Stewardship Sunday

Luke 21:1-4

He looked up and saw rich people putting their gifts into the treasury; ²he also saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. ³He said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them; ⁴for all of them have contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on.”

It is Stewardship Sunday. We often think of Stewardship as that one time of year when we talk about the one thing that makes us all squirm in our seats: money. But before going there I want to talk a bit about what it means to be a steward. In my understanding, a steward is someone who takes care of something for someone else.

We are called to take care of the church. Not because it is our church. We are reminded
that the Church is Christ’s and that we have been invited in. The story of the woman who gives all she has is a challenge for us. Most of us are like the rich people who were giving, out of their abundance. Now it is important to realize that Jesus is not condemning the rich people. He is making a statement about who has given more. But this story has always made me wonder what it was that possessed this widow to give all that she had. I don't believe God wants people to go hungry, or not have the basics that they need to live. And yet she gave all that she had.

A few years ago there was a study that looked at what the relationship was between people's income and the amount that they gave to the church. One of the astonishing things that this study found is that those who make less than 25,000/year give a larger percentage of their income than those who make 36,000/year. One might expect the opposite, but this was not the case. I was sitting with other pastors in a small group discussing this and we wondered why this was. Perhaps it is that the less we have the easier it is to share. Perhaps giving says more about what we believe about our material possessions. One of the fundamental claims that scripture makes is that all that we have is a gift from God.

Throughout the year we engage in mission, service and worship. Since July of this year our church has been host to the following events or groups : girl scout meetings, cub scout meetings, 2 AA groups, the Elwood Little Learners Preschool, we started a food pantry, members of our church help serve a meal at lambs fold once a month, we sent one youth to the Presbyterian Youth Triennium, and another to the Presbytery fall retreat. We hosted the community Vacation Bible School. We provide space for fellowship groups like the Jackson Township homemakers, the twi-lighters, and community meeting space for various groups in and around Elwood. But none of this really matters, not in the grand scheme of things. We cannot think that we do these events for ourselves. These simply are one of the ways in which we welcome others just as we have been welcomed into fellowship with God through Jesus Christ.

This week we celebrate Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is such a wonderful holiday, that even though it is not an official holiday within the church calendar year we should probably add it. Because I believe that the woman who gave all she had was only able to do it because she truly believed that everything she had was a gift from God. She, even in her poverty was able to respond to God in thanksgiving. When we share that understanding of our possessions, then our lives become filled with thanksgiving. For a God who has been so generous with us, how can we not respond in kind? Like the widow we too must dedicate our whole selves to God: our lives, our purposes, and our possessions. In doing so we give thanks and show the world how good it is to have God as our King.

Luke 19:1-10

Luke 19:1-10

19He entered Jericho and was passing through it. ²A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. ³He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. ⁴So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. ⁵When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.” ⁶So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. ⁷All who saw it began to grumble and said, “He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.” ⁸Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.” ⁹Then Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. ¹⁰For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.”

This is one of the most well known gospel stories, possibly because of the well-known children's song, "Zacchaeus Was a Wee Little Man." There is something inherently comical about this story: a little man, running down the street and climbing a tree because no one would let him through. But in truth, we don't know much about Zacchaeus.

We really only know two things about him: he was a tax collector and he was short of stature. Being a tax collector for the Romans seemed to bring out the worst in people. Rome was smart when it came to collecting taxes. They knew that no one has ever liked tax collectors. So Rome got native people from their own regions to collect their taxes. Tax collectors paid the Romans up front what the tax for a specific region would be. Then tax collectors would recoup their tax payment from the population. Tax collectors then could then legally, and with the support of legal hired thugs, extort money from the entire population. Most tax collectors (it seems) took in a lot more than what they paid to Rome. All of the extra went into their own pocket.

But the question that I think about is this: What would possess a man of wealth, power and security to open himself to the ridicule that Zachaeus did by running and climbing up in a tree. In that culture as well as our own, men of stature do not run. You make other people run to do things for you. But something made Zacheaus let go of his pride, and do something absolutely ridiculous. Perhaps it was that Jesus had welcomed, sat, and ate with so many other "untouchables". Perhaps he was just so eager to see the man who had done so many wonderful things. Perhaps the Spirit spontaneously moved him to so that he left his position and pride behind him and was able to simply be excited that in Jesus, God was walking toward him.

We don't get excited by much anymore. We are too cynical I think. We would prefer a god that doesn't make us jump, run, or climb trees. But through the Zacheaus story we remember that we are called to joyful response unbounded by our pretenses of dignity. Before God the only dignified response is unrestrained joy.

Now, part of that joyful response is Zacheaus's sudden desire to live in harmony with those around him. The act of giving away half his goods, and returning four fold those whom he had cheated reveals how much God had changed his heart in this encounter. A strong desire for economic justice and charity took hold of him. These reflect the desires that God has for us as we live. The challenge for us is to respond with the faithful joy that Zacheaus does when God invites Godself into our hearts.