Amen.
Yesterday during the boutique and craft sales
here at Holy Spirit, one of the younger members of the congregation
came up to his father and asked, "Can I have a dollar?"
His father reached into his pocket and pulled out all his loose
change.
"All I have on me is right here," he said showing his
son a hand full of small coins.
"But I don't think it's a dollar."
So saying the father poured his hand full of change into his son's
hand. The boy looked at it and began to count. I think he was
thinking about buying some food item from the bake sale. Pastor
Chris was standing there and reached into her pocket. She pulled
out a dollar bill. "Here," she said. The young boy
looked at the one dollar bill and then at his father.
"It's okay," she said. "You can pay me back if
you want to. I know where you live."
The young boy looked again at his father.
"What do you say?" his father asked. The son only fingered
the dollar bill looking at it carefully. "Say thank you,"
said the father.
"Thank you," the boy said as he turned to head for the
food.
It was only a dollar-it's no big deal. But
in that moment were captured so many things too true about our
lives. A father offers up all that he has in his pocket--credit
cards don't mean much at church. Maybe they should but we have
never gotten around to accepting Visa or Mastercard.
I sometimes wonder what that says about the places I want to be.
A father offers all that he has at that moment--isn't that what
every good parent is about, responding as best we can to our children's
needs. And when our response comes up short we help them to recognize
the resources around them, and to acknowledge the gifts we are
given with thanksgiving.
Two widows fill our lessons for today. The first is the widow
of Zaraphath. A woman caught with her son in a society that cared
little for the weak or poor. Caught in the midst of a severe drought
and famine.
Approached by the prophet Elijah as she was about to prepare the
last of the food she had in her house--a small amount of meal
and oil to make a small bread cake to eat. The prophet asks and
she gives from what she has. This example of those who have the
least giving from what they have is echoed in the Gospel lesson
for today when another widow enters the temple and Jesus watches
as she offers up her coins from what little she has. It is one
of the great mysteries of human nature that the poorer a person
is, when it comes to matters of sharing, helping and giving the
more likely they are to give-when they give--in far greater proportion
then those who have greater resources.
On this Stewardship Sunday it is almost impossible
not to focus this sermon on the subject Jesus talked about more
then any other topic--money--resources--stewardship. It is also
tempting to take a solid Old Testament approach and stress the
importance of the tithe-the giving of 10% to the work of the Lord.
The idea of percentage giving has been central to many stewardship
programs and works as a useful tool for assessing how we are doing
in our stewardship efforts.
True, most Lutherans do not measure up to a tithe-few Christians
do.
Looking at the percentage of income a person
gives in charitable contribution can lead us to a curious game
of can you top this. Great fun in assessing others--like presidential
candidates
It would be a bit politically risky right now to look at the current
candidates--But as I thought of this possibility I was reminded
of another presidential campaign some years ago when the religious
press reviewed the tax forms of the various candidates to see
what their commitment was to the church and charitable giving.
I remember well how the western environmentalist candidate had
contributed a total of only $140 to charitable causes--the African-American
candidate working as an advocate for the poor had given $500 to
charity. The incumbent president advocating that private citizens
contributions pick up the slack created by slashed welfare programs
gave $2,000 to charity-less then 1% of his presidential salary
not including other blind deferred income. The highest contribution
was from the candidate from Minnesota-who else-who gave around
$13,500 which was about 3% of his income--3%--just about the average
giving of most Lutherans.
Oh, we play games with the numbers--question whether the percentage is of net or gross income--wonder at our Moslem friends who are expected to contribute 10% of net worth.
God really doesn't play such games. The legalism
of percentages are of human design to help us simplify our lives.
We want to do the right thing-the good thing-the proper thing--so
we wonder what the right contribution is. How much do I have to
give to be religiously correct. What is the average? What is
the expected amount?
Like a child going to a friend's party--we want to make sure the gift is worthy enough but not too extravagant lest someone think we are putting on airs.
To give-to give of ourselves and our resources. Psychologists tell us that we need to give to be healthy. To give of self is psychologically essential to our well-being but that doesn't define the giving. Giving is an investing of self and resources in something or someone. We give of ourselves to the schools-our community-to colleges--hospitals--service groups-youth groups--and even the church. But giving to the church is different--the church is not just another volunteeristic group--although increasingly our culture tries to make us think of it that way.
Giving back to God is not an act of kindness
to or for others. Giving to God is an act of faith.
We may think we are giving to help others--and certainly the hunger
offering received this morning will do just that. But faith filled
giving is really giving because we know in our heart and our soul
that this is what God wants us to do. It is what our faith calls
us to do--It is what God would have us to do, and no amount of
calculation or analysis will make our faith filled giving better
or worse--it is simply right.
I remember I was in Indianapolis visiting colleges
with one of the boys. We were eating a quick breakfast at McDonalds.
The day was overcast--gray, damp and getting cold. She came into
the McDonalds bundled against the weather--layers of clothing
and the bags of personal items
she carried in bundles tied together told volumes of her situation.
