for a Crowded table ……
Loving God,
You set the table for us in the presence of our anxieties and enemies,
Our noisy narratives and preference for instant and cheep,
Our insecurities and worries that we are too much—or not enough.
You set the table and it’s hard to show up.
We filled up on stuff and craved the validation from digital ‘friends’
We said, ‘yes’ to too many things, double-booked, needed a nap, and flaked—again.
You set the table and we would show up
BUT… there are messages unread and we’re super behind,
Chasing down productivity like it’s our one true salvation.
You bid us feast on food that is more than fast and practices that nourish the soul.
You feed us with rhythms older than hurry—sabbath and silence, song and story.
You fill us with good things - abundance and gratitude; connection and generosity.
And so we take our seat
with all our being, perfectly-imperfect,
wonderfully and beautifully made,
and we feast.
We take this nourishment in and then offer it out
not because we have to
but because we are so deeply loved.
We loosen our grasp,
silence the noise and set some new norms.
We take this nourishment in and
then offer it out as
your hands and feet, your eyes and ears
setting the table, grabbing more chairs, adding the leaf
and throwing the doors of welcome open wide.
May we have the courage. Amen
DAY 2
John 8:32
To pray is to desire to know more fully the truth that sets us free. Prayer uncovered the hidden motives and unacknowledged wounds that shape our relationships. Prayer allows us to see ourselves and others as God sees us. Prayer is radical because it uncovers the deepest roots of our identity in God. In prayer we seek God’s voice and allow God’s word to penetrate our fear and resistance so that we can begin to hear what God wants us to know. And what God wants us to know is that before we think or do or accomplish anything, before we have much money or little money, the deepest truth of our human identity is this:”You are my beloved son. You are my beloved daughter. With you, I am well pleased” (Luke 3:22). When we can claim this truth as true for us, then we also see that it is true for all other people. God is well pleased with us, and so we are free to approach all people, the rich or the poor, in the freedom of God’s love. In prayer, therefore, we learn to trust that God can work fruitfully through us no matter where we are or who we are with.
As our prayer deepens into a constant awareness of God’s goodness, the spirit of gratitude grows within us. Gratitude flows from the recognition that who we are and what we have are gifts to be received and shared. Gratitude releases us from the bonds of obligation and prepares us to offer ourselves freely and fully for the work of the kingdom.
– Henri J.M Nouwen
For your reflection:
How does claiming your true identity as God’s beloved free you from the false identity imposed by culture, money or possessions?
DAY 3
Count your many blessings
As you begin or end your day, take time for a Gratitude Prayer:
body scan
Start at your toes and move up your body naming gratitude for every bone, muscle, organ, and system of your body that functions.
shelter, food, clothing
Thank who/what has contributed to provision of your basic needs.
Think of all who helped with your vocation, education, employment, intellect, skills you were given that provide your shelter and clothes.
Think of all the farm laborers, truckers, production and manufacturing laborers, utility workers, garbage collectors, public servants who bring necessities to your home.
friends, family, community
Give thanks for people and groups by name who offer you love, support, a safe space to become you.
faith, spirituality, religion
Give thanks for all who have instilled awe and wonder to inspire your spiritual journey.
the earth and all that dwells upon her and all that reaches beyond this planet notice your interconnectedness to all animals, plants, trees, people, to the air, water, soil, to the galaxy, star, sun and moon
-Rev. Dr. Jane Florence
For your reflection:
Journal about all the gratitudes that you identified in your prayer time. For what are you most grateful?
DAY 4
Matthew 6:28-30
Robin Wall Kimmerer speaks about a gift economy in her writings and the danger of greed that can never be satisfied. She speaks as a mother, scientist, professor and enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi nation and she gives a beautiful road map for us to follow.
“The Serviceberries show us another model, one based upon reciprocity rather than accumulation, where wealth and security come from the quality of our relationships , not from the illusion of self-sufficiency. Without gift relationships with bees and birds, the Serviceberries would disappear from the planet. Even if they hoarded abundance, perching atop the wealth ladder, they would not save themselves from the fate of extinction if their partners did not share in that abundance. Hoarding won’t save us either. All flourishing is mutual.” - Robin Wall Kimmerer, The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World, p 72
Nature teaches abundance. Nature teaches reciprocity and connection if we are wise enough to learn and listen.
For your reflection:
If possible, spend a few moments in nature. If you cannot go outside, step to a window to view the outdoors, or look at a photograph of a favorite nature scene: mountains, oceans, prairie, beach, or forest. Where do you spot nature’s display of abundance? Where do you see reciprocity? Where do you become part of the awe and wonder?
