Trinity Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Sermons 

Title: "A Widow’s Might"

Text: Mark 12:38-44

It occurred to me long after the pun-demon in my mind

came up with this morning’s title …

that some of us might not be aware

of what the title is a pun on in the first place.

In most modern translations,

this little story is more often referred to as "the widow’s offering."

But in a more King James-kind of English,

it was known to many of us as "the widow’s mite" …

that’s m-i-t-e, mite …

which is to say, her tiny little offering.

Which, although tiny in comparison to what was given by many others,

was praised by Jesus,

while the others were accepted, but not praised.

At any rate, for many of us who’ve been in church since God was a child,

that’s the description that immediately comes to mind

when this story rolls around, as it often does in the lectionary,

during the stewardship time of year.

The widow’s mite.

An encouragement to us to be generous when we give,

in proportion to what we have.

It occurred to me, though,

in the warped kind of way that my brain often makes connections,

that this story really is also about

that widow woman’s might, m-i-g-h-t.

That by the standards of her own society,

she may look powerless and pretty insignificant,

but that Jesus recognizes the power in her,

based on observing this one little act.

Because what he sees is that she understands

that she doesn’t have to depend only on herself.

That she is free to give away all that she has,

everything she has to live on,

because even though she is weak,

God is strong.

Though she has nothing,

she has God, which is everything.

She is mighty not because she is wealthy or strong,

or because she is married to someone wealthy or strong! …

but because she has chosen to cast her lot with God,

who is immeasurably wealthy and strong.

So she can give away her last two small copper coins,

because out of her weakness,

God will work great acts of power.

That’s a countercultural message, isn’t it?!

We glorify athletes for their physical power,

and wring our hands over the fact that some of them

used steroids to get that way,

but oh wow, did you see that tackle?

We may laugh at Donald Trump’s improbable hairstyle,

but I know that I eagerly clicked on the AOL news link just this morning

to find out just exactly how it is that he

made 700 million dollars in just a few hours’ time.

Even if we are a little suspicious of very large "megachurches"

and of their pastors’ motivations and lifestyles …

they do sometimes cause us to wonder

if they are right and we are wrong.

Our world values strength, not weakness;

riches, not poverty;

getting, not giving.

How do we free ourselves from that

in order to find the power, the "might,"

of giving away, and letting go?

Interestingly, I think that we as a congregation

do a better job of this collectively than we do individually …

for the most part, anyway.

In terms of per member giving to the presbytery and the Presbyterian Church (USA),

we give more than any of the other 180 churches in Grace Presbytery.

And even though it looks like we’re going to have to

cut the budget in that area a little for next year,

we will still end up in the "top 10."

That’s an amazing place to be

for a church with less than 100 members.

Godwin Dixon still tells the story of how this congregation

managed to raise enough money to give the Village

seven new beds at a cost of $1100 each.

Our concerts for tsunami relief and Hurricane Katrina relief

raised about $18,000 to help disaster victims.

We’ve held ESL classes in our building

and underwritten the cost for child care,

and have let the school district teach here four days a week

for no rent whatsoever.

We encourage people from the neighborhood

to use the playground equipment,

play soccer on "the back forty,"

seek us out when they need help with bills …

unlike many churches I’ve known who, for example,

keep their playgrounds shut up tight

for fear of liability.

In a sense, we’re lucky.

We have a building that’s paid for,

which many congregations do not,

and we have endowment funds

that allow us to be more generous than we otherwise could.

But we don’t hoard and save these gifts …

we use them and spend them,

for our community and our world.

This church may be small, but it is mighty.

Other churches in this presbytery pay attention to us,

even when they disagree with us,

because our witness of faithfulness is impossible to ignore.

Like the widow in Mark’s story,

we have been faithful with a little,

and in our weakness, we have been surprisingly powerful.

But it’s easier to do that on an institutional scale,

than on a personal one, isn’t it?

When we promise the church’s money for worthy causes,

that’s sort of a step removed.

