SHE WAS GENEROUS
Sunday Worship Sermon

NOVEMBER 8, 2009 - “For all of them have contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.” (Mark 12:44)

Let’s imagine for a moment, what was happening in the bible verse we just heard (Mark 12: 38-44). There were collection boxes located around the courtyard of the temple. Jesus had positioned himself at one of them to observe people making their offerings. As he sat there, he watched as many rich people threw in large sums (note: let many coins drop into the offering plate). Then a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins (note: let two coins drop into the offering plate). Her coins were worth the least value of all the coins in circulation, like our penny is today.

Jesus used this as a teaching moment. He called his disciples and said to them, “truly I tell you this poor widow has put in more than all those contributing to the treasury. For all of them have contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

This is Stewardship Sunday, and in many churches today is the day when the pastor and his family, and all families of the congregation are asked to pledge the amount of money they will give back to God for his work through the church in the coming year. The bible guides us on how much we should give. In Genesis 28: 22 Jacob pledges to God, “… all that you give me I will give you a tenth.” In Numbers 18: 25, “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Speak to the Levites and say to them, ‘When you receive the tithe I give you as your inheritance, you must present a tenth of that tithe as the Lord’s offering.’” Hebrews 7: 5 says, “Now the law requires the descendents of Levi who become priests to collect a tenth from their people…” Scripture and tradition guide us to give at least a tenth of our earnings back to God.

On Stewardship Sunday, somewhere in the course of sermons around the globe, pastors are saying, “stewardship is the cheerful giving of our time, our talents, and our money back to God in gratitude for all that God does for us.” Of the three, pastors will normally feel most uncomfortable speaking about money. I’m no exception.

Some experts say that in the bible Jesus talks about money more than any other subject. I’m not sure about that – I think you could make a pretty solid case that Jesus talked about love more than anything else. But the point the experts make is this: During his own ministry, Jesus talked and taught about money a lot.

Take the Parable of the Rich Fool in Luke 12:13-21, for example.

Then Jesus said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in abundance of his possessions.” And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ Then the man said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I’ll say to myself, you have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink, and be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ This is how it will be for anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.”

And in Matthew 6: 19-24 Jesus says, “Do not store up for your selves treasure on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is there your heart will be also. The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”

Why did Jesus talk so much about money? Perhaps it’s because the way people approach money seems to be a window into how they approach God. Jesus knew that the more money lords over us, the less God is our Lord. Jesus wanted people to make God the ruler of their lives – he wanted them to be saved and to go to heaven - so he frequently taught about the proper place of money in people’s lives. And through bible passages like the ones we just heard, he continues to teach us today.

Well, let’s return to the story about the poor widow who placed her two pennies in the treasury box at the temple, and what Jesus taught his disciples that day.

First, we notice that Jesus deliberately sat down and watched what people gave. From that, I think we must say that Jesus also watches what we give. We are accountable to God for what we give.

Second, we notice that Jesus draws a distinction between those that contributed out of their abundance and the woman who gave despite her poverty.

Jesus says of her, “truly I tell you this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury.” And Jesus says, “She out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

I don’t think Jesus is instructing anyone to not be responsible and take care of themselves and their family; to provide for the essentials of life. The unemployment rate is now over 10% in our country. You and I have friends and relatives who are stretched thin and they are doing the best they can to provide for themselves and their families.

I don’t believe Jesus would condemn a person for not tithing either, although I do believe Jesus very strongly encourages us to tithe as a rule of living, for our own good. And I believe he does so because he knows it will really help us to keep God first in our lives.

The poor widow in today’s gospel reading had made God number one in her life. Perhaps the words “cheerful giving” are more important words to us this morning than the word “tithe.” They’re my words, not words that are included in today’s gospel reading. But I can’t help but think this woman, in spite of her poverty, did give cheerfully. I think that she probably went about living her whole life cheerfully. Why? Because Money didn’t own her, God did. When God owns us we can afford to be cheerful. When we think first of storing up treasure in heaven, we can afford to be cheerful because we have a good feeling that heaven is where we’re heading when we leave this earth.

This woman appears to have gotten it; to have understood the fact that when we withhold nothing from God and when we completely surrender to God, we experience a wonderful freedom. When we do this, tithing just comes as a natural expression of our gratitude for all that we see God doing in our lives. It is more about a willingness to give all of ourselves to God, a desire to hold nothing back, than it is about giving 10% of our earnings.

Today’s story of the poor widow comes as the last scene in Jesus’ public ministry before the passion story: his entry into Jerusalem, wrongful conviction, his torture and death. In the book of Mark, when an important teaching is about to happen, Mark uses the expression, “he called his disciples to him and said to them.” Verse 43 of today’s passage reads, “Then he called his disciples and said to them, ‘truly I tell you this poor widow has put in more than all those who contributed to the treasury.’” “She has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.” She was generous.

That’s how people are that are cheerful in the knowledge that God, not money, is the Lord of their life. Yes, after today’s encounter of this poor woman, Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. Before his death, Jesus wanted to try one last time to teach his disciples the importance of thankful generosity.

II Corinthians 8: 9, reads, “For you know the grace [the generosity] of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich [without sin] yet for your sakes he became poor [took our sin upon himself] so that you through his poverty might become rich.”

What could be more generous than what Christ did for us - dying on the cross to save us from sin and death? Tithing is an important discipline of faith as an expression of our cheerful generosity for a God who loves us so much that he gave his beloved son to die for us. In being called to tithe, we are asked to return 10% to God in thankful response for the 100% it cost God to pay your way and my way out of sin and death.

Amen.

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