HOPE AND THANKSGIVING November 19, 2006

Scripture: 1 Sam 1:4-20; Heb 10:11-14, 19-25

We are told in our first scripture reading that Hannah pours out her soul to the Lord. Have you ever poured out your soul to God? When is the last time that you wanted something so much, something that you had been deprived of for a long time? Maybe you had tried various ways of bringing about this desire and nothing was working. Did you pour out your soul in prayer about this desire? Does your faith lead you to take this big concern to God in prayer? Maybe the most intense pouring out of my soul to God about a decision in recent years was when I was trying to decide whether to accept the Call of ministry to Deering or to a church in southern CA. There’s never a day that I don’t pray intensely about my life and that of my family including my church family; however, there are some concerns that just stand out as being way up there. That was the case with Hannah, the barren wife of Elkanah. Elkanah’s other wife, Peninnah, had born him children. In those days that was the main duty of a wife—to give the family children. And even though Hannah’s husband loved her even more than the other wife, she felt very sad that she had not given birth. So we find her praying at the temple at Shiloh as though her life depended on it. This was a holy place, watched over by the chief priest Eli. Now it wasn’t common in those days for a person to pray directly to God; instead, the person would bring a sacrifice and ask help from the priest. Hannah, however, simply used her own words, her own voice, no intermediaries. Some say her prayer was a prayer of the heart. Her unusual behavior and her intensity made Eli think she might be drunk. However, he listens to her great desire for a child. He hears her promise to God that if she births a son she will dedicate the son to the Lord as a nazirite: one who was separated out and consecrated to God. Eli the priest blesses her and says, “Go in peace; the god of Israel grant the petition you have made to him.” The next year Hannah gave birth to Samuel and after weaning him took him to Eli in the temple, giving him to the Lord. What an amazing story of hope, faith, and thankfulness.

We know about other barren women in scripture that eventually gave birth, some at a very old age such as Sarah, the wife of Abraham. There’s also Elizabeth the cousin of Jesus’ mother Mary. (Other barren women that finally conceived as highlighted in the Bible are Rebekah, Naomi and Rachel.) Walter Brueggemann in “The Prophetic Imagination” sees barrenness as the lack of a future; therefore, in Hannah’s birth of Samuel, an amazing gift from God in response to prayers and promises, is fulfillment and future to all Israel. In the Hebrew Bible we know that Samuel does become a great leader and helps his people, the Israelites, to choose a King, ordained by God, so that they will be guided in doing what is right and be blessed by God.

By New Testament times in was much more common to go directly to God in prayer. In the book of Hebrews, the author points out that Christ’s sacrifice for us allows us to enter directly into God’s presence since Christ is now our great high priest. Some historical notes may help us understand the passage about Jesus sitting at the right hand of God. In the ancient world when the King sat on his throne, all others must stand as a sign of respect. Jesus, however, sat at the right hand of God—indicating for us their equality. In Hebrews apparently the community was getting a little slack. We are told that some were neglecting to meet together which I imagine was for the purpose of worship. The ideal was for all to enter the sanctuary boldly with confidence, knowing that Jesus was their High Priest; therefore, all should enter (worship) with true hearts and clean consciences as befits someone who has been made clean through baptism. The second thing that this passage stresses is for them to persevere in hope without wavering because Jesus has promised and is faithful. The third thing they were to do was to provoke one another to love and good deeds. Interestingly the word used for provoke can be translated pester or irritate. Those of you that were here last week remember my mentioning that a minister must comfort the disturbed, and disturb the comfortable. So it’s not just the minister’s job, but each of us in the community is responsible to do this with each other. The author emphasizes that we must encourage one another. Rev. Peter Gomes says we should have a new category of congregational prayers for those who need encouragement. A great prayer for us to say regularly would be that each person in our church may be encouraged to do something for the mutual benefit of the church community. We need encouragement when things are going well and especially when things don’t go well. Encouragement is something that needs to come from another. Everyone must be encouraged by someone else, and I’d like to have each of you take upon yourself the spiritual obligation to encourage one another. What about for starters that each of you will encourage another after church today. That means you have to talk to each other and find out what the other is concerned about, what needs encouragement. Give it try and see what happens.

