Generosity is Contagious

 Luke 20:45-47; 21:1-4

January 14, 2024

Stewardship

Widow's Mite
Kathleen Peterson

 

When you think of money, what is your initial feeling?

My guess is it’s not completely positive.

Lots of us have negative thoughts of money,

It’s a cause of stress for a lot of people,

and we think of greed, corruption, the root of all evil.

Maybe you think I’m going to ask you for some right now.

 

If you are like me, or most people, you have a

complicated relationship with money.

It’s a joy, and a pain. It’s a source of pride, comfort, and anxiety.

Habits and feelings about money are

hidden deep within the recesses of our brain

some where we aren’t even consciously aware of them.

Money is the cause of many family arguments

and many divorces. 

It’s a motivator for crime, violence, and murder,

It causes wars, devastation and  famines.

It can at once be freeing and constraining,

 

There is not one life in here that is not in some way,

determined or influenced by money.

Money controls where we live, what we eat,

where we go, how much power we have or don’t have.

Money is a huge determinate in our lives,

in the lives of others, and in the world.

 

And yet many people of faith feel like God doesn’t

have anything to say about money.

Like it’s outside of God’s concern.

 

I’ve told you this tidbit, but it’s so good I have to tell you again.

Mark Allen Powell, professor at Trinity Seminary 

who wrote a book about stewardship tells the story about baptism in the first century.

New converts were devoting themselves to Christianity

and getting baptized.

  

But when they were baptizing in Gaul

the men who were soldiers

would go into the water to be baptized and hold their

dominant hand up outside the water because

that was the hand that would hold their sword

when they went into battle.

 

They wanted to reserve that piece of their lives

and not have it influenced by Christ’s teachings,

so they could go on and continue to do what they were doing.

 

Dr. Powell says that this is how many people feel about money.

He said we want to hold our wallets outside of the waters of baptism

so we can do whatever we want with it and not worry about God.

Never mind that money is mentioned over 800 times in the bible,

lots of us feel like money, and our struggles with money are unholy,

are somehow outside of God’s realm.

 

But obviously they are not.

The reading that we’re using for the next four weeks is just one example.

Jesus and his disciples are in the temple.

Jesus is teaching them, but everyone can hear.

He’s verbally sparring with the chief priests, scribes, and elders,

basically all the church leaders around him.

And he’s using the people around him as examples.

And he points out three things:

 

One the corruption of the church leaders

and how they take money from the poor.

Jesus calls it devouring widow’s houses.

Obviously, a dishonest use of money.

 

Second there’s the people who are visibly well off

and are putting lots of money into the offering box.

They got a lot of attention and recognition,

but their giving had little effect on their wallets and on their hearts.

 

And then there is the widow who comes to the temple.

to the temple and this woman only puts two small coins in

like two pennies, almost nothing into the offering.

 

But Jesus says, in his estimation, she was the most generous

even though her gift was the smallest.

 

Now I don’t know that Jesus was advocating

for giving your last dollar away to someone else.

I don’t think that this is about what percentage

of our gifts should go to the religious institution of your choice -

Which is what most sermons about this story end up being about.

 

What Jesus was lifting up, was the generosity of this woman’s heart.

She was living generously. She felt this gift when she gave it.

It meant everything.

 

The scribes took from others.

The rich people gave and it possibly didn’t even challenge them at all.

But when this woman gave, it was all she had. She felt it.

 

Maybe because she gave that day,

she may not have eaten,

she might have gone without heat or water.

Maybe it was ridiculous of her to give it away,

Maybe Jesus was lamenting the fact

that the church didn’t take care of her like it should.

 

Those things all might be true, but her gift was the

most generous and valuable in God’s kingdom.

Because it was the hardest to let go of,

it took all of her heart to do it, and the woman still did it.

Normally, no one would notice a gift that small,

But Jesus made sure that her gift didn’t go unnoticed.

 

And the gifts that we give, that are a struggle for us to give

are the most generous.

Something that is hard for us to give up.

whether it’s  time, efforts, compliment, thanks,

patience, empathy, concern, forgiveness, time, assistance, or money.

Whatever is hardest for you to part with, that is generosity.

That is giving with your heart. And generosity is contagious.

 

There was another woman here today.

A few years ago in January, it was bitterly cold in Chicago,

like it is this week, and while everyone was huddled in their homes

keeping warm, this Chicago woman had heard about

a homeless group of tent dwellers were pushed from their

tents when a propane tank exploded and they had no were to go.

The shelters were filled to capacity.

She was feeling terrible for them and wondering

what they were going to do with the cold and the shelters filled

 and didn’t get any kind of answer.

So she impulsively, without too much thought,

put 20 hotel rooms onto her credit card for them.

Then, she was trying to figure out how to get all 

these people into those rooms. So she then asked people to help drive these people to the hotel.

