He continued
teaching. “Watch out for the religion scholars. They love to walk around in
academic gowns, preening in the radiance of public flattery, basking in
prominent positions, sitting at the head table at every church function. And
all the time they are exploiting the weak and helpless. The longer their
prayers, the worse they get. But they’ll pay for it in the end.” Sitting across
from the offering box, he was observing how the crowd tossed money in for the
collection. Many of the rich were making large contributions. One poor widow
came up and put in two small coins—a measly two cents. Jesus called his
disciples over and said, “The truth is that this poor widow gave more to the
collection than all the others put together. All the others gave what they’ll
never miss; she gave extravagantly what she couldn’t afford—she gave her all.” (Mark 12:38-44)
A group of young and not so young adults were comparing
Halloweens. “Back when I was young,” said the oldest person in the group,
“There weren’t snack-sized candy bars, just penny candy. And there weren’t
businesses and churches that handed out candy. We walked door to door to get
one stick of gum or jawbreaker or apple. It took hours to fill up a pillowcase.”
A younger adult interrupted, “Are you kidding me? Our
children’s buckets were filled within thirty minutes. Our workplace always
dresses up on the Friday closest to Halloween and hands out candy from their
desks. The friendly ghosts tossed HANDFULS of small chocolate bars in the
buckets. Our children had over ten pounds of candy before going door-to-door in
the neighborhood. We counted at least four full-sized candy bars, too. Need
some chocolate? We’ll share!”
Another young adult added, “Well we definitely benefitted
from snack-sized everything when I was a child. I don’t care what size the
Reece’s Peanut Butter cup is, I’ll take it! What’s funny is that I hardly ate
any of the candy in my bucket once I collected it. I thought it was special. So
I saved it in the bottom drawer of the study desk in my room. I had brothers,
you know, so I had to be clever. About the following Easter my mom would DEMAND
I throw it away…before the Easter bunny came by with a basket full of candy!”
All three of these persons described our life with money as
they talked about Halloween candy—sometimes we work very hard for very little,
sometimes we work very little for a lot, sometimes the work and the benefit is
proportionate, and sometimes we are so impressed by money we put it away so no
one can touch it—and sometimes we are so thankful we share.
A story Jesus told about life with God comes to mind:
“It’s also like a man going off on an extended trip. He
called his servants together and delegated responsibilities. To one he gave
five thousand dollars, to another two thousand, to a third one thousand,
depending on their abilities. Then he left. Right off, the first servant went
to work and doubled his master’s investment. The second did the same. But the
man with the single thousand dug a hole and carefully buried his master’s
money.
“After a long
absence, the master of those three servants came back and settled up with them.
The one given five thousand dollars showed him how he had doubled his
investment. His master commended him: ‘Good work! You did your job well. From
now on be my partner.’
“The servant with the
two thousand showed how he also had doubled his master’s investment. His master
commended him: ‘Good work! You did your job well. From now on be my partner.’
“The servant given
one thousand said, ‘Master, I know you have high standards and hate careless
ways, that you demand the best and make no allowances for error. I was afraid I
might disappoint you, so I found a good hiding place and secured your money.
Here it is, safe and sound down to the last cent.’
“The master was
furious. ‘That’s a terrible way to live! It’s criminal to live cautiously like
that! If you knew I was after the best, why did you do less than the least? The
least you could have done would have been to invest the sum with the bankers,
where at least I would have gotten a little interest.
“‘Take the thousand and give it to the one who risked the
most. And get rid of this “play-it-safe” who won’t go out on a limb. Throw him
out into utter darkness.’” (Matthew 25:14-30)
In this parable, we understand that God is the MASTER and you
and I are the gifted servants. And gifted we are!
Everyone has gifts of the spirit—those marvelous inner qualities such as hope
and patience and hospitality and teaching, as well as material possessions, to
enhance the lives of others! And that’s the point…you and I here to honor God and
neighbor with our living…not for God and neighbor to honor us.
Isn’t that why Jesus shames the scribes in our lesson from
the Gospel of Mark? Their robes are costumes, according to Jesus—they use
religion for status.
What we hear in Jesus’ parable about investment is God’s
invitation to us to live a “take a risk, play it big” kind of life.
It’s simply not okay with God for us to keep our lives small; to turn our gifts
in on ourselves…to secure our own survival and let everything and everyone else
figure out this thing called life all by their selves. Jesus was incredibly
active in community. He met the needs of others. He never worried where the
next meal, or the next bed, was going to come from.
A few months ago a young man
sat down with me. He wanted to talk about work. He just couldn’t find a place
to work where he actually LIKED what he did and who he got to be while he
worked. For the past five years he’s bounced around. “I’m getting nowhere,” he
said to me, “I think I’m going to go try my luck in the oil field.” “No wonder
you’re struggling,” I told him, “You only see your wealth in terms of money. By
bouncing around you haven’t built up any significant relationships with people.
You know, people resources are just as important as monetary resources. Money
can’t change the tire on your car, give you a ride to work, suggest a doctor
when your child is sick, take you to lunch, give you a promotion at work, or
celebrate your birthday.”
Whenever Jesus tells a story he’s offering his audience the
opportunity to see the world—it’s people—the way God sees them.
We are used to seeing ourselves the way the world sees us—we
are familiar with the rules of status and power and wealth. We know how to
adjust our lives so that people are pleased, money is banked, and power is
incurred.
As Jesus watched the crowd
putting money into the temple treasury, he knew his friends were watching the
activity through the eye the world had equipped them with---the one that would
be impressed by the AMOUNT of money.
Jesus directs the disciples eyes away from the wealthy temple
patrons and sets them on the poor widow, whom he praises for truly giving the
largest gift.
Jesus intercedes to correct their vision.
The woman’s financial gift was very small to be sure, but with WHAT she gave to
the temple treasury was quite large—she gave with the heart of faith. Faith
knows that our well-being depends on God and neighbor. The widow was not afraid
to live without a couple of coins even though they were, as the scripture says,
“All she had.” Why? Because what she knows is that all she really has is God
and community—she lost nothing in the transaction—and gained everything.
The world would say that it takes a lot of courage to follow
Jesus …to choose his way in the world…because it will always
involve sacrifice. Faith would say that it takes a lot of courage to go it
alone, to live as if there were no God and no neighbor.
Sacrifice means to “deliberately forsake the security of
satisfying our own needs with our own resources in the faith and hope that God
will sustain us.” Through the widow’s gift Jesus teaches us that call to
discipleship is a call to the congregation to so arrange our life together that
we live on the edge materialistically so that God meets us and saves us over
and over again—as opposed to us saving our self. How can we truly experience
the amazing support of God and neighbor…if we don’t need anything?
Let Us Pray: Loving God, thank you for
meeting us in our time of need...thank you for preparing our hearts to meet the
needs of others, and most amazingly of all—to meet you! Amen.
(This sermon was preached by Reverend Dana Keener at Central Christian Church in Billings on November 8, 2015.)
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