Today's Verse: Isaiah 40:31 (ESV)
but lthey who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings mlike eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
l Ps. 103:5
m [Ex. 19:4]
In this section of his writing, Isaiah emphasizes judgment resulting in the ultimate destruction of Judah. And yet, those who choose to stay with the Lord will be provided for. God will give them strength and perseverance. Judah's temple in Jerusalem would eventually be restored.
Today's Comments: Sunday's lesson is about Jesus' condemnation of the scribes and the offering of the poor woman in the temple. This lesson parallels part of the lesson and the sermon that I will be giving Sunday. God gave man free choice, and the scribes messed it up and made all the wrong choices, but the woman did the right thing. Both Judah and Israel were placed into exile because their people chose pride and greed, like the scribes. However, those who choose God over earthly things will be sustained, comforted, and restored. Here is my sermon:
SERMON FOR NOVEMBER 9: GETTERS AND GIVERS
As the luck of the draw would have it, today I get to talk about the least popular subject in any church: giving. And, suffice it to say, I am going to do my best and pray that the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart will be acceptable to you, oh Lord, my strength and my redeemer.
As we listened to the Gospel for today, we could have assumed that Mark is relating two separate and distinct accounts or events: the first being Jesus’ warning against the scribes and, second, the story of the widow’s offering. And yet, whether intended or not by the Gospel writer, these two events can be tied together in a single lesson. I call it the lesson of the Getters and the Givers.
First, I would like to talk about the Getters, or the scribes. We are told that they strutted about with great self esteem and importance. As we know from that great, unbiased, source of information that we all depend upon for today’s instant knowledge-- Wikopedia--- A scribe is a person who writes books or documents by hand as a profession and helps keep tracks of records. Those who were associated with Temple worship in Israel, however, often exercised functions that we would more associate with lawyers, government ministers, judges, or even financiers. They were considered to be teachers and protectors of the law. Some were Sadducees, and many were Pharisees. Some scribes, of course, copied documents, but this was not necessarily a part or the totality of their job. In reality, they were, for all intents and purposes, the voices of tradition. They were the mall cops of the Jewish religious system that kept things organized and orderly.
The Catholic Encyclopedia tells us that they acquired great influence with the people, during a period when the priesthood lost much of its prestige. As a natural consequence, the scribes as a class became narrow, haughty and exclusive. And while they never wielded any real political power, they were admitted to the Sanhedrin on a par with the chief priests and elders and thus enjoyed official recognition. In the synagogues, seats of honor were reserved for them. At the same time that their influence grew, they neglected the deeper and more spiritual aspects of the Law, and ambition and greed grew in their ranks as they laid an increasingly heavy burden upon the people who they were supposed to serve.
One of my evangelical sources says that scribes primarily lived on subsidies of others. A family would be held in high esteem by others if they took on the financial support of a Scribe. The extension of hospitality to the Scribes was strongly encouraged as an act of piety. When one of the important men of Jerusalem gave a feast, they often made sure that a scribe was in attendance, as an ornament to the feast. The highest places of honor were assigned to the Scribes. They were given precedence over age and even parents. They would be walked past all the guests to their seats of honor at the table. Many well to do people placed their complete financial resources at a scribe’s disposal –
And there were abuses. Big time. When Jesus said that they devoured widows houses, He referred to the fact that, not only did the rich support these men, but these scribes sponged off whoever they could, even people who were barely making it. And, invariably, they used their positions to enrich themselves at the expense of others, including the poor.
The backdrop for the Gospel lesson was the last week of Jesus’ life on earth. The scene of the lesson was the Temple in Jerusalem. The Temple, throughout Biblical history had been the traditional center of Jewish worship. But, by the time of Jesus’ birth, it had also become a center of corruption, as a result of the burdens placed on the people by the Scribes and the Pharisees. Though outwardly religious, the scribes were motivated by greed. And, it was under these circumstances, therefore, that Jesus began to teach his disciples that the wicked, as represented by the scribes, would be condemned, while those, like the poor widow, who gave from their heart, in humility, would be blessed. Jesus condemned the scribes for their corruption, their wickedness against their neighbors, and their status seeking. While they were supposed to point people to God, in reality they pointed only to themselves.
Even the size of their gifts may have impressed others, but they did not impress God. And that brings us to the part of the lesson where I talk about the givers.
