Sunday, November 8, 2009
Twenty Third Sunday after Pentacost - Prop 27
Scripture Lessons: (Ruth 3:1-5; 4:13-17, Psalm 127, Hebrews 9:24-28, Mark 12:38-44)
What kind of a follower of Jesus have you and I been this past week? We all know that Jesus calls us to love the Lord our God with all our heart and soul and mind and strength and to love our neighbors as ourselves. And yet…we are all still beginners in actually practicing Christ’s familiar commandments. When we reflect for a moment, we can all name people and situations we’ve had difficulty loving with our thoughts, words and actions
What makes it so difficult for you and me to make loving God and our neighbor the practical priority or steering wheel that controls the direction of our words and actions each day?
Today’s scripture readings point out two temptations that can distract us from making loving God and our neighbor our priorities. In the Gospel, Jesus says, “Beware of the people who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the market places and to have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets…and for the sake of appearance say long prayers.”
I wonder, is Jesus talking about clergy here, about bishops and priests? After all, we are the ones who dress in long robes and say long public prayers. The sad truth is that clergy have often earned the reputation of being arrogant, controlling, confident that we know best and that we ought to get our way. We clergy can, without even recognizing it, love ourselves and our opinions much more than we love God and our neighbors.
I have also noticed over the years that laity can be arrogant, confident that they know best and insistent that they ought to get their own way. Self-focused pride and arrogance can keep both laity and clergy from humbly loving and serving God and neighbors. Are you and I so focused on ourselves and on getting our way that we don’t really put loving God and all our neighbors in the center of our lives each day?
Another thing that keeps us from loving God and our neighbors is fear. In the first reading, the widow was afraid that she would not have enough food so that she and her son could survive. There was a severe famine in the land and she knew how little food she had left in her house. She saw her needs and she was afraid that she would not have enough food to survive. She was trying to manage her life on her own, and she was controlled by fear.
What are the fears in your life? What fears drive you to try and control your life by your own hard work and efforts? What fears drive you to lash out at other people? What are the fears that keep you from a generous love for God and your neighbors?
If we recognize that our self-centered arrogance and our fear keep us from loving God and our neighbors, what can free us from these temptations and help us to grow in love for God and neighbor?
In the first reading, God sent Elijah to that widow in her fear and need. God’s message was, “Don’t be afraid. God will provide.” When we recognize our needs and ask God for help, God will supply our needs. God will not always supply all our WANTS…but all our needs. In the widow’s case, the jar of meal and the jug of oil did not run out as long as there was a famine in the land. God supplied her needs for food…when she took the risk to act on God’s guidance and feed her hungry neighbor, Elijah.
Can you remember times in your life when God supplied your needs in ways you could never have imagined?
When I served in Holden, a woman told me the story of her husband who was in the hospital for a week. She visited him every day, went to her work every day and tried to care for her three young children at the same time. She said she literally did not have time to go to the grocery store to shop (this was before grocery stores were open late at night). She did not recognize it at first, but later she realized that the loaf of bread, which usually lasted only a day or two for the family, actually lasted the whole week and everyone in the family had enough to eat. From that experience, that woman knew in the depths of her being that God would provide in the most difficult situations and that she didn’t need to be afraid.
When you and I experience God providing for our needs in amazing ways, we no longer think of ourselves as the center of life. Our focus is on the awesome greatness of God and our gratitude for God’s goodness and help. When we experience God providing for our needs, we are no longer prisoners of fear. We trust God, even when we face great challenges, for we know that God will walk with us and care for us through all things.
In the Gospel, Jesus points out another way we can increase our love for God and our neighbor. Jesus sat down in a corner of the temple and watched as people came in to worship. There were large wooden boxes placed just inside the door, and all the worshippers put offerings of money into the boxes as an expression of their love for God and for their neighbors. The money was used to support the expenses of the synagogue and to care for the poor in the community.
Jesus watched both the amount which people put into the offering boxes…and the percentage of income that their gifts represented. Jesus looked at their hearts and minds, as well as the amount they gave. There were rich people who put in large amounts that were really a very tiny percentage of their income. And there was a poor widow who put in just one penny, but it was all the money she had, a widow’s mite. She gave her all out of love for God and her neighbors in need.
The pledge records of almost every parish reveal that that some people with the least resources actually give the highest percentage of their income to God and their neighbors through their offerings to the church. Over the years I have known parishioners on welfare and elders on fixed incomes who have joyfully given a tithe of their income to God and their neighbors through their church. Once I gently said to a woman that I was concerned about her generosity to the church because I knew that she and her family had their own needs. She was quick to reply that God always provided for her needs and that she gave out of gratitude to God for the many blessings she had received. “Don’t take away the joy I have in thanking God”, she said.
Often, when we go through our most difficult times, we have the opportunity to overcome self-centeredness and fear, by being generous and loving God and our neighbors through our gifts and offerings. I know people who give away 15%, 18%, 25% and even 50% of their income, as a way of expressing their gratitude and love to God and care for neighbors in need.
Jesus points out that our use of money reflects our spiritual maturity, and is a tangible expression of our degree of love for God and neighbor. What priorities do you see when you look at the way you spend the money God has given you?
We are living in a financially challenging time. Most of us feel it in our personal lives. All Saints and almost every congregation in the diocese feels the economic pressures. The poor in our cities and around the world feel the economic crisis most acutely.
This week I read that nearly half of all the children in this country will be on food stamps at some time in their childhood. Half the school children in Worcester and Springfield live below the poverty level. Unemployment continues to rise and the job recovery is much slower than the stock market recovery. All this means that our neighbors are in great need. Our local and national governments do not care for the poor as they used to. Non-profits are being stretched and going out of business.
If we are serious about following Jesus’ call to love our neighbors in need, we who want to be followers of Jesus will need to learn to live on less…so we can give away more…to care for our neighbors in need.
Jesus will be watching all of us this week, just as he watched people in the synagogue. Jesus watches us in love…eager to see how we are growing in our love for God and neighbor. How is Jesus inviting each of us to grow in our love for God and our neighbors this week?
Let’s close our eyes for a moment…and be still in the loving presence of Jesus.
What changes might Jesus be inviting you and I to make this week so that we trust more deeply in God’s power to provide what we need…and give more generously of our selves and our resources out of love for God and our neighbors?