The last topic I would like to focus on this morning is Hope. This seems to me a good sermon opportunity for you to speak up in church. We haven’t done that for awhile. So I’m going to spend a few minutes talking about what I am hoping for and then you who wish to will have your turn. (Some of my ideas are taken from a short article by one of my favorite preachers, Fred Buechner.[1]

I hope that each Sunday’s worship service will bring some measure of wholeness into the lives of those that worship here. I especially hope that somehow what happens in this hour will feed your spirits at least as much as if you had stayed home with a good book or gone out for fresh air and exercise. I hope that our singing, our praying, our passing of the peace, and our sermon time will be acceptable in God’s sight. I hope that Christ still lives and that he has “really conquered sin and death. That in him and through him we also stand a chance of conquering them.” I hope that into the darkness of this world, I will be able to bring the light of Christ. I hope that violence will cease and that all children can grow old, have food to eat, be able to get an education, and not have to be afraid. I know that God exists because I have been directly touched as well as had God witnessed through people hear on earth. I hope that I will have other opportunities of knowing without doubt that God is speaking to me and guiding me on. And of course I hope that all of you will also have that experience. I hope that we can all know deeply at least from time to time that God has heard and answered our prayers. I hope that equality can happen all over this earth, that all illnesses can be cured, and all spiritual pain be addressed. I hope that all the things Martin Luther King, Jr. dreamed about will come true—that no one will be discriminated against because of the color of their skin, their nationality, their religion or their sexual orientation. I hope that all people will be free and that all of society will treat each other with respect and dignity. I hope that in my lifetime I will see justice, peace, abundance, and love for God and all of God’s creation happening all over this world. Whenever any of these things come true I am truly thankful and will keep praying and working for the rest to happen. What about the rest of you?

I believe so strongly in transformation. I believe that when we come together to worship, we are especially open and ripe for transformation. When we worship, love and goodness is multiplied throughout the world. There is only one more Sunday before Advent. I challenge each of you today to do two things: worship with us every Sunday in Advent if at all possible and bring at least one person that does not have a church to a service with you. This is probably one of the easiest times of the year to ask someone to come to church with you. Many more people are thinking about Jesus as Christmas draws near, plus we have such wonderful services planned. So my hope is that you will all accept this challenge. And I close with telling you in all sincerity how thankful I am for this church and you who make up the community of believers. Thank you for being part of this community. Amen!
[1] “Preaching on Hope”, online.

COME, FOLLOW ME Sermon for October 15, 2006

Scripture: Job 23:1-9, 16-17; Mark 10:17-31

Last week for my Stewardship Kickoff sermon, I would have loved to preach from today’s lectionary for the Gospel, about the rich young ruler. By the way the Mark story says nothing about this man being young or a ruler. A similar story is told in the other gospels: Luke adding ruler and Matthew adding young. This passage has been one of my most difficult scriptures for many decades, yet rather than repeating many of the same ideas as last week, I want to focus on the broader topic of what it means to follow Jesus. I would guess that most of you hear today at some point in your life made a decision to follow Jesus. I wonder what made you do so. How are you feeling today compared to the first time you decided you wanted to follow Jesus? Is your life any different today because of that decision? Is Jesus calling you to anything different at this point in your life? How strong is your faith in those times when you are being tested? Probably not many of you have been tested in such a horrible way as Job was tested, yet I imagine we have all been tested, if not by something personal at least by the suffering in the world. How many times have you cried out with the Psalmist those same words that Jesus cried from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me? “ Ps 22:1.

