Stewardship: Going beyond the Good Times

A Sermon from November 15th, 2015
 Mark 12:41-44

Scripture:

He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. ⁴² A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. ⁴³ Then he called his disciples and said to them, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. ⁴⁴ For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

Introduction to Scripture:

          This morning’s scripture is part of a larger theme that we’ve been addressing this month. As some of you know, November is the month in which we talk about stewardship. Many of my sermons have addressed this in varying ways.

          Stewardship is really a simple concept. How many of you remember your home-economics course? Or perhaps even your micro or macroeconomics course? Perhaps you remember the lectures you got on the first day of class. In all those courses the first day was almost always the same this class will teach you how to manage something – a household, a small market, or even national markets. They’re topics that study how we should make decisions about where we invest our assets and to some extent ourselves. 

          This morning’s scripture is kind of like that. Today’s passage from scripture brings a word about where we need to be investing ourselves. It’s not too hard to imagine ourselves in a similar situation. As I occasionally do, I’d like to tell you a story.

Story:

          One day a boy who everyone called Timmy was riding the subway in Manhattan. Timmy had gone into the city that day to meet up with his friends in the park. It was always an exciting thing. His parents had only started letting him go out alone recently, even though several of his friends parents had been letting their sons ride the subway alone a year earlier.

          Timmy was on his way home to Queens. His father worked hard and managed to keep the family afloat, but his mother was pretty sick. Some days she could go out and get stuff done and other days she could hardly move. It’d been that ways for years and Timmy had gotten used to helping out around the house.

          And so it was that Timmy was sitting the on the subway when an elderly man began singing an old blues tune. It was obvious the man was homeless, but there was something strange about the whole thing. Most everyone tried to ignore the old man, afraid that he was going to ask them for money. Their eyes would shift down or away. Some people even pulled out their phones to find some meaningless thing to distract them.

          But Timmy noticed that there were exceptions. There was an elderly lady in the corner in very dark colors. Her brow furrowed, but her eyes attentive. It was as though some sort of shadow was cast before her gaze. And as Timmy watched he noticed the ladies hands begin to trimmer. A tear came to her eye. All Timmy could do was think to himself, “Well I guess she must know the song.”

          Suddenly the subway came to a stop. They had arrived at the next station. As quickly as she could, the elderly woman got off the train to go wherever it was she needed to go. As everyone shuffled and made room, Timmy noticed that the elderly man had stopped singing. Soon enough the train started again.

          And as you might expect, the old man started up again. This time with a tune that sounded newer, slow, but upbeat. Of course, most of the people who had gotten on quickly fell into the habit of ignoring this Old Man. But Timmy looked around again and saw a pregnant woman who looked startled. It was obvious she couldn’t see the Old Man and the Old man couldn’t see her. But she was obviously aware. Her eyes looked about and she looked confused.

          By looking at her Timmy was able to make a couple guesses. She didn’t look like she lived in Manhattan, somewhere else for sure. The shoes just didn’t look right. She was pretty too and looked nice, but there was a glimmer of something lost in her eyes. Then Timmy figured he should see if he could spot her hand. Sure enough, she wasn’t married. Timmy had known a girl in the neighborhood who had gotten pregnant young and had to move back home right before the baby came. The whole thing seemed kind of confusing, but he figured it must be similar.

          And as he watched her face he saw her expressions change. She still looked a bit worn-out, but her eyes started to widen. Her lips began to move up a little. Even the subtle lines in her face began to disappear. Something had happened. It was like something familiar, yet all too easily forgotten had suddenly come to her. As the train slowed for its next stop it was like she was a different person. Her step was a little lighter. It was like she had been given a little boost of hope.

          Suddenly a swarm of people boarded and the Old Man was pushed much closer to Timmy. It quickly became apparent that the Old Man needed to sit to make room. But he looked down at Timmy and asked, “Do you mind?” Timmy didn’t really know what to say so he just shook his head no.

          The Old Man sat down in the seat next to his and seemed content to stay silent. Suddenly, Timmy filled with a bit of curiosity turned to the Old Man and said, “Why do you sing?” Startled, the Old Man turned back and fumbled a bit over an answer. Then, after a couple seconds, smiled and said, “Because I must. It’s what I do.” Suddenly filled with even more curiosity Timmy said, “Why is it that you can sing well and nobody notices?”

          The crowd’s effort to ignore everything around them was suddenly interrupted by the Old Man’s laugh. Finally after a good chuckle he responded, “Well, I used to teach music to boys and girls like you, but one day they told me I was too old to teach. So I had to find something new to do with my life.” Timmy quickly responded with the question, “But why does everyone look away and why are you homeless?”

          Chuckling again the Old Man responded, “Most people don’t need to hear me. Those who do will. And I’m not homeless. I play a bit of a game you see. I sing because I like singing. I’m not great, but I’m not bad and it makes me happy. You see I do this whenever I feel well enough.” Timmy thought on this for a moment and then realized the next stop was his.

