Community
Church Sermons
Twenty Second Sunday
After Pentecost – November 9, 2003
Mark 12:38-44
The widow’s mite.
Here’s a famous story that seems to just happen to show up in the Lectionary readings every year about this time – and lo and behold - right in the heart of Stewardship season in most churches! And we preachers find the passage a convenient source of inspiration for preaching stirring Stewardship sermons about the importance of putting our money where our mouth is – our finances where our faith is.
But as it turns out this year, our Trails Through Tellico Stewardship campaign ended last week. There is no need to stir the pot because the pot is all cooked and ready to be served! And I can tell you that this congregation has indeed put its money where its mouth is – its finances where its faith is. When the last few pledges of those who are away, or haven’t yet had a chance to fill out their pledge card, trickle into the church office over the next few weeks, I’m told we will have completely subscribed next year’s budget! That’s fantastic! Praise the Lord! And thank you so very much!
So I don’t need to stand here today trying to motivate your financial generosity by reminding you of the little widow woman! But I do want to invite you back into the story to see something very important. It doesn’t have anything to do with money really, but it has everything to do with faith. I want you this morning to hear what Jesus says of this woman.
He says, “She gave everything.”
Not nothing. Not something. Everything! She gave everything.”
I wonder if that can be said of you in relationship to the Kingdom of God? I wonder if that can be said of us as a church?
“They’re giving EVERYTHING they have for the sake of the Gospel!”
A few days ago, Sandy and I went to see the movie “Radio.” It’s based upon the true story of James Robert Kennedy – nicknamed Radio - an ostracized, developmentally disabled young black man who is befriended by Harold Jones, a high school football coach in Anderson, South Carolina. Over a long period of time, Coach Jones draws Radio in from the margins of society toward a place of acceptance and love and growth. But the further Jones brings Radio into the center of the community, the greater the public opposition becomes. And the coach – who loves football more than anything else – has to decide what he’s willing to do and give to win this boy to love.
Coach Jones, you see, faces the question every one of us is confronted with when it comes to being faithful to the Gospel: “Are you willing to give all you’ve got to make it happen?”
The little widow woman, Jesus says, gave everything she had.
Now, I want you to notice that she lived in a world like we do – a world where plenty of people – in fact, most people – are willing to give something. And here’s what interesting! In the sinful, corrupt and distorted view of this world, those at the Temple that day who gave SOMETHING were considered to have given more than she who gave EVERYTHING!
Don’t you think it’s great that Bill Gates is the generous man that he is, and does so much good for others through the Bill and Malinda Gates Foundation?
Absolutely! I would not want to be unappreciative of any help that generous people like the Gates’ give others.
But Jesus wants us to understand that when God looks at us, God cuts through all the corrupt distortions we place on life. God is no respecter of class, wealth, power, ability, or success. God does not care about any of that!
What God looks at is a person’s heart.
Bill Gates gives something.
The widow gave everything.
And Jesus said, “She has given
more than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth, but she, out of
her poverty, gave EVERYTHING!”
What do you suppose God sees when God looks at your heart?
This morning, I want to invite you as a person and us as a church to begin a journey of separating ourselves from everybody else. Yes, there are many who give nothing for the sake of God’s kingdom. And there are many who are willing to give something. But I want to hold a higher standard before us today.
Come, and let’s be people, and a church, who work hard – by the grace of God – to give everything we’ve got to fulfill our calling as Christians.
And we can learn a lot about what this means from the little widow woman of Mark 12.
Now, I hope you’ll notice that the story of the widow’s mite follows on the heels of last week’s text about which commandment is the greatest commandment of all. Jesus said the great commandment is to love God with ALL your heart, with ALL your understanding, with ALL your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself.
And this is what we see in the widow.
First of all, she worships God.
Isn’t that strangely wonderful? Isn’t that oddly beautiful? Isn’t it surprisingly inspiring that this woman would come to the Temple to worship the Lord?
I mean, the love of her life - her husband - has died.
I don’t know how you respond to the losses of your life, but I know that many people respond by turning away from God. I remember when my father died thirty years ago this week. The last thing in the world I wanted to do the Sunday after was to go to church. How could I stand to be among a congregation singing, “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee!” when my heart was broken? How could I listen to a message about life when I was so overwhelmed by death? How could I give thanks to God for all God’s blessings, when one of the most important gifts in my life had been taken away?
