A Tale of Two Gifts
Charles Dickens was a much better storyteller than I am, so I hope he’s not
going to haunt me because of my sermon’s title: “A Tale of Two Citi- [no] Two
Gifts.” Actually, there are two tales. One Tale of Two Gifts comes from the Gospel
of Mark. The other is a modern story.
These two tales are relevant because today is Ingathering Day, marking the
end of our formal Stewardship Season. A bit later, the financial pledges that have
been received to this point will be blessed. But today is NOT the end of our call to
discern and live out what it means for each of us to be faithful stewards or
managers of all that God has given us: our time, our talents, and our treasure.
Together in the community of St. Andrew’s, pooling our resources in wise
stewardship allows us to follow the Great Commandments more fully: to love
God with our whole being and to love our neighbors as ourselves.
Let’s explore this idea of stewardship a bit more from the viewpoint of the
Gospel of Mark. As I first read the passage assigned for today, I immediately
thought about a scene that happens a little later in the Gospel of Mark. It’s
interesting to notice the responses of most people to two very different gifts. The
first gift is given to the Temple for the worship of God. The widow quietly giving
her penny seems of no importance to most of those present.
In the later scene, a woman takes a precious alabaster jar filled with a
fragrant ointment called nard, breaks the jar open, and pours the ointment
lavishly over Jesus. Most criticize her for this extravagant act of worship. After all,
it wasted what could have been sold for a year’s wages and given to the poor. I
have to admit that I might have been one of those critics.
We’ll return to these scenes and change our focus to the responses of
Jesus. But first, a little detour. The modern Tale of Two Gifts comes from Lynne
Twist, a former colleague of Jim Whitton. They were both fundraisers for The
Hunger Project. Earlier this year, Jim and Keralee Clay, who is the Senior Vice
President of the Amarillo Area Foundation, led some formation classes. They
introduced us to the wisdom of Lynne Twist through a TED talk called “Freedom
from the Money Culture” as well as through her excellent book The Soul of
Money.
One day when Lynne was a fairly new fundraiser for The Hunger Project,
she began the day with a short early-morning meeting at the top of an imposing
skyscraper in downtown Chicago. She ended the day with a long evening
meeting in a church basement in Harlem.
In the morning, she nervously gave an 8-minute speech about the work of
The Hunger Project to the CEO of one of the largest food companies in the
world. A company that had been in the news because of a scandal regarding
some illegal activities. With no comment about her remarks, the CEO reached
across his huge desk to give her a pre-printed check for $50,000. Feeling
dismissed, Lynne put the check in her briefcase and headed to catch her plane.
In the evening, she was surrounded by about 75 church members attentive
to her passionate stories about the impact of The Hunger Project in Africa. When
she finally asked for their contributions, there was silence until one elderly
woman stood up and gave her own passionate speech:
“My name is Gertrude and I like what you’ve said and I like you. Now, I
[don’t have a] checkbook and I [don’t have a] credit card. To me, money is a lot
like water. For some folks it rushes through their life like a raging river. Money
comes through my life like a little trickle. But I want to pass it on in a way that
does the most good for the most folks. I see that as my right and as my
responsibility. It’s also my joy. I have [some money] in my purse and I want to
give it to you” (The Soul of Money, p. 101).
Gertrude walked to the front and gave Lynne some ten-, five-, and one-
dollar bills plus a big hug. Then, the others started coming forward with similar
contributions. Lynne couldn’t hold all the bills and coins, so she opened her
briefcase to collect the money.
In her hotel room that night, Lynne opened her briefcase and took out the
money she had received that day. On her bed, she put the $50,000 check in one
pile and, in another pile, the bills and coins from the church, which added up to
$637.33. She sensed that the check was a payment that carried the guilt and
shame of the food company. But the money from the church basement carried
the energy of a loving commitment to make a difference. That was the true gift.
The next day, Lynne mailed the $50,000 check back to the food company
CEO along with a letter politely suggesting that the CEO choose an organization
the company felt committed to. She didn’t hear back from the CEO until a few
years later. He had retired from the food company and, because of Lynne’s letter,
had been following the work of The Hunger Project. In his letter, he affirmed his
own commitment to ending world hunger and enclosed a personal check for
$250,000 to further the work of The Hunger Project. Another true gift.
Lynne concludes this Tale of Two Gifts with some wise observations.
“Money is like water. When it flows, it purifies, it cleanses, it makes things grow.
When it’s held and hoarded, just like water, it gets toxic, stagnant. It actually
makes you sick” (“Freedom from the Money Culture,” at 13:20). “No matter how
much or how little money you have flowing through your life, when you direct that
flow with soulful purpose, you feel vibrant and alive” (The Soul of Money, p. 119).
Maybe I’m not the only person here who could say this: My relationship
with money needs to be transformed. So, I’m re-reading Lynne Twist’s book, The
Soul of Money, and will ponder it for a while longer. It’s profound.
I’m also going to keep pondering the responses of Jesus to two gifts in the
week before his crucifixion. It's important to me and maybe to some of you to
notice that Jesus praises gifts that are given strictly as an expression of worship.
Now, he clearly is not against using money to serve others. He does not lose
sight of the need to care for people who have few financial resources. He calls
out the scribes who “devour widow’s houses.” He also reminds the critics of the
anointing that “you always have the poor with you, and you can show kindness to
them whenever you wish.”
As a deacon, I want to emphasize the importance of giving in service to
others. But I recognize that I have sometimes not balanced that important use of
money with other important uses of money, such as for worship. The St.
Andrew’s operating budget recognizes that we need money in order to be a
community of faith that not only worships and serves but also learns and
connects. We need all of this in order to endeavor together to more fully love God
with our whole being and love our neighbors as ourselves.
Finally, the Tale of Two Gifts in Mark fills me with gratitude. Jesus takes
notice of both gifts and, by his attention, blesses them. The tiny gift that no one
else cares about is worthy of his attention. He SEES that widow. And he SEES
the woman’s heart of devotion that leads her to anoint him with an extravagant
gift worth a year’s wages.
Likewise, each one of us here should be assured that God SEES us
personally and SEES the heart behind our gifts. It doesn’t matter how large or
small our gifts are. It doesn’t matter whether we focus on giving our time, our
talents, our treasure, or all three. God SEES us. We matter to God. Our gifts
matter. And our shared gifts make our common life at St. Andrew’s possible. By
God’s grace, we already have enough to flourish together. We just all need to
share the gifts God has given us. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Comments