In the Temple there were thirteen trumpet shaped containers that lined a wall in the Court of Women. They were made from metal, so when money was placed in them everyone could hear the coins clanging around – remember they had no paper money in those days. Jesus was probably able to hear the size of the coins being dropped into the offering box, and he would have been aware of the sacrifices that each person was making as he or she gave.
And now, the woman places in the container two of the smallest copper coins that circulated in Palestine. The coin was called the lepton and was worth one four hundredth of a shekel or, roughly, 1/8 of a cent. These coins were so small and so thin that very few survive today, having simply disintegrated over time. They were also so small that they could bear no portrait or inscription, only a pattern.
Jesus used this event to teach his disciples a lesson about giving. And some of the things the he might have wanted His disciples to realize were:
1. Giving is not about the amount of money, it is about the giving of self.
2. It is not how much one gives, but how much of your life that you commit.
3. In this case: The woman was committing all that she had. The woman knew that she could depend upon God, in faith, to provide for whatever else that she needed.
This was a greatest act of faith Jesus had seen all day, for what she gave was herself to God. Even though she might have sacrificed the rent money, her next meal, or the shoes she needed, she was willing to give up all possibility that she could take care of herself and, instead, put her total trust in God.
And who cared that she had done this? I’m quite sure this whole act of faith was overlooked by everyone there, including the Pharisees, Sadducees, and the Scribes. And yet, there was only there one who really counted: Jesus.
And so, these two events can be thought about as a comparison of extremes, the getter versus the giver. One can compare the getter with the giver on at least four different planes:
1. The first is motivation. The scribes were motivated by their own sense of selfish legalism. All they had to do was to obey the minimum that the law required, and whatever they gave, they expected a maximum return from their seemingly pious efforts. The woman, instead, gave from her heart. She gave all that she had, without the promise of any return.
2. The second comparison that can be made is that of righteousness: The scribes did things for themselves. They made the laws and fashioned them in such a way that they could profit from them. Their focus was on themselves and others who would respect and honor them. The woman, in her heart, did what she thought was right in the eyes of God. At some point, she may have concluded that there were others worse off than her or more deserving than her. In any case, she gave all that she had.
3. Third, we can look at these two events through the eyes of love. The scribes did not love their neighbors. They were greedy. They just wanted their neighbors to love them. They wanted to feel important. They wanted to be important. The woman gave her all because she loved and trusted God. To her, God was all that counted.
4. Finally, we can look at these two events as they relate to submission to God. The scribes submitted to greed. The woman submitted all to God.
There are lessons in the other readings for us today that relate to the getters and the givers:
1. In the Epistle we are reminded about Jesus’ sacrifice for us. He gave His all, including His life, so that we might be saved and included among the people of God. Jesus gave from His heart; and so should we.
2. The Old Testament Lesson and the Psalm remind us that we are under God’s sustainment and protection, even when we give all. We should be reminded that Elijah lived under the reign of King Ahab of Israel, the same Ahab who had married Jezebel and began to serve the God Baal. After telling Ahab that, as a result of his apostasy, there would be a terrible drought in the land, Elijah totally relied upon God for his sustenance and maintenance, first being fed by ravens and then by the Widow at Zarephath. And in that one jug of oil and one jar of flour, there was enough food to sustain both of them and the widow’s son for a period of years.
3. The Psalm reminds us that God sustains and protects his people, just as he sustained and protected Elijah and the widow.
So, what are the modern lessons for the Giver that the Bible teaches us? To finish up, I would like to present to you what I consider to be ten points of giving. I realize that this number is arbitrary, but it makes me more comfortable when I can say that I am giving you my top ten:
1. Giving from the heart is a private matter, and we don’t need to look good to others. We only need to be concerned about God. Our level of giving demonstrates our commitment to God, not to man.