When we actually have to take out our own wallets or checkbooks,

and literally put our money where our mouths are …

well, that’s harder.

None of us is wealthy by the standards of this society,

though if you compare us to the rest of the world,

you might think a little differently.

But we aren’t the high-powered executives;

we’re not the world-class entrepreneurs;

we’re not even the heirs to great fortunes accumulated by someone else.

We can’t give vast sums of money to much of anything,

and it’s easy to allow that to depress us.

What we need to be reminded about is

the power to be found in giving a little,

if indeed that is all we can give.

A little is a lot,

if it’s proportionate to what you had to start with.

There is might in our individual mites,

if they are given in faith,

knowing that we’re going to have to trust God

to make the numbers come out right.

But hear this carefully:

A little is not a lot

if we could have done more, but didn’t.

A little is not mighty,

if it’s only what was left over at the end of the month

after we spent everything else on the things we wanted.

Our little gifts cannot tap into God’s power

if they are little only because we are fearful,

or stingy, or have to have every new thing the advertisers throw at us.

The rest of us may not know what any one of us puts in the plate,

or writes on our pledge card,

but God knows,

and God also knows what we spend the rest of our money on.

Right?

We may be able to hide from one another

whether we are being good stewards or not,

but we can’t hide it from God.

Ultimately, of course, we can’t hide it from one another, either,

because if we aren’t giving in "mighty" ways,

it will show up in our life together.

We’ll have to spend our time fretting over cuts in a budget,

instead of thinking up creative responses to new opportunities.

We’ll get caught up in little, petty things

instead of remembering to see the world and our place in it

through God’s eyes.

I have heard it said occasionally,

and in my experience it is largely true:

tithers don’t complain,

and complainers don’t tithe.

When our own relationship to our "stuff" is out of whack,

we are less contented in the world,

and more likely to find fault.

When we are clear about what our proportionate role

should and shouldn’t be,

we are free to give in ways that are mighty,

and empower ourselves and others to be at work for God’s work.

That’s not to say that a tithe is always the answer.

For some who are on a tiny pension,

or have outrageous medical expenses,

or have three children in college at the same time,

that may be too much to ask.

But for those who have no children.

or whose mortgage is paid off,

or who have income noticeably higher than their neighbors …

it may not be enough to ask.

For all that I gripe about the book "The Purpose-Driven Life"

and its simplistic answers to tough questions …

its author, megachurch pastor Rick Warren,

who has made piles of money off the book,

gives away 90% of his income,

and lives on 10%.

I may not agree with all of his theology,

but he clearly has good sense about how much is "enough" for him to have,

and what he should do with the rest of it.

His particular "mite" is mighty

both in absolute terms and in faith-centered terms.

What’s important for us

to wrap our minds and our hearts around

is that what we give can also be mighty.

Even if it’s not a huge stack of dollars,

if it is given in dependence on God

and in proportion to what we have,

then it is a powerful gift indeed.

Here’s a test that has worked for me:

If you aren’t giving to an extent that,

at least every now and then,

you’re not sure how you’re going to get through the end of the month,

then you’re probably not yet giving enough.

And I don’t mean that all of that giving has to be to your church,

but a substantial chunk of it should probably be.

If your giving is at a "safe" enough level

that you don’t have to depend on God,

then it’s too safe.

For people who are deep in debt,

as many of my generation are,

a small gift may be all that they can manage to begin with,

because it will quickly take them up to that line of dependence.

They will have to grow into greater generosity

as they dig themselves out of the hole they’ve gotten into.

But what we learn from faithful giving

is that God is faithful.

Even when we are weak …

perhaps mostly when we are weak …

God is strong.

Our mites can be mighty,

as God blesses and uses them.

Remember that, as you put your pledge card in the plate today.

It’s not what the number is on the card …

it’s what that represents in terms of your own available resources

and your own journey to faithfulness.

May we be inspired by that widow of long ago

to give all that we have,

to the glory of God.

Amen.