Eventually people started to offer their help too and eventually they

got 100 rooms and rides for all these people.

 

Was it well thought out plan? No.

Was this woman independently wealthy? Not at all.

At first she said she didn’t really know how she was going to pay for it.

We all lament that people live in tents and there are people who are cold.

But so few of us do anything about it even though we do have the power to.

But this woman’s heart was filled with generosity.

And her generosity inspired other people’s generosity.

 

Generosity and sharing are contagious.

It spreads, once one person does it than other people do it too.

It becomes a culture.  But the opposite is true too.

 

Remember at the beginning of the pandemic when the word

got out that toilet paper was scarce and we all started

going to stores at 6:30 in the morning and buying in bulk?

And we got it and said we were going to share with everyone else,

but then we ended up keeping all the toilet paper for ourselves,

because, what if we run out of toilet paper?

 

Generosity is contagious, and fear and hoarding are also contagious.

There is no problem with us having or money,

or security, or the comfort and security

and power that comes along with that.

The problem comes when we hoard it.

When we refuse to share. Then everyone else doesn’t share.

Then it becomes a problem.

And also when we have the power that money brings,

and we don’t demand that corporations,

and governments and institutions share too.

That’s when it becomes a problem.

 

As people of Christ, we’re called to be the first to share

even when it’s scary, and we don’t know how the story will end.

 

We have to make choices every day about

how we take and spend what we have.

 

To be honest, I don’t think anyone in here is

devouring widow’s houses, and I also don’t think anyone

here is giving their last penny to support a ministry.

 

Most of us live in this gray area between those two poles.

But the good news is that we’re not alone there.

God is with us in that gray area.

God is with us in our decisions, in our work, and even in our money.

 

Jesus sees us across the temple making those tough decisions.

Jesus knows the injustice that many of us face.

Jesus knows the questions we deal with, the inner struggles.

Jesus knows how we worry about our past and our future.

God sees the gifts we give, no matter how small.

Even if it’s just two small mites.

 

But this isn’t about giving to a church.

This is not about calculating a percentage of your income.

This is not about pledge cards and budgets.

It’s about discipleship. It’s about following Jesus.

It’s about the mission of the church as a whole,

and about each one of us individually.

Because God doesn’t just want our money.

God wants our hearts.

A Seat at the Table

 Luke 14:1, 7-14    August 28, 2022

 

If you happen to meet Queen Elizabeth

-you should rise as she enters the room

-Americans are not expected to give a full bow,

but men can bow their heads and women are expected to curtsey.

- If she comes up to you, do not take the queen's hand,

but you wait for her to offer it to you,

- and don't shake to hard, just a touch will do.

- You may refer to her as “Your Majesty.”

 

If you find yourself next to her at dinner,

- You may speak to the Queen, but let her steer the conversation.

- By no means should you try to imitate her accent.

- And when the Queen finishes her meal,

then everyone's meal is finished.

We might look at these and chalk it up to some old world customs

we might think that we are beyond this kind of thing in our America.

But face it, everyone treats people who are rich or powerful

a little differently than we do other people.

We treat wealthy or famous people with a little more respect,

a little more honor, a little more attention.

 

Maybe we think that their fame will rub off on us,

Or that they will remember us some day.

Or that they will drop little packs of money where ever they go?

 

I worked for a wine shop in San Francisco

(It was a wine shop when important people called,

but it was really a liquor store.)

The owner was named Tony –

One day, the owner of the pro-football team called Tony

and asked him which winery he and his wife might go to

for a tasting and some lunch.  He was rich obviously.

 

Tony gave him the name of one and right after they hung up,

Tony immediately called up the winery and told the manager –

“when he comes to the winery,

give him the best of anything,

anything he wants and don't charge him.”

And the manager agreed and thanked Tony for letting him know.

The wineries did whatever Tony asked because

they know he would buy their wines if they did.

 

I shared an office with Tony and heard the whole conversation. 

I turned around to Tony, kind of incredulous and said,

“Tony, this guy can afford lunch, he can afford anything,

he could even afford to buy the winery,

why should they give him their stuff for free?”

He said, June, that’s how the world works.

The rich and famous eat for free.

The Banquet
Hyatt Moore

 

That is how the world works.

We treat the rich and famous with honor

and we expect some attention in return.

I’ll scratch your back you scratch mine.

Upward mobility. Favors and deference for the rich.

Everyone else has to pay their own way.

 

In our Gospel today,

Jesus is having dinner at the house

of some upwardly mobile clergy -

one of the leaders of the Pharisees.

These are big and important people

who are have been very adept at upward mobility.

getting to know and impress the right people.

And they would love to move up some more.

So they've invited Jesus over.

Who is not rich, but who is a little famous now.

