This being the first Sunday of the month we will be celebrating the sacrament of Communion.
The Scripture Reading this week is Mark 12:38-44.
The Sermon title is Why Did She Do It?
Early Thoughts: This is an interesting story. Some read it as Jesus commending the widow for her commitment and devotion to the Temple -- so devoted that she gives all she has. Others read the story and see Jesus condemning a system that demands that the widow give all that she has, more than she can afford, while others are able to give a portion of their excess. I know that my earliest memories of discussing this story used the first interpretation. How have you been taught to read it?
Does the widow give those two small coins, the 'widow's mite', all that she has, freely? OR does she have no choice? Or maybe she has been guilted or coerced into it? Why she does it matters.
Why do we offer up our time, our talents, our energy, our money to the church or to various other causes in our lives? Is it out of a sense of obligation? A sense of excitement for the good work our gifts help make possible? Habit? How do we encourage others to share their time, energy, talent, and money?
There was a time, I remember hearing such things said in fact, when around October or November churches would issue panicked statements and attempt to guilt the congregation members into increased giving to meet the budget by the end of the year. And in many cases it may have worked, or at least seemed to work (mid-October through Christmas is often the time of year when a healthy portion of church income arrives). Even here at St. Paul's we have memories of the so-called 'Christmas miracle' that helped balance the year off.
It is questionable that such tactics work as well (assuming they did work before) anymore. Those messages were often based on tying into a sense of obligation and even guilt. Obligation is certainly a reason to give. Membership may not, despite what American Express tells us, have many privileges, but it does have responsibilities. However creating a situation where people give because they want to, because they are excited about what their gift helps to accomplish is --in the long run-- a far more effective stewardship tactic.
So why did the widow drop those two coins in? She may have been paying the obligatory tithe. It appears that is what the others, the ones Jesus says gave less, have done. Possibly they calculated carefully what they were obliged to give. Or was she giving what was required and a bit more because she was thankful for the gifts God had given her in life? Had she once been supported by the Temple and this was part of how she was responding? The story leaves both these options (and likely a few others) as possibilities.
This Sunday we will explore why the widow gave what she did. We will talk a bit about the various answers might mean as an appropriate response. Do we praise her or condemn the system? But we will go from there and talk about why we choose to give. We will look at how we make our choices. In the end it is not always the amount that matters, it is the motivation.
--Gord
No comments:
Post a Comment