23rd Sunday After Pentecost

1 Kings 17:8-16

⁸Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, ⁹“Go now to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and live there; for I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” ¹⁰So he set out and went to Zarephath. When he came to the gate of the town, a widow was there gathering sticks; he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, so that I may drink.” ¹¹As she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” ¹²But she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a jug; I am now gathering a couple of sticks, so that I may go home and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.” ¹³Elijah said to her, “Do not be afraid; go and do as you have said; but first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterwards make something for yourself and your son. ¹⁴For thus says the Lord the God of Israel: The jar of meal will not be emptied and the jug of oil will not fail until the day that the Lord sends rain on the earth.” ¹⁵She went and did as Elijah said, so that she as well as he and her household ate for many days. ¹⁶The jar of meal was not emptied, neither did the jug of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah.

Hebrews 9:24-28

²⁴For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made by human hands, a mere copy of the true one, but he entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. ²⁵Nor was it to offer himself again and again, as the high priest enters the Holy Place year after year with blood that is not his own; ²⁶for then he would have had to suffer again and again since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to remove sin by the sacrifice of himself. ²⁷And just as it is appointed for mortals to die once, and after that the judgment, ²⁸so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

Mark 12:38-44

³⁸As he taught, he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, ³⁹and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets! ⁴⁰They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”

⁴¹He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. ⁴²A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. ⁴³Then he called his disciples and said to them, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. ⁴⁴For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

A Matter of the Heart

True Discipleship Take 2

We could simply say the Gospel lesson is nothing more than Jesus scolding those who gave out of abundance and duty over against the poor widow who gave all that she have. We could say that this sermon will be another stewardship sermon so pull out those checkbooks day planner - think about the pot roast that could get a little too done if the pastor preaches too long. To me its much more than just what we see lying on the surface. These texts take yet another heart examination of what it means to be completely heart dedicated to God. What it means to live out lives of crazy faith in our Lord Jesus. Whatever side of the table we are on - either poor or rich - we learn a lesson by these texts.

Take away the notion of rich means bad and poor mean good. That misses the point. What matters here is the HEART. We can appear to be religious as Jesus points us and where does it get us? A line in the Gospel about whom Jesus doesn't what his followers to be like. You can look the part, act the part, but to BE the person of faith full of humility and discipleship intentions takes a heart dedicated to God and the life of a Christ follower - that is what it means to be truly rightous.

Thank you Waldo Weaning for bringing some clarification to the table when it comes to giving and matters of the heart. We have heard dozens of stewardship sermons over the years. This is not one of them. So if you were hoping to hear a sermon about stewardship I am sorry to disappoint you. Studies have shown attendance drops and ears turn off when pastors preach about money. Let me explain Waldo's thoughts and guidance that we can apply to the Gospel today.

1. You have to (law)

2. You ought to (obligation)

3. You want to (grace)

The widow who had nothing more to give because she knew that she and her boy were facing their last meal - how dare this so called prophet ask for what they had left? What is half of nothing? NOTHING. "I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a jar, and little oil in a jug. I am now gathering sticks so that Y may go home and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die." Sounds like a perfect candidate for the local optimism club eh?

To believe that God can provide out of such nothing it takes faith. Elijah had to be thinking - OK Lord this better work or I am in a lot of trouble. Faith beloved! "Do not be full of fear. go and do as you have said, but first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterwards make something for your son. For thus says the Lord the God of Isreal, The jar of meal will not be emptied and the jug of oil will not fail until the day that the Lord sends rain on the earth. She went and did as Elijah said, so that she was well as he and her household ate for many days." A matter of faith and a pinch of perspective.

Applying the Text

1. Hate to break it to you - appearances mean NOTHING.
1. If you wear jeans to church you will be evaporated in a cloud of smoke right in the pew.
2. "Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in marketplaces, and to have the best seats in the synagogues, and places of honor at the banquets! They will receive greater condemnation."
3. Whether you wear your farm jeans on Sunday by accident or you were the only jeans you have what matters to God is your heart.
   
4. The temple system of that day took this widows whole life rather than praising her incredible crazy faith.
   
2. See God as the great provider.
1. Praise God from whom all blessings flow...
2. "The jar of meal was not emptied neither did the jug fail according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah.
3. We give Thee but Thine own,
   Whate’er the gift may be;
   All that we have is Thine alone,
   A trust, O Lord, from Thee.
3. Our hearts lead us to give and to live through lives of humility.

1. One man said to another at a school function: "I've been racking my mind, but I can't place you. You look very much like somebody I have seen a lot - and for some reason I get the feeling you're somebody I don't LIKE - but I can't remember why. Isn't that strange?"

   "There's nothing strange about it," said the other man. "For the last two years I've passed you the collection plate in church!"

2. If what we have belongs to God to begin with - that he has blessed us beyond our means - then how now shall we live?
3. How we approach ministry comes through this new found sense of humility as well.