Stewardship Modeled
Dr. Jim Wilson, November 8, 2009 We begin this morning with a legend; the “Legend of the One Dollar Bill.” So the legend goes: a $100 bill, a $20 bill, and a $1 bill meet up at the Treasury Department’s shredding machine at the end of their lives. The $100 bill says, “It’s been a great life. I’ve seen the whole world during my lifetime. Why, I’ve been on cruises in the Caribbean, safaris in Africa, and vacations in Europe.” The $20 bill says, “Well, I haven’t done quite that well, but my life too has been great. I’ve been to Las Vegas, Disneyworld, and to Starbuck’s all over the country.” They both turn to the $1 bill and ask, “How about you?” Not wanting to be outdone, the $1 bill replies, “Well I too have had an interesting life. I’ve travelled throughout this great land. I have been to Methodist churches, Roman Catholic churches, Lutheran churches, Presbyterian churches…” Then the $100 bill asks, “What’s a church?” We laugh, as we should. It is a humorous legend. But like much good humor, there is a bit of a sting just below the surface. Isn’t that the case when we poke fun at certain significant topics? Whether it’s humor about marriage or death or politics or religion or even God, there is a sting of truth that lurks just below the punch line. So it is with money and faith, stewardship, in short. I see such humor weaving its way through our text from Mark’s Gospel. Each time I read these words of Jesus, I both laugh and then grimace at the sting they bring. Jesus has been teaching in the Temple Courts and finds himself at the center of swirling controversies with the Jewish religious leaders. Most of his critics are the leaders of the religious establishment. One day Jesus takes a seat in the Court of Women, opposite the Temple Treasury, those thirteen trumpet-shaped receptacles for receiving the Temple tax and other offerings. As he watches, the scribes parade about in their long robes, fully expecting to be greeted with great deference, and offered the best seats in the synagogue and a sky box for tonight’s game, he issues as stinging indictment of their behavior. He warns others of the scribe’s hypocrisy, their pretense, their long robes and prayers are often but for appearance, a cover for their greed as they “devour widow’s houses.” While this may not be true of all scribes, it is true of enough for Jesus to speak a word of warning. I chuckle when I conjure up an image of these pompous, pretentious religious hypocrites parading about acting holy, like something out of a Monty Python movie. But then comes the sting. I too wear a robe, one that is relatively long. And, on occasion, my prayers have gone on a bit too long. While I haven’t to my knowledge devoured any widow’s home, I may be guilty of doing too little to reach out to the poor. It stings. Is my stewardship really a reflection of a generous faithful heart? That is the sting. Maybe you feel it too? And then there is this widow. She appears among the many bringing their offerings. No one notices here except Jesus. She is invisible, unseen, simply overlooked. After all, as a widow she is at the bottom of the social pyramid; poor, vulnerable, without any place or power, easy prey for the unscrupulously powerful. Besides, the rich and powerful were bringing their offerings, large contributions sure to grab everyone’s attention. As the on-lookers buzz about the contributions of the rich and famous, this forgotten woman slips forward quietly and drops two copper coins in the treasury, two lepta, the smallest denomination of coin, worth but a penny or so. No one notices her, except Jesus. He calls his disciples to him and tells them, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who contributed to the treasury. For all of them contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty, has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.” Did you feel the sting? The humor for me is found in the rich trying to out do one another to get attention as they made their contributions, dropping their coins so as to make noise, lots of noise, noise announcing a large contribution. The widow drops two small coins in virtual silence. Now if we begin to sentimentalize her gift, we miss the point---and the sting. Neither she nor her gift is to be sentimentalized or romanticized. She is a threat. She does not mean to be, but she is. Note that Jesus neither commends her, nor does he praise her. He simply tells his disciples that her gift is worth more than all the others because she has given out of her poverty, “all that she had to live on.” That is the sting. He does not condemn the contributions of the wealthy. He simply says they gave out of their abundance. If I am honest, I have to confess that I am more like them than I am like the widow. And that stings. I don’t consider myself wealthy, but I know when compared to others in the world I am. So how does my stewardship measure up? I believe Jesus offers this poor, nameless widow as a model of stewardship. Now I am not going to tell you that you have to sign over all your financial resources to the church in order to