Notes - You Belong: Fro A Purpose - Sermon #05

You Belong: For A Purpose – Sermon #05

a2vc.org • Feb 09, 2020 • Rev. Donnell T. Wyche • donnell.wyche@annarborvineyard.org • (734) 649-7163

Preamble

We’re so glad you are here with us this morning. We’re grateful for you and the gifts of God that you bring with you into this space. As a church we partner with the liberating presence of God to cultivate joy, hope & belonging as Jesus invites us into freedom, keeps us free, and helps us free others. We pray that whether this is your first time with us this morning, or you’ve been a part of our community for a while, that you will feel the invitation of the Holy Spirit to join in with our vision. If you are looking for a church home, we would love to be your church home, and I, in particular would love to become your pastor.

Let’s get started with a video testimony detailing our past, present, and future as a church.

You Belong Video

Are you ALL IN?

In the middle of a series of passages about the corruption in the Temple–the center of Jewish economic and religious life–Jesus tells the story of a widow.

³⁸As he taught, Jesus said, “Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, ³⁹and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. ⁴⁰They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely.”

⁴¹Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. ⁴²But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny. ⁴³Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. ⁴⁴They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.” (Mark 12:38-44)

On the surface this is the perfect passage for a preacher to use to get you to part with your money. A sermon in this vein would go something like this,

Do you trust God the way this widow does? She believes that God will meet all of her needs. Look at her? She possesses what God loves the most, faith! She trusted God with everything, are you “All IN” like she is? Or are you like the wicked teachers of the law, who only give out of their overflow. The faith of this widow is so important, it’s so powerful that Jesus takes notice, and tells her story and I’m here this morning to invite you to join this widow in learning what it means to live sacrificially. Is your all on the alter?! Or are you holding something back? Remember, we serve a God who goes ALL IN with us, are you ALL IN with him? Sometimes, the scripture just preaches itself.

These People Honor Me with Their Lips

If we reduce this passage of scripture to just a homily on sacrificial giving, we may get a good sermon on giving, but we may also miss what Jesus is doing here.

Can you be faithful and generous in the midst of the worries and anxieties you have about money? What do you do with your loss, fear, and pain?

Good questions, I’m so glad you asked!

Many of us have to contend with our growing fears about money, and whether we will have enough to pay down our student loan debt, to navigate rising health insurance costs, to find peace as the cost of day care equals that of our rent or mortgage, or even the fears and concerns we have as we figure out how we will care for our aging parents or our adult children still living at home with us.

There are lots of scriptures (Phil. 4:6-7, Matt 6:25-34, Psalm 34:4, Luke 12:22, Isaiah 41:10) that speak to us when we are fearful and encourage us to have faith in God’s ability to provide for us and our needs. But none of these scriptures condemn us, instead they encourage us to grow our faith, increase our trust, or lament that we feel overwhelmed.

Jesus understands this anxiety and worry, especially since he had to contend with his own complaints to God. When he was overwhelmed, he lamented. In the Garden of Gethsemane, he poured out his soul to God. Surely, Jesus was anxious for something in that moment. If someone has ever used Phil 4:6-7 to suggest that you are sinning because you are worried or anxious about ends meeting, I want you to consider Jesus in the Garden. I don’t think anyone would consider Jesus’ anxiety as sin, so I want to encourage you as well, it’s okay take your anxieties and fears to God, just as Jesus models for us. Our laments are a form of spiritual formation because they are a form of honest prayer before God. The Psalms teach us that God wants us to be utterly honest, especially when we are angry at God or worried about what we lack.

As I consider the widow,

I’m struck by her faith and what appears to me to be her complete and utter trust in God. I wonder how this widow developed her trust in God, in spite of the corruption of the temple and the spiritual leaders who seem okay with her being a poor widow. This presents a question.

The widow in Mark 12, who was anonymous in her love and affection to God until Jesus shines a light on her, helps us see what’s at stake as we attempt to be the people of God. Her poverty in an agrarian society where it was necessary to own and work the land for survival, is a scandal. It’s a scandal because the widow, along with the fatherless and the foreigner, were the most vulnerable and dependent among the people of God. The God who goes all in with us had a solution for their vulnerability, this dilemma– planted within the Law of Moses were all sorts of safeguards and social safety nets, which were designed by God to ensure that a widow, the fatherless, and the foreigner wouldn’t become destitute and starve to death.

¹⁷For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. ¹⁸He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigners residing among you, giving them food and clothing. (Deuteronomy 10:17–18)

²²“Do not take advantage of a widow or an orphan. ²³If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry. ²⁴My anger will be aroused, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives will become widows and your children fatherless. (Exodus 22:22–24)

Note: Isn’t it ironic that God who vows to protect widows is willing to become the widow-maker in their defense.

Let’s continue…

²⁸At the end of every three years, bring all the tithes of that year’s produce and store it in your towns, ²⁹so that the Levites (who have no allotment or inheritance of their own) and the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns may come and eat and be satisfied, and so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. (Deuteronomy 14:28–29)

The scripture continues to note over and over again God’s special concern with the widows, the fatherless, and the foreigners; it’s as if they hold a special place in God’s heart and mind.

Justice, Mercy and Faithfulness

When we see the widow giving her all in the court of the women, we may want to pause to consider that Jesus may just be using this widow’s offering to represent something, she might serve as a signpost of just how far we may have missed the mark. Part of the shalom that God promised his people included a blessing to bless the land with enough harvests, more than enough to meet the needs of everyone within the community, this always included the widows, the fatherless, and even the foreigners.

Did you notice that when Jesus calls his disciples over, he doesn’t conclude the widow’s story by telling his disciples to follow her example? Jesus doesn’t say, do what the widow did. This is because Jesus knows that the opposite of the sin of selfishness is not the absence of selfishness, it’s the practice of generosity. Remember what I said a few weeks ago, if you read the scripture, Jesus rebukes the wealthy for not being generous. He never condemns the poor for being the poor. I believe he tells the widow’s story as an example of what someone who trusted and had faith in God looks like. Her act of generosity serves as a condemnation on unbelief and empty religion. He tells this story because the purpose of giving is to grow the giver’s heart.

It feels like something that James, the brother of Jesus says,

¹⁴What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if people claim to have faith but have no deeds? Can such faith save them? ¹⁵Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. ¹⁶If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? ¹⁷In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. (James 2:14-17)

As we think through what it means for us to be a church in this place, at this time, I hope we want to be a church that is full of faith and full of works. Both and. I want us to be a community that is willing to trust Jesus with everything as he calls us to follow him into life through the narrow gate.

More than anything, I want us to be known by our generosity. But it is hard to be generous if you are mad or angry with God. You can’t be generous if you feel like you don’t have a way to talk about your needs. You won’t be generous if you feel like you will be blamed for your fears.

When Kingdoms Clash!

As we make our way forward, we must be aware of and open to the reality that kingdoms will clash. The Empire wants to convince us that there isn’t enough, “Hoard, so you have enough,” because when there’s not enough, we won’t see each other as participating in the shared humanity. Instead, we will see each other as competitors fighting over scarce resources.

But God says, “Give, so that you have enough.” There is enough in my kingdom, God says, enough for you, for me, and for us.