Beer for the Garbage Collectors

"From the first day of the 7th month they began to offer burnt offerings to the LORD. But the foundation of the temple of the LORD was not yet laid. So they gave money to the masons and the carpenters, and food and drink, and oil to the Sidonians and the Tyrians to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea, to Joppa, according to the grant that they had from King Cyrus of Persia."

(Ezra 3:6b-7)

One of the unique traditions in Hawaii at the holidays is to leave cases of beer (or soda) outside for the garbage collectors. On collection days around Christmas and New Year, Hawaii residents will set out with their trash cans a case of their favorite beverage for their local rubbish collectors. A truck (with an off-duty sanitation worker) will follow directly behind the garbage truck, collecting the donations.

I was reminded of that tradition today when reading the book of Ezra in the Bible. The Israelites had finally returned from 70 years of captivity in Babylon, and the first order of business is to worship. Then they set about getting the temple rebuilt. So they take up a collection and give money to the stone masons, carpenters, and Sidonian/Tryian tree loggers to bring supplies. It also says they gave "food and drink" too. I'm envisioning cases of beer/soda, pizzas, and homemade cookies (but that's just me). The bottom line is that they took care of the people who would soon help (re)build their temple.

Here at Palmdale UMC, we have a vacant 15-acre property. It was purchased over a decade ago. The vision was to build a new church - one that could accommodate more people... not only on Sunday mornings for worship, but also a larger preschool, and more room for small groups and other meetings at the church throughout the week.

We're still paying down the mortgage on the land. Any building project is still a ways away. But I love the hopeful and enthusiastic expectation that the people bring in the book of Ezra. I want to keep that spirit going here at Palmdale UMC. I want to inspire generosity, hope, excitement, and expectation. (Maybe we should start leaving cases of bee... I mean, soda... (and pizzas!)... on the property?!?)