"Sharing Your Life"

I had the chance to bring the message to the good people of Our Savior in Palmyra, NE and St. John's in Otoe, NE where my friend, Pr. Mark Ekstrom, serves.  I'm sharing it below.

For those who regularly stop by "Sketchings", I'm sorry I've been delinquent.  There were some vacation days, a couple of hospitalizations for my father and right now I'm in a stretch of especially busy things with the Nebraska Synod.  Thanks for stopping by.  I plan to have some new things for you all soon...

Joy!

Now here the message:  "Sharing  Your Life."

Bishop McCabe was trying to raise a million dollars for missions.  One day he received many discouraging letter.  There was one exception, a letter from a little boy.  When the bishop opened the little boy’s letter, out tumbled a battered and dirty nickel.  In the letter the boy had written:  “I’m so glad you are going to get a million dollars for missions.  I’m going to help you get it, to!  So here’s a nickel toward it!!  It’s all I’ve got right now, but when you want any more, just call on me!!”  (Hal Brady, “Where is Christ in this Picture?”  November 3, 1997, Dallas, Texas)

I love the wisdom and honesty of children.  Somehow it seems they can speak truth clear helpful ways.  This young man understood partnership in mission.  He grasps the work of ministry and mission and got on board, even in his small way, to encourage it.

The truth that we don’t always catch is that mission is about partnership.  It is about what we do together that could never do by ourselves.  Right now, in our Synod, we are hosting a series of “Mission Celebrations”.  Congregations are sharing mission stories and we are celebrating them.  One comment recently was, “I didn’t know that we are doing all of this is our church.” 

We don’t know, but we should know, because our mission is the church’s mission and the church’s mission is our mission.  Did you know that the word “synod” has a meaning of partnership, of what we are doing and being together?  Did you know that together (in Nebraska and across the ELCA) our partnerships are touching more lives than any other (secular or non-profit) organization in the world?  You see, my mission is your mission and your mission is mine.  And then we extend that web across the region, cluster, synod and our whole church.  We are hard at work in mission. Maybe that is why you are so tired at night…all the mission you do! 

Now, our connection to mission is usually financial.  It has to do with our giving and our generosity.  Our giving and our generosity is a reflection of our values and priorities.  If you don’t think that, just take a look at your spending patters and you will see your priorities.

A truth is this:  generosity doesn’t reflect our wealth – if it did we wouldn’t have to work so hard at it.  Generosity reflects our values.  It is a spiritual truth. 

The widow observed by Jesus is an example of giving which reflects value, not wealth. 

To help us in learning from the widow, we remember that widows were totally dependent on the community for their well-being.  And it is likely that widows understood more than anyone that their dependence was ultimately upon God.  Widows, more than any other demographic in Jesus day, lived in total dependence on and confidence in God’s providing.  That was just the way it was.  It was part of their psyche. 

So it isn’t too big a stretch to think that this widow had regularly cast her lot into the hands of God (and the system).  She had nothing to lose by giving her simple gift.  She had much to gain by casting her life God’s hands.  She was able to be generous out of her value of knowing God’s goodness. 

What we have to keep straight here is that this story isn’t about the widow’s faith.  Maybe that is why Mark’s account is so sketchy.  As soon as we start asking our questions, we miss the point.  The story is about God’s faithfulness.  It is about the fact that we can, even in our broken, sinful emptiness, place our whole lives into God’s hands. 

That’s what the widow did.  She cast her life into God’s hands.  In our text study last week, we talked about the word that is used to describe what she tossed into the collection coffer.  “Everything she had to live on”, has a bigger sense.  “Live on” has to do with “bios”, like biography, like her whole life story. 

I think the sense here isn’t that she gave her last two pennies.  It isn’t about the money.  It is about a surrender of her whole life.  It is that she was willing to “toss” her whole life into the hands of God.  It was as if she had all she needed to help God accomplish God’s work through her.  So to come with her simple offering, she did not fear her own vulnerability and societies exploitation, she gave her whole life; she cast herself into the hands of the Savior.

What it looks like we can say here is this:  The widow’s offering wasn’t about her “wealth”.  If it was she might not have given anything.  Certainly her two coins had no effect on the temple treasury.  The temple didn’t really need her two pennies. 

But she gave out of her values, her need to give and be generous.  Her generosity was born of her desire to live fearlessly with her whole life, her whole “bios” in Gods hands. 

I once heard a children’s sermon that got at this point.  The congregation happened to have one of those large offering trays that were used to gather the smaller offering trays at the altar.  He placed that tray on the floor and stepped in.  His point was that when we give, our offerings, flowing out of our faith priority, out of God’s economy, are our whole life, our whole being, our “bios” given and dedicated to God, connecting our mission with God’s mission with the mission of the person next to us. 

It was a vivid visual of the truth of the widow’s gift, of the young man’s nickel.  It is a vivid visual of Gospel truth.

You see, the God of Creation, the author of all life, the giver or all we have and are, wants our whole lives.  Our God is more interested in our commitment than our offerings, our willingness to give ourselves than to give our money.  Our God wants the chance to receive us as we are to fill our emptiness, to renew our depleted spirits (in word and Sacrament) and to work wonders with our whole lives, lives committed to Him, returned to Him to be blessed by Him.

Here is a little play on words and the gift of the widow.  It is titled “The Widows (plural not possessive) might (strength not ‘little bit’)”. Maybe it reveals the widow’s heart to teach all of us:

The widows might be examples of how to depend on God!

The widows might be examples of God’s love for us!

The widows might express Jesus’ own sacrificial death!

The widows might teach us about total commitment!

The widows might give us an example of how to respond to the bountiful gifts of God!

The widows might teach us how to give everything, with holding not even a penny or single act of devotion and service!

The widows might teach us how to give everything, even each individual moment of our lives!

The widows might show us how god provides unceasingly for all our needs in life enabling us to make a total commitment to Him!

The widows might give us a glimpse into the secrets of living – and giving!!

May God bless us in sharing our lives, our “bios” in partnership and mission!   

Amen.