It’s so hard to follow our faith, to believe the things Jesus assures us about, when we are feeling alone. Isolation, loneliness are two biggies that challenge me. Maybe some of you have had times when you felt utterly alone. Not only do you lack a good conversation partner to share this sadness and hopelessness with, but neither do you feel the presence of God. Job says in v. 3 of our lesson, "I wish I knew where to find God so I could go to where He lives." He says in v. 8, 8: "If I go to the east, God is not there; if I go to the west, I do not see Him." - Job is searching God in every direction and through every means. The feeling of isolation from God is causing Job more pain than any of the other calamities he has suffered. It’s a double whammy! I have shared from this pulpit before, the time when I returned to California after a very meaningful and spiritually charged life in Washington, DC, and how much I suffered. I definitely felt isolated and lonely. For many months I went into what I now call a dark night of the soul. Obviously God had not left me; God had not left Job; however, in my case the pain was so great that it blocked my ability to feel the presence of God. In spite of all this pain, I still had faith or maybe the better word is trust that God was there even though I could not feel God’s presence. My commitment so long ago to “Come and follow Jesus” was not forgotten. I continued to go through the motions of attending church, talking to spiritual friends, praying, lots of lamenting, complaining to God, asking what was going on. Eventually I came out of the darkness.
I tell you this story of grieving that came about because of a spiritual loss. Many of you have had a much more emotional or physical loss. Our joys and concerns are filled with personal examples of suffering, many struggles with cancer and other illnesses. The newspapers always are there with the accounts of terrible suffering. I would like to highlight the situation of the random shooting last week of the Amish schoolgirls in Georgetown, PA. The families in their quickness to forgive the killer give us a real life example of Christians who are determined to follow Jesus even when one of life’s worst traumas—violent death of your children—happens. Let me quote from news reports of this event, "A family spokesman said that a neighbor, just hours after the shooting, comforted the Roberts family and extended their forgiveness. A relative of some of the boys who were inside the schoolhouse when the gunman stormed in said of the family, "I hope they stay around here, and they'll have a lot of friends and a lot of support."
It was also reported that a grandfather of one of the victims was instructing the children to forgive, as they prepared the body of one of the girls for burial. He told the young boys, "We must not think evil of this man."

What a display of grace! If humans are able to extend such forgiveness so quickly to someone who has been so destructive, can you imagine what God’s grace is like!

We are familiar with the rich man who comes to Jesus asking about eternal life. He is a good man by all the Hebrew standards. The question of his being rich does not take away from his goodness. In fact in this culture those that were rich were considered favored by God—they were rich because God was rewarding them for their devotion and keeping the Law. Many of God’s favorite people in the Hebrew Bible were very rich: Abraham, Jacob, Job, David. Jesus, remember, is one who sees much deeper than we can ever see. Jesus knows what is in our hearts and minds. Jesus knew that for this particular person, his attachment to his possessions was keeping him from being healed, saved, finding eternal life. Mark says Jesus looked at the man with love. When you love someone you want him to be whole. Jesus said, “You’re almost there. In fact you only lack one thing. Stop worrying about all the rules and regulations. Do something really radical with your life. Get rid of all that stuff that makes you feel important and successful, and come, follow me.” Wow, Jesus really laid it on the line with this man. Holding on to stuff, both material and non-material can really do us in. Last week I talked about the foolish farmer that had such abundant crops that he tore down his old barns and built bigger ones and then that very night he died with Jesus reminding us that the important thing is to be rich towards God and not to store up treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy, and for where your treasure is your heart will be also. These comments are taken from the Sermon on the Mount and are followed by the admonition that no one can serve two masters, not both God and wealth (mammon).

