Today's Sermon

 

"We Are Generous"

 

Psalm 146
Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God all my life long. Do not put your trust in princes, in mortals, in whom there is no help.
When their breath departs, they return to the earth; on that very day their plans perish. Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; who keeps faith forever; who executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free; the Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the strangers; God upholds the orphan and the widow, but the way of the wicked God brings to ruin. The Lord will reign forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Praise the Lord!

Mark 12:41-44
He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. Then 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. For 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.”

Last month, Rob and I received an email from a Westminster congregant about our 2025 Stewardship campaign.  This person explained that, though they had been looking forward to making a significant contribution, their financial situation was unexpectedly troubling.  They wrote, “My main contribution to Westminster will be my service time - however I can further our worship and mission.  I was, however, inspired by the approach to the donations thermometer to track participation rather than dollars.  Accordingly, I will bring a check for $100 on Sunday so I can be counted among the supporters.”

We are generous.

Throughout the month of October, over 30 Westminster members and friends were involved in our “Welcoming Home” ministry.  We were connected with a mom and two kids who had recently fled from a domestic violence situation and were able to find an apartment of their own.  However, they did not have the resources to adequately furnish their apartment.  So many of you offered both money and goods in service of this family.  On October 26, Westminster volunteers assembled and moved everything in to the apartment to create a brand new living situation for this family.

We are generous.

I share these stories with you as a reminder of the generosity that is already such an important part of this community.  There are many more stories I could have told!  Not just financial generosity, though that is important, but generosity of time and talent and gifts and passions.

We are generous.

So here we are, on the first Sunday after the presidential election. I waited to write this sermon until after the results were in, thinking that I might say something different depending on who won.  But as it turns out, the same message about our call as Christians to be generous applies regardless of who is president.  We are in the middle of our “Who We Are” series, and I chose We Are Generous a couple months ago, knowing that these were two of the suggested scripture passages for today.  The Psalmist offers a very specific description of how we are called to be generous.  We are to execute justice for the oppressed, give food to the hungry, set the prisoners free, open the eyes of the blind, lift up those who are bowed down, watch over the stranger, uphold the orphan and widow.  This is what God does and this is what we are called to do.  That was our call last Sunday, that is our call this Sunday.  That has not changed.

The passage from Mark’s Gospel is a little more nuanced.  On the surface, it might seem like Jesus is telling us to give all we have, just as the widow does.  But that’s not exactly what is happening here.  To give this passage some context, I want to read the section that comes right before it.  Jesus says, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets! They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”

After saying that, Jesus sits and watches as people put money into the treasury.  Many rich people put in large sums, and the poor widow puts in two small copper coins. Jesus tells his disciples, “This poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For 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.”

Notice what Jesus does not say here.  He does not tell the disciples that everyone should be like the widow and give everything.  He does not commend the widow for her great sacrifice.  He just notices and points out the differences in the giving patterns.

The Rev. Dr. Rodger Nishioka is a Presbyterian pastor and former seminary professor.  I was taken by what he wrote about these two passages from Mark – which are really one teaching - back in 2009.  He writes, “Together, these two sections read as a lament for and an indictment upon any system that results in a poor widow giving all she has so that the system’s leaders may continue to live lives of wealth and comfort. The attack is on practices that mask egotism and greed. The scribes are like leeches on the faithful, benefiting from a system that allows poor widows to sacrifice what little they have. We should be outraged by any system that appropriates the property of the poor and the near-destitute in order to perpetuate wealth for the elite.”[i]

We are generous, and we are called to be generous not only on an individual basis, but on a systemic level. Giving of our time, talent, and resources to ensure that the orphan and widow and stranger are cared for not just for one day, but for all the days to come.  That was our call last Sunday, that is our call this Sunday.  That has not changed.

That kind of generosity is hard work.  It is long term.  And I know that many of you are just not feeling up to it right now.  That’s OK.  Let’s talk about the election just for a moment.  In Marin County, 80.1% of the voters voted for Harris and 17.7% voted for Trump. The other votes went to third party candidates.  If we assume those percentages are also true of the people in this room, that means that 80% of you are not happy with the results.  I have heard from many of you in the last few days, and your emotions run the gamut - shock, fear, dread, anxiety, disappointment, surprise, grief, anger.  You name it, 80% of you are feeling it. Therefore, me telling you today that Jesus is calling us to be generous to others and to dismantle unjust systems is probably not helping. 

So, for now, if it is helpful for you, I invited you to ignore everything I just said.  Not forever, just for now.  Let us remember that our call to be generous extends to ourselves as well.  Be generous with your compassion and kindness for your own tender soul.  I say this to everyone in this room, regardless of who you voted for.  Whether or not your preferred candidate won, it has been a really hard few months for us all, and it will likely continue to be hard in this very divided country.  It is a good and right thing to spend some time caring for yourself.  To tend to your own heart and soul.

When I first heard that our Alternative Christmas Fair was starting today, I was a little taken aback.  It’s only November 10!  Isn’t it a little early to be doing Christmas-y things at the church?  But I have to say, these last couple weeks – both pre and post election – I have been thinking a lot about Advent, and the reminder it brings about God’s presence in our lives.  During Advent, we celebrate God’s hope, peace, joy, and love breaking forth anew in our world in the form of the Christ child.  I have realized that our Christmas Fair is actually perfectly timed, because that is what is sustaining me right now.  That knowledge that God is with us – that God’s hope, God’s peace, God’s joy, and God’s love never fail and never end.  Receive and revel in those generous gifts from God.

And then, once you have tended your own soul, you’ll be ready to share those generous gifts of hope, peace, joy, and love with others and with the world. It could still be difficult. Maybe you don’t think you have what it takes.  Maybe you don’t trust in your own gifts and talents.  Maybe it just feels too overwhelming.  Maybe you think your contribution won’t be enough.  You are enough.  We are enough.  We have lived generously and we will continue living generously so God can use us, anywhere, anytime.

Jan Richardson is a poet and painter who tells the following story as an Advent reflection, though it is meaningful at any time of year.

“In Belfast there is a woman who lights candles for me. She has a gift for finding thin places: an eleventh-century stone sanctuary; a whitewashed church in the mountains; a chapel crypt that holds the bones of a saint. In those places, on an altar or in the chink of a wall, Jenny lights a candle, and she prays—in hope and in blessing.

The light comes as a vivid reminder that we have the power to help illuminate the path for each other.  It matters that we hold the light for one another. It matters that we bear witness to the Light that holds us all, that we testify to this Light that shines its infinite love and mercy on us across oceans, across borders, across time.

Who holds the light for you? Who might need you to hold the light for them in generous acts of love and grace?”

Richardson then closes with this poem -

Blessed are you
who bear the light
in unbearable times,
who testify to its endurance
amid the unendurable,
who bear witness to its persistence
when everything seems in shadow and grief.

Blessed are you
in whom the light lives,
in whom the brightness blazes—
your heart a chapel,
an altar where in the deepest night
can be seen the fire that shines forth in you
in unaccountable faith,
in stubborn hope,
in love that illumines every broken thing it finds.[ii]

Amen.

[i]Feasting on the Word, Year B, Vol. 4, pg. 286.

[ii]https://adventdoor.com/2014/12/12/advent-3-testify-to-the-light/