But as difficult as it was for me to worship God in that time of my life, it must have been all the more so for this widow. What is it that the Marriage Ceremony says? “I take thee to my wedded husband for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health, to love and to cherish till death us do part?” And in one quick moment, this woman’s life loses all the positives and winds up with all the negatives. There is no more better, only worse; no more richer, only poorer; no more health, only sickness; no more cherishing, only grieving.
She has lost everything. She is alone and poor and heartbroken.
But she comes and worships God!
The commandment says, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart…”
And there’s a reason for that. You know, the heart is the seat of the emotions. And to love God with all our heart means to bring and offer God our deepest feelings – our joys and our sorrows. To worship God in the face of our losses and difficulties and suffering is to take a path that will bring us, in God’s time, to healing and wholeness and recovery. The Bible tells us that GOD is our HEALTH, that GOD is our STRENGTH, that GOD is our REFUGE, and that GOD is our HOPE!
Now, I know there are many people here today who are hurting and carrying some pretty huge burdens of life. And I want you to know that the way to true healing and life is through Christ. So bring to the cross your scars and wounds and worries and sadness. Give them to God – give God everything you have. And trust God to keep his promises that your life will be made beautiful in His time. True healing begins with loving the Lord with all your heart – even when your heart is broken.
So I want to challenge you today to make a commitment to worship God no matter what, no matter where, no matter when. Every day and every Sabbath, find some setting where you can sing God’s praise, and offer God prayer, and hear God’s Word. Give everything you have to God.
The widow woman loved God with ALL her heart! And so can we! But that’s not all!
She obviously also loved God with ALL her understanding, because she knew something about the Scriptures! She knew that there are life-principles taught in the Scripture that help people negotiate the difficult places of life. For instance, she must have been aware of the fact that one of the healthiest things you can do for yourself when times are rough is to give yourself to others. In my last church there was a woman named Sophie. Sophie lost her husband and became deeply depressed. Finally, her physician said to her, “Sophie, I need your help at the hospital. I need someone to go around and visit my patients to cheer them up. Would you do that for me?”
Well, Sophie reluctantly agreed. And more than 5,000 volunteer hours later, she was given a beautiful service award at which time Sophie said, “I never knew that in giving, I would end up receiving so much!”
That’s a biblical principle, you know! And the Scriptures are full of such wisdom! So a second part of loving God with everything we have is becoming committed to opening our minds to God’s thoughts. You need to engage the Bible, and let it speak to you every day. It will help you become a better parent, a better spouse, a better church member, a better citizen, a better neighbor, a better Christian! But you can’t just give it a passing glance. You have to make a commitment to learning.
Love the Lord with all your understanding! The widow surely did.
And with all your strength.
I think this means that you have to be willing to do some work for the sake of the Gospel. You know, one of the things every pastor knows is that there are some folks in the church who you can call on for anything, anytime – and if it’s at all possible for them to respond, they’ll do it! We have a lot of those people in our church, and I thank God for you! You represent one of the things I believe must be a basic commitment on the part of every member – no one is here just for the ride. Everyone has work to do.
In fact, this is the third element of giving our ALL to God. We want to be a church where every member worships, where every member learns, and where every member serves.
And then one more thing.
Love your neighbor as yourself.
There she is – a poor little widow woman – dropping coins into an offering bucket that will be used to help…other poor little widow women – and orphans – and other hurting people!
There is someone today who needs you. There are people today who need us!
One of my ministerial colleagues was once brought before the Church board because every time somebody wanted something from the church, he gave it. Anyone who needed a minister, he’d go to. Any charitable group that needed a place to meet, he’d give the church keys to. Any hungry person who came along, he’d feed.
Well, his chief protagonist on the Board was a man who finally erupted and said, “Reverend, if we don’t keep you under control, you’ll give away the church!”
My friend just sat there – gently smiled – and said, “Exactly!”
She gave everything.
What are we willing to give?
My hope is that, when the Kingdom comes, God will look at you and me and say, “What a remarkable church! Every member worshipped! Every member learned! Every member served! And the one thing they became known for was being a church that loved their neighbors as themselves!”
I wonder if you’ll take hold of that vision with me.
You know, there are plenty of people in the world who are along for a free ride. They give nothing. And there are many who give something, so long as it doesn’t impact their lives too much.
But every once in a while, a little widow woman comes along.
She gives everything.
And Jesus stops what he’s doing, and points her out to all us disciples.
That… is a Christian!