God Wants it All

Reverend Philip Stringer

1 Kings 17:8-16

Mark 12:38-44

LET US PRAY: Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Feed us with your Word, and speak to our hearts, that we may love and serve only you, now and forever. AMEN

Do you like samples? . . . paint samples on our walls . . . Lowes Foods . . . Ice cream choices . . .

They have these little spoons so you can try first -- that’s nice. But the truth is, I’d like to just work down the line, but I’m too embarrassed to say so -- and by the time I finish, I’d be full anyway . . . I don’t want to have to choose -- I want it all.

Relationships are a little more difficult.

The first church I served after seminary was two hours from where I grew up. My hometown pastor joked that it was perfect. “Close enough that you can see your parents whenever you want, but far enough away that they have to call first before ‘just stopping by.’”

Patty’s dad died years ago. My mom has Alzheimer’s — are aging like the rest of us. I think back to those early days after seminary and think that two hours away from them is still too far.

I learned this past week that a seminary classmate died last Monday. He was just 64. Most of you know the strange and unhappy mystery of loss.

With some relationships, it’s like a sample at the ice cream shop — a little bit is enough. But with others, samples just won’t do. We truly and simply can’t get enough.

Today’s Gospel reading explores a common question regarding one’s offerings: “how much are we SUPPOSED to give? What’s the right amount?” It’s really the wrong question. The size of your offering or my offering isn’t the starting point. Our offering should be a reflection of how we answer a more important question: How deeply do you want to plunge into the Kingdom of God?

Today, the Word of God comes to us with good news: God saves us from having to choose between what will be God’s and what will be ours. God saves us from trying to find the amount of our lives that God wants us to hand over -- God saves us from the dilemma because The Word of God tells us plainly today: God wants it all.

But the other question remains. God wants all of us. But do you and I want to be all in?

I don’t mean for this to be a question that shames you. If we’re honest, the answer, of course, is, “no.” We don’t want to be all in. We approach the Kingdom of God like a polar bear swim . . . (ex). But I suspect that you are here this morning for the same reason that I am — because we know that growing in our faith is a good thing. We might be afraid to go “all in” on the Kingdom of God — but we’re trying — and our offering is an expression of that.

When we hear others say that they want it all -- and when we ourselves feel that we want it all -- that is rarely good news, because it almost always comes from greed and selfishness. But it IS good news that God wants it all, because what God wants is good for us -- and is motivated by perfect, self-giving love. What God wants for us is that we should have all of life.

The one who wants it all is also the one who gives up all for us. Jesus, the fullness of God -- gives up his life and sets aside his glory for you and me. The one who wants all of you, has already given all of himself. And from God we receive all that we are and all that we have. In a world of uncertainties and variables – today’s Scripture texts are all about absolutes -- the absolute love of God, who gives all -- and yet remains sovereign over all.

And whether we are ready to plunge head-first into the Kingdom of God or not — the Kingdom already surrounds us and is in us. Faith is what we need.

Our texts today remind us of what a life of faith — lived under the mantle of God’s faithfulness — is like.

Talking about finances and offerings — We often equate money matters with the word, “economy,” but the word means much more.

Economics – economus -- work

In God’s order, all have a place of dignity and safety. The powerless and the vulnerable are protected. The hungry and the helpless are fed and clothed. All share according to what they have received, so that the giving and receiving is not about the quantity of what is given, but the reason it is given. In the economy of God -- in the economy of love -- God DOES provide enough for all.

But Elijah didn’t experience this. As God’s prophet in Israel, he did not find equity and justice, but only selfishness and hardness of heart; traits that you and I encounter often, too. The people of the ancient near east knew that the foundation for community was hospitality -- caring for the stranger and for the helpless. In a desert wilderness, to turn your back on a stranger asking for shelter was to sentence them to death. All people knew that it was their fundamental duty to give food, water and shelter to strangers, and to protect them while they were under their roof. To turn them out is to kill them!

And the ultimate example of helpless was widows and orphans. A woman could not hold property and could not do business, her husband was her guardian and protector. A widow was a woman with no protector and no power.

Elijah found no welcome for himself among God’s own people. They refused to accept God’s sovereignty over them as a nation and rejected the prophet who called them to it. Those who should have known the way of God the best turned their backs on God’s economy of love.

So, God sent Elijah outside of Israel to gentile territory -- to the lands where Israel did not expect to find God -- to a widow and her orphaned son. God sent Elijah to her and she received him, because as a widow she knew the meaning and importance of hospitality. God gave and she received what God gave even against all conventional wisdom. She recognized Elijah as a gift; not a burden.

She was in the same boat with Elijah. She, too, had not been cared for as she should have been -- and because society had not cared for her, she and her son were likely going to starve to death.

And yet she did not allow that to reshape who she was. True, others had not fulfilled their obligation to her, but she would not use that as an excuse to avoid her own responsibility. She would show hospitality to this stranger, and she might die doing it. But if so, she will die knowing that she lived valuing and treasuring what is good. God is sovereign in her life. She lived by the economy of God — the way of God — and she discovered -- if she did not know it already -- that she was safe in the hands of God. Safe in the hands of God.

STORY – Hayao — When he wants to be held, it’s easy — but if he’s startled or sees something he wants — trying to hold onto him is like trying to carry soup without a bowl!

We are like this in the arms of God. God always catches us when we jump. But why is it that we spend so much time and energy trying to escape the one who is protecting us.

Why is it that we try to keep God at arm’s length when being cradled in God’s arms is the best place to be? “How much is enough?”

Today’s readings involve measures of wealth, but they really aren’t about money. They are about acknowledging the fact that all of who we are and what we have are given in love so that we can give in love, just as God does. God gives to us so that we might participate in God’s economy of love.

That changes giving, doesn’t it? When it comes to our offerings and our time and our talents, God doesn’t want tokens. God wants it all. Every minute, every action and every penny -- all of it.

That’s what God wants from you -- because it is only when we live in love that we are truly and fully alive.

Jesus sat in the Temple watching the people. He had just been through a series of confrontations with the rich and powerful who used their positions to prop themselves up -- people NOT living in the economy of God. Not only did they not fulfill the basic obligation to show hospitality to strangers and widows, they did the OPPOSITE. They cut off strangers and happily swindled the weak and vulnerable out of what little they had.

The offering jars in the Temple were actually shaped like large metal trumpets, which reverberated with the sound of coins being tossed into them. The rich loved these jars because the more you put in, the larger the racket. It was all about boasting and asserting the importance of the rich and the powerful over the poor and weak.

. . . Jesus shook his head. “Beware of this,” he said. Beware of it all for it is an unholy thing.

It was the offering of a poor widow that moved and excited him. “There!,” he shouted, “THAT’S what God wants!”

When it comes to giving -- God doesn’t want us to divide life into categories and shares -- God wants us to jump in with both feet! And that’s exactly what God does with us, too.

As the church, we are who we are and have what we have by God’s grace. People do not make the church strong -- God does.

People do not equip the church for ministry -- God does.

What God has given to us is enough — it is everything we need to be the church in this place and at this time. So let’s get in! Whether we dive in or inch in — let’s just get in!!

AMEN