This sermon was preached at Bridlington Priory Church by David Butterfield, Archdeacon of the East Riding. Sunday 8th June 2008
(Jesus looked around and saw rich people dropping their gifts in the Temple treasury, and he also saw a very poor widow dropping in two little copper coins. He said, "I tell you that this poor widow put in more than all the others. For the others offered their gifts from what they had to spare of their riches; but she, poor as she is, gave all she had to live on." (Luke 21.1-4 GNB) )
Where do you focus your eyes when the collection plate comes round? Have you ever felt the temptation to cast a sly glance at the person next to you, to see how much he or she is putting on the plate?
Or when it comes to your turn, do you take great care to put your gift in the plate in such a way that no-one can see how much you are putting in? Of course, if you use offertory envelopes or give by standing order, then you don't have to worry about prying eyes.
We British are far too polite to stare at people in an obvious way when they are putting their gifts in the offering. I imagine that people in some other countries and cultures might just stare unabashed!
Our Gospel reading this morning was the well-known story of the Widow's Mite, and in Luke's account it begins with the words, "Jesus looked up" or in the literal Greek, "and looking up, he saw.....".
He was in the Temple teaching his disciples. It was the custom of Jewish rabbis to sit down whilst teaching. Hence why it says that he "looked up". Nearby there were thirteen collection boxes which were shaped like upturned trumpets with a smaller opening at the top and a large base. Some people came into the Temple and placed their gifts in the offertory boxes, and when they did, we are told, Jesus looked up !
It appears that he looked up so that he could see what people were putting in the collection boxes! The way that Jesus conducted himself at this point was not very British!
Do you notice the mannerisms that people have? Peculiar movements of their body, things they say, and so on! A man called Michael Griffiths believes he has identified one of Jesus' mannerisms. In a book he says that one of Jesus' mannerisms was his habit of looking directly at people!
For example, on four different occasions in Mark's Gospel we are told that Jesus eye-balled people! He had this way of looking around with his searching eyes. It's believed that Mark's inclusion of this in his Gospel comes from the eye-witness account of Peter.
And this is what happened that day in the Temple when people came in and put their offerings in the collection box. We read, "Jesus looked up", "And looking up, he saw....."!
So he was at it again – looking at people with his penetrating eyes! I imagine it could have been quite unnerving to have been in the company of Jesus. You didn't quite know when he might look at you!
This incident happened during the week before Easter, probably on the Tuesday, just two days after Jesus had entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. And as he looked up, he saw people putting their money in the Temple collection boxes. And among them were many rich people who "threw in large amounts".
Then along came this widow. In those days widows were poor. There was no social security, no family allowance, no income support or tax credits. Life was much harder then than it is for us today. And it was especially hard for a woman whose husband had died and who was left to fend for herself. So the fact of being a widow meant she was poor.
However, it is interesting that Luke doesn't use the usual word for "poor" to describe her. Instead he opts for an unusual word, one that is only used here in the New Testament. It means she was really, really poor! So Luke is telling us is that she was the poorest of the poor!
Jesus watched her drop in two copper coins. The coin in question was called a lepton. The word means "the thin one". It was a Jewish coin (rather than a Roman one) and was the smallest coin in circulation at that time. So her two lepta would probably have been worth a penny – or even slightly less. So imagine someone putting 1p in the collection this morning!
When Jesus saw what happened, he decided to teach an important truth to his disciples. So "he called his disciples together"" and explained that although "many rich people" had thrown in "large amounts, this poor widow put more in the offering box than all the others". (Mark 12:43 GNB) He said this because "she gave all she had to live on", whereas they "put in what they had to spare of their riches". In other words, in Jesus' opinion, her gift was more valuable! And of course it's his opinion that counts!
So what does this story teach us today, all these years later? From what Jesus taught his disciples on this occasion, I want to talk about VAT ! That is, I want to highlight Three V-A-Ts, three "Value Added Truths" that we find in the teaching of Jesus! Three ways in which we can add value to our giving.
THE FIRST "VAT" is that God works out the value of what we give, not by the amount we give, but by the amount we have left over, after we have given our gift! In the case of the widow, she had nothing left – hence the amazing judgement that Jesus made about her gift!
As one commentator says, "The Lord measures giving, not by what we give but by what we keep for ourselves" (Alan Cole, Luke Commentary page 196)
So, I need to think seriously about that VAT, that Value Added Truth, in relation to my giving - that God works out the value of my gift by the amount I have left over!
And I ask you think seriously about that VAT, that Value Added Truth, in relation to your giving - that God works out the value of your gift by the amount you have left over!