She bought a small coffee and checked to be sure the refills were
free, then filled her cup with extra sugars and milk--real milk
from a small pitcher. She took a seat at a booth and rummaged
through her various belongings--pulled out a piece of cardboard
and then after more searching a black marker--carefully she began
to letter the cardboard--in large letters she wrote "Homeless-Need
food-Please" and then at the bottom of the sign she wrote
"God bless you."
She drank down half the coffee, looked at the
sign and smiled to her self. I watched the customers coming and
going--each in their turn noticed the old woman in the booth with
bags
and too many layers of clothing. Families tended to sit away from
her--college students tended to look away. We got up to leave
for the college. I carried my tray to the garbage passing her
booth. I could not walk by. I pulled a bill from my pocket and
lay it on the corner of the table. She looked up and simply said
"Thank you". As we left the McDonalds my son asked
me, "What'd you give her dad?"
"Breakfast," I replied.
There are no calculations--there are no exact
percentages. Jesus went beyond percentage giving.
The miracles of faith are not from precisely measured investments
in God. For the widow of Zaraphath the promise was that enough
would be left--more than enough for her and her son. The miracle
of faith giving is discovering what is left--to be sure it may
not be left us in the forms and quantities we might plan or expect--but
that is the challenge of faithful stewardship. If we never venture
to act in faith we will never discover the power of God to reach
us in the midst of those moments. Stewardship is an invitation
to life. Giving is an adventure in living. There is no better
way to discover what it means to be alive. A widow in Zaraphath
gave what she had in faith--and she and her son lived until the
drought ended. A widow in Jerusalem gave what she had in faith
and she lives through all time in story--as model--as witness
to the power of faith to transcend the moment.
Sometimes what we need is for our faith-filled
giving to challenge us to life, even if by accident.
Garrison Keillor tells about a Sunday morning at Lake Wobegan
Lutheran Church where that happened.
The sermon had been droning on far too long,
and Clarence Bunsen had checked out early.
He realized it was almost time for the offering, so he quietly
reached for his wallet. Upon opening his wallet, Clarence discovered
he had no cash. He took out his pen and hid the checkbook in the
middle of his Bible, next to one of the psalms. He began to scratch
out a check for thirty dollars,
because he was sure he had almost had a heart attack that week
and because somebody in the church would count the offering and
he wanted them to see he gave thirty dollars.
He tried not to be too obvious, but a lady
to his right saw him. Clarence could tell she was thinking he
was writing in the Bible so he tried not to look at what he was
doing. She gave him funny stares before turning back to the sermon.
Clarence tried to quietly rip the check out of the checkbook with
limited success. Still not looking at what he was doing so the
lady in the pew wouldn't know that he was writing a check in church
during the sermon, he slid the check into his Bible like a bookmark.
Just the corner of the check with a couple zeros showing stuck
out of the book. The sermon finally ended--the offering plate
came by and Clarence proudly put the check in the plate. As he
passed the plate on he suddenly realized that he had written the
check
Not for thirty but for three hundred dollars. He had accidentally
written three-zero-zero on two different levels when he wasn't
looking.
What could he do? On the one hand, he couldn't
go downstairs after church and find the deacons counting the collections
and say, "Fellows, there's been a mistake. I gave more than
I really wanted to." On the other hand, he actually had given
all he had in the checking account
and a little more. Perhaps he and his family would have to eat
beans and oatmeal for the rest of the month, Clarence thought,
even though the contribution was going to a good place. One thing
was sure. In that moment, Clarence felt fully alive for the first
time that day.
Commitment beyond calculation. That's what Jesus is watching for. With all that we have been provided--will we risk to give.
Every year this nameless widow shows up in
the temple--actually her story shows up in countless stewardship
sermons. She has earned a reputation through the centuries as
a good example of sacrificial giving, yet I suspect she would
be embarrassed by all the recognition her simple act of faith
has found in countless sermons. As suddenly as she emerges from
the shadows of history
so she vanishes again anonymously into the pages of scripture--yet
in this moment we find ourselves challenged to see our lives anew--we
feel guilt--we feel thankfulness--we feel promise for our acts
of faith--our offering of ourselves.
There is a homeless vender of the paper Streetwise who used to regularly stand outside the Goodman Theater. As we walked up out of the Monroe Parking Garage we could always hear his call--"Streetwise" and then he would tell a joke. Sometimes a knock, knock joke--it was always a poor pun. The paper sold for $1 of which he was allowed to keep 60 cents. I always gave him $2. The sound of his cheery voice--that welcome to the city, and the silly joke was really worth far more then what I gave him. He doesn't seem to be around this year. I hope that's because he is no longer homeless. He gave me a memory of the city that will last forever.
That's what giving is really all about. The transforming power of God to make so much more from what ever is given. So we give--because we can--because we believe--we give in faith--and a child is given a chance to meet Jesus in a Sunday school lesson. We give and an aging member is given a comforting visit from the Pastor hours before death. We give and the sacraments are offered to all who seek God's grace in the mystery of bread and wine--Christ's body and blood We give and a teen has a place to ask that question that will set their moral and spiritual direction for life.
Giving is an act of faith.
How much should we give?---a dollar?---3%?---a tithe?---a gift
that is meaningful?
A poor widow came and put in two small copper
coins, then Jesus said, "Truly I tell you,
this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing
to the treasury."
Giving is an act of faith.
Amen.