Monday, November 12, 2018


Giving All
A Stewardship Sermon by Griff Martin
On Mark 12:38-44 and 1Kings 17:8-16
For the Beloveds of First Austin: a baptist community of faith
On November 11, 2018

Mark 12: 38-44

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.”

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.”

1 Kings 17:8-16

Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “Go now to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and live there; for I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” So he set out and went to Zarephath. When he came to the gate of the town, a widow was there gathering sticks; he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, so that I may drink.” As she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” But she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a jug; I am now gathering a couple of sticks, so that I may go home and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.” Elijah said to her, “Do not be afraid; go and do as you have said; but first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterwards make something for yourself and your son. For thus says the Lord the God of Israel: The jar of meal will not be emptied and the jug of oil will not fail until the day that the Lord sends rain on the earth.” She went and did as Elijah said, so that she as well as he and her household ate for many days. The jar of meal was not emptied, neither did the jug of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah

The Sermon:

Incarnate and Resurrected God, we ask that you once again take the Word and transform it into a living and breathing new reality we can all together experience. Make us aware of you presence here in this space and in these words God for if we are present to you then nothing else will matter, but if you are not present to you then nothing else will matter. In the name of the Creator, the Christ and the Comforter.  Amen.

On May 15, 2006 more than 40 people walked by David Strays as he laid dying and not one of the 40 stopped, each saw him and walked on by without doing a thing. Because that is the culture where he died, you see he died on Mount Everest near the top, in that space that is above 26,250 feet which we know as the death zone. Even the man who died that day, David Strays, his mother commented on this space: “your only responsibility is to save yourself, not to try and save others.” 

I think somehow the rule of Everest seemed to have moved down the mountain and they now exist everywhere….. your only responsibility in this world is to save yourself not to try and save others.

We certainly see that out in the world today… Did we vote last week based on a world that was more fair for the least of these or did we vote based on what was fair to our future finances? And actually that question is way too limiting…. Did your actions speak for and help and work towards the betterment of the least of these or did you actions speak for and help and work towards only your own betterment? Did you take time to care for someone beyond yourself? Did you feed someone who was not yourself? Or did you follow the rules of Everest in your own life: my responsibility is me.

And it happens here too….. I mean this is half the problem of designated funds (I want this to continue and instead of giving to the mission I will give to what I believe in), or coming here with pet projects, or coming here thinking only abut the items on your to do lists, or going into committee meetings thinking only about your agenda. Coming here thinking your responsibility is to save yourself and your way of thinking and your way of doing church and not to try and save others. 

And the rules of the Gospel are about as opposite Everest as one can get.

The lectionary has us today in Mark 12 and the story most of us know as the Widow’s Mite. When I first looked at the lectionary and saw that this text was the Gospel text for Pledge Sunday, it was as though I had struck gold…. This is perfect. 

But then I got to thinking that actually chances are pretty good that one of the lectionary passages on any given Sunday would be about finances and material goods. This is the most talked about subject in all of Scripture, there are somewhere around 2,000 texts that deal with money (and to put that into context, there are only 500 verses on prayer)… as if every author already knew that this material goods and money thing was going to be a problem for us. 

And then I sat down to study the Widow and I tried to do what I do every week, I tried to see the Scripture anew…. And a few things hit me this time that made me question if she was really a good stewardship sermon.

First, the Scripture is about way more than just the widow. You have to engage the whole conversation. Because we love to rush to the widows because the first verses step all over us… I mean listen to Jesus: “Watch out for those who are too religious, those who are wearing their Sunday best, those who love to be in the spotlight, they sit at the head of the table at every church function and they love to be on committees and yet they don’t really care about making a difference, it’s show, just listen to their prayers- the longer they go, the worse they get.”

And then a verse that should stop us dead in our tracks “They will pay for it in the end.”

That is not the Vacation Bible School Jesus. This is Jesus via Where The Wild Things Are.

And then Jesus stops and watches, sitting across from the offering plates, Jesus just sits there and pays attention. And if the first section did not stop you dead in your tracks, well surely that will. The image of Jesus watching as the offering plate passes us by… because you might fool your neighbor into thinking you gave online, but you don’t fool Jesus. In fact you might even fool yourself into thinking you are giving enough away, but you don’t fool Jesus. 

So Jesus sits there and watches, as if this is where he is going to be able to discern something and learn something about who we are as people. And the very people Jesus has just talked about are making quite a show putting their offerings in. 

And then the widow comes in…. And we know exactly what she does… she puts in two coins, which is all she has. And Jesus makes a big deal of her. And we have made a big deal of her, because we love to make saints out of folks doing Gospel work so it seems unattainable to us.

