Attitude of Gratitude

(Mark 12:38-44)

 

          Well, we avoid it.  We don’t like to talk about it.  We get uncomfortable when we do, but this morning I’m going to talk about it.  I don’t do it often, but every once in a while we just need to.  What am I talking about?  The “S” word.  But it’s not socialism, sin or even sex.  I’m talking about stewardship.  You know it’s funny, sometimes we treat it like a dirty word.  Some pastors run screaming in the other direction if you ask them to preach a sermon on stewardship and giving.  And some church members (as soon as they hear that word) turn their hearing aids down, get out their nail files and stop listening…but I’m sure none of you do that!

          I’ve never been entirely certain why we get so uncomfortable talking about money.  I guess it has to do with our attempt to create an illusion that we are clean, decent, right-acting, upright citizens…in other words, that we’re perfect.  We try to fool ourselves and others into thinking that we don’t waste time or money.  We’re not selfish or ever foolish, but who are we kidding? …certainly not God…and really not ourselves either.  We know in our hearts and minds that we a flawed, broken vessels, and so is the person sitting next to you, and the one standing here in the pulpit.  And yet, through our imperfection, we are still worthy and we keep going and sometimes we even get better at the things we’re working on.

          So, having gotten it out on the table that none of us is perfect and that most of us here probably aren’t doing all that we could with the resources (both time and money) with which God has provided us – I now want to guide us through a time of considering what Christian stewardship really is.  And I want to begin in the negative, by looking at what stewardship is not.

          It is not a ticket.   You are not giving the price of admission into heaven.  It’s only slightly a matter of obedience, but it is certainly not a matter of paying one’s way into glory.  It also cannot be reduced to a fee for services.  We are not simply contributing in order to pay the bills so that we can keep the doors open so we have a place to come and worship next Sunday.  And healthy Christian Stewardship is not a stamp of approval or disapproval for any particular person or ministry that takes place here.

          Well, if it’s not all of these things, what is it?  It is an attitude of gratitude.  Now I know that sounds kind of gimmicky, like something you’d hear on Oprah Winfrey, but it is easy to remember.  And in a culture where I have three phone numbers, 3 e-mail addresses, one physical address and about ½ dozen different passwords to remember, I’ll take all of the help I can get. 

          So, if healthy Christian stewardship is about an attitude of gratitude, then it’s gratitude for what?...Let’s look back at our widow from the Gospel reading, the poor widow that is.  Some biblical scholars comment on this section as being Jesus’ condemnation of the Pharisees and a religious institution that would teach that the Lord is a God who would require that kind of sacrifice from the world’s poor.  They say it’s sort of a “shame on you!” to the Pharisees and the church.

          But I disagree.  I say we are witnessing in this story, two things.  One is profound trust.  That is what it takes to offer up all that you have to God, given that you can’t see into the future and know what’s going to happen with that money you just gave or with yourself now that you gave it away.  And I think we also see gratitude.  Now the knee-jerk reaction of some might be to say, “humph, she’s a poor widow, what’s she got to be grateful for?”  Well, she might have been a poor widow, but it doesn’t say she was toothless, diseased and decrepit. 

          I am reminded of a modern parallel to this.  There was a poor, widowed, single mother who barely got by from month to month.  Yet every Sunday, she was in church.  She sang in the choir, she helped with Sunday school.  She served at fellowship dinners and helped clean up afterwards.  And every Sunday, rain or shine, she put money in the collection plate.  Now there was a wealthy man in the congregation who took notice of this.  With a well-intentioned hear, he went to his pastor and told her that he’d like to increase his giving on the poor woman’s behalf.  He felt he had more he could give and he could relieve her of the obvious burden and free up a small sum of her money that she could in turn spend on herself and her family.

          The pastor told the man she would extend the offer to the woman and would get back with him later as to what to do.  When the pastor met with the woman and made the offer, she began to well up with tears in her eyes.  She wasn’t angry and she knew the man was trying to be helpful, but she politely told the pastor to tell the man no thank you.  Then she proceeded to explain.  “I have so much to be grateful for,” the woman said.  “I am young and strong.  I have a job.  My children are healthy and doing well in school.  And I have a wonderful church family who welcome me and value me.  I cannot let that nice man give on my behalf.  I need to give thanks to God for he has given me so much!”

          Each of us, wealthy, poor and in between, have been given abundant love, generous connections and belonging.  This is how we say thank you, by responding generously with the resources to which God has entrusted us.  And the widow was right.  We need to give.  We all need to say thank you.

          Juan Ortiz was a bus driver for a small convent in Guatemala.  He drove the nuns into town for their various duties and needs.  He drove  children to their school at the convent and generally ran errands for them.  Juan managed, on the modest salary that the nuns could afford to pay him, along with a very small little garden  and a chicken coop, to keep his family warm, dry, fed and clothed, but most of all safe and loved.

          At Christmas one year, Juan showed up on the steps of the convent with two chickens from his coop and presented them to the nuns.  The sister who met him at the door said, “Juan we can’t accept these chickens.  You need them.  Take them back home and use them to feed your family.”   Well, Juan got down right irate with the sister.  He looked at her and said, “God sent you here.  You gave me a job.  You give me a salary.  Are you the only ones who can give?”  ….With that, the sister smiled, humbly apologized, and thanked Juan for his generous gift…..He needed to say thank you.

          And a genuine expression of gratitude is not an afterthought.  It is not giving our table scraps to God.  It is not giving from our leftovers of time and money.  Healthy, Christian gratitude requires thought, prayer, planning and sacrifice.  Remember, I may have talked more in monetary terms, but all of this applies to the way you share your time and abilities in the ministries of God’s church as well. 

          I’ve used the word stewardship a lot in this sermon.  I had a professor during my doctoral studies at Drew University who suggests that this is an outdated term.  Dr. Leonard Sweet suggests instead that we think of this concept of giving under the idea of trusteeship.  We are familiar with the reality that a trustee is someone who is placed in charge of certain resources and entrusted to administer them faithfully.  The trustee understands fully that he or she does not own this resource.  He cannot do with it as he pleases.  He is called upon to use it on behalf of the one who entrusted him with it in the first place.  He is allowed to take what he needs to meet his own expenses and real needs, but is expected to use the rest for the help and benefit of others. So, Dr. Sweet suggests that as a trustee, the true question we should ask ourselves is “How much do I need to keep to meet the needs of myself and my family, and how much can I give away?” 

          It’s a different way of looking at it.  Sweet also acknowledges that in certain stages of our lives we need to keep more for our needs are greater.  He also asserts that if we practice this form of trusteeship, we will be like the widow in the gospel reading.  When we leave this earth, our last check will bounce because we have given it all away.

          May each of us, as we approach the season of Thanksgiving, may we make a true measurement of all that God has given us; and may we strive to be grateful, faithful trustees of the Lord’s bounty.