So my friends, what are you holding on to that is keeping you from following Jesus? One’s possessions, one’s stuff, is only one of many possibilities. Power, position, high salary, comfort of a nice comfortable home could add to the list. Then there are things like fear, insecurity, lack of faith or trust that we really would be able to make it if we lived more simply and stood up for the poor and oppressed individuals and countries in this world. What is it that is distracting us from loving God and loving and sharing with our neighbors? Wealth by itself can actually be very helpful in following Jesus. On this topic even John Wesley use to say, “Get all you can; save all you can; give all you can.” There are many things that Jesus wants us to do that we can do more effectively if we have some wealth to share. So if you are not making money your idol or obtaining the money through situations that hurt others, where others are exploited, money is probably not standing in the way of your following Jesus. Jesus said that it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to go to enter the kingdom of God. This statement so perplexed his disciples that they said to each other, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus replied that for mortals it is impossible, but for God all things are possible. Do you believe that? Can you trust in God so much that you will say yes to whatever God and Jesus are calling you to? If so you can sit lightly on your possessions, share what you have with others, love and praise God, and give thanks for all you have received. So often we believe what we have is ours and we close our hand tightly in grasping it to ourselves. If you truly want to follow Jesus, live by the Law of the Open Hand, knowing that our abundance is not to be hoarded, but shared. What we have we can redistribute so that we all have enough. As Gandhi said, there is enough for everyone’s need but not for everyone’s greed. I’m so thankful for God’s grace. Join with me in helping each other know what we need to do to be open to this grace and to come, follow Jesus. Amen and Amen.

Unbound and Free Sermon for 11-5-2006

Scripture: Rev. 21:1-6a; John 11: 17-27, 32-44

Again this year we celebrate All Saints Day by remembering those loved ones that have died as well as looking at our own lives that we may truly live freely as God would have us live. All Saints day originally was to honor the Christians who were martyred in the Roman persecutions shortly after Jesus’ earthly life. This year our readings focus on God’s determination to deliver humanity and in Revelation—all Creation—from the powers of death. Our texts take place here on earth, not in the great beyond, and I believe the message calls us to remember that we can experience God’s power to defeat death here and now as well as in the age to come. For many of us our loved ones, the saints in our lives, have helped us face all kinds of difficulties including death and for that we are truly thankful. I hope this story of a little boy will help you understand more what I mean. This little boy in a small town was carried on the shoulders of his Dad to the country store. The woman behind the counter looked up at the boy and said, "You sure are tall today!" "Well," the little boy confessed sheepishly, "this isn't all me!" You know, my brothers and sisters, it never is. We all sit upon the shoulders of those who have gone before us.
Let me describe for you that New Heaven and New Earth that Revelations presents to us. Everything will be new—no more death, mourning, or pain. The world that we know today with all its wars, diseases, economic problems and so forth will be gone! More over God will be right here with us, not somewhere in a distant heaven. Those old bones, muscles, and joint problems will be gone. There will be no need for knee replacements, hip replacements and the like. There will be no one homeless or without sufficient food. There will be no children shot either on purpose or accidentally. There will be no grief as death will be no more; there will be no need for crying or pain. God will be here with us; God’s place is with mortals. And God will comfort us; this, my friends, is the truth of Revelations.

Now let us go to the Gospel reading. What an incredible sight this must have been:A crowd standing outside a grave; sisters of the deceased, Mary and Martha, grieving their dead brother Lazarus; neighbors and townspeople, huddled together to see what might happen next; and a corpse, now 4 days old, wrapped tightly in linens, and creating a very bad smell. In comes Jesus - Grieving and disturbed himself, aware of the crowd as he sees his dear friends mourning the one they loved.[1] Martha chastises Jesus, “Lord if you had been here, our brother would not have died.” Jesus comes back with a challenge to Martha and to us, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (11:25-26) After going through a similar dialogue with Mary, Jesus weeps along with the others as we are told that he is greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. The Greek word for disturbed is a powerful one meaning deep anger, even outrage. Many scholars see this description of Jesus as being very upset at the lack of the peoples’ unbelief. The people do not understand that death does not have the last word; they do not understand that Jesus is life, is the light. Jesus is the final word!