And we want to as well… but have you ever actually thought about her? A widow who only has 2 coins to her name, that is not a sign of prosperity certainly, but more than that it’s a judgement on the church… remember one of our central roles is to care for orphans and widows, it’s in the Bible all the way from Exodus on. And obviously if this widow is down to only 2 coins, well then we the church has not been doing there job. The church is corrupt, this isn’t news look at Jesus tearing the temple down. They are not using their funds to do what the Gospel calls forth. 

And if we are not doing our job, well I personally think the widow gets a pass. Keep the coins to take care of yourself, to feed yourself, to pay your rent, to buy a coat… but yet she gives, she gives to the very institution that is failing her. 

We don’t get a pass thought, if the institution is failing the world around us, we don’t get to not give, we give so that the institution can do more and we then demand the institution do better.

And when you see the widow as a testimony of one who gives because she believes they can do more and be better even when it’s failing her, well if that does not move you nothing will. 

To give to an institution that you are not certain you believe in, that you have hope in, that you have faith in…. But yet you have faith and hope in what they could be and become and you certainly understand that for the institution to become what they need to become, you have to put your all in.

Maybe we need to hear that again, because I think that is the Widow’s lesson: To give to an institution that you are not certain you believe in, that you have hope in, that you have faith in…. But yet you have faith and hope in what they could be and you certainly understand that for the institution to become what they need to become, you have to put your all in.

That is quite a lesson… and I think the lesson goes way beyond us, I think it was the exact lesson that Jesus needed that day. I think this is the exact image that he carries to the Cross,  which by the way is where he goes in 3 days according to the Gospel of Mark. And maybe this widow reminds him that sometimes when what you see seems hopeless and uncertain and it’s not exactly what you want, you don’t withdraw or hold out, you give even more: you give all and then you demand better. 

And maybe this widow learned from another widow, it was the first passage Layla read, our Old Testament lesson for today, and it was certainly a story that would have been read over and over in the temple. It’s another Scripture that sticks out because it begins in a one of these is not like the other way. It’s Elijah. 

And unlike the first text where we are used to the Hallmark good sayings of Jesus and not the step on your toes ones, with Elijah we go in wearing a crash helmet because we are about to get hit. Elijah is the perfect prophet for today. He is a crusty salty messenger and he says it like he sees it and he aims to hit you where it hurts. He is given to doom and gloom, to despair, drama and depression. He is a prophet for today… he is blasting folks, lots of woes and wraths. 

And then he gets to this widow, this widow who when you read her story you learn that she is out gathering sticks so she can cook her and her son a final meal and then they are going to die because they have nothing left… this is about as doom and gloom and depressing and dramatic as you can get. And here Elijah is all, “Don’t be afraid. In fact actually will you make me a cake because I am quite hungry myself.” 

And the widow tries to argue, she is quite torn… this is the flour she was saving to make her and her son a final meal and yet the religious rule is to care for and welcome the stranger. And hospitality and religious mandate win and she makes Elijah a cake.

And after that her jar of flour and her jug of oil never were empty again. 

The widow in 1 Kings learned that when she gave miracles happened. I think the widow in Mark heard the story and learned the same lesson, when I give miracles happen, when I give the church might finally be the church. And Jesus saw this and it might have been the exact affirmation he needed, when I give miracles happen. 

It’s a truth I really believe. 

In Baton Rouge there are pretty biblical and sometimes they had issues with me. They particularly did not care for my imagined interpretation of the story of the boy with the loaves and the fishes. You see I personally believe that when the young boy comes forward with his lunch, it makes every other adult who has been selfishly hiding there food finally pull it out and they then realize that there is actually way more than enough to go around. 

I preached that and the WMU president came to my office. She said they wanted to see me at Round Table the following day, I did not know what that was, I imagined a scene like Game of Thrones, but it’s actually just a bunch of Southern Ladies who lunch and over lunch talk about church. I went to round table and we had a discussion of my interpretation of that passage and finally one of the women said, “Pastor can’t you just believe in a miracle?” Although the way she said it miracle had like 5 syllables too many. 

I thought for a minute and said, “Actually I think this is a miracle. You know human nature as well as I do… just think about the school we partner with and how limited their resources are and then look around at all the Southern homes that surround our church…. I think it would have actually been a lot easier for God to create something from nothing than to get us to share and to see with abundance.”

The group got quiet and then one of the women piped up, “Yep, he’s right.” 

I think human nature is to live the rules of Everest: your only responsibility in this world is to save yourself not to try and save others.

And I think our calling is to find a better nature and to live according to the Gospel: your only responsibility is to live with your arms wide open, your hands wide open, your heart wide open. Give and give until it hurts.

Because it’s when you give until it hurts that suddenly your jar and jug never empty, suddenly Jesus notices you, suddenly resurrection happens.

When you give we might finally be able to become the institution that we all so desperately want to be, a church community that can bring about the very Kingdom of God and in doing so to finally become a church worthy of receiving both the widow’s mite and the Resurrection. 

Amen and Amen.

*artwork: Integration, Painting by Autumn Skye Morrison, autumnskyeart.com

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