July 30 & 31

July 30, 2010

Each month church women's organization around the globe take up an offering called "The Least Coin." I used to think that this offering was uniquely Presbyterian but now that I serve a UCC and PC(USA) federated congregation I learned that this is not the case. It appears to be a ministry of Church Women United, an interdenominational organization founded in 1941 and support by 70 plus denominations. The name of this special monthly offering, The Least Coin" comes from Luke 21, the story of when Jesus and the disciples were watching people put their gifts in the Temple treasury His eye caught a poor widow who emptied her purse by dropping in two small copper coins--the smallest monetary denomination of the time and region. He drew his disciples attention to the woman and said, "Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them; for all of them have contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on." (21: 1-4) (The implication of Jesus' words is that she gave all that she had to live on for that day.) In honor of her women take out the "least coin" in their monetary denomination and offer it (usually people put in more than the least, but that is a different story). The irony is that they only take the story at face value and do not take on the spirit of the teaching!

One of the things that I talk about with couples who are getting married is finances. I tell them that money is never the real issue in a marriage, it is only a symptom of the real issue. Money and possessions represent power in our world. Jesus was aware of this because he spent more time talking about the power of money and possessions than he did any other subject including prayer. To Jesus money and possessions were spiritual barometers of a person's health. The story of the least coin is not really about money. It is about trust. Who do we trust, really trust in life? Earlier in Luke's gospel Jesus told the story of a man often referred to as "The Rich Fool." It was about a man whose barns were full and who faced a bumper harvest. He asked himself what he should do and came up with the brilliant idea "I will build bigger barns!" The man was a rich fool because rather than seeing his surplus as a tool to do Kingdom work, he thought his surplus would provide with with more security! The unfortunate and unforeseen circumstance of Jesus' story lies in the fact that the man died before the "bigger barns" were constructed.

When the children of Israel were journeying to the Promised Land they experienced a time of Divine blessing--"manna from heaven." They didn't have to do anything to receive the manna but they could not "put back" extra manna for a rainy day. Unfortunately that is exactly what more than a few tried to do, to very bad results.

The story of the Widow's Offering is a story of trust or more specifically, trust in God. Do we really believe the words of the Doxology--Praise God from Whom all blessings flow or to we trust ourselves and our own wit? This passage is not about a vow of poverty but it does raise the question "how much is enough?" The woman cast her lot, so to speak, with God's providential care. There is no indication that she went without food because of her generosity, not that her children (if she had any) went hungry. But she knew that she was more than what she had. She was a Child of God and as a Child of God she lived as generously as her Father. The question before us is this, can we go and do likewise?

July 31--Luke 22

The plot thickens. Before this chapter is finished Jesus will be betrayed, arrested and denied. In the midst of all of this, though, we have the institution of the Lord's Supper. The thing that I find most interesting in the story of the "Last Supper" is that Jesus "offers" the elements to all 12 of the disciples--even to the one who was to betray him! This is truly a sign of unmerited grace--divine and holy grace. After Jesus passed the Cup and the Bread to the disciples he observes that the one who will betray him is at Table with him, indeed, the betrayer's hand is on the Table! Not only that, but all of the disciples begin to question one another as to who it is, indicating that each one of them is capable of betrayal! Out of this questioning a dispute arises among the disciples as to which one of the was "the greatest." Peter may have been the presumed favorite one to the title of "Greatest", after all he was "the rock upon which the Church would be built" but Jesus quickly puts him in his place that saying that before the cock crows Peter will deny knowing Jesus three times! Jesus also indicates that greatness in God's Kingdom is not found in position but in service. In John's gospel Jesus gives a "living testimony" by washes each of the disciples' feet and telling them that they too must put on a servant's towel and serve.

One of the hallmarks of the Presbyterian Church (USA) is the acknowledgment that we are "saved to serve." (Book of Order, G-2.0500a) A living congregation is a serving congregation; serving one another, their community, their nation and the world! If our servanthood stops at any one of these layers we cease to grow and we become stagnate. So, for me, the question in this reading is "Am I growing in my service to God's Kingdom or have I "settled" into a comfort zone?