Sermon manuscript:
In our Gospel reading we meet a woman with whom we might
think we have little in common. She’s old. She’s a widow. She’s extremely poor.
The most unusual thing mentioned about her is that even though she is poor, she
made a contribution for the poor. Which aspect of this woman’s life would you
like to emulate? Probably nothing. We want spouses who are living and helpful.
We want money and power. However much we have, we are not interested in giving it
away.
But whereas Jesus might not be all that impressed with us,
he definitely was impressed with this woman. He called over his disciples and pointed
her out. “She’s put in more than all the rest, even
though other people put in much larger amounts.” Whereas we might be
impressed by donations in the millions, Jesus was impressed by a donation that
would be about $2 in today’s money.
We might not want to be like her, at least not at first, but
Jesus admires her. That gives us reason enough to consider her. We should learn
from this woman. She might teach us something we need quite badly.
The first thing we must consider is why this woman gave what
she did. She herself was poor, and yet she contributed to the poor. How can
this be explained? A person might simply say that she was insane, or perhaps
even wrong to have done what she did. She shouldn’t have given that money. She
should have kept it for herself. But Jesus doesn’t seem to think that she’s
insane or that what she did was wrong, so there must be some other explanation.
It seems to me that the only reason why she could give what
she did was because she didn’t think she needed it. We might think she needed
it, but she didn’t. We aren’t given her exact thoughts, but maybe she believed
that two more dollars would come to her in some other way. We are prone to
think in terms of luck or karma, but I don’t think this woman believed in those
false gods. She believed in the Lord God of Israel. She believed that he would
give her that day her daily bread. She was free to give what she did, because
she knew God would still take care of her.
This faith caused her to be like another creature whom God
has made. She was like the birds of the air. Have you ever thought about what
kind of life birds live? They’ve got their little nests, but that’s about it.
Every morning they wake up not knowing where their food is going to come from.
They do not have pantries or storehouses. You might think that they would be
very worried about this, but they are not. The first thing they do when they
wake up is offer up a cheerful song of praise to their Creator. A new day of
grace awaits them. This woman must have been as cheerful and free as the birds.
Now you might ask: “How?” From a certain perspective it
looks as though everything is going wrong with her life. She’s old. She’s poor.
She’s powerless. She lost her husband. What more is there to live for? No great
change in her fortunes appear to be forthcoming, especially if she keeps giving
her money away. But these are ugly thoughts, prompted by our reason and common
sense.
Faith has little to do with reason and common sense. The
examples of faith that we read about in the Scriptures strike us very often as
being close to insanity. This poor woman giving all she had to the poor can
seem insane. The similar actions of the woman in the Old Testament reading can
strike us the same way. She took the flour and oil that should have fed her son
and gave them to Elijah. A classic expression of faith that defies not only
reason but even morality was Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac.
Reason and common sense fight against faith because they operate according to
different rules.
We are given this rule regarding faith: “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of
things unseen.” Those who believe are grasping and holding on to God,
whom they can’t see. They don’t know where the path will go that God puts them
on. They don’t know the quantity or the quality of the daily bread they will
receive, but what is important is they know that the one who is in charge of
their lives is their heavenly Father. They know that he loves them. He sent his
Son to die as the sacrifice for them. If God has given his Son, his dearest
treasure, how can he not give them whatever else they need?
Therefore, whether a Christian is rich or poor, healthy or
sick, young or old, powerful or powerless, it is all the same. God is
unchanging with his will and his promises. God will take care of them even
though their circumstances might change.
Paul says in Philippians chapter four: “I have learned whatever the situation I am in to be content.
I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every
circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance
and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”
Oftentimes that last part, “I can do
all things through him who strengthens me,” is taken from its context
and used for decorations or for sports teams. I’m afraid that when it is read apart
from its context that our reason and common sense might interfere so that it is
not understood correctly. “I can do all things” sounds as though I can do
anything. If I can do anything, then I would like to be some kind of
superhuman. I can have a fabulous life. I can win at all athletic contests. I
will have a charmed life because “I can do all things
though him who strengthens me.”
But as you heard the context of that passage, it is clear
that Paul is not telling us that we can be some kind of superhero. Our reason
might chime in here and say, “Here we go with all the hedging and managing
expectations. Of course it sounded too good to be true.” But believe it or not,
he is actually talking about something greater. A superhero is only happy when
he or she is winning. What happens when the superhero gets old? What happens
when the charmed life is no longer charmed? What happens when your spouse dies?
What happens when your kid dies? What happens when you become poor? Included in
the “all things” that I can do is to lose, to
suffer, to have my life turned upside down.
Consider, again, the old woman. We know that she has
suffered. We know that her husband has died. We know that she is poor. Being
poor carries along with it all kinds of annoyances and irritations. Nevertheless,
she cheerfully put in her last two dollars. God, who had taken care of her thus
far, would continue to do so. Through faith in him she was doing “all things through him who was strengthening her.” And
it was marvelous. Even Jesus was impressed.
This power to do all things, even to suffer negative things,
through Jesus, is an important corrective for today’s world. We live at the end
of a period of time when reason and common sense have been used to great
effect. Technology has been developed through reason and common sense that enables
us to do things that previous generations would have regarded as magic. We have
accomplished so much. All of us are extremely rich compared to this woman who
only had two dollars to her name.
Given all these abilities and all these accomplishments, you
would think that we would be happy. But instead it seems that we should be
swamped with sadness. There is so much hopelessness. There is so much despair.
People wonder what the point of living is. Our birthrates are plummeting. Our
liveliness seems to be withering on the vine.
Isn’t it strange that at the very time when we have reached
the pinnacle of what human being have been able to accomplish thus far, that we
are swamped with sadness? For what ails us, I do not think that more
technology, more reason, and more common sense will help us. I have reason to
believe that that would only make a bad situation even worse.
We have a spiritual problem. Spiritual problems need
spiritual solutions. We need what human beings have always needed, which is
God’s love. We need faith in this God who loves us, to set us free from our
fears of suffering, our fears of loss, our fears of the paths that God might
set us on, the outcome of which we cannot see. Faith in God’s love enables us to
be cheerful, and sing like birds, not only when we are winning, but also while
we suffer. Paul says “I can do all things.” He
means that. Included in those “all things” are loss
and sadness, while knowing that we will have the ultimately victory because of
our God.
Jesus gives us great spiritual abilities. Jesus gives us the
ability to say, “Even though I am a sinner, yet I am forgiven and holy.” “Even
though I am poor, yet I am rich.” “Even though I die, yet shall I live.” Jesus
makes the future bright!
Therefore, do not be afraid. Be bold and very courageous
like this woman in our Gospel reading. The God who has taken care of you thus
far, will take care of you until the supreme adventure begins in heaven.
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