LAKE JAMES
NORTH CAROLINA
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LAKE JAMES NORTH CAROLINA
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Proper 27B + 11/12/06 + St. Paul’s Church, Lake James
Some time ago, The New York Times carried a feature story about the average New Yorker’s adjustment to the cost of living. Previous articles had pointed out that New York was one of the most expensive cities in which to live, so the newspaper was reporting on how people coped with that. A reporter stopped people at random to ask their views. One of those interviews went like this: “Excuse me, sir. I’m a reporter taking a sample of opinions for The New York Times. Would you be willing to tell me if you are able to live here comfortably on your present income?” The reply was “not really.” The reporter asked “How much more would you have to have each year to get by in a comfortable fashion?” “Well, I suppose…about $ 50,000 more a year in spendable income.” “If I promise not to print your name, may I ask what your present income is?” “$400,000 a year.” Believe it or not, that’s a true story! In the Gospel for today, the story of the widow’s mite is also a true story, as is the story of the widow and Elijah in the Hebrew Scriptures. Their truth is found in the presentations of fundamental realities concerning human behavior. It seems to be the common experience of people in our culture that there are roughly three categories when it comes to income. A small group of men and women are vowed to holy poverty, mostly monks, nuns and friars. As individuals, they own nothing, so the issue of personal income may have little meaning. A second group, at the opposite end of the spectrum, consists of people who are so wealthy, the actual amount of income is also almost meaningless. For most of us, however, the amount of our income is of considerable importance. It governs where and how we live, what we can eat and what we wear. It limits what we and our loved ones can and cannot do, where our children receive their education and, all-too-often, the quality of the medical care open to us in time of need. It can also even influence the level of justice we may receive in the courts of our land. So, how much we have in usable income is not a minor element in our lives, but a major reality which controls so much of how we live. Since that is not very different from what it was for people living in Old Testament times, or 2000 years ago during our Lord’s earthly ministry, it is not surprising that money and possessions are frequently mentioned in the Bible. In fact, they are the subject of about 1/3 of all the parables told by Jesus! Money, possessions, and what we do with them, or what we let them do to us!
Today’s readings from the Bible confront us not just with a theoretical discussion about generosity as an abstract concept, but with the specific reality of how we decide what to do with whatever income we have, be it small, modest, or large. Our financial pledge to the Church is not the payment of dues to a club, nor is it a way of supporting the parish budget. It is, simply, our self-offering to God, giving what we can without on the one hand, feeling guilty that we can’t give more, or on the other hand, feeling so proud of ourselves that we consider ourselves to be the owners of the church. Have you noticed that, at the Eucharist, when the offering of money is brought forward by the ushers, it is placed on the Altar along with the bread and wine so that all three may be offered to God? That’s not just an esoteric ceremonial – it is the reflection of the fact that that money represents us, our souls and bodies, and just as the bread and wine are offered to be transformed into the sacramental Body and Blood of Christ, so our money, that is, our self-offering is (or should be) expressive of our intention to be transformed more and more into the Christians God calls us to be and which, in our deepest selves, we want to be. In biblical times, widowhood symbolized emptiness. Widows were women who had been deprived of their husbands, the loss of their partner in marriage. But in that culture, with widowhood came the loss of any social standing in the community, standing they had had not because of who they were, but simply because they had been the wife of so-and-so. As married women, they had belonged, they had a place and value in society – and all that simply vanished with the death of their husbands. Since estates passed from father to son, even so-called “wealthy widows” were comfortable only by virtue of the generosity of their sons, generosity which might or might not be reliable. How significant it is, then, that at today’s liturgy, the Church holds up for our attention two widows, women who, even, or especially in their poverty are given to us as examples who should be shining models for us. In the powerful words of Mary’s song, the Magnificat, God has put down the mighty and exalted the humble. Let me be clear, even blunt. My sermons about stewardship and pledging are not based on fears regarding the size of our parish budget and how soon Father John can afford to buy a Lexus based on what he receives from St. Paul’s, or when I can take a trip to the Riviera. They are not about how much you pledge. Rather, the sermons and on-going teaching are reflections of the importance of tangible expressions of our love for God and His Church. It would make no sense to claim that we love God but never pray. It would make no sense to claim that we are Christians, but don’t believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior. It would make no sense to claim that we care about our fellow men and women but never inconvenience ourselves to help others in their time of need. And it makes no sense to hear the Word of God telling us about two widows if the clear message of those readings makes no difference to the way we live and the way we give. Those two widows gave because they cared about God. With God’s grace, may we do no less.
The Reverend Alfred T. K. Zadig, Sr. |
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This page last modified on Friday, April 11, 2008 09:39 PM |
