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.
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