Agur's Prayer

My wife and I had dinner with Ed Kruse last evening. Ed is the director of stewardship for the ELCA. It was a wonderful, relaxed time. Our conversation covered a lot of territory. Part of our conversation was personal as we count Ed among our friends. Another part related to my completing my work as the stewardship specialist for the Northern Illinois Synod. With Pastor Kurt Nordby beginning his work as our Director for Evangelical Mission, stewardship becomes part of his portfolio. We also spent some time talking about Proverbs 30:7-9.

I must admit that I have spent very little time studying Proverbs. I have approached the book more as a source of amusement than of something worthy of deeper consideration. This particular passage was raised by the music/worship leader of the stewardship conference we were attending. You can probably guess that I have examined many biblical texts relating to stewardship, but this one has missed my scrutiny. I am less embarrassed to report this fact since so many of the other stewardship “experts” I was with reacted in a similar fashion.

A prayer from the sayings of Agur: “Two things I ask of you; do not deny them to me before I die: Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that I need, or I shall be full, and deny you, and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ or I shall be poor, and steal, and profane the name of my God.”

What a great prayer. Keep me honest and give me enough. This stewardship seminar was held at a hotel down the street from this condominium high-rise (pictured above). The ads in the paper indicate that a cheaper condo can be had for about $1.5 million. A unit in the middle levels go for about $3.5 million and up at the top the selling price is more than $7 million.

I can certainly fantasize about what it might be like to have that kind of money and live in such a beautiful place, but I truly believe that I am better off praying Agur’s prayer.