LIVING IN TRUST
First Congregational Church of Evanston
November 12, 2006, 23rd after Pentecost
I Kings 17: 8-16, Mark 12:38-44;
Rev. Dr. James E. Roghair, Interim Pastor
I Kings 17:8-16
8 Then the word of the Lord came to
him, saying,
9 “Go now to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and live there; for
I have commanded a widow there to feed you.”
10 So he set out and went to Zarephath. When he came to the gate of the
town, a widow was there gathering sticks; he called to her and said, “Bring
me a little water in a vessel, so that I may drink.”
11 As she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring
me a morsel of bread in your hand.”
12 But she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked,
only a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a jug; I am now gathering
a couple of sticks, so that I may go home and prepare it for myself and
my son, that we may eat it, and die.”
13 Elijah said to her, “Do not be afraid; go and do as you have said;
but first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterwards
make something for yourself and your son.
14 For thus says the Lord the God of Israel: The jar of meal will not be
emptied and the jug of oil will not fail until the day that the Lord sends
rain on the earth.”
15 She went and did as Elijah said, so that she as well as he and her household
ate for many days.
16 The jar of meal was not emptied, neither did the jug of oil fail, according
to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah.
An Old Pump in the Desert
In the midst of a desert stands a water pump, beside the pump this sign: "I have buried a bottle of water in the sand by the pump. There is only enough water to prime the pump. Don't drink any of it. Pour half into the pump to wet the leather; wait a little while and then pour in the rest. Then pump; the water will come. The well has never gone dry. When you are through drawing water, fill the bottle again and bury it in the sand for the next traveler."
All right, you are that traveler; and you are hot and thirsty, your water supply is almost exhausted, and you come to that pump, and you read that sign. You dig into the sand, and sure enough, there is that bottle filled with nice clear, clean water. You take it up and hold it in your hand, and you have a critical decision to make. There stands that pump, rusty and bone dry. Will you pour that precious water down that rusty old spout? Will you have that much faith? (www.sermonsuire.com Emphasis)
Would you have enough trust to pour the water into the pump?
Two Poor Women in the Scriptures
The scripture passages we have read today are about two poor women – women who lived by trust. First, the widow of Zarephath: She had only a handful of meal, of which she intended to make a small cake of bread, after which she expected that she and her son would die of starvation. But Elijah said, ‘First make me a little cake of it.’ Was this selfishness on the part of Elijah? Was he hardheartedly insensitive to that widow's plight and to the plight of her son?” Or was he testing her faith? (Adapted from www.sermonsuite.com Emphasis)
This is one of those miracle stories which has been handed down to us from the ages. It might make us shake our heads in unbelief. And yet such stories of wonder come to us again and again. They are a testimony to the God who supplies our needs when we put our trust completely in God.
How would you have reacted to the prophet Elijah if you had been in her shoes? Surely this widow was a Gentile – not even a member of the household of Israel. So why was she so filled with faith that she would go out on a limb to help the prophet?
Then there is the Widow in the Temple – the one Jesus observed. She put more into the temple offering than anyone else, Jesus said. And how could that be? The scribes were those people who could read and write, who were to take care of legal documents and transactions. The way Mark tells the story, Jesus has just railed against the scribes about devouring the resources of the poor widows they were supposed to be taking care of. They were consuming their resources and leaving them destitute.
Was this poor widow that Jesus saw coming into the temple one who had been bilked of her livelihood by one of these scribes, made destitute by one who should have been looking after her? And was one of the rich people who came into the temple to conspicuously bring his offering, one of the very scribes who had made this widow so destitute? We don’t know.
But these were those who wanted to make sure that everyone saw their gifts – made sure their coins made lots of sound as they were dropped into one of the huge trumpet-shaped receptacles at the temple gate. They came when the most people would be sure to see them. They loved their own images.
But the poor widow, had nothing but a couple of the tiniest coins. She wasn’t going for effect. Her coins barely made a sound as they tinkled in with the rest. But Jesus pointed her out – not to embarrass her, but to give her as an example of one whose faith and commitment was deeper than those who made a show.
Is There Something about Being Poor
Is there something about being poor that teaches people to trust in God? Robert Bohl, the pastor of a large and wealthy church in Kansas was often the speaker for seminars about stewardship. Once I heard him tell a story – perhaps it was a factual account – maybe it was just a story.
He was talking about tithing to one of his wealthy members. The rich man said, “I’m sorry, I can’t tithe.” And his pastor asked him, “But, why not?” “Well,” said the wealthy man, “I make too much money to tithe.” So, without a moment of hesitation, Rev. Bohl said, “Well then, let’s pray!” And the man replied, “Whatever about?” “Oh,” said the pastor, “we’ll pray God to make your income lower, so that you will be able to tithe!”
In another context Jesus said, it is harder for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a wealthy person to enter the kingdom of heaven – but with God all things are possible.
A Question of Trust
It is the question of trust. I am a thirsty person confronted by a rusty well pump and a tiny bottle of water – can I have enough trust to let go of even one drop of this water – let alone the whole bottle? I know I need it to stay alive.
I am a poor widow facing a future of certain starvation with my son – can I have trust enough to share the last of our oil and meal with a prophet? We don’t have enough for another day.
I am a poor widow, perhaps robbed of livelihood by unscrupulous lawyers – how can I trust enough to express my devotion to God with my meager resources? I need them to face the future.