The next section of the Gospel is Jesus resurrecting Lazarus, who is standing there with death cloths wrapped all around him, like someone wearing a Halloween mummy costume, he looks as if he is barely able to move, and after four days in a cave, isn't quite ready to face the living. He is bound and those bands of cloth keep him from freely moving and celebrating his renewed life.And so Jesus completes the miracle by declaring that final command, "Unbind him, and let him go." (repeat) What powerful words! I believe these words are not just for the crowd, but these words are meant for all of us as well. For we know that this gospel story, this miracle, is not just a story about a single event long ago. We know that Jesus' entire ministry is focused on bringing life to the world, to the whole world. I wonder if we look closely if these grave cloths might be draped around all gathered there and around all of us. If we look carefully at ourselves, we may see that we are pretty tightly bound to things that keep us from living as Jesus has taught us to live. Perhaps we are bound by our fears. Maybe we're afraid of looking foolish. Or of being discovered to be less accomplished or less competent than we appear to be. What binds us? Do our fears bind us? Do they paralyze us from trying new things or of letting something new happen in our lives? Or could we be wrapped up in our bitterness, unable to let go of a hurt we’ve suffered? Are we bound up by the pain that someone caused us long ago, unwilling to forgive, unwilling to move on with our lives and be healed? Maybe we're bound up by our prejudices. Do we stereotype people around us by the kind of clothes they wear, the tattoos or body piercings, or their age, or the color of the skin, or the type of job they have, or the gender of the person they choose to be partners with, or their political or religious points of view. Whatever it is that may be binding us, Jesus is coming to us and setting us free.Jesus is ordering the grave clothes that we have wrapped around ourselves to be removed, so that we might live as we are meant to live, unbound and free. We can not be free until we give up our limited thinking, our prejudices, our fears.

So the big question Jesus asked Mary and Martha over 20 centuries ago he is still asking us today, “Do you believe? Do you believe that those who follow me even though they die will live?” If we really believe in this, we will be unstoppable! If we really believe, we can no longer be intimidated by anything the political, economic or values-maintaining systems of the dominant culture can threaten to do to us. Whether as an individual or as a community of faith, we can no longer be compromised or intimidated and therefore we will truly be free. Remember that Jesus’ tears are not just tears of sadness, but that he is indignant about our condition, about our restraining ourselves from following him and living life fully. So in no uncertain terms, Jesus cries out with a loud voice to “Come Out", come out of those places of despair, to let loose of all those fears that bind us, hold us back. Today is All Saints Day, this day on which we remember those who have died before us, and who now live in communion with God. In contrast to Mary and Martha in this story, we don't actually get to see our loved ones arise from the dead and walk among us again today. Sometimes we wish that were the case. But no, it is not our loved ones who get to wake up today, it is we who get to see ourselves alive, unbound and set free. Today we get to find ourselves in the New Jerusalem, eating at the Lord ’s Table, a feast that has no end. It is not just Lazarus who hears his name being shouted from outside that cave this morning, but each one of us can hear it as well: (Names in congregation)
Children of God, lift up your heads and live! - Not just someday, when you die and join the saints triumphant, but today, Right here and now! Because God is here. A voice is calling this morning and proclaiming to all of us again today, See! The Home of God is among you! You are freed to be alive and whole and well. No longer leaving us tied up in fear and grief and sadness, God has come among us, to wipe away every tear from our eyes, to unbind us and set us free. So as we celebrate All Saints Sunday, let us be filled with joy as we do believe, we know that God comes to us, with great love and grace, to unbind us, and to let us go free to be the people God created us to be. Let the people of God say Alleluia and Amen.

[1] Much of this description comes from an online sermon from Pastor Lois Pallmeyer, Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, St.Paul, Minesota.

WHAT DO I GIVE? Sermon for November 12, 2006

Scripture: 1 Kings 17:8-16 and Mark 12:38-44


Today is Stewardship Sunday, the Sunday that we hope all of our members and friends have sent in a gift or pledge for our 2007 budget. I do hope that this sermon will not make you too restless. I heard about one little girl that was getting very tired of the minister’s long sermon. She leaned over to her mother and whispered, “Mommy, if we give him money now, will he let us go?” How convenient that our lectionary today has two scriptures that address giving! But before we get into the scripture, I’d like to have you look at the word Stewardship with me. Did you ever notice all the words contained in the word Stewardship? First there’s “Stew”. Now that’s what a congregation can get into after a sermon on financial giving. Then there’s “war”, which is what can take place in a budget discussion with the Trustees. Ship is the third syllable. Like the Titanic, if there’s a hole in church giving, it can sink pretty fast. Finally the word “hip” is a reminder that total stewardship is about the whole body of Christ and that means all of us. Now to our scriptures, that talk about two different widows. I want to start off by talking about the status—or lack of it—of widows in Old Testament times and to a lesser extent in New Testament times. You have heard me say before that widows and orphans are the code word for poor and vulnerable in our Bible. They represent all who are weak and marginalized. In the olden days a woman was nothing without a man. If a widow had a son she might be able to live with him and that would give her some help. The eldest son was the family member to inherit the patriarch’s wealth. You see Hebrew inheritance laws did not include women. So any resources they had were meager or non-existent.