DAY 5
BORN TO BE GENEROUS
The journey home—the journey to discovering your best self—begins with this fundamental truth: we are created in the image of a loving and generous God.
The very essence of God is loving and giving. Because we are born in the image of God, we are born to be generous.In Generosity Rising, Scott McKenzie rewrites the opening words of the Declaration of Independence. He writes:
We hold these truths to be self-evident that all people are created in the image of a loving, giving, and generous God. We believe real life, true liberty, and eternal joy are only realized when we live lives of abundant generosity and sacrificial love. Eugene Peterson in Run with the Horses says it this way: Giving is what we do best. It is the air into which we were born. It is the action that was designed into us before our birth.
Can you believe this fundamental truth? Can you look in the mirror and say, “I am born in the image of a loving and generous God. I am born to be generous”? Perhaps your answer is no—that’s fine. Perhaps you aren’t quite sure—that’s fine too. Sometimes we struggle with this truth because we know in our hearts that we do not always reflect this fundamental truth. Often, we choose to live by the motto “The person who dies with the most stuff wins.” We choose stuff over generosity. How many times have we said to ourselves, “If only I had [blank], then I would be happy”? But when we finally get [blank], some other thing or need rises up and becomes the next “if only.” A friend of mine once told his wife, “If you will let me buy this motorcycle, I just know I’ll be happy and won’t ask for anything else.” However, the following year they came out with a new model with new features that he just knew he couldn’t live without.
For your reflection:
When have you experienced the pursuit of stuff for happiness being unending and unfulfilling? Remember a time when you really wanted something, and shortly after you got it, you were disappointed or no longer cared about it.
What would it mean if you lived according to the statement, “we were born to be generous”?
DAY 6
Hello, my dear Abbey friend. I’m so happy and proud of you for taking the time to read this devotional. You are awesome! As you are aware, we are currently in the midst of a campaign for a new building for the Abbey. (Yay!) Our song for this campaign is The Highwomen’s “Crowded Table.” If you’ve attended the Abbey at least three times, you’ve sung this song with us on a Sunday morning. You’re probably familiar with the lyrics. My favorite words are, “If we want a garden, we're gonna have to sow the seed. Plant a little happiness; let the roots run deep. If it's love that we give; then it's love that we reap.” My husband, Jackson, and I planted a garden this past spring. We built the fence, the beds, and landscaped a little bit (in freezing rain but who cares). As of today, while I’m writing this, our garden has exploded. We have more vegetables and herbs than we know what to do with! (You yourself might have even been a lucky recipient of a Martin veggie recently).
While it’s super fun to go out and harvest a particular veggie or herbs for that week’s recipes, building a garden is challenging. As I said, it was raining and very cold the day we decided to build the garden fence, beds, and landscape the area (it was Jackson’s only day off for that rotation, don’t question us). At one point, I stopped drilling the wood posts and looked up at Jackson and whined, “I’m tired of this! I want to be done!” And you would have, too, if you were on hour one thousand in the cold with wet tennis shoes covered in mud and insta-concrete. However, we have continued to cultivate this precious plot of land since its inception. With constant watering, weeding, harvesting, and little yelps from myself when a bug gets me, we have grown a beautiful and practical garden. Much like the fun yet tedious work required for our garden, creating a new space for every person to enjoy is hard work. An understatement, but nevertheless true.
This work costs money, takes up time, and incorporates many different people collaborating. But this work is not impossible. With all of you, and our Abbey staff, we will create a beautiful, nurturing, and safe space for all people to thrive in their spirituality. It is imperative to have a place that people are not scared to enter, be that for reasons like religious trauma, fear surrounding their sexuality, or social anxiety. If we want a place that feeds our souls, we are going to have to plant some goodness now; whatever that looks like for you. The Highwomen say, “Everyone’s a little broken, and everyone belongs,” and I believe this line engenders a sense of camaraderie amongst people. Especially in a church, where typically you’re told to hide your brokenness, the Abbey is one place I have never felt the need to hide myself or my struggles with mental health. And knowing how impactful the Abbey has been for myself encourages me to offer what I can to make this place as wonderful for others. “If it's love that we give; then it's love that we reap. If we want a garden, we’re gonna have to sow the seed.” Continuing to grow this place for ourselves and others is invaluable work. Planting love, time, effort, finances, and more now will result in us reaping a safe, inclusive, and loving home for all peoples. So, go forth and plant something good, friend! — Tori Martin
For your reflection:
What do you want to plant at the Urban Abbey that will grow a crowded table?
