Saint James UCC of Hamburg, NY

Mark 10:17-27, Mark 12:41-44

Preached by Rev. Robert Matlack
=================================================

A little girl was talking to her teacher about whales. The teacher pointed out that it is physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human because even though a whale is very large, it has a very small throat. The little girl stated that Jonah was swallowed by a whale. Irritated, the teacher reiterated that it is impossible for a whale to swallow a human. It is just physically impossible. The little girl said, "When I get to heaven I will ask Jonah". The teacher asked, "but what if Jonah went to hell?" The little girl quickly replied, "Then you ask him".

What must I do to inherit eternal life? People have pondered that question - perhaps since the beginning of human life itself, and as this story of the girl and her teacher reminds us, people have a wide variety of ideas about what eternal life will be like and how it is that we get there.

A rich man approached Jesus one day with this very question, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus responds first by telling him to follow the commandments, and the man immediately replies that he has kept them all since his youth.

Then our text says, "Jesus looking at him, loved him and said, ‘You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." You see in love, Jesus was able to see to the depths of this man's heart, and he saw what his biggest obstacle was. It was not, as people sometimes think, the man's wealth, rather it was his love of his wealth, that is what bound him, that is what captured his heart.

Jesus knew that this was the man's biggest obstacle in life. To him, his possessions more important than anything else, the last thing that he would be willing to give up, and therefore the biggest obstacle to his really living a life of faith, and following God. For when you get right down to it, his desire to follow God was in second place, after his love for his possessions.

How about us? The temptation is just as real today as it was two thousand years ago. It's so easy to be seduced into thinking that money brings security or happiness or wholeness. The reality is that our love for our possessions only provides the illusion of all these things, for these are gifts that God and God alone can truly provide.

"I hate that the church is always talking about money, when what they should really do is focus on more spiritual things!" Have you ever heard someone say something like that - or perhaps felt that yourself? Money, wealth, possessions, these were things that Jesus talked about often - in fact it was one of his most frequent topics. Without avoiding large sections of the New Testament, we can't avoid those topics either, for Jesus tries and tries and tries again to remind us that the way we use the wealth that we have is a very real and important expression of our faith, and that if our faith is more than just a Sunday morning phenomenon, then it will challenge us to think about how we use our money, our time, and our talents in the service of God.

Let's look for a moment at our second passage from Mark. Here Jesus sits down near the temple treasury and watches as people make their donations. Think for a moment how it would feel if Jesus was watching you as you place your envelope in the offering plate - and then remember that He is!

Anyway, Jesus is watching as people make their donations. We're told that many rich people came by and put in large sums of money, and then a poor widow comes up and puts in two small copper coins. These were the smallest coins in common usage, a seemingly insignificant sum. But Jesus calls His disciples together and says to them, "Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. 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."

When you're tempted to think that giving has very little or nothing to do with your faith, remember this poor widow. Jesus lifts her up to the disciples and reminds them that she is a powerful example of faith, because of the total commitment that she has expressed in her giving.

Now did they build a new temple with what she gave? Obviously not. The dollar value of her gift was insignificant, but the power of her commitment as expressed in that gift was incredibly significant. It expressed a faith that has the power to change the world. How about you and I? What sort of faith is expressed in the commitments that we make?

There's a story of a new minister who arrived at a large congregation only to find that the church was dispirited, divided, depressed and frustrated. The perception of the leaders of the congregation was that this general malaise resulted from two problems. The first problem was identified as "the money problem" in the church. They never had enough, and every meeting of their governing board seemed to degenerate into a wrestling match over what items could be funded and which items needed to be dropped, delayed or reduced.

The other perceived problem was a lack of spiritual depth on the part of the members of the congregation.

To address these two problems the minister announced that in a single evening at the church two major workshops would be presented. All the members of the congregation were invited and indeed encouraged to attend. One workshop would be called "How to Solve the Church's Money Problems" and would be led by a nationally recognized resource person who would talk about stewardship methods. The other workshop would have an equally well respected person who would speak about spiritual life and growth.

The two workshops were carefully organized and intensively publicized. However, on the evening of the workshops, the minister went and switched the signs on the doors where the workshops were to be held.

The result was that those who came to the church expecting to hear how the church could solve its money problems found themselves in a group learning about how to deepen their devotional life, while those who came to learn about enriching their spiritual life found themselves listening to an expert on stewardship talking about the importance of committing our resources to serve the purposes of God.

Despite the initial confusion and even some resentment, the people responded as the minister had hoped. They began to realize that good stewardship is more a matter of reverence than revenue, and is more concerned with faith than with finance. At the same time those who sought to deepen their spiritual life realized that any efforts to deepen their devotional life without an accompanying commitment of all that one is and has, to the glory of God, is empty, superficial, and selfish.

I suspect that it's fair to say that not a single one of us can stand before God and honestly say that our faith is so strong that we have genuinely given everything we can in God's service. It's a lifelong journey to try and do better as we take another step closer to where God really wants us to be.

Over the next few weeks you are being asked to pray and reflect on your level of giving, and how it fits in with God's call for you to live out your faith each and every day of your life. Wherever you are and whatever your resources might be, I encourage you to make this a step forward in faith, making a commitment that arises out of your faith, a commitment that will lead you closer to God.

Amen.