2. Giving has nothing to do with pride.
3. We should remember that giving includes not only just money, but our time and talent, as well.
4. Giving is a sacrificial act: We should give more than we can spare. The tithe is the minimum, not the maximum biblical standard. Once, when asked whether the tithe is off the gross or the net, John. D. Rockefeller replied, “I never would have been able to tithe the first million dollars I ever made if I had not tithed my first salary, which was $1.50 per week.” The Old Testament emphasizes the legal system. Therefore, Old Testament giving wasn’t voluntary; it was a requirement under the law. One of my sources for this sermon even mentions that there were actually three tithes imposed upon the people of Israel: the Levites’ tithe of ten percent per year to run the national priestly program, the Festival tithe of ten percent per year to run the national religious program, and the Poor tithe of three and one third percent per year to run the national welfare program. The New Testament, however, does not say anything about the tithe because it emphasizes willful and committed giving, trustful without limit and with gratitude for our blessings. In other words, New Testament giving is totally voluntary.
5. Giving is a concept that we need to teach our children: not only the giving of things, but also the giving of ourselves in submission and obedience to God and in our love for our neighbors.
6. Giving is an act of discipleship. It is a response to the need of others. Remember that the first disciples shared their possessions with each other so that nobody would be in need. This extended to the early church, as we read in the Book of Acts.
7. Giving supports the ministry of the church. At Blessed Sacrament, it is important to remind ourselves that we are not required to contribute to the Episcopal Mission Share Fund and to those things that are distasteful to our orthodoxy, but that our gifts go directly to projects of this church. It is also important to understand that, at Blessed Sacrament, our budgeting is faith based, as the New Testament would have it. And, it is important for us to realize that it is the generous giving by members of this congregation that has enabled us to build and maintain this church and finance the many projects that we have successfully undertaken.
8. Giving is an act of faith. God counts what is in our heart, not what is in our pocketbook. Our charity is measured not by how much we give, but by how much we keep.
9. Our giving is a fitting response to what God gave to us, His Son, Jesus Christ, who gave His all. Our level of giving demonstrates our commitment to God. Garibaldi, the great Italian liberator had an incredibly committed volunteer army. He would appeal for recruits in these terms: “I offer neither pay, nor quarters, nor provisions; I offer hunger, thirst, forced marches, battles and death. Let him who loves his country with his heart and not with his lips only, follow me!”
10. And finally, when we give, we are presenting a gift to the God, who sustains us. He is the owner of all things, and we are simply stewards of His creation. It was David who confirmed in Chronicles 29: "Blessed are you, O LORD, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever. 11Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all. 12Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. 13And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name. 14"But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you.
but lthey who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings mlike eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
l Ps. 103:5
m [Ex. 19:4]
In this section of his writing, Isaiah emphasizes judgment resulting in the ultimate destruction of Judah. And yet, those who choose to stay with the Lord will be provided for. God will give them strength and perseverance. Judah's temple in Jerusalem would eventually be restored.
Today's Comments: Sunday's lesson is about Jesus' condemnation of the scribes and the offering of the poor woman in the temple. This lesson parallels part of the lesson and the sermon that I will be giving Sunday. God gave man free choice, and the scribes messed it up and made all the wrong choices, but the woman did the right thing. Both Judah and Israel were placed into exile because their people chose pride and greed, like the scribes. However, those who choose God over earthly things will be sustained, comforted, and restored. Here is my sermon:
SERMON FOR NOVEMBER 9: GETTERS AND GIVERS
As the luck of the draw would have it, today I get to talk about the least popular subject in any church: giving. And, suffice it to say, I am going to do my best and pray that the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart will be acceptable to you, oh Lord, my strength and my redeemer.
As we listened to the Gospel for today, we could have assumed that Mark is relating two separate and distinct accounts or events: the first being Jesus’ warning against the scribes and, second, the story of the widow’s offering. And yet, whether intended or not by the Gospel writer, these two events can be tied together in a single lesson. I call it the lesson of the Getters and the Givers.
First, I would like to talk about the Getters, or the scribes. We are told that they strutted about with great self esteem and importance. As we know from that great, unbiased, source of information that we all depend upon for today’s instant knowledge-- Wikopedia--- A scribe is a person who writes books or documents by hand as a profession and helps keep tracks of records. Those who were associated with Temple worship in Israel, however, often exercised functions that we would more associate with lawyers, government ministers, judges, or even financiers. They were considered to be teachers and protectors of the law. Some were Sadducees, and many were Pharisees. Some scribes, of course, copied documents, but this was not necessarily a part or the totality of their job. In reality, they were, for all intents and purposes, the voices of tradition. They were the mall cops of the Jewish religious system that kept things organized and orderly.
