Reflection: "Generosity"In every age, God's people have struggled to find the words to speak effectively about the stewardship of money.
And though Jesus speaks directly and often about the dangers of allowing money to take the place of God in our lives, people of faith often find such words difficult and awkward. For this reason, I believe, Jesus takes an opportunity in the passage from Mark, to point out an unlikely person - a poor widow - as an example of what God values most in the stewardship of our money. I see that what Jesus values in this woman are a: “Genuine Heart, a Grateful Spirit, and a Generous Attitude”. Jesus and his disciples were in the temple area of Jerusalem, near the treasury. From their vantage point, they could see what people were putting into the offering plates. Some of the wealthy folks were putting in large sums of money, but these actions aren’t at all impressive to Jesus. Then along comes a poor widow, who catches the attention of Jesus, as he sees her giving from “A Genuine Heart.” In the previous verses of this passage, Jesus finds himself in debates with the religious leaders. They engage Jesus in arguments about paying taxes to the emperor, about which commandments are the most important, and about how certain laws related to marriage can be interpreted in unusual circumstances. The debate isn’t really engaged from a genuine heart for learning more of God's ways with people, but more as a way of discrediting Jesus to the people who are listening in - they’re trying to catch Jesus in a theological trap. Of course, Jesus sees through their questions and understands their true motives. He answers each question without getting caught in their traps. The religious leaders are truly amazed at Jesus and his wisdom and knowledge. Jesus then turns to his disciples and points out the way that these same religious leaders like to be seen in their long robes - it's an impressive display of their authority. He condemns the way they use their positions of influence to their advantage, for example, getting the best seats in the synagogue and by taking the seats of honour at banquets. In essence, he’s saying that their hearts contain the wrong motives. First and foremost they’re out to make themselves look good in the sight of others! In contrast to these people, Jesus notices the poor widow and says, "This is the kind of person I'm after!" Her motives are pure and she clearly gives out of a genuine heart for God. Although her gift is meagre in comparison to the large sums given by the wealthy, it is by far the greater gift, because it comes directly from her heart. I’m suggesting to you today that the place to begin our giving (and not just of our money) is by examining our hearts. Do we desire to give God the very best that we have, from all that we have, or are we just doing things to make ourselves look good in the eyes of others? Several years ago, I heard of a Kenyan woman, named Lydia, who joined a mainstream church. Sometime later, she told the minister that she really loved the congregation, but she missed certain aspects of her home church, especially parts of the worship service. When the minister asked Lydia what it was that she missed the most, he was amazed at what she told him. She said, "I miss the offering. In Kenya, we would sometimes dance down the aisles during the offering. We didn't have much to give, but what we did have we gave with much joy. What a privilege to give back to God!" How can we make the offering we give each week, more than just a routine part of the worship service? Is it something that we do mechanically (or even grudgingly)? I like to link the offering of our gifts to the church with the attitude of our hearts. Just so you know, my favourite verse in the bible is from Psalm 116:12 “What shall I return to the Lord for all his bounty to me?” Because God has given us so much, especially his son Jesus, we should give back to God with glad and joyful hearts. For Lydia and for the woman in Mark’s story, giving an offering to God is first and foremost a matter of having a genuine heart for God. What is at work in these women? For them to give extravagant gifts so willingly and from their meagre possessions, they must be giving from “A Grateful Spirit.” Their gratitude is unspoken, but it is clearly their motivation in giving. Dr. Michael McCullough is a psychologist and the editor of the book “The Psychology of Gratitude“. In a recent interview, McCullough says that scientific research reveals what many of us have been taught by grandmothers all along – i.e. that taking time daily to be grateful for the blessings in our lives leads to a higher degree of satisfaction and sense of well-being. I always love it when the scientific and secular research backs up what the Bible has been teaching us all along. The Psalmist says in Psalm 100: "Enter God's gates with thanksgiving!" The Apostle Paul says in I Thess. 5:18: "Give thanks in all things." Jesus also encourages daily thanksgiving in the Lord's Prayer: "Give us today our daily bread." A grateful heart is a foundation of an emotionally and spiritually healthy life and we would all do well to take the time, each and every day, to count our many blessings. You can bet that the woman in Mark’s story had a grateful spirit for God's blessings in her life. Jesus affirms her because she is giving for all the right reasons - a genuine heart for God and a grateful spirit. And there's one more thing we notice. The woman's genuine heart for God and grateful spirit, motivate her to give with “A Generous Attitude.” Her gift is clearly the most generous of all - not because of the amount of the gift, but in the sacrifice behind it. Jesus tells us that the rich people may have contributed much – but they still had a lot left over. The widow, however, contributed out of her poverty. She put in everything she had - all she had to live on – willingly and joyfully. A minister friend told me that when they first came to their current church, an unusual envelope arrived in the mail. It was a money order for $5, a gift made payable to the church, along with a personal note of gratitude. At first, the church stewards thought the note and the gift were some kind of a joke. Who, they wondered, sends a money order for $5 as a stewardship pledge to a Uniting church? In the note, the donor wrote of how much the church had meant to them over many years. The benefactor believed in the mission and ministry of the congregation and, they said, it gave them great joy to send this offering during the stewardship campaign. No-one in the church seemed to recognize the person’s name, but the donations continued coming each year until, some years later, the minister received a phone call from a solicitor, informing the church that the person had died and had listed the congregation, and the minister personally, as "next of kin." Apparently, they had lived and died in a state-run retirement centre, with no possessions or money to speak of. The solicitor simply wanted to confirm that the congregation was aware of the person’s passing. Doesn’t this person remind us of the woman in Mark’s story? They obviously owned very little and lived simply., yet their life was characterized by the same genuine heart for God and grateful spirit that motivated them to give with a generous attitude of giving. I believe that Jesus would point to this person and say, "That's what I'm after! Follow their example!” Generosity has a way of multiplying itself, doesn't it? Jesus points to the poor widow to both challenge and inspire his followers to likewise give with a generous heart. It truly is amazing to me that God can take what seems to us like a small gift, and when it is given for all the right reasons - from a genuine heart, with a grateful spirit, and a generous attitude – God will multiply it many times over. Remember, God is not always looking for gifts of money in his Kingdom. The service we undertake, in his name, can be a great blessing to others and is made all the more effective when it is given generously. May God’s richest blessings be on you all. Pastor Rick
2 Comments
Lena Beryl Blok
5/11/2021 06:15:49 pm
Thank you Rick for another challenging sermon.
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Virginia Knowles
11/11/2021 03:29:05 pm
Many thanks Rick for your Message last Sunday.
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