          As he got off at the next stop, he exited and walked a little ways until he saw a crowd. There was beautiful music playing too. Curious, Timmy walked up a few of the steps nearby to see what was going on. There in front of a crowd was a violinist in a tuxedo playing for all the people to hear. Nearby were cameramen and people who looked like reporters. As he stood and watched, Timmy saw people clap and cheer. Apparently, this violinist was world famous! Everyone seemed really excited to see someone so important play for free.

          As he stood there, Timmy thought, “I wonder if people would notice the Old Man more if he wore a tuxedo?”

The Story and the Text:

          As I wrote the story I just recited, I tried to bring out some themes from this morning’s scripture. Particularly themes relating to the things we need and the things we overlook. If we’re going to talk about stewardship, we need to think more broadly than money or time. We need to think bigger! We need to look to the roots of why we do things. Are we doing them because there’s some tangible reward that boosts our ego or opiates our insecurities? Or, are we doing things because they flow out of a genuine sense of purpose and mission?

          When I was in seminary I heard a lot about the “mission shaped church” model. It’s an idea that focuses on how churches need to get active in their communities – to get people involved in tangible activities. I think this can be a really refreshing message sometimes. But I also think that we should focus on the deepest issue of all – The Gospel. How our lives are formed and shaped by the character, message, and Spirit of this person we call Jesus.

          If we’re going to talk about stewardship, we need to talk about how we can follow in the example of the widow who gave everything she had willingly, even though she was impoverished. This woman whom Christ observed, realized the most important thing of all. Everything she had belonged to God. She could, and did, place all of her faith in God. Her hope and her faith were not rooted in the feelings the wealthy people likely had when they gave much larger sums, but there was something much deeper in what she did. She understood that her hope and her salvation was somewhere outside of herself, outside of her context, and centered in the God whom she knew loved her.

          Each of us has a purpose and a place in the Kingdom of God. Our spirits thrive in their capacity to participate in the things God calls us to, not because they give us superficial benefits like acclaim or numbers, but because we’ve found the thing we should have been searching for all along – a spirit of peace in the God who centers us in who we are truly meant to be. We find hope and purpose when we focus our energies on discipleship – one being all we can be in the callings God has for us.

          This isn’t just an issue of money, or time, or labels. This is a heart issue. Good stewardship is really about making sure everything is in order on the inside, in our hearts and our minds first. Because if we focus on that, everything else will fall into place. We will be better able to follow God’s will for us in terms of love, and justice, and peace. Even when things may not being going so well!

Paris and Beirut:

          Like many of you, I was grieved when I learned about this past week’s terrorist attacks. Hundreds lost their lives both in Paris and in Beirut. One of my colleagues in the Philosophy Department at Temple is an exchange student over here for a term from the Sorbonne in Paris. So many of us were immediately aware of the pain and grief facing the people of France and Lebanon. My friend and colleague, like many others, Juliette lost a childhood friend in the attack.

          So it is with a heavy heart that our nation must now come alongside our brothers and sisters, friends and allies, particularly in prayer. As I have prayed over this issue since I’ve learned of it, I’ve come to center myself on one particular psalm – Psalm 46.

God is our refuge and strength,
    a very present help in trouble.
² Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change,
    though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;
³ though its waters roar and foam,
    though the mountains tremble with its tumult. Selah

⁴ There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
    the holy habitation of the Most High.
⁵ God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved;
    God will help it when the morning dawns.
⁶ The nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter;
    he utters his voice, the earth melts.
⁷ The Lord of hosts is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah

⁸ Come, behold the works of the Lord;
    see what desolations he has brought on the earth.
⁹ He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
    he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear;
    he burns the shields with fire.
¹⁰ “Be still, and know that I am God!
    I am exalted among the nations,
    I am exalted in the earth.”
¹¹ The Lord of hosts is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah

The words of the psalmist often capture the spirits of our dispositions, and minds, in ways that are starting and needed. If we let them speak to our hearts, and take lesson from them, we can find ourselves in a place of peace and assurance because we’ve come to God in a way that we should more often than we do.

          By now, you know that the title of my sermon is stewardship. But I don’t want you to think that it’s just stewardship. I want you to write-in a subtitle. I want you to walk away today thinking, “Stewardship: Going beyond the Good Times.”

          The widow in the story Jesus gave us wasn’t in a privileged place. She gave up all that she had because she had faith that God would provide for her. Her heart was in the right place, even though her financial circumstances were not great. We don’t know this, but it’s even likely that her other circumstances were poor too. So it’s important to recognize that where we keep our priorities is important. What we focus on now will be with us when times get hard.

          Being a good steward of ourselves – our souls, our minds, and our bodies – means centering ourselves in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the work of the Kingdom of God. This is where we can find hope, and assurance, and meaning. To quote the Christian writer G.K. Chesterton:

          “Hope means hoping when things are hopeless, or it is no virtue at all... As    long as matters are really hopeful, hope is mere flattery or platitude; it is only when everything is hopeless that hope begins to be a strength”

This type of hope is a virtue and a reward we find in a life with Christ. Our God is our refuge and strength. Though the nations may quiver, He remains steadfast and His love endures forever. Our hope rests in the God we find in Christ. Our assurance rests in the God we find peace in when we hold fast to what he calls us to. Faith is something built through careful attention to the work that God has for our souls.