DAY 7
Lynne Twist, in her book The Soul of Money, reminds us we live in a culture held hostage by the myth of scarcity. She describes that when we wake up in the morning, our first thought is, “I didn’t get enough sleep.” When we crawl into bed at night, our last thought is, “I didn’t get enough done today,” and everything in between is a litany of scarcity. She points out that the antidote to scarcity is not abundance as we might assume. In our desire for abundance, we find ourselves captive to a constant cycle of needing more. The antidote for scarcity? Sufficiency. Isn’t that what we find in God’s abundance? God who provides enough . . . enough manna, enough grace, enough blessings . . . enough of everything so that we may share abundantly.
For your reflection:
Do you ever approach life with a scarcity mind-set, “as if I might run out of ______ (fill in the blank: time, money, ideas, energy, love)”? How does this mind-set affect your spiritual life, connection, relationship with God, the earth and all others? How do you demonstrate the myth of scarcity in your life? In what ways have you experienced God’s sufficient blessings?
DAY 8
GROUNDED IN GRATITUDE
Expressing gratitude is the foundation upon which generosity is grounded and where the journey begins. Gratitude flows from an understanding that who we are and what we have are blessings given to us by our Creator. A grateful heart overflows with a desire to share God’s gifts in order to be a blessing to others.
You may know someone who embodies a spirit of gratitude. These are the people who smile despite inclement weather, health issues, or financial circumstances. These are the people who always seem to remain upbeat and positive even during difficult times. Grateful people focus on the blessings in life and are filled with appreciation. What do these people have that we don’t? An attitude of gratitude!
The church is blessed with many whose spirits are overflowing with gratitude and thanksgiving. Born in God’s image, we are born to enter into the flow of gratitude and giving. Everything we are and everything we have is a gift from our Creator. Even our relationship with God is a gift! When we truly grasp the enormity of God’s blessings in our lives, our hearts are filled with gratitude. Expressing our gratitude to God is the beginning of our journey toward living into the generous people God made us to be.
– A Generous Gratitude, Horizons Stewardship
For your reflection:
Who do you know whose spirits are ‘overflowing with gratitude’?
How do you see gratitude in their lives?
DAY 9
More from Rev. Debra reflecting on ‘John Wesley’s Sermon: The Use of Money Earn All You Can’
First, Gain all you can or earn all you can. This does not sound particularly revolutionary. He urged the early Methodists to work hard without delay and to avoid being idle. But he had some clear parameters on what work should look like. Work should not forfeit your body or soul. He named some working conditions that were dangerous, like those that work with toxic chemicals such as arsenic or melted lead. He even named folks that sit and write for most of their day as people that need to get up and move in an act of self-care. Working should not steal your well-being. His second rule is that working should not steal your neighbors well-being. Gain all you can, but don’t steal it from the people around you. Wesley names those industries like distillation that produced a high percent per volume “fire water” which took a lot of a man’s paycheck and impacted a family. He named pawn-brokers and even medical professionals that could stretch out the cure to make more money in the process. Gain all you can, work hard but gain all you can in a way that gives life.
Or as Leslie Knope says; “The best prize that life has to offer is to work hard at work worth doing.”
For your reflection:
What does “earn all you can” mean to you?
How does your work measure against Wesley’s expectations for work?
DAY 10
We know the manipulations and the millions that are extracted from the wellbeing of people, especially vulnerable people through scams of all sorts, including religion. Faith and spirituality are powerful and people can exploit anything that is powerful. Churches have funded excessive lifestyles for church leaders - mansion, jets and more. The Roman Catholic church has funded lobbyests to prevent accountability and lawyers to defend clerics in cases of sexual abuse.
Some churches manipulate with a theology called Prosperity Gospel, asking people to give with the promise that they will receive. It is particularly ugly and dangerous as they make “God’s blessing” a part of this scam. For these and many reasons, people can be leery when a church talks about giving.
However the biblical message has been distorted, stewardship remains a faithful response of spiritual gratitude. – Debra McKnight
For your reflection:
Have you been wounded by a church through giving? Have you been manipulated to give in order to receive a blessing or a need? Where did this happen and when?
Have you overcome the reluctance or skepticism that arose from past experiences?
How have you experienced giving at Urban Abbey differently? Where does your giving to the Abbey bring you the most joy?
