This week in the mail I received my pledge card for 2016
to
fill out and bring back to church and put in the offering plate.
Yes, it’s that time of the year again,
and
I actually like it!
This year the mailing also included some graphics and information
about
the budget and what we use the money for here.
But beyond that what I “like” (?!) is the open opportunity
for
the preacher to talk about money and giving.
I mentioned this to Hunt earlier this week,
and
did he notice what the Gospel for today was?
and
he had asked me, a Franciscan, to preach.
Hunt said maybe he should rethink this.
Yes, it’s dangerous to turn a Franciscan loose with a
Gospel like today’s.
St. Francis of Assisi was a lot more than the patron saint
of pets,
or
as common as the bird bath in garden décor.
Francis rejected his father’s wealth producing business,
and,
in fact, stripped himself of even the clothing his father’s wealth provided,
to
embrace Lady Poverty
and
live in radical obedience to the Gospel.
Imagine for a moment how Francis would respond to today’s
Gospel.
Yes,
he took it literally and followed the example
of
the widow who gave all the money she had.
Let’s look at this Gospel and the context in which it
takes place.
Why did Jesus, after cleaning out the Temple
and
taking on the chief priests and scribes and elders
with
preaching heard by the crowd of people that had gathered,
preaching
that called out the hypocrisy of these holy leaders
and
warned about following their example,
why did Jesus then sit down and watch the people putting
their money
in
the “offering plate” of that day?
It wasn’t by accident or because he was tired and wanted
to rest,
or
that he was checking out what everyone was wearing.
This was a purposeful action with an intention directly
connected
to
what had just been happening and what he had just said.
It was part of his teaching.
“Here,
guys, sit down beside me and watch.”
The disciples were going to see a living parable
played
out before them,
a lesson that they needed to observe closely and get
before
what was going to happen next.
And what was going to happen next?
Well, the setting is in the middle of Holy Week:
between
the entry into Jerusalem, and the purging of the Temple,
and
the Last Supper, the Garden of Gethsemane and you know the rest.
We heard the story:
People
are putting their offerings in the chest as they enter the Temple.
Some who are wealthy are giving their offerings
with
a certain amount of flair
so
that it is apparent that theirs is a substantial gift.
Good for them, that money will go into the building repair
fund,
or
buy some new vessels and thuribles for the priests,
or
fund some special project.
And then there is the widow.
The disciples would remember that Jesus had just said,
“Beware
of the scribes… They devour widows’ houses…”
Here is what you need to know:
Women in those days could not own property,
indeed,
they were essentially the property of their husbands.
If the husband died,
then
the property went to the sons.
(Not
the daughters, of course.)
If there were no sons,
then
the property is taken by some other close male relative.
The scribes, the doctors of the law, those who were
learned in the Torah,
were
consulted in cases of interpretation
of
the Torah and the commandments.
In the case of a widow with no children,
the
widow was considered to have no value in the culture,
since
there were no children to raise,
which
would be the woman’s fault, of course – she was barren.
I think you can see where this is going:
the
door is wide open for neglect,
even though the scribes would have known full well
what
the prophets had said
about God’s special care and attention to
widows,
orphans, the poor and the resident aliens.
So here comes a widow, no child in tow.
Jesus knows, as he always knows,
exactly how much she has put into the
treasury chest –
(probably
very discretely)
two
tiny copper coins worth about a penny.
"Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in
more
than
all those who are 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."
That was the living parable Jesus was showing his
disciples.
Now, just when you thought I was going to launch
into
a
stewardship rant in this sermon,
I
am going to say that this is not about stewardship.
It’s about something else,
the
lesson the disciples were to observe.
A parable is a biblical mirror.
We look into it and see our own condition
in
how we respond or react to the parable.
Some will just scratch their heads and say I don’t
get it.
“For this people’s heart has
grown dull,
and their ears are hard of hearing,
and
they have shut their eyes;
so
that they might not look with their eyes,
and listen with their ears,
and understand with their
heart and turn—
and I would heal them.’”
the words of Jesus in Matthew 13:15
quoting from Isaiah 6:10.
But some will look into the mirror of
the parable
and
discover a truth about themselves,
maybe
a joyful thing, or maybe a moment of conviction.
"Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in
more
than
all those who are contributing to the treasury…”
This woman, poor, homeless, in desperate straits,
giving
away ALL that she had to live on,
is
a living example of a life style of faith.
She is an exemplar of discipleship defined in terms of a
life-style
of
100% self offering,
total
non-possession.
Jesus was showing the disciples what he was asking of them.
Yes, I really think this was the point.
Didn’t he previously send them out two by two
to
proclaim the Kingdom of God was at hand?
And remember, he told them not to take anything with them,
no
money in their wallets, no provisions, no change of clothes.
He sent them out as penniless as that widow,
totally
dependent upon those to whom they were going
with
their Gospel message of the Reign of God.
This is the life-style of the disciple,
a
life-style of faith.
Jesus shows them this poor woman, worthless to the
culture,
and
presents her as an example
of
fulfilling what it means to be a disciple.
These chosen twelve are to live with the same generosity,
the
same clarity,
the
same completeness of commitment and self-offering.
This is the way they are to be in the world
so
that they will be a revelation of the Holy
and
what the Reign of God is like.
This is the way to be the bearers of the Presence of
Jesus,
the
Resurrection Spirit of Jesus,
that
brings the power of liberation and redemption
in the midst of suffering, violence, greed and all that
sucks life out of people.
Well now,
so for us, what do we see when we look into the mirror of
this parable?
None of us here are a disciple of Jesus like that.
What kind of a disciple am I, or are you?
The widow gave all that she had, and why was that?
It is an indication that she has peace within herself in
her relationship with
a
world that does not seem to be very kind to her,
and she has utter trust in God,
who
does not see her as worthless, merely an empty womb.
Last Sunday, our new Presiding Bishop for the Episcopal
Church,
Michael
Curry, was installed at the National Cathedral,
and in his sermon he called for the church to be a church
that follows Jesus,
to
be on the move, a Jesus Movement church.
And this will be the theme of our diocesan convention
coming up
the
end of this week.
In his sermon Michael Curry made some points about
following Jesus.
One the Church must go out to people declaring God’s
liberating love.
He
talked of being agents of a creative engagement
between
the world and the Gospel.
God knows the world is in need of some real liberating
love!
There is also the image of meeting the resurrected Jesus
in Galilee,
what
the angel told the women at the tomb,
“Go
and tell the disciples that Jesus has risen
and
has gone before you to Galilee.
You
will meet him there.”
In the African American preaching tradition Galilee
is
wherever there is suffering, strife, oppression, violence and poverty.
There the healing, reconciling love of God is to be
proclaimed and offered.
It is there in the places of suffering in the world
and
our engagement in that for the sake of God’s love
that the revelation of the Resurrection Jesus will be seen
with clarity.
So a final word that may have some stewardship
implications:
Security in this world is measured in ownership and
insurance policies.
For
the world that is the faith system that is being lived out.
Where is your security? in ownership? That is your faith system.
In faith and the accompanying joy and generous love that
comes from an intimate encounter with God? That is your security.
Don’t be afraid to look deeply into the mirror of the
parable.
God’s
liberating love is there.