The Catholic Encyclopedia tells us that they acquired great influence with the people, during a period when the priesthood lost much of its prestige. As a natural consequence, the scribes as a class became narrow, haughty and exclusive. And while they never wielded any real political power, they were admitted to the Sanhedrin on a par with the chief priests and elders and thus enjoyed official recognition. In the synagogues, seats of honor were reserved for them. At the same time that their influence grew, they neglected the deeper and more spiritual aspects of the Law, and ambition and greed grew in their ranks as they laid an increasingly heavy burden upon the people who they were supposed to serve.
One of my evangelical sources says that scribes primarily lived on subsidies of others. A family would be held in high esteem by others if they took on the financial support of a Scribe. The extension of hospitality to the Scribes was strongly encouraged as an act of piety. When one of the important men of Jerusalem gave a feast, they often made sure that a scribe was in attendance, as an ornament to the feast. The highest places of honor were assigned to the Scribes. They were given precedence over age and even parents. They would be walked past all the guests to their seats of honor at the table. Many well to do people placed their complete financial resources at a scribe’s disposal –
And there were abuses. Big time. When Jesus said that they devoured widows houses, He referred to the fact that, not only did the rich support these men, but these scribes sponged off whoever they could, even people who were barely making it. And, invariably, they used their positions to enrich themselves at the expense of others, including the poor.
The backdrop for the Gospel lesson was the last week of Jesus’ life on earth. The scene of the lesson was the Temple in Jerusalem. The Temple, throughout Biblical history had been the traditional center of Jewish worship. But, by the time of Jesus’ birth, it had also become a center of corruption, as a result of the burdens placed on the people by the Scribes and the Pharisees. Though outwardly religious, the scribes were motivated by greed. And, it was under these circumstances, therefore, that Jesus began to teach his disciples that the wicked, as represented by the scribes, would be condemned, while those, like the poor widow, who gave from their heart, in humility, would be blessed. Jesus condemned the scribes for their corruption, their wickedness against their neighbors, and their status seeking. While they were supposed to point people to God, in reality they pointed only to themselves.
Even the size of their gifts may have impressed others, but they did not impress God. And that brings us to the part of the lesson where I talk about the givers.
In the Temple there were thirteen trumpet shaped containers that lined a wall in the Court of Women. They were made from metal, so when money was placed in them everyone could hear the coins clanging around – remember they had no paper money in those days. Jesus was probably able to hear the size of the coins being dropped into the offering box, and he would have been aware of the sacrifices that each person was making as he or she gave.
And now, the woman places in the container two of the smallest copper coins that circulated in Palestine. The coin was called the lepton and was worth one four hundredth of a shekel or, roughly, 1/8 of a cent. These coins were so small and so thin that very few survive today, having simply disintegrated over time. They were also so small that they could bear no portrait or inscription, only a pattern.
Jesus used this event to teach his disciples a lesson about giving. And some of the things the he might have wanted His disciples to realize were:
1. Giving is not about the amount of money, it is about the giving of self.
2. It is not how much one gives, but how much of your life that you commit.
3. In this case: The woman was committing all that she had. The woman knew that she could depend upon God, in faith, to provide for whatever else that she needed.
This was a greatest act of faith Jesus had seen all day, for what she gave was herself to God. Even though she might have sacrificed the rent money, her next meal, or the shoes she needed, she was willing to give up all possibility that she could take care of herself and, instead, put her total trust in God.
And who cared that she had done this? I’m quite sure this whole act of faith was overlooked by everyone there, including the Pharisees, Sadducees, and the Scribes. And yet, there was only there one who really counted: Jesus.
And so, these two events can be thought about as a comparison of extremes, the getter versus the giver. One can compare the getter with the giver on at least four different planes:
1. The first is motivation. The scribes were motivated by their own sense of selfish legalism. All they had to do was to obey the minimum that the law required, and whatever they gave, they expected a maximum return from their seemingly pious efforts. The woman, instead, gave from her heart. She gave all that she had, without the promise of any return.
2. The second comparison that can be made is that of righteousness: The scribes did things for themselves. They made the laws and fashioned them in such a way that they could profit from them. Their focus was on themselves and others who would respect and honor them. The woman, in her heart, did what she thought was right in the eyes of God. At some point, she may have concluded that there were others worse off than her or more deserving than her. In any case, she gave all that she had.