In our first scripture reading the location is Zarephath of Sidon, a town on the Philistine coast. The people on the coast were worshippers of the god Baal—prosperity religion that worshiped fertility gods that promised prosperity to their followers and rain for their crops. The prophet Elijah has come abruptly upon a land that has been witnessing one king after another killed for disobedience to God. Just before our reading Elijah has been given food by the ravens, whom God promised would bring him meat and bread. There is a drought and Elijah as well as the others is affected with no crops and little water. Next God tells Elijah to go to the Sidonian widow to receive sustenance. Now this is like God telling a Jew in Israel to go over to Palestine and be fed by a Muslim. And we are told that this widow who has only a handful of flour and a little oil in a jug is blessed by God so that she can feed Elijah, her son, and her self as much as they want and still have plenty left over. (We see the forerunner of Jesus and the feeding miracles in this scripture.) It seems to me that the willingness of this widow, so poor she thought she was about to have her last meal and die, to share what she had is the model that not only Jesus taught in the Gospels but that the God of Israel instructed his chosen people to follow.

In our Gospel lesson we have two stories tied together by the word widow. In the first story Jesus criticizing the scribes (professional interpreters of the Law) for walking around seeking attention in public places and prestige in the synagogues and taking the seats of honor at banquets. Then we have the widow sentence: “They devour widows’ houses…” In some of my commentaries the explanation is that some scribes were legal trustees of a widow’s estate and charged such exorbitant fees that there was little left for the widow to live on. The scribes would take their fees and buy fancy robes and give big banquets while the women were left broke. Jesus is warning his disciples to not be like these scribes, who will receive God’s condemnation.

After condemning the scribes’ hypocrisy, Jesus goes into the temple treasury where voluntary offerings were received. He observes what folks are putting into the donation box. In most churches today there is great secrecy about who gives what. Traditionally only the Financial Secretary and maybe the chair of Stewardship have this information. Not only do we keep the pledges secret but we have even provided envelopes in which you put your check for further privacy. Some stewardship consultants think it is important for the pastor to know members’ pledges. About the only time Suzanne, our Financial secretary, tells me about an amount is if a guest gives a particularly generous donation and she wants me to write a letter of thanks. I can ask questions when appropriate such as if a certain member has given in the past year; for example our bylaws state that if a person who no longer attends church wants to keep his or her membership active, he or she must have a personal contact as well as make a financial contribution each year. Some churches are much more open with their giving. A Japanese church that I interviewed in my search process printed the pledges/donations of their members in the bulletin—and they had a much higher level of giving then most UCC churches.

As Jesus was sitting there observing, he noted that many rich people put in large sums of money, and then a poor widow came and put in two small coins, worth less than a penny. As we know from the scripture, Jesus commented to his disciples, “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.”

Are you aware that nowhere in the New Testament is tithing mentioned? Luke asks for 50% for the poor; for Mark 100% is mentioned as in the rich young ruler. Elijah demanded that the poor widow share what she had; Jesus commends the widow for giving her mite—rather than making fun of her for giving so little. Her act of giving was an act of worship. These two poor widows are held up for us today as models of generosity. Even if they did not have much to live on, they were willing to share. It reminds me of what our brothers and sisters in Zimbabwe have taught us about their joy and faith in spite of their worsening financial situation.

