After five weeks of preaching on being generous, it seems the word generous has infiltrated at least the vocabulary of some. It was last week when I heard Felicity, our middle child asking if her sharing her snack was generous. I have listened, as well, as many of you who have been examining what generosity looks like in your life. I was delighted that for the very first time in my ministry, someone was requesting commitment cards, even before they were prepared! In the last five weeks, I believe that more people have been listening to where God is moving in this place and seeking to be generously following God’s way.
This has been the life and radical step of disciples who followed for generations. We join Jesus in our Gospel Lesson teaching the scribes as well as the disciples. Jesus sees the system of oppression that often led widows to lose all they have and decries the exacting actions of functionaries that do not care for ALL of the members of society. Jesus sees the generous widow in her struggles, cares for her, and then believes she can make a difference. She joins her small resources with the larger resources of the faith community to impact the community. She confidentially gives her all in order to impact her world.
The generous widow speaks again to those of us who imagine there will be some perfect moment in which to give. We imagine days in which there will birds singing while we pay bills and choices not between which bills to pay, but which investments to consider or deserving charities to give to. We imagine that there will be a day in which can comfortably tithe and not need to make decisions about what not to spend the tithe money on. The generous widow reminds us that we are called to generous, not out of our abundance, but out of our market money and gas money – the very everyday things we need. In the midst of what we need, we have a need to be generous.
As Paul travels from location to location, he finds that both the needs of God’s people are great and the need of God’s people to give is real. Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians finds us in an ongoing conversation that the apostle is having with the church. He had invited them to give generously for the needs of the church in Jerusalem in the first letter. He returns to them calling them to excel in generosity, and to finish what they started. Paul boldly calls the congregation in Corinth to consider that their abundance is for someone else’s need. Paul says the people were begging to give. I think of the request for commitment cards, even before they were available and those who wanted to contribute to support Wednesday Night Fun funds before the jars for donation had been located.
Jesus and Paul both call us to the needs of others. If we imagine who we might be in the gospel passage, I find myself finding uncomfortable parallels with those who wear long robes, are well greeted, and pray at length. You might find yourselves, not in the role of the widow, but of those who watched, those who judged, and those who wondered. Very few of us might honestly imagine ourselves in the role of the widow. However, we have a need to care for the widows. It is here and around the world that we find widows and others who have been pressed into life situations that limit their opportunities and future. Our gifts serve their circumstances.
Jesus spoke often about money and possessions. In fact, over one-half of his teachings in the parables speak about faithful use of money and possessions. Jesus cared deeply about the ways in which we cared for those around us, what we had, and what held us back. Jesus has much to say to us about all areas of our lives. Jesus gave us the example of how to live as those created in the image of God.
I do know that these can be difficult conversations for some. Uncomfortable for others. If you are weighed down by the burden of debt as you are considering your commitment, I want to encourage you with an upcoming program slated for January. Financial Peace University is a wonderful program to ground anyone in biblical principles for the use of money. More information will come but please consider that opportunity to align yourself with Jesus.
As I think about our time together in ministry, I realize that we have been in ministry together now for seventeen months. We have begun to know one another. We have laughed and we have cried. In those months, persons have been born and people have died. We have watched God’s movement together and called one another to greater faithfulness in Jesus. We are a toddler together, full of possibility and promise. We are poised for the next ways that God is leading us.
Yesterday, I was at Planting the Seeds for Ministry Growth with Keynote speaker, Mike Slaughter, United Methodist pastor in Ginghamsburg, Ohio. He leads a congregation that grew from 90 to 58 to 5000 people to serve the community that is the fourth hungriest in the country. As he shared with us ways to encourage churches to move beyond themselves to follow Jesus, he said, “We need to release it for God to increase it.” We need to release our dreams and our resources; we need to release our hopes and our giving – so that God can increase it for God’s purposes.
Friends, I have found this true in my life, again and again in money and possessions, in dreams and hopes. Very practically, when I clean out closets, I am amazed by both how blessed I am with less volume and more simplicity, and how blessed I am by generosity from others that comes in the most unexpected ways. We have tithed almost since the beginning of our life together, Steve and I. And God has always provided for us as we have cared for our own needs.
This morning, we ask God to consecrate our commitments. The act of consecration is a holy one. As we offer our commitments to God, we set them apart for the purposes for which God will use them. We consecrate our financial giving, our giving of our time for mission and study, our prayers, and our witness to others about God’s movement in our lives. God blesses us when we step out in faith. Even when we are not sure exactly how we will find to serve in mission or how we will increase our giving, God blesses each commitment of faith and seeks to bless each tiptoe, hop, and jump of faith.