THE SECOND "VAT", the second Value Added Truth, is that our giving becomes more valuable in God’s eyes when it involves making a sacrifice. And that applies whether our gift is large or small.
What does it mean to make a sacrifice? There was once a pig and a hen walking down a city street when they came upon a Little Chef. The sign outside said: "Come and sample our egg and bacon breakfast!" The pig turned to the hen and said: "It's all right for you, you only have to give an offering - I have to make a sacrifice!"
A sacrifice means that we disadvantage ourselves, so that someone else benefits. As someone once said, "A gift becomes so much more valuable if we have had to do without something or have had to work doubly hard in order to give it."
So I need to ask myself, is my giving made more valuable in God’s sight because it contains an element of sacrifice? And I ask you, is your giving made more valuable in God’s sight because it contains an element of sacrifice?
THE THIRD "VAT", the third Value Added Truth is that our giving becomes more valuable in God’s eyes when it is given in faith.
The widow showed that she had total faith in God since she gave away all she had. She was so full of faith that she believed God would either provide for her in some way, or enable her to earn some more money. And so the challenge to us is to follow her example and to give in faith.
Let me unpack this a bit further. To give in faith to the work of the kingdom of God, means that in the area of finance, we learn to trust Kingdom principles rather than worldly principles. Worldly principles are all about getting as much as possible and paying as little as possible. In the kingdom of God, this is turned upside down – or, I should I say, turned right way up!
Consider two kingdom principles that Jesus taught about money in the kingdom of God. First, one of the few sayings of Jesus that is found outside the Gospels comes in the book of Acts. Jesus said, It is more blessed to give than to receive (20.35 NIV NRSV)
What do you think when someone wins the Lottery or is left a lot of money in someone's will? Do you ever feel slightly envious? We might regard someone who has come into a lot of money as being "blessed". And certainly it is a blessing to be on the receiving end of someone's generosity.
But Jesus says, "It is more blessed to give than to receive"! Do we believe him? Notice that he doesn't say "more happy", he says "more blessed" – which means that someone must be doing the blessing! The implication is that that person is blessed by God. So a first kingdom principle is that when we give, we will be especially blessed!
A second kingdom principle that Jesus teaches about money is found in Luke's Gospel. In chapter 6, verse 38, Jesus says.....
Give, and it will be given to you. (NRSV)
A good measure,
pressed down,
shaken together,
running over,
will be put into your lap;
for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.
So in the area of finances, the kingdom principle is that when we give, God will give back to us! But do we believe him?
If those of us who attend church regularly were asked the question, "Do you believe in Jesus?", I imagine we would have no difficulty in saying, "Yes". After all, we say in the creed every Sunday that we do. But I wonder how we would respond if we were asked the same question, minus one word! Not, "Do you believe in Jesus?", but, "Do you believe Jesus?"
So when Jesus says, "It is more blessed to give than to receive", Do we believe him? And when Jesus says, "Give and it will be given to you", Do we believe him? This calls for faith! The widow had this faith and Jesus commended her for it.
I could relate to you examples of how I have personally proved these words of Jesus to be true in my own life, both at a personal financial level, and at the level of local church finances. However, instead of tell you one of my stories, let me tell you how my younger son Jonathan once learned that Jesus' teaching about giving is true - how he learned to believe Jesus.
One Saturday when Jonathan was ten years old, we were talking over the meal table about how donations were going to be given to Tearfund at the Harvest Service the next day. My wife Irene suggested that he and his brother might each put some of their own money in an offertory envelope. At that time, the amount in his Young Saver's Account at Lloyds Bank had risen to the grand sum of £50.
We made it clear that whatever he gave, it would be his decision. I also told him about what Jesus said: Give and it will be given to you.
However at one point in the conversation he visibly balked at the idea of giving away what to him would have been a large amount. This was because at that stage in his life Jonathan was a Lego addict and he was planning to buy the Lego Western Gold Mine, and too large a gift to Tearfund would have meant that his bank account would dwindle. You see Lego kits are not cheap! In the end he gave £5! Not bad for a ten year old.
The following day, I went up to West Yorkshire to visit my parents. With all the pressures on their life at that time, my parents had forgotten Jonathan's birthday the previous month. However I had decided not to say anything about it to them.
However, after a meal together, my Dad said to me, "Oh we forgot Jonathan's birthday. Could I give you a cheque. I said that Jonathan would love some money to put towards his Lego and that he would be quite chuffed to be given a cheque made payable to himself. My Dad promptly wrote out a cheque........for £10 !
Was that a coincidence? Or was the Lord teaching my son a wonderful lesson about his promise, "Give, and it will be given to you; a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For the measure you give will be the measure you get back".