I do not believe that Jesus is expecting or asking us to be like the widow in that we give everything we have to God. This is not the kind of “sell all you have and give to the poor” kind of passage that we might expect to find in Luke’s gospel. Rather Jesus is inviting us to have inner hearts like this widow, being willing to give our whole being to God, our heart and soul and mind, and to keep in mind our dependence on God from whom we have been so richly blessed. There is a story about a group of scientists who claimed they had developed a way to create life out of dirt—just as God had done in the first creation. “They invited God to the unveiling of their accomplishment, and God shows up. God says, “Go ahead, let me see what you can do.” So one of the scientists reaches down to pick up a handful of dirt. Whereupon God says, “Oh, no, no! You get your own dirt!” The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it.[1] I wonder how many of you think about how everything that is or has been made, is possible because of that great divine Spirit; therefore, all we have belongs to God and has been lent to us for awhile.

Let’s get back to financial wealth and take another look at the difference between the poor widow who gave all she had and the rich who give only a small percentage of their wealth. In all truth the poor widow who has so little knows that those two coins are not going to change her life. When you have so little, a penny or two certainly isn’t going to move you from welfare to work. This situation may have made it much easier for her to give, helping her feel a sense of joy and peace that she gave what she could to God. With most of us--who are rich compared to the majority of the world—our money gives us independence and freedom and we don’t want to lose that by putting our whole paycheck in the offering plate. The widow could not be independent by her own wealth; therefore, it was easier to depend on God. It’s harder when you have disposable income. I think it’s important to look at what money means to us. Is it our heart, our security, our source of power or is one of the tools we use to be a good steward? Do we depend on our money or God to make us rich in the things that really matter? Our culture tends to teach us to become like the honored scribes; however, Jesus counsels us to hold up the dishonored widow rather than to aspire to the lifestyles of the rich and famous. Jesus promises us that dependence on God will give us joy and true freedom in this life and rest and peace after death.

Now I would like to make a confession; I can’t help but think how much pastors, including me, are like those scribes that go around in long robes and pray in public places. When some of us from here marched in the Declaration of peace march on September 30th, the clergy were suppose to lead the parade and were encouraged to wear their stoles. I understood the reason for making the leadership of the church more identifiable in the peace movement; yet I didn’t feel that good about marching in the front without the others from my congregation. As it was I had Laura march with me and I was kind of at the back of the clergy and I didn’t wear my stole—but that was only because I had forgotten to bring it! When is it important to be noticed and when is it best to be humbly part of the crowd.

I have so many doubts and questions in my mind and heart about my relationship to money. The other thing I want to confess is that I did not raise my pledge this year as I have done in other years. In the past year my adjustable rate mortgage plus additional escrow payments increased my monthly mortgage payment over $700 a month. Most of us make our donations from money that is left over after other things have been paid and not all of these things are necessities, such as entertainment, eating out, going on vacations. So I cut my pledge $25 a month. After writing this sermon, I have decided to raise this pledge a little over $2 a week to $10 more per month, and I’m going to ask each of you to consider raising your pledge a little more, maybe a $1 a week, maybe $10 per week, whatever feels right for you. For those of you that have not made a pledge, maybe you feel that you cannot afford to give, please consider giving at least $1 per week. . So what do you give and what do I give? The more of us that pledge, the healthier this church will be and I don’t just mean financially. If you don’t have a pledge card with you, just write on the blue card or any piece of paper you have, how much you want to pledge or increase your pledge and sign it and put it in the offering plate.

Theses stories today and this sermon are uncomfortable to talk about. There’s a saying that as a pastor we need to comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable. If I have disturbed any of you today, let me say Amen! One of the sermons I read to prepare for today was entitled “two cents, a jar of meal and a jug of oil”.[2] The preacher explained that these gifts wouldn’t fund a world changing ministry; however, the hearts behind these gifts can change the world. It is very possible for those of you listening to me right now to be transformed and by your example, to transform others. Remember that stewardship is not just about money but how you share your gifts and your time. The important task is to reorder our lives according to the things that impress God and not society. My prayer is that we will all support each other to find and do God’s work. Amen
[1] Dick Craft, Stewardship Bible Study.
[2] John Jewell, online.