In a few moments, we will offer our commitments to God. We will step out in faith. Because Jesus calls us to whole life living, just like the generous widow, our commitment cards reflect ways you can give generously of your life. Your tithes, gifts, and offerings, can me offered on the front sides. There is an opportunity to give electronically. Please let me know if we can help set that up. You may wish to consider how you can give into the future with legacy giving through bequests, endowments, will, and other legacies. This commitment, like the widow, offers opportunities to commitment your whole life. Check off if you are moved to consider mission and service opportunities or if you are committing to continue in ways you are currently serving. Check off if you are moved to consider bible study, small groups, Sunday School or if you are committing to continue in ways you are currently serving. Our prayer chain is a vital ministry; please indicate if you are currently participating or would like to through one of the following mediums. Or perhaps, you know there are steps of discipleship and following Jesus that you want to take, but aren’t sure how. Please check the last box, so that we can support and guide you.
As we conclude this message and this series, each week, I prayerfully considered how God is challenging us. This morning, I am challenging you to increase your giving, not because the need is great and we must fill the bucket. Rather, I am challenging you to give and increase your giving, because each of us has a need to give, and God has been moving here in this place. God has been putting dreams and ministries in the hearts of the people. We have often said that God has no hands and feet, but ours. We should also say, God has no bank account, but ours. It is through our giving that God feeds the hungry. It is through our giving that God clothes the naked. It is through our giving that God comforts the grieving. It is through our giving that God is known as Lord and Savior in a hurting world!
This is the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, thanks be to God, Amen.
Old Testament Lesson: 2 Corinthians 8:1-15
Encouragement to Be Generous
We want you to know, brothers and sisters, about the grace of God that has been granted to the churches of Macedonia; for during a severe ordeal of affliction, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For, as I can testify, they voluntarily gave according to their means, and even beyond their means, begging us earnestly for the privilege of sharing in this ministry to the saints— and this, not merely as we expected; they gave themselves first to the Lord and, by the will of God, to us, so that we might urge Titus that, as he had already made a beginning, so he should also complete this generous undertaking among you. Now as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in our love for you—so we want you to excel also in this generous undertaking.
I do not say this as a command, but I am testing the genuineness of your love against the earnestness of others. For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich. And in this matter I am giving my advice: it is appropriate for you who began last year not only to do something but even to desire to do something— now finish doing it, so that your eagerness may be matched by completing it according to your means. For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has—not according to what one does not have. I do not mean that there should be relief for others and pressure on you, but it is a question of a fair balance between 14 your present abundance and their need, so that their abundance may be for your need, in order that there may be a fair balance. As it is written,
“The one who had much did not have too much,
and the one who had little did not have too little.”
Gospel Lesson: Mark 12:3844
Jesus Denounces the Scribes
As he taught, he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets! They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”
The Widow’s Offering
He 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 he 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.”
Meditations For Your Week
Sunday, November 8 ~ Saturday, November 14
Sunday: “For during a severe ordeal of affliction, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.” 2 Corinthians 8:2. Prayerfully consider how God offers opportunities for us to impact the lives of others, if we only look around.
Monday: “For, as I can testify, they voluntarily gave according to their means, and even beyond their means, begging us earnestly for the privilege of sharing in this ministry to the saints” 2 Corinthians 8:3-4. Where is God calling you to beg for the privilege of sharing and serving?
Tuesday: “Now as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in our love for you—so we want you to excel also in this generous undertaking.” 2 Corinthians 8:7. Paul calls disciples to be excellent in generosity as in all things, because it reflects more fully the image of God. How will you be excellent in generosity?
Wednesday: “I do not mean that there should be relief for others and pressure on you, but it is a question of a fair balance between your present abundance and their need, so that their abundance may be for your need, in order that there may be a fair balance.” 2 Corinthians 8:13-14. God always uses God’s people. Prayerfully consider where God is using you.
Thursday: “He 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.” Mark 12: 41-42. As Jesus cares about the way people treated one another with actions, Jesus cared about the way we treat one another with our money. What does the use of your money say about you?
Friday: “Then he 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.” Mark 12:43. Giving is never one-size fits all. Our need to give differs with our need to serve. Ask God to show you what your need to give is and respond.
Saturday: “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.’” Mark 12:44. Contemplate what you give out of your poverty.