Let us pray:
“O Lord, who has taught us that to gain the whole world and to lose our souls is great folly, grant us the grace so to lose ourselves that we may truly find ourselves anew in the life of grace, and so to forget ourselves that we may be remembered in your kingdom.”
--Reinhold Niebuhr

“An elderly man bought a lottery ticket and gave it his wife for safe-keeping. When the winning numbers were announced, she was the first to know that he had won two million dollars. She decided not to tell him immediately since he had a bad heart, and she feared he might drop dead from the shock. Consequently, she asked their priest to break the news to him gently. When the priest met with the big winner, she engaged him in small talk for a while. Finally, as casually as possible, she asked: “What would you do if you were ever to win a couple of million dollars?” Without hesitation the man replied: “I’d give half to the church!” Immediately the priest dropped dead.” (Copied)

This is stewardship Sunday, the day when we gather in our congregations’ pledges of time, talent and money. Needless to say, it is easy for the focus to be far more on money than on time and talent. The gospel appointed for this Sunday is Mark’s account of Jesus’ criticizing the public piety of those in authority and telling the story of a poor widow putting all that she had, two coins, into the offering. This, too, points to monetary giving.

I’d like to frame this lesson with the gospel appointed for last week from Proper 26. We did not hear this, as we had transferred the lessons from All Saints’ Day. Let me read a portion of it to you:

“One of the scribes came near and heard the Sadducees disputing with one another, and seeing that Jesus answered them well, he asked him, “Which commandment is the first of all?” Jesus answered, “The first is ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” Then the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher;…this is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.” Mark 12:28-34
In these two passages Jesus is criticizing the powerful and rich authorities of the temple. They enjoy too much their places of honor and the wealth that accompanies it. Jesus is challenging their morality, ethics and piety. In the first, the scribe tries to trap Jesus. In the second he looks at the behavior of the temple leaders.

Note that he doesn’t criticize those who are big givers to the treasury, nor does he care much about the amount the poor widow gives. He is more interested in the spirit of giving, that giving which comes from the center of the donor; that giving that indicates sacrifice and total commitment. The giving is framed in the earlier passage in which Jesus quotes the two greatest commandments. The test is not how much we give…materially, emotionally, or intellectually…but how we give and what it means. For each person this is idiosyncratic. Sacrifice for me in terms of giving love, time, attention, money or other gifts may be radically different from yours, and that is just fine. If I am living what I say and believe, that is sufficient.

Edward Sims has said: “The significance of your gift lies right there in that decision; it’s what it means to you. Significance is not measured by purchasing power or size in relation to need; the meaning of gifts of money lies between the money and the giver and nowhere else…the meaning of the gift lies not in what it buys but in where it originated, how it relates to the heart and life and spirit of the giver.

(Edward R. Sims from A Season With The Savior Seabury, 1975.
This past summer saw several people in this parish giving huge amounts of time, attention and love to two parishioners who were suffering. Their sacrifice was incredible, yet, I have yet to hear one of them complain or even call their giving “sacrificial.” Their giving came from generosity of spirit, and the natural response of the faithful Christian to reach out to others in need. That giving is done in love, a love that reflects the abundant love that has been given each of us in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ – the love of God.

On this Veteran’s Day weekend, this story is an appropriate illustration of sacrificial love:
“Horror gripped the heart of the World War I soldier as he saw his lifelong friend fall in battle. Caught in a trench with continuous gunfire whizzing over his head, the soldier asked his
Lieutenant if he might go out into the “No Man’s Land” between the trenches to bring his fallen comrade back.

“You can go,” said the Lieutenant, “but I don’t think it will be worth it. Your friend is probably dead and you may throw your own life away.” The Lieutenant’s words didn’t matter, and the soldier went anyway.

Miraculously he managed to reach his friend, hoist him onto his shoulder, and bring him back to their company’s trench. As the two of them tumbled in together to the bottom of the trench, the officer checked the wounded soldier, and then looked kindly at his friend. “I told you it wouldn’t be worth it,” he said. “Your friend is dead, and you are mortally wounded.” “It was worth it, though, sir,” the soldier said. “How do you mean, ‘worth it’?” responded the Lieutenant. “Your friend is dead!” “Yes sir, the private answered. “It was worth it because, when I got to him, he was still alive, and I had the satisfaction of hearing him say, ‘Jim, I knew you’d come.’”(Copied)

As Christians we are called to give out of the heart of our being, to give in response to the love we have been given. Jesus gave one hundred percent on the cross, his very life, showing concretely the abundant, unending love God has for us. We are called to share that love given us with one another. This involves forgiveness, presence, and material response to those in need. It requires us to make every effort to reconcile the relationships in our lives – with one another, with ourselves and with God. It demands abundant generosity.

Fear often causes us to be stingy or ungenerous with our time, money and gifts. Michael Battle said, last week, that the opposite of faith is not doubt but certainty. We are often fearful because we cannot be sure what the future will hold. The reality, however, is that nothing is certain…not our health, our vocations, our economic circumstances, our relationships even our very lives. In a recent advice column a man wrote that he was in relation ship to a woman who had been badly hurt in the past. In order to commit to him she demanded that he promise never to hurt her. He rightly responded that he was not sure he could promise that, for being human means that one can err in ways we cannot predict. (Copied)

We are called to a loving faith, one that understands that life is not certain, that we must trust our loving God to care for us in every circumstance. Love is unique in that, unlike time, talent and treasure, it is never wasted. Every bit we give is multiplied a hundred fold. It isn’t even wasted on the ungrateful, the selfish, the grumpy, the stingy, the thoughtless, or the felon. Love increases, enriches and enlivens. Love demands forgiveness, boundaries, generosity, selflessness, presence and action. It demands one hundred percent -- the mite that is all that we have and what we most desperately need. As we approach the altar this morning let each of us ask of ourselves: “To what do I give one hundred percent of what is most central to me.”

AMEN