3. Third, we can look at these two events through the eyes of love. The scribes did not love their neighbors. They were greedy. They just wanted their neighbors to love them. They wanted to feel important. They wanted to be important. The woman gave her all because she loved and trusted God. To her, God was all that counted.
4. Finally, we can look at these two events as they relate to submission to God. The scribes submitted to greed. The woman submitted all to God.
There are lessons in the other readings for us today that relate to the getters and the givers:
1. In the Epistle we are reminded about Jesus’ sacrifice for us. He gave His all, including His life, so that we might be saved and included among the people of God. Jesus gave from His heart; and so should we.
2. The Old Testament Lesson and the Psalm remind us that we are under God’s sustainment and protection, even when we give all. We should be reminded that Elijah lived under the reign of King Ahab of Israel, the same Ahab who had married Jezebel and began to serve the God Baal. After telling Ahab that, as a result of his apostasy, there would be a terrible drought in the land, Elijah totally relied upon God for his sustenance and maintenance, first being fed by ravens and then by the Widow at Zarephath. And in that one jug of oil and one jar of flour, there was enough food to sustain both of them and the widow’s son for a period of years.
3. The Psalm reminds us that God sustains and protects his people, just as he sustained and protected Elijah and the widow.
So, what are the modern lessons for the Giver that the Bible teaches us? To finish up, I would like to present to you what I consider to be ten points of giving. I realize that this number is arbitrary, but it makes me more comfortable when I can say that I am giving you my top ten:
1. Giving from the heart is a private matter, and we don’t need to look good to others. We only need to be concerned about God. Our level of giving demonstrates our commitment to God, not to man.
2. Giving has nothing to do with pride.
3. We should remember that giving includes not only just money, but our time and talent, as well.
4. Giving is a sacrificial act: We should give more than we can spare. The tithe is the minimum, not the maximum biblical standard. Once, when asked whether the tithe is off the gross or the net, John. D. Rockefeller replied, “I never would have been able to tithe the first million dollars I ever made if I had not tithed my first salary, which was $1.50 per week.” The Old Testament emphasizes the legal system. Therefore, Old Testament giving wasn’t voluntary; it was a requirement under the law. One of my sources for this sermon even mentions that there were actually three tithes imposed upon the people of Israel: the Levites’ tithe of ten percent per year to run the national priestly program, the Festival tithe of ten percent per year to run the national religious program, and the Poor tithe of three and one third percent per year to run the national welfare program. The New Testament, however, does not say anything about the tithe because it emphasizes willful and committed giving, trustful without limit and with gratitude for our blessings. In other words, New Testament giving is totally voluntary.
5. Giving is a concept that we need to teach our children: not only the giving of things, but also the giving of ourselves in submission and obedience to God and in our love for our neighbors.
6. Giving is an act of discipleship. It is a response to the need of others. Remember that the first disciples shared their possessions with each other so that nobody would be in need. This extended to the early church, as we read in the Book of Acts.
7. Giving supports the ministry of the church. At Blessed Sacrament, it is important to remind ourselves that we are not required to contribute to the Episcopal Mission Share Fund and to those things that are distasteful to our orthodoxy, but that our gifts go directly to projects of this church. It is also important to understand that, at Blessed Sacrament, our budgeting is faith based, as the New Testament would have it. And, it is important for us to realize that it is the generous giving by members of this congregation that has enabled us to build and maintain this church and finance the many projects that we have successfully undertaken.
8. Giving is an act of faith. God counts what is in our heart, not what is in our pocketbook. Our charity is measured not by how much we give, but by how much we keep.
9. Our giving is a fitting response to what God gave to us, His Son, Jesus Christ, who gave His all. Our level of giving demonstrates our commitment to God. Garibaldi, the great Italian liberator had an incredibly committed volunteer army. He would appeal for recruits in these terms: “I offer neither pay, nor quarters, nor provisions; I offer hunger, thirst, forced marches, battles and death. Let him who loves his country with his heart and not with his lips only, follow me!”
10. And finally, when we give, we are presenting a gift to the God, who sustains us. He is the owner of all things, and we are simply stewards of His creation. It was David who confirmed in Chronicles 29: "Blessed are you, O LORD, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever. 11Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all. 12Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. 13And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name. 14"But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you.
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