 

They aren't necessarily enemies of Jesus,

they are probably more fascinated with him

Jesus is a kind of celebrity of the day

he's popular with the people,

and they want to see what he’s all about.

 

They were probably hoping for a pleasant meal,

something they could tell their friends about the next day.

Maybe cull some favor with Jesus, just in case

anything good comes out of him

 

But as we know, meals with Jesus and the Pharisees

are not often pleasant. Jesus is very good at making

those dinner parties pretty awkward.

 

First Jesus starts off with something

that could pass off as etiquette:

“Don’t try and get the most important seat.

Sit in the least important seat.”

 

And then, instead of telling them how honored he is

to be invited to join them that evening, Jesus tells them.

“Important church people,

Next time you give an expensive dinner, why don't you do it right?

Don't invite your friends, or your rich neighbors,

or the queen or the owner of the football team,

don't even invite me to the party.

 

To do the party right: Invite the poor, the disabled,

the ex-cons, the guys who have signs on the highway exits.

You should invite people who can't repay you.

Who have nothing to give.

That would be a party that God would enjoy.”

 

The story doesn’t say if they all got around to the meal this time.

 
Jesus gives them this helpful party hints for two reasons:

 

One: to prove to us, and remind us over and over again

that the status that the world puts on us is irrelevant.

The money, the fame the power, the poverty, the shortcomings,

the addictions, those don’t count.

 

Our self-worth doesn’t come from how much we have

or who people perceive us to be, or where we sit at a dinner

or if we’re invited to the party in the first place.

Our worth comes from God. And we’re all beloved children,

no matter what our status in this world

 

And Two:  This is God’s vision for his church in this world.

Jesus wants his church to be a place

where the poor and the lame

and the outcast are not just given charity and patronized and pitied.

But where they are invited into the banquet,

Where they are given a seat at the table.

 

Not just in terms of eating and hospitality,

but where they are given power and a say

in their destiny and how they live.

Where they are not just nameless statistics,

but where they are given a voice and

treated with respect, and welcomed.

 

As followers of Jesus we are called to

love for love’s sake, and not for what we can get back.

To share God’s love, and our power, with those who have

the least of what the world has to give.

 

We live in an upwardly mobile world,

but for our own sake and the sake of the world,

Jesus calls us to be part of a downwardly mobile gospel.

Be a friend of the poor and the outcast.

 

Even after two thousand years of living with Jesus,

Christians almost always neglect Jesus’s call to this.

We play the world’s game of status and power.

we have our own church celebrities,

members with money and power are still treated with

more deference than others.

We still give honor to those with the most

hoping to get something back.

We still try to get to the head of the table and

we try to invite the right people to our parties.

But that is contrary to Jesus call.

 

I tell you, I don’t pick these readings, but sometimes the

committee that was formed in the 1980’s seem to know

just what’s going on in our lives.

 

This has been a week for us, and for me,

and an even longer one for the people living

next door to us presently.

 

If you haven’t heard, the people in the apartments next door

are being thrown out to make way for expensive condos.

Over 300 people could become homeless

because there’s no where else to go on Hilton Head.

But this church and Deep Well – the service organization

that was born out of this congregation – has risen to the occasion.

 

Our Press Secretary, Ann Matter put the article I wrote

for the newsletter on a social media app,

and the news stations in Savannah saw it and did stories.

You’ve all spread the word around

and contacted people and talked about it.

Just in one week, we’ve raised awareness of the situation

and changed the story from “Oh well, what are we gonna do?”

to “We all have to do something”.

The mayor even had to make a statement in response.

I imagine they’re rolling their eyes in the Town Council

when they hear our name, but good.

 

Our member Jimmy Rowe has used his

expertise, and his clout, and trust in this community

to go to the owners and to negotiate a better,

more merciful solution, which we’ll tell you more about soon.

 

People of our church are offering hospitality tonight

to the residents as they hear about options and developments.

 

We’ve raised almost 6 thousand dollars from our people

and from people in the community using our giving page,

and Deep Well has raised much more.

 

Deep Well is finding temporary housing for people.

And there’s much more we can do.

The Island has come together in compassion in response.

 

And we weren’t even organized.

We weren’t even ready for this.

And I was on away in a cabin in Georgia for most of it!

But we were ready for the Spirit’s call when it came.

 

This is a great example of how Christians

are called to use our power.

It is our job not to just give mercy to people in need, 
but to give them justice. 

To remind those in power to invite them to the table, like Jesus did here.

And to actually bring them to the table.

And to make sure they’re given a regular seat at the table.

We are asked to be the church that uses our power

for the good of all. We’ve got more work to do,

but we’ve made a good start here.

 

We are asked to make God’s will, on earth like it is in heaven.

To make the tables of the world look more like Christ’s table.

Where everyone is invited, and we all come to it the same.

Where none of us deserves to be here more than another,

but everyone is welcome.