DATE: Gratitude Sunday — November 18, 2012
SCRIPTURE: 2 Corinthians 9:6-15 and Mark 12:41-44
©Rev. Alison J. Buttrick Patton
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Today is about gratitude, and about giving. So before we go any further, there’s something we need to do: I’d like to introduce Shame [a stuffed monkey]… and Guilt [a stuffed crocodile]. Maybe you’ve met? They are close cousins (really). We are going to banish them from the room. They don’t belong in our conversations about money, but they are frequent uninvited guests… They sour the mood with their disapproving stares and whispered speeches about what you shoulda’ done or coulda’ done … Sometimes we hear their scolding inside our own heads; sometimes, we think we think we hear them in the off-hand remark of a neighbor. And none of that is helpful, or faithful, as we contemplate how we are going to give back to God. So we’re going to ship Shame and Guilt to Australia! For a little while, we are going to try to talk about money without Shame and Guilt chiming in like the chorus in some Greek drama.
[Put stuffed crocodile and stuffed monkey in the box and seal with packing tape. Write “Australia” on the box with marker. Give the box to Craig, who carries it from the room.]
During stewardship season, there are always compassionate folks in our community who worry that we shouldn’t be too public about whether we pledge, shouldn’t make a big deal about the money, because we might embarrass those who can’t give. I’ve heard from some of you, and I’ve appreciated and want to honor your sensitivity to the economic circumstances that exist in any community, even in this affluent town of Westport. We worry about protecting one another’s dignity. And that’s good! And gracious. And maybe we can’t completely rid ourselves of those persnickety feelings of shame and guilt, just by putting them in a box and shipping it south, but still I’d like us to try, long enough to contemplate a question that has been following me around all week:
Is it really true that any of us has nothing to give? Certainly, there are folks who live on the edge. Certainly, there are those whose financial obligations seem to outpace income. Indeed, most of us recognize the sensation of financial strain, of worrying that we won’t be able to do all we need or want to do with what we have. But does that mean we have nothing to pledge? Or could it be that sometimes we disqualify ourselves because we don’t think we have enough to give? Enough to count?
Which raises the question: How much IS enough? How much do we need to have before it feels ok to give some of it away? Well, there’s this: Jesus sat in the temple near the treasury, where faithful Jews left their tithes and offerings. He watched several rich people deposit their gifts, then singled out one woman, a poor widow, who had just cast two copper coins into the treasury, worth about a penny. “There!” He said to his disciples. “She has given more than the rest of them put together. For they gave their extra; their leftovers; but she gave out of her scarce resources, all she had.”
Now, this widow has sometimes been put on a pedestal (especially during stewardship season), celebrated for her sacrificial gift, described as being more faithful because she gave up everything. But of this I am sure: Jesus was not glorifying her poverty, disregarding her need or suggesting that it’s ok when the most poor end up carrying a disproportionate burden. In all likelihood, he was using the occasion to expose a profound injustice, to critique those who had failed to look out for her, and others like her. The widow’s generosity does not excuse those who neglected her needs. It remains a fundamental call of the gospel to care for the orphan, the widow, the poor and the stranger…
We ought not glamorize the widow’s sacrifice; but we can still learn something from this scene. As those two copper coins clinked together and tumbled into the treasury, Jesus said, in effect: “Look! It’s not how much we give that matters; it’s how well.”
How well… Do we give our last and our least, or our first and our best? What we know we don’t need, or what we value most? Is our giving an afterthought, or something we intend to do – a routine, one more way we practice our faith. What we give, it doesn’t have to be a lot, just an expression of our trust, a measure of our gratitude, enough to make us glad.
In the words of one participant in our weekly Bible Study, “Give until it feels good!”
Maybe it feels good to discover a few pennies that you can give every week. Maybe it feels good to give a little more than you’ve given in the past. Maybe it feels good to set aside a percentage of your income… It all counts, as long as the giving stirs in you a little bit of that trust or gratitude or joy. And if it doesn’t, well, maybe it’s time to give a little more.
