“Who Do You Trust” 2012

Jeremiah 17:7-11 Mark 12:38-44

Jeremiah 17:7-11

7Blessed are those who trust in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. 8They shall be like a tree planted by water, sending out its roots by the stream. It shall not fear when heat comes, and its leaves shall stay green; in the year of drought it is not anxious, and it does not cease to bear fruit. 9The heart is devious above all else; it is perverse— who can understand it? 10I the Lord test the mind and search the heart, to give to all according to their ways, according to the fruit of their doings. 11Like the partridge hatching what it did not lay, so are all who amass wealth unjustly; in mid-life it will leave them, and at their end they will prove to be fools.

Mark 12:38-44

38As 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, 39and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets! 40They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.” 41He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. 42A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. 43Then 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. 44For 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.”

I read recently

that Bill Gates is no longer the wealthiest man in the world.

His net worth dropped to a mere 53 billion dollars

after he used 28 billion to form a charitable foundation…

… which got a lot of coverage in the financial world.

Such huge contributions always capture the public’s attention

and of course, the larger the amount,

the more this world seems to stand up and take notice.

According to our culture and the media,

the amount, the bottom line best defines the true value and worth.

But Jesus challenges that understanding of value and worth.

The Mark text begins with a warning that challenges the scribes,

the impressive, wealthy and well-educated class,à

who Jesus describes as obsessed with outward appearances.

vs. 38-40

As he (Jesus) 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.”

His warning was more fully explained by the scene that follows:

Jesus and the disciples were looking on as people were

making their contributions to the temple treasury…

… the crowd was evaluating the contributions,

and Jesus was evaluating the contributors.

As biblical archeologists have described the scene:

They were in a large courtyard area near the temple entrance,

where along one wall there were 13 curled brass receptacles

that looked like metal ram’s horns, called “shofars”

Visiting pilgrims would then drop their money into them,

which clanged & clattered going down these trumpet-like spouts

so that anyone standing nearby could hear the offering,

and the sound would indicate the amount being given.

vs. 41-43

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 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.

** Apparently, Jesus was not so good at basic arithmetic…

… for the widow’s offering was a ridiculously minuscule amount,

obviously too insignificant for anyone to bother take notice,

and would certainly not

make any difference in the cost of Temple operations;

so in what sense, had she contributed more than all the others?

As we read in 1 Samuel 17:7

“… the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”

Nobody but Jesus notices the widow or the meager amount of her gift,

but as Jesus explains,

it’s not the amount given, it’s the sacrifice –

- it’s the inward condition of the heart that matters to God…

… and by that measure, she has given away far more

than all those who gave from the excess of their abundance.

As Jesus pointed out, vs. 44

“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."

Even after the rich people had made their substantial offerings

they would still continue to be wealthy

for they were giving from their surplus and excess.

The tiny and insignificant offering made by this poor widow

was a total offering of self, a sacrificial gift,

for she gave all that she had - all she had to live on.

They gave from abundance in excess, she from scarcity in sacrifice.

Now I don’t think Jesus wants us all to give all we have to live on,

but our wealth and our possessions are a matter of faith,

and can interfere with our spiritual journey with Christ.

* If we give up nothing that we want or desire for ourselves,

there is no sacrifice on our part-- -then whatever the amount,

our offering is really quite a bit less than we think.

Jesus had been teaching about misguided religious people

who go through detailed outward rituals and practices,

and accept accolades from those impressed by their show.

Then Jesus points out the sharp contrast between

impressive sums of money given from their abundant excess,

and a poor widow’s small coins, sacrificing all she had…

… and clearly Jesus is more impressed by the widow.

It’s not the amount given, but it’s the cost to the giver à

as an expression of the giver's gratitude and trust in the Lord.

And by this teaching,

Jesus is calling us to reconsider who & what we see as important,

to rethink how we judge and evaluate true value and worth,

and do our offerings involve any real sacrifice at all?

Huge dollar gifts are impressive and get lots of recognition.

But it seems that God is more impressed and pleased,

with the quiet and private sacrificial spirituality ofà

those who quietly & consistently give their offerings

that are often more than they can easily afford.

We focus on the amount, but Jesus is focused on the heart.

Perhaps the real question is,

why is the sacrificial aspect of giving so important to the Lord?

1 Timothy 6:10-11 answers that question well:

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith …

Our success and accomplishments, our wealth and accumulations

can become idols to us that distract us from our walk with God,

from a life focused on responding to God’s grace and will.

That is the warning of Jeremiah 17:9-11

The heart is devious above all else; it is perverse-- who can understand it? I the LORD test the mind and search the heart, to give to all according to their ways, according to the fruit of their doings. Like the partridge hatching what it did not lay, so are all who amass wealth unjustly; … and at their end they will prove to be fools.

The truth is, we all struggle with materialism and greed.

I like to have lots of nice things as much as you do,

we all compare, and think about having more stuff,

for it is a pervasive aspect of being human.

But it turns out, that faithful stewardship has an amazing power

to break the bondage & hold of materialism & greed over my life.

* generous and sacrificial giving loosens that corrupting grip

of our natural love of money and incessant desire to acquire

that can be so destructive to our lives and relationships.

* our giving can help liberate us from our cultural addictions

that drives us to always try to gather more and more,

and that unhealthy longing to have more than our neighbors…

… and instead

our focus becomes the good our gifts can accomplish

by making a difference that proclaims God’s love.

* sacrificial and generous giving weakens materialism's hold

so that instead we learn to love God more than

the things and prestige that our money can buy.

If we can somehow manage to let go of our money and its power

to buy the unnecessary and frivolous babbles that we crave,

then it will no longer has that control over us,

and materialism & greed will no longer posses us…

… so then we can view abundance with a more godly perspective;

that recognizes that true wealth is not what we posses,

but what we are capable of giving, willing to sacrifice.

