Sunday, November 10, 2024
/Pentecost – Proper 27
1 Kings 17: 8-16; Psalm 146; Hebrews 9: 24-28; Mark 12: 38-44
The Rev. James M.L. Grace
In the Name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. AMEN.
So, I have bad news and I have good news. Which do you want to hear first? The bad news is that in this sermon I am going to talk about the election. The good news is that I am also going to talk about stewardship!
Here is what I want to say about last week’s election, and I am going to be brief. There are people in our congregation who are celebrating that Trump was elected president. There are also people in our congregation who are really hurting because Trump was elected president. And we are one community.
And as one community, we care for each other, we love each other, we hold each other accountable, just as we hold our elected officials accountable. In his letter to the Romans, the Apostle Paul writes these words in chapter 12, verse 15: “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another.” As I said in my article in last week’s email (which I know everyone here reads) compassion is the only way all of us move forward to a brighter future for ourselves and for our children, and we do that together.
Moving on from the election to everyone’s favorite topic – stewardship. Here again I will be brief. Today we wrap up our six-week stewardship campaign through the act of blessing our pledges at the altar before the Eucharist. As of this Friday, 108 pledges totaling $767,000 have been returned. Nine of those pledges are from people who decreased their pledge from last year, twenty of those are pledges that remained the same as last year, nine of those are new pledges, and seventy are increased pledges. Awesome! We’re seventy-nine percent toward our pledge goal of $950,000.
If you haven’t yet returned your pledge to St. Andrew’s, you have a pledge card conveniently placed into your service order. Fill that card out today, place it in the envelope, and drop it into the collection plate when it passes you by later on in the service. Your pledge to St. Andrew’s is vital. Every year our operating budget starts at zero, and it is only through the generosity of your pledge that our ministry here is possible. St. Andrew’s is not subsidized by the Diocese of Texas. We count on your pledge to sustain all the ministry of this parish.
Ok. Now here is my sermon. Today we have a reading from the Gospel of Mark in which we hear about the widow who gave two small copper coins and placed them into the charity box at the Temple. An important, but sometimes overlooked, point of this story is that this woman was uniquely vulnerable as a widow. In a heavily patriarchal society, to be a widow meant that you were essentially powerless.
Jesus notices the widow and contrasts this poor, widowed, vulnerable woman with the scribes who walk around in long robes, (like I’m wearing), and who have the best seat in the temple, (like I do). Jesus is very clear to put forward the widow as the example we all should follow, meaning that the path toward God is through vulnerability, sacrifice, and surrender – rather than self-aggrandizement.
Here is my last point, and this is what I really hope you take away from this sermon. Jesus identifies with the widow, not the scribes. Why? I think it is because the widow had something the scribes completely seemed to lack – faith. Faith that even if she gave up two copper coins, God would provide for her, God would take care of her. Think about that for a moment.
As God cared for the widow (I believe) so God will care for you. But in order for God to care for you, it seems that you (and I) first need to have the hope, the faith, and the trust to allow God to do so.
With all the material possessions that you have, are you able to place your life into God’s hands the way a poor widow did two thousand years ago? If not, then perhaps it’s time to remove your long robe, come down from your seat at the banquet, and learn – maybe for the first time – how trustworthy God is with your life. AMEN.