Maybe that sounds crazy. But I’ve found this to be true again and again (and maybe you have, too?): The more I give, the better I feel. When Paul says, “God loves it when the giver delights in the giving,” we think he’s saying something like, “Grin and bear it.” Right? Be cheerful about giving your money away. But really, it’s the other way around: when we give it away, we discover how good it feels! I know this, first hand. This year, Craig and I have decided to increase what we pledge to the church: from 3% to 6% of our household income. And you know what? It’s exciting, gratifying to be stretching in this new direction, to be living into this new way of saying “Thank you!” to God and trusting that our giving will make God glad.
Of course, God is equally delighted by a certain 7 year old I know, who puts a single nickel in the offering plate every week. My son Ian turned seven in October. We threw a party for him: Craig, Tobey and I. Balloons, streamers, cake, presents, the works! He got a new set of water color paints – the fancy kind! And a Harry Potter-style broomstick from his brother! It was a glorious day. After he’d opened all his gifts, Ian ran out of the room. “I’ll be right back!” He called over his shoulder.
A minute later he returned, carrying something behind his back. One by one, he presented us with… Thank-you cards! Cut out in the shape of hearts, folded and beautifully colored, with hand-written notes inside each one. It turns out: Ian had made those cards weeks earlier, in eager anticipation of the gifts he trusted he would receive, before he even knew what they would be.
Now THAT’S a ‘cheerful giver’! And that’s how we are all invited to give – not out of shame or guilt or pressure or preoccupation with what others might think – or what you think yourself – but out of love for God who has loved us so well; who loved us long before we offer up even a single, copper coin. God loves us on our most generous days and on our most stingy; when we triple our giving; and when we forget to write the check; when we talk ourselves into giving a little more, and when we talk ourselves out of taking the risk. We may be inconsistent, struggling, growing, human beings still figuring out how to give back to God…. But God? God remains steadfast. And when we do give? God takes those gifts (all different shapes and sizes!), and transforms them, multiplies them one hundred fold, “pours on the blessings in astonishing ways.”
Sisters and Brothers in Christ: Not only do I believe that every one of us can pledge; I want us all to experience that blessing! As to the question: “How much?” In the words of the apostle Paul, “I want each of you to take plenty of time to think it over, and make up your own mind what you will give.” Thoughtfully, prayerfully think it over and then together, let’s give. Give because everything we have is a gift from God; give because it feels good; because when you give some money away, you suddenly discover that you feel richer – maybe even ARE richer. Most of all, let us give as a way of saying “Thank you!” because we already know that God is going to do something grand, something extravagant, something astonishing with all our gifts. I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to see just what God will do!
FIRST READING: 2 Corinthians 9:6-15 (The Message Paraphrase)
Remember: A stingy planter gets a stingy crop; a lavish planter gets a lavish crop. I want each of you to take plenty of time to think it over, and make up your own mind what you will give. That will protect you against sob stories and arm-twisting. God loves it when the giver delights in the giving. God can pour on the blessings in astonishing ways so that you’re ready for anything and everything, more than just ready to do what needs to be done.
As one psalmist puts it, God throws caution to the winds, giving to the needy in reckless abandon. [God’s] right-living, right-giving ways never run out, never wear out. This most generous God who gives seed to the farmer that becomes bread for your meals is more than extravagant with you. God gives you something you can then give away, which grows into full-formed lives, robust in God, wealthy in every way, so that you can be generous in every way, producing with us great praise to God.
Carrying out this social relief work involves far more than helping meet the bare needs of poor Christians. It also produces abundant and bountiful thanksgivings to God. This relief offering is a prod to live at your very best, showing your gratitude to God by being openly obedient to the plain meaning of the Message of Christ. You show your gratitude through your generous offerings to your needy brothers and sisters, and really toward everyone. Meanwhile, moved by the extravagance of God in your lives, they’ll respond by praying for you in passionate intercession for whatever you need. Thank God for this gift…. No language can praise it enough!
SECOND READING: Mark 12:41-44
Jesus sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. Then Jesus called his disciples and said to them, “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.”