HALF EMPTY OR HALF FULL? THANKSGIVING AND STEWARDSHIP SUNDAY (11/20/16) Scripture Lesson: Mark 12:41-44

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Miranda Stone
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1 Scripture Lesson: Mark 12:41-44 HALF EMPTY OR HALF FULL? THANKSGIVING AND STEWARDSHIP SUNDAY (11/20/16) It was the best of times; it was the worst of times. It was the age of wisdom; it was the age of foolishness. It was the epoch of belief; it was the age of incredulity. It was the season of light; it was the winter of despair. We had everything before us; we had nothing before us. We were all going direct to heaven; we were all going direct the other way. This powerful passage was not written in response to our recent election; it was written 157 years ago by the British author Charles Dickens. These are the opening lines of his novel, A Tale of Two Cities, one of my favorite novels. What is interesting is that Dickens was describing life not only the middle 1800 s in England and France, but also the previous century, specifically the period just preceding the French Revolution. The passage reveals the timeless nature of this novel for, as you will note, it speaks to our time as well. Every age could be seen as both the best of times and the worst of times. Every age has had its people of wisdom as well as its share of fools. In every age some people make creative contributions in art and literature while others live lives untouched by creativity. Every age has stood on the verge of a new and brighter future, though every age has also had its predictions of the end of time. Every age has seen people make significant scientific contributions while others have opposed these advances, often in the name of religion. Every age has had its saints as well as a goodly share of those whose actions appear to have been guided by the devil. Are we now living in the best of times or the worst of times? How you answer this question may depend on who you are and where you live on this planet. Some of us live in luxury while others watch their children starve to death before their eyes. Some of us enjoy state of the art medical care while others do not receive even the most rudimentary forms of treatment. Some of us live in relative security while others dwell in countries ravaged by war. Is your cup of life half empty or half full? It may depend on who you are and where you live on this planet. Whether you see our age as the best of times or the worst of times may also depend on how you view life and your life. Some of us awaken each day with joy in our hearts, while others greet the new day with dread. Some of us are happy with little, while others are unhappy with lots. Some of us feel we receive of the fullness of life, while others feel cheated. Some of 1

2 us embrace a philosophy of abundance, while others live out of a philosophy of deprivation. Some of us gladly share the little crust of bread we have, while others hoard their possessions and share nothing. In the scripture lesson we heard this morning, Jesus challenges us to think about what we do with whatever life has entrusted to us. The people of Jesus time and country were oppressed. They were poor, partially because they were taxed beyond their capacity to pay. In the passage that precedes our scripture lesson, Jesus talks about those who devour widows houses. The people of his time, just as in Dickens time and in our time were hungry and in need of healing. But throughout history there have always been people who, because of their faith, were led to share what little they had. Jesus knew how much his people suffered. Time and again we read that he was moved with compassion for those whom he encountered on his travels. Yet Jesus called people to look past the difficulties of their lives to something that could make their lives not only bearable but meaningful and even beautiful. In this morning s lesson, Jesus is sitting in the temple, surrounded by his disciples. He suddenly calls attention to a widow who has just made a contribution to the temple treasury. The woman has dropped two coins into a trumpet-shaped metal tube. The point Jesus makes is simple. The gift that counts is the gift that costs you something. Mother Theresa echoed this teaching in telling us, It you give what you don t need, it isn t giving. Jesus does not denounce the gifts that come out of surplus and abundance. He simply tells us that true giving is measured not by the size of the gift but by what it means, by the spirit that gave rise to it. As Jesus sits in the temple and watches people make their contributions, this widow s offering stirs him. Here was the real thing! In concrete terms, she is giving away her next meal. In the midst of all the noise caused by coins dropping into the metal receptacles, Jesus ears are attuned to the faintest noise of all, the sound of two small coins--the smallest coins in circulation. These coins were worth about two cents in purchasing power, yet in the sight of God, who looks on the heart, these two copper coins were an extravagant gift. What would have led this woman, described by Mark as a poor widow, to place her offering in the collection plate? She could have rationalized the withholding of her gift as eloquently as we rationalize the withholding of our gifts. What difference would my little gift make? Let those give who can afford it. I really don t have a penny to spare. No one will notice 2