The truth is,

there are some very significant spiritual issues at stake

in how we respond to God's call for faithful stewardship;

because the place that money & possessions do hold in my life,

will either improve or impair my faith walk with God,

and it is therefore, crucial to my Christian growth.

But Christian stewardship is not just a matter of money & finance –

there is far more to the question of stewardship than that.

There is a subtle nuance in the original Greek of this text.

More than giving all that she had or possessed, she actually

gave her whole self in faithful generosity and trust,

* meaning that, she herself became the offering being given.

This poor widow was entirely trusting God - nothing held back in reserve

and so her sacrifice is the very model of faithful discipleship

she gave herself to God, and not just a few of her things.

When I was in Africa,

one of the most joyful and meaningful moments in worship

was when they collected the offering during the service.

A big plastic washtub was set up in the front of the church,

and the whole congregation would stand and start dancing,

singing for joy and waving handkerchiefs in celebration

as with great flourish they'd drop in their offering…

** giving their whole selves to God in vibrant gleeful gratitude.

Stewardship is not just putting money into an offering plate,

but more critically includes how we live out our Christian lives;

it’s our involvement in the life & ministry of the church

and how we serve, reaching out with our time & talents

to make a difference in response to God’s blessings -

-it’s everything about us,

who we are, what we do and say, including the attitudes we live.

There’s a sheet in the bulletin, that during our last hymn today,

I hope you will bring forward with your financial pledge

as offering to God our whole selves in Christ's service.

At issue is our spiritual welfare and development, responding to grace,

that is, the health and vigor of our walk with God;

making total stewardship decisions that deepen our faith

which involves not just our money, but our whole person,

far beyond anything you can measure with dollar signs.

As we close, consider this story from Edie Ogan:

I'll never forget Easter 1946. I was 14, my little sister Ocy, 12, and my older sister Darlene, 16. We lived at home with our mother, and the four of us knew what it was to do without many things. My dad had died 5 years before, leaving Mom with seven school kids to raise and no money. By 1946, my older sisters were married, and my brothers had left home. A month before Easter, the pastor of our church announced that a special Easter offering would be taken to help a poor family. He asked everyone to save and give sacrificially.

When we got home, we talked about what we could do. We decided to buy 50 pounds of potatoes and live on them for a month. This would allow us to save $20 of our grocery money for the offering. Then we thought that if we kept our electric lights turned out as much as possible and didn't listen to the radio, we'd save money on that month's electric bill.

Darlene got as many house and yard cleaning jobs as possible, and both of us babysat for everyone we could. For 15 cents, we could buy enough cotton loops to make three potholders to sell for $1. We made $20 on potholders.

That month was one of the best of our lives. Every day we counted the money to see how much we had saved. At night we'd sit in the dark and talk about how the poor family was going to enjoy having the money the church would give them. We had about 80 people in church, so we figured that whatever amount of money we had to give, the offering would surely be 20 times that much. After all, every Sunday the Pastor had reminded everyone to save for the sacrificial offering.

The day before Easter, Ocy and I walked to the grocery store and got the manager to give us three crisp $20 bills and one $10 bill for all our change. We ran all the way home to show Mom and Darlene. We had never had so much money before. That night we were so excited we could hardly sleep. We didn't care that we wouldn't have new clothes for Easter; we had $70 for the sacrificial offering. We could hardly wait to get to church. I felt so rich. When the sacrificial offering was taken, we were sitting on the second row from the front. Mom put in the $10 bill, and each of us put in a $20.

As we walked home after church, we sang all the way. Late that afternoon the minister drove up in his car. Mom went to the door, talked with him for a moment, and then came back with an envelope in her hand. We asked what it was, but she didn't say a word. She opened the envelope and out fell a bunch of money. There were three crisp $20 bills, one $10, and seventeen $1. Mom put the money back in the envelope.

We didn't talk, just sat and stared at the floor. We had gone from feeling like millionaires to feeling like poor white trash. We kids had had such a happy life that we felt sorry for anyone who didn't have our mom and dad for parents and a house full of brothers and sisters and other kids visiting constantly.

We thought it was fun to share silverware and see whether we got the fork or the spoon that night. We had two knives which we passed around to whoever needed them. I knew we didn't have a lot of things that other people had, but I'd never thought we were poor. That Easter Day I found out we were.

The minister had brought us the money for the poor family, so we must be poor. I didn't like being poor. I looked at my dress and worn-out shoes and felt so ashamed that I didn't want to go back to church. Everyone there probably already knew we were poor!

We sat in silence for a long time. Then it got dark, and we went to bed. All that week no one talked much. Finally on Saturday, Mom asked us what we wanted to do with the money. What did poor people do with money? We didn't know. We'd never known we were poor.

We didn't want to go to church on Sunday, but Mom said we had to. Although it was a sunny day, we didn't talk on the way. Mom started to sing, but no one joined in, and she only sang one verse.

At church, we had a missionary speaker. He talked about how churches in Africa made buildings out of sun-dried bricks, but they need money to buy roofs. He said $100 would put a roof on a church. The minister said, "Can't we all sacrifice to help these poor people?" We looked at each other and smiled for the first time in a week. Mom reached into her purse and pulled out the envelope. She passed it to Darlene. Darlene gave it to me, and I handed it to Ocy. Ocy put it in the offering. When the offering was counted, the minister announced that it was a little over $100. The missionary was excited. He hadn't expected such a large offering from our small church. He said, "You must have some rich people in this church."

Suddenly it struck us! We had given $87 of that "little over $100." We were the rich family in the church! Hadn't the missionary said so?

From that day on I've never been poor again. I’ve always remembered how rich I am because I have Jesus!