We CAN Give Gratefully
(Stewardship Sunday)

Ruth 3:1-5, 4:13-17; Mark 12:38-44

Betty Berghaus

          It is Stewardship Sunday, and that calls for a great and inspiring sermon!  But I don’t think I am very good at Stewardship sermons.  I was always glad when Haywood preached the stewardship season, because he is such a fabulous fund-raiser, and I am not.  That’s not “my thing” at all.

          A friend told me that at the church where she grew up, the pastor would get up one Sunday a year, and tell the congregation that it was time to fill out their pledge cards, and that was all they heard.  And they pledged.  And I thought, that sounds more like my style!  I could do that!

          Another friend told me to tell you all that I have done this week alone that has kept me from the task of writing a sermon, which needs considerable study and prayer and work, and also give you a better idea of what pastors do.  So I could tell you how in the past week I’ve either led or been to 4 memorial services, made 5 visits to hospitals (making 11 people visits), made 2 home visits, including one with Nancy where we served communion to someone unable to get to worship, led or participated in 2 Bible studies and the Celebration service for the preschool, seen 2 people in my office, taken communion, along with Nancy, and been to only 3 meetings this week.  But then I thought, I am but one staff member, and I know that the rest of the staff that you support, and who support you, have also worked very hard, with Bible studies and meetings, folks in crisis, administrative and business matters, building and bills and payroll matters, newsletters and bulletins, meetings and more meetings, teacher training, worship preparation, and so much more.  (Are you dizzy yet?  I am!) Your staff works long and hard hours.  And they do so because they care so deeply for their commitments to God and to you.   

          But stewardship is about so much more than supporting the church and its staff.  And the Scripture readings for today, in the mysterious way that the lectionary can be so timely, led me to more appropriate reflections on stewardship. 

          The Ruth passage finds Naomi seeking security for her widowed daughter-in-law.  Ruth had been gleaning grain for Naomi and herself so that they could eat.  But Naomi knew that security for women of that age meant being married to someone who could provide for them.  So she coached Ruth to approach Boaz.  The approach worked, and Ruth and Naomi were married.  They conceived a child, with the help of God, and that child “restored life” to Naomi as she helped to care for the boy.  The boy was also the great-grandfather of King David, who was one of Jesus’ ancestors, according to Matthew 1.  The Lord works in mysterious ways!  The security that Naomi sought was provided, and God worked through this couple to bring a much greater good into the world.   

          Ruth is such a sweet story, a love story.  But, set in the era of the Judges, it is so much more.  This book contrasts peace and faithfulness with the war and violence of Judges and the disobedience of the Israelites.  This book promotes the need to preserve the family line in an era when whole families and towns were being wiped out in wars.  This book speaks of loyalty and love in the midst of hatred, fear, and chaos.  And, remember, Ruth was an outsider.  She was not one of the chosen people.  She could have returned home after the death of her husband.  Yet she was loyal and faithful to Naomi and to Naomi’s God (our God).  And God took care of them.  This sweet book, which is read each year at the Festival of Weeks for the Jewish faith, inspires allegiance to our God who abides with us throughout all aspects of our lives, and indeed, even works through us and sometimes in spite of us to bring about God’s ultimate good will.    

          Then there is another woman in the Mark passage who inspires us to faithful living.  She is but a poor widow, who gave all she had, two small coins, to offering at the Temple.  She brings to mind the Christmas song that says, “What can I give, poor as I am?”  This passage also gives us contrasts, as Ruth did for Judges.  The scribes liked to be seen, and wanted to be honored for their overt pious acts.  And yet “they devoured widows’ houses” for money to support the Temple work.  And they made a show of long prayers.  Jesus said that they would be condemned for such two-faced lives.

          As he watched the offering to the community poor box, Jesus saw many rich folks putting in large sums.  But he knew that they had much more, and so did not lack for what they had given.  Yet he saw the poor widow put in everything she had, and knew that she had given from her heart.  Hers was the greater offering. 

          We can conclude from this passage that it does not matter how much we give.  What matters is the condition of our spiritual lives when we give.  Our gifts should be considered prayerfully and given out of our hearts.  It does not matter what anyone else gives.  Nor should anyone tell us what we can give.  We give from our hearts. 

          But it is important that we give.  Offering, indeed, has been a part of religious life since the beginning in the Bible, with offerings at altars.  And remember, earlier in Mark,  the “rich young ruler,” as we call him, who came to Jesus asking what he had to do to inherit eternal life.  He was concerned with his spiritual life.  And yet he could not do as Jesus told him, he could not give away his earthly possessions in order to follow Jesus.  And he went away grieving.  He could not give from his heart as did the widow.  My guess is that she did not leave that offering grieving, but at peace, perhaps even happy, though she had given away everything she had.  But she knew she had helped others, and she was happier for that service.  The poor widow is a better role model for us than the rich in the story, and certainly than the proud scribes, who want to be recognized and applauded for what they did. 

          We could leave the message simply at that.  Give because it feels good and helps others, and brings the peace of God to our lives. 

          But we would not be faithful to the gospel message if that is all we took away from this passage.  In the Gospel of Mark, this event is the last act of Jesus’ public ministry.  In the next chapter, 13, Jesus predicted what would come, and in the final chapters of the gospel, 14 through 16, we read of Jesus’ passion for us, his suffering and death and resurrection. This last scene of his public ministry, in which the poor widow gives all that she has for others, foretells Jesus’ great sacrifice for our lives.  For God in Jesus loved us so much that he gave up his earthly life for us.  Yes, he knew the glory of the resurrection would follow.  But perhaps the human side of him wanted to cling to this earthly life as much as we all do.  And yet he made the sacrifice out of love for us.  “No one has greater love than this,” says the Gospel of John, than “to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13). 

          So if you give to the church, do so in response to the Gospel message of God’s love in Christ Jesus.  Do so with prayer and reverence, from the sincerity of your hearts.  Do so out of loyalty to the God who loves you like a child and who is always faithful to you.

          This church needs your support right now perhaps more than in recent years, now that Haywood, the great fund-raiser, has retired.  For the church continues to be the church and still needs the resources and the people to help carry out its many wonderful programs and ministries.  Yet I have already heard that there are those who have decided that, because Haywood left, they can give less, or quit giving altogether.

 Giving to the work of the church should not be in response to any one individual, or even to the staff as a whole.  Giving to the church is a spiritual response to the grace of God.  We give out of gratitude to God for the greatest gift of all, God’s love seen most clearly in Jesus’ life and sacrifice and resurrection.  We give to support the one Body of Christ through the efforts and ministries of this congregation known as Westminster Presbyterian Church, perhaps, but we give because of our belief in the love and mercy and great grace of our Lord.  Stewardship, after all, is really about our relationship with God and one another and all of God’s creation.

          This indeed is what I believe, and why I give.  What do you believe? Why do you give?  And what can you give?

AMEN.