Saint Luke's Lutheran Church

There is something about the story of this widow who put all she had in the Temple treasury that makes me uncomfortable. I like to think that I am a pretty good giver. When we were first married, Sandy and I decided to tithe. We did that in part because that's what our parents did. And actually, when I was in seminary, that's what I thought most people involved in the church did. Then I became a pastor and found out that this was not always the case. In those early years, we continued to tithe, and we felt comfortable giving ten percent of our income because that was the Biblical standard. Over time, giving a tithe became less of a sacrifice than it had been, and we decided to give a little more.

Today we meet once again that widow in the temple who didn't give a tithe or a little more than a tithe, but she gave all that she had. That level of giving, that level of commitment, that level of faith makes me uncomfortable. I'm nowhere near where this widow was, and she intimidates me.

This story raises more questions than it answers. I cannot help but wonder what this story is doing here in the Gospel of Mark. Why does Jesus sit down in the Temple and watch what people are giving anyway? Why does Jesus call his disciples over to point out what this poor widow gave? What is this story telling us today?

Before you get too nervous and start to tune me out, let me say that I don't think that Jesus is saying that we ought to empty our wallets and our bank accounts into the offering plate. No commentator I have read ever suggested that this is the meaning of this story. And that is a relief. If this is what Jesus required of his disciples, that we sell everything that we have and give the money to the poor, then I'm afraid that many of us, probably most of us, would do what the young man in our Gospel of a few weeks ago did - turn around and sadly walk away.

So if this is not the reason why Jesus draws our attention to this poor widow, what is? I suspect that it is because she is a type of Christ. Jesus, like this poor widow, is about to give all that he has as an offering to God for the sake of the world. Remember, this is the final week of Jesus' earthly life. In just two days he will be nailed to the cross. In just two days, he will lay down his life for the sins of the world. He will do that out of his love for the Father and for us. In so doing, he will demonstrate a trust in the Father and a commitment to doing the Father's will that knows no limits and no boundaries. As this poor widow puts her only two coins into the Temple coffers, she is foreshadowing Jesus' sacrifice on the cross.

We are now in the third week of our stewardship emphasis for this year. Some of our catechism students have asked me what stewardship is, so maybe it would be good for us to come up with a working definition of this term. In the Bible stewards are people who manage property and assets that belong to someone else. So stewardship is not so much giving as it is management. This is a term that refers to how we manage all of the things God has entrusted to our care. Biblical stewardship is as much about how we spend our money on ourselves and our families as it is about what we put into the offering plate. Biblical stewardship is as much about how we spend our time when we are at home or at work as it is about spending time teaching Sunday School or working on a Habitat project. Stewardship, however, also includes giving - because God expects us to give some of what has been given back to the Lord and to use some of what we have for the benefit of others.

Our stewardship emphasis for this year focuses on the four movements in our worship service: gathering, hearing, celebrating, and sending. First, we gather as people of God to worship and praise the One who has made us his own. Then we listen to God's Word in order to hear again that wonderful story of salvation and to let the power of God's word sink into our minds and our hearts. Our worship reaches its climax or denouement in the celebration of Holy Communion, as we receive the very body and blood of our Lord Jesus. And at the end, we are sent out into the world to share God's love and forgiveness with all people.

Our Stewardship program focuses on these four movements because stewardship is our response to the experience of worship. We give our hearts, our lives, and our money to the Lord because God has adopted us into the family of faith through the waters of baptism. We give our hearts, our lives, and our money to the Lord because we have heard how much God loves us and what God has done to save us from sin and death. We give our hearts, our lives, and our money to the Lord because we have experienced God's love and forgiveness in the bread and the wine. We give our hearts, our lives, and our money to the Lord because we have been sent on a mission - a mission so huge that it requires all of our resources.

The poor widow in our Gospel lesson is a type of Christ, but her story also provides us with a basic stewardship principle. It is clear from this story that God does not look only at how much we give. God looks at how much we give in relationship to how much we have been given. The rich people Jesus was watching in the Temple were putting in far more than this poor widow. Their contributions made hers look pretty insignificant - at least in the eyes of the world and probably in the eyes of the religious leaders as well. But not in the eyes of God.

The principle here is that of proportionality. God expects us to give as we have received. "From those to whom much has been given, much will be required," Jesus says. This is why the Commitment Cards that you are asked to bring forward next Sunday and place on the altar have a place for a percentage figure, not a dollar figure. We want to encourage you to think about your stewardship from Biblical principles. We want you to plan your giving in proportion to what you will receive.

There is, however, an even more basic connection between this widow and our stewardship. This poor widow gave all that she had to the Lord. What we give is intended to be symbolic of the same thing - our offerings are intended to be a symbol, a representation, of all that we are and all that we have. God does not want a part of us; God wants all of us. God does not want a portion of our heart; God wants the whole thing. The second offering prayer in the Lutheran Book of Worship puts it this way: "With [these gifts] we offer ourselves to your service and dedicate our lives to the care and redemption of all that you have made." That is the spirit in which the poor widow offered her two copper coins. That is the spirit in which we are invited to make our offering. Without emptying our wallets and our bank accounts into the offering place, we can be a type of Christ. We can place ourselves, our lives, our possessions in the hands of God. We can do this because these are the hands that continue to give us all that we need from day to day. These are the hands that were nailed to the cross for us. These are the hands that will lift us up to eternal life. This is the God we can trust - trust enough to use all that we have in service to his kingdom. This is stewardship that will fill our hearts with joy and our lives with peace. Amen.