For each, it is a question of trust? Trust is living in faith that God will provide. But is the question trust, for the wealthy person who feels his income is too high to tithe? Perhaps it is a question of gratitude.
A Street Person
Hear another story: Bill was a street person who hung around a certain church for years. The congregation was used to seeing Bill come in after the service for coffee hour or show up for the potluck dinners. One day someone passing by put a $20-bill in Bill’s cup. “Buy yourself something nice,” the donor said.
But Bill went immediately to the pastor with the $20 and offered it to the church. The pastor tried to refuse, but Bill was insistent. “No, you have given me coffee, food, and clothes. I have never been able to give anything back. I want to give you this money. (Adapted from www.sermonsuite.com Emphasis)
I wonder who received the greatest reward that day? The person who felt generous enough to give Bill the $20? Bill who finally had an opportunity to substantially express his own gratitude? The pastor who received the $20 on behalf of the church? Who did receive the most?
We – people of substance – have much to learn from people who have little or nothing.
The Blind Old Man
Rummaging back through my memories of work in Cincinnati – it was almost 30 years ago – one gentleman stands out in my memory, but today I can’t call up his name. He was a senior citizen – which means he was probably about the age I am now, or a little older – he was a poor African American living on social security – nothing else. He probably had diabetes, and other diseases that disabled him. But notably he was blind – not all his life – but at the stage when I met him.
Every few months he would call me at the church office and summon me to come over to see him. I was busy, and not sure I wanted to take the time. But I did. I went over to his tiny apartment in the senior low income housing building where he lived. And each time it was the same.
He had a large coffee can full of coins near his bed. And my job was to sit there and talk to him. But not so much to talk – really to listen to him and to count the coins. Because whenever he got change, he always put it into the can, and whatever was in the can was his offering to the church.
Many of us would think that a man so desperately poor wouldn’t or shouldn’t have anything to give to the church. After all, his church was a mission church – the bulk of the operating funds came from somewhere else.
But he was true to form. Like the others living only on Social Security, there was never a question about their offerings to the church. Many of them – probably a greater percentage than in any other church I have served – made a point of tithing to the church. For most their tithes came off the top of their meager monthly checks.
People of substance have much to learn from people who have little. And I think that younger people have much to learn from the elderly as well.
A Capital Drive
Several years ago, a church was involved in an extensive financial program to build a new church building. They had done all of the suggested background work for the campaign. They had put all the names of church families on index cards to be used by the calling teams.
Included were the names of shut-ins and some poor widows. They didn’t want to exclude these faithful members, but they didn’t want to ask them for a pledge to the building fund, either. It was decided that they would call upon these persons, so that they would be a part of the campaign, but ask them to pray for its success.
The pastor was given many of these special calls. He called on a poor widow who lived in a run-down mobile home. After they talked about the campaign and prayed together, she said that she had something she wanted to give the minister. She went into a closet and brought forth an old coffee can.
As she handed it to the pastor, she explained that she had been putting aside a part of her income and wanted to donate this to the building fund. When a team member and the pastor counted the coins, and several bills, they were amazed to find that she had donated $50. for the new church.
Without revealing the donor, this pastor was able to relate the story of this woman's faithfulness. Her gift served to challenge others, and even moved some to increase their pledge to the campaign. She had sacrificed and given a larger portion of her income than the majority of the other members of the congregation. (Adapted from www.sermonsuite.com)
How will you Pledge?
What do these scripture passages and these stories have to do with us?
Next Sunday each of you is invited to bring to the church your own pledge. You are invited to make both a financial pledge, and a pledge of time and talent – both are invitations to be involved in the life of the church.
But how will you bring your pledge? Will you bring it grudgingly? That it can’t be up to you to keep the church afloat? Or perhaps you are tempted to look over and like a kid straining to see someone else’s answers on a test, you wonder what others are doing. We may be tempted to be recognized like the scribes throwing their coins into the horns of the offering boxes. Or some may be trying to determine what is the smallest offering that they can get away with. There are a lot of negative ways we can approach our giving to the church.
Or perhaps you are filled with positives. Are you filled with thanksgiving and love – trying to make a gift that measures up to the joy you feel? Making that kind of gift requires trust. It may not require the trust regarding your personal safety like the two widows in the scripture passages, but it may require trust that God is still in charge of God’s church – that like priming the pump, our offerings will be rewarded by miracles that are beyond our control. Thanksgiving, trust, and a willingness not to cling, that is what is asked of us.
The Endowment
Today and Wednesday evening, before we are asked to make our pledges, the subcommittee of the Financial Development team is going to talk to us about the endowments of this church – the resources passed on to us from the past – the resources that propel this church into the future.
How do endowments help or hinder the church? Do they prevent individuals from making the kind of gifts of trust and thanksgiving that would be healthy for their own spiritual lives? Or do the endowments encourage individuals to see how God is expanding our own sometimes modest gifts of today with more substantial gifts from the past? Is the endowment holding First Congregational back or propelling it forward?
Like any other gifts of God, the endowments are for thanksgiving. They are to be used in an attitude of trust. I hope you can take the opportunity to discuss the endowment.
Conclusion
When Jesus “sat down .. [he] watched the crowd putting money into the treasury.” He said, “all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had.” How can we learn to give with the thanksgiving and trust of the poor. And how can we put all we have at God’s disposal?
Amen.
Last Updated: Wednesday, February 6, 2008