follow the widow’s model. You would quickly write off such a suggestion as ridiculous, and rightfully so. But I am going to suggest that there are some significant teachings about what it means to be faithful with our financial resources to be drawn from Jesus’ model. This morning I want to highlight two such teachings. I hope these teachings will inform your decision about your financial commitment to support the ministries and mission of our church in 2010. First, Jesus tells us that the widow gave “all she had to live on.” She held nothing back. Forget the amount for a moment. I think we tend to focus too quickly on amounts in these discussions. Focus instead on the widow’s attitude. Even in her poverty, she had a generous heart. Even in her poverty she gave thanks for God’s generous blessings and responded in kind. God’s generosity created within her a heart of generosity, a heart that expressed gratitude with a “nothing-held-back” commitment. She trusted the Lord completely. And her money, as meager as it might have been, became the means by which she offered her praise and thanks to God. That is an attitude of gratitude. I ask you to think of your commitment as a way for you to give your praise and thanks to God. Instead of calculating your commitment on some formula, what you gave last year, or what others are giving, or what is left over in the budget, I would encourage you to begin by asking, “How can I express my thanks and praise to God in Christ for the generosity of his blessings?” And that is a personal decision. A story is told about a third grade Sunday School teacher who was teaching the children about stewardship. She asked the class, “If you had a million dollars, how many of you would give it all to the church for God’s work?” Every child raised a hand. The teacher then asked, “If you had a $1000 how many of you would give it to the church for God’s work?” Again every hand went up. The teacher continues, “What if you had $100…?” For a third time all hands were raised. The teacher asks once more, “What if you had $1…” All hands, except for one student went up. The teacher asked, “Johnny, why didn’t you raise your hand?” Johnny answered, “Because I have $1!” If our pledge is to express our praise, it must be personal. The widow gave what she had. So must we, if our praise and thanks are to be authentic. And that praise offering, that gift of thanksgiving expresses a commitment to share the Good News with others. A second teaching on stewardship emerging from the model of this widow has to do with the canon by which Jesus weighs her gift. It is not the amount that much is clear. The wealthy gave much more. Rather, Jesus’ canon for measurement is what is left after the gift is made. In Jesus’ story the wealthy give from their abundance, their surplus, leaving an abundance remaining after the gift is made. The widow, on the other hand, “gave out of her poverty…all that she had to live on.” In other words, she had nothing left over once the gift was made. As Mother Teresa has pointed out on more than one occasion, “If you give what you do not need, it isn’t giving.” This is a different way of thinking about our commitment. It is so very natural to think about how much to give, the amount going out, so to speak. I hear Jesus suggesting that a more faithful measure might be how much is left over once the gift is made. I ask you to let this canon enter your thought processes as you consider your financial commitment for the coming year. Think about not only what is going out, but what is left. I believe such a canon will remind us that all we have is a gift, a gift to be used faithfully to witness to the liberating and transforming love of God in Christ to our neighbors both near and far. A couple of weeks ago, I came across an anonymous proverb which stated, “The world uses people to make money. The church uses money to make people.” I think Jesus would agree. I want to close with a personal word of thanks to you for your faithfulness this past year. In an extremely difficult economic year, your support has allowed us to carry on vital programs of ministry and mission in our witness of Christ Jesus. Thank You!! Now the challenge is once again before us. I am confident you will once again rise to the occasion and continue this congregation’s history of faithful witness. This is a great congregation. Yet, children and youth still need to be nurtured in the faith; adults still need to be discipled; worship still needs to be celebrated; mission still needs to be carried out; lives still need to be transformed; peace and justice still need to be pursued, and the Good News of God’s love in Christ Jesus must continued to be shared in ways that fill us with life and joy and hope. Your commitment will make this happen. I ask each and every member of this congregation to step out and make a commitment. That is critical---each and every member, not just some, but each of us. The amount is not what matters so much as the commitment. May we be a congregation in which every member makes a commitment to share the Good News!! Thanks be to God! Amen! |