Some people have suggested that it is an odd thing that Christ promises to give back to us if we give. But it makes sense. If you were God and you wanted to release money to be used for the work of the kingdom, who would you give it to?
Answer: to those who are generous. Because you know that the more you give them, the more they will give it for the work of the kingdom! As one farmer put it, "As soon as I shovel out things to others, the Lord just shovels things back to me - and the points is, his shovel is bigger than mine!"
However, it calls for faith. Jesus didn't say, "I will give to you and then you give"! It's the other way round: Give, and (then) it will be given to you! It may seem nonsense in worldly, economic terms, yet it is a principle of the kingdom of God. I could tell you many stories of how this has worked out in my own experience, but there's not time now.
So, do I believe Jesus? Do you believe Jesus?
This Sunday marks the beginning of your Pay Our Way Initiative. It will last for four weeks, ending on Sunday July 6. During these four weeks, your PCC is asking all members of the Priory to consider making an increase in your regular giving to the church. A How Can We Pay Our Way leaflet has been produced which sets out, in a very clear and succinct way, the situation that you are facing financially at this time.
I am very aware that the last eighteen month period has been a very difficult time for you. John Wardle’s illness came as a great sadness to John and Linda and their wider family, and as a great sadness to you, the church family. We all hoped and prayed that John would recover from his illness, and it came as a great disappointment that he didn’t, and as we know he finally decided to take early retirement on health grounds.
Then on top of that, you have had the additional disappointment of not receiving any applications for the post of Vicar when the advertisement was placed in the Church Press some weeks ago. I spoke to one of the trustees only last night and he assured me that the trustees are continuing to give this matter their full attention and he, himself, approached someone only on Friday. I am pleased that there is at present one expression of interest, so let’s all pray that the Holy Spirit will guide all involved clearly over these next few weeks.
So thank you to all of you who have worked tirelessly during this stressful time, particularly to Frank and Helen, your Churchwardens, and to Godfrey and, I am sure, many others.
As I was saying, a leaflet has been produced which sets out, in a very clear and succinct way, the situation that you are facing financially at this time. You may like to turn to it for a moment. So on page two it reminds us that unlike the National Health Service, the churches up and down our land are not funded from a central source, and that all the money required to pay for the ministry of the Priory has to be raised by you. The leaflet then explains that last year the running costs of the Priory were just over £131,000, and that the expenditure was well over £145,607 which led to a £15,000 deficit. I will be very happy to talk about the details of this on Wednesday when there will be an open PCC meeting at 6.30pm following the service, to which anyone is welcome.
PCC members have met and they have done the sums and have worked out that if every member of the Priory were to increase their giving by £3 per week, then that would solve the problem and, as the leaflet says, you will have peace of mind. This, in a nutshell, is the challenge that you face. In the light of this, the key question that I would invite you to ask yourselves is, "How would the Lord Jesus have you respond to this?"
As the leaflet says, some of you may not be able to afford £3 a week more. Some of you will be able to afford an extra £3 a week. And some of you will be able to afford more than an extra £3 per week. So I invite you to pray about this and to listen to what the Lord might be saying to you.
Let me make a personal comment at this point. You’ve heard the expression, "Put your money where your mouth is!" Well, I’ve been doing quite a bit of mouthing about money this morning, and as today drew nearer and as I was thinking about it, I felt more and more that I should respond by putting my money where my mouth is and respond myself to your Pay Our Way Initiative. Since at present I do not give regularly to the Priory, if I was to "increase" my giving I would need to give £3 per week. And that is what I had decided to do, until I read lines 5 and 6 of the leaflet where it says, "While some of us may not be able to afford this much (an extra £3 per week) some of us will be able to afford more". That line challenged me, because I can afford more! So today I would like to respond to this Pay Our Way initiative by pledging to give twice that amount each week at least until the end of 2009 when I will review it. So I will be setting up a Standing Order for £6 per week from July as part of my own personal giving. (£26 per month). I have put my pledge in this envelope which I will put in the offering this morning.
And as I join with you, I invite you to join with me in by responding by returning the form on the back of the leaflet by Sunday July 6. And as you consider your response to this challenge, imagine that you are there in Jerusalem in the Temple courtyard putting your offering in the collection box, and that Jesus looks up as you put your response in the box, and sees what you put in! Because the truth is, he is watching!
He sees our every action! He sees when we make a pledge, when we put money on the collection plate, when we put money in an offertory envelope, when we write out a cheque, when we fill out standing order form, or make arrangement through on line banking. When we do these things, Jesus looks up and sees!
And the story of the Widow's Mite teaches us that he doesn't just see what we give, he also sees what we have left over!
So talk to him about what he would have you give, and, as his disciple, pray for the faith to follow what he says !