Sermons

It's been almost three days since we pushed away from the Thanksgiving dinner table, and I think with a little luck I might be breathing normally again by tonight. Thanksgiving has become an occasion for paying particular attention to some of the most important and meaningful aspects of our living - family, friends and food - as a way of celebrating the amazing gift of life. And when we participate in this wonderfully rich tradition, we are, in fact, aligning ourselves with an experience of faith that dates back thousands of years. In the book of Deuteronomy there is a ritual which is prescribed with the intent of helping people stay connected with the ever-present reality of God's love and grace in their lives. "The Law of the Tithe" sets forth a plan for throwing a sacred party on an annual basis for the sole purpose of remembering that God is good. And this is no tame, mild-mannered, boring get-together. This is a "pull out all the stops, no holds barred, blow out" of a party. After being instructed to turn the tithe of their produce into cash, the people are told to "spend the money for whatever you wish - oxen, sheep, wine, strong drink, or whatever you desire. And you shall eat there in the presence of the Lord your God, you and your household rejoicing together." (Deuteronomy 14: 26) That sounds a whole lot like the underlying purpose of our Thanksgiving celebrations - at least when we remember to pay attention. We get together with people we care about and we lay out a feast of foods that we particularly enjoy and we celebrate the amazing gift of life which God has given us. So, for all of us who participated in a Thanksgiving feast in some fashion or other, we are well on our way to practicing the deep, spiritual discipline of gratitude.
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We are regularly bombarded by messages of scarcity. "There is not enough - not enough food, not enough money, not enough oil, not enough safety, not enough love, not enough God. We are not enough - not smart enough, strong enough, attractive enough, spiritual enough, good enough." Such messages hit us fast and hard and often from all sides - including even from inside ourselves. And to the extent that we believe these messages of scarcity we fall prey to one of the great falsehoods of our day. It simply is not true. We live in an abundant universe. We worship an abundant God. There is enough, and more than enough. We are enough, and more than enough.
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Mark 12: 38-44 * Roger C. Lynn * November 12, 2006

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I would not want to even venture a guess about how many stewardship sermons have been preached using this text. I've probably even done it myself. And I'm telling you now that to do so is to miss the point. This is not, at it's heart, a stewardship text. It is a warning about the dangers of putting more emphasis on the appearance of "righteousness" than on "justice."
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