3 whether I drop anything into the collection plate or not. At the end of the internal dialogue, the woman s coins would still be in her purse, just as the balance in our checkbook would not have dropped appreciably following our worship service. Jesus recognizes the greatness of the woman s gift. No gift of love is too small to count, nor can anyone be excused from the grace and duty of sharing. It is not that God is watching to see how much we give; God is more concerned with the heart that gives or withholds the gifts. This is the question that is posed in the account of the widow s offering. What would have led this woman to give away what little she had? What would lead her, in her poverty, to put in everything she had, her whole living? The widow s heart must have been overflowing with love for the temple. She wanted to do her part to build it up, to make it great that it might give to others as it had given to her. She must also have had a deep trust in God and also in life. She must have known and believed Jesus teaching: Give and it will be given to you--a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. The widow must have known and believed what Jesus had said about giving: The measure you give will be the measure you get back. In order to give such a gift, the woman must have seen her cup as half full. God knows she had reason to see it as half empty. To be a widow in Jesus time was not an enviable state. She had no status in the community. She may not have had an extended family to care for her. She was poor in a country without social safety nets. Yet she saw her cup as half full. She praised God for her blessings and gave her little gift out of a spirit of thanksgiving. Today is Stewardship Sunday. If we view the glass of life as half full, we fall into the category of optimists. This outlook gives rise to a spirit of generosity, to seeing our time with all its problems as the best of times, the sense that life is filling our cup, that it will continue to fill it, and that we need to be good stewards of our gifts. If we view the glass of life as half empty, we fall into the category of pessimists. This outlook leads to cynicism, to seeing our time as the worst of times and to hoarding, for we fear that life is draining away our resources and will eventually leave us empty and depleted. Think about it. Is your cup half full or half empty? When I think of the relationship between our attitude toward life and our religious faith, I am not sure which is the cause and which is the effect. If our natural inclination is to see our cup as half full, we will tend to have faith in people and trust in life; we will tend to have faith 3

4 and trust in God. The opposite may also be the case. If we are people of faith, people who trust in God s providence and care, we will naturally tend to see our cup as half full. Which is the cause and which the effect? We have just had a national election. Following the election some of us were overjoyed that our candidate won, while others were in shock that things went as they did. With regard to those of us who wanted a different outcome, some are able to look forward to the future with hope while others are filled with despair. Some of us are optimists and some are pessimists. If we see our cup of as half full, we will be grateful for what we have. If we see it as half empty, we will complain about why things are not as we would like them to be. But why do some of us fall into one category and some into the other? Today, on Thanksgiving Sunday, I would like us to think about just one possible factor in the way we view life--the matter of whether we believe we make a difference. I believe this was partially what lay behind the widow s offering. The widow must have believed that her gift, small as it was in relation to the gifts of others, still made a difference. People who view their cup as half full believe they make a difference. They feel that life responds to their efforts. Some young people believe that if they study, work hard, pay their dues, and have a good attitude, they will do well in life. Others believe that the cards are stacked against them and that success is a matter of blind luck. Those who believe their efforts make a difference are more apt to work hard, to do their little part to clean up the environment, to vote in an election. Those who adopt a fatalistic philosophy live in a smaller world. As the existentialists annoyingly point out, we live in the world that we create. I believe this dynamic holds true in our understanding of God. Some people believe that God is working in our world, that the presence of God makes a difference--in us, in our nation, in the world, and in the world through us. Others, looking at the very same world, cannot see God. They find no evidence of a higher power at work. Those who see God at work in the world have faith that the dark times through which we are passing as a nation and a world will lead to a new dawn, a new and more humane world order. Those who do not see God working within and through the hearts of people see nothing but darker days ahead. Is your cup half empty or half full? 4

5 Today, on Thanksgiving Sunday, I give thanks for this church. I don t know if our world is going through the best of times or the worst of times. Perhaps it is going through both, but I do know that our church makes a difference and that each of us makes a difference. Is this the best of times or the worst of times for our church? How could we see the cup of our church as half empty when we have the spirit we have in Sunday worship? How could we see it as half empty when so many people are working so hard to support all the projects that we undertake? How could we see it as half empty when our average pledge is so high and we give so much to missions every year? How could we see the cup of our church as half empty when we see what is happening in our study groups, how people are growing in their faith, a faith that gives rise to works. This is the message of our scripture lesson. The widow must have seen the cup of her life as half full, even though she was a widow and was consigned to not only a lonely life but also a life lived on the edge of poverty. What would lead her to share her last two coins with her church? This woman must have had faith and trust in God, faith and trust in life. Although she lived in a situation of deprivation, she must have lived out of a philosophy of abundance. If your cup is half full and you empty it by sharing what you have with others, life will fill it again. Do we need another reason to be thankful in this Thanksgiving season and to be good and generous stewards of all our gifts? A sermon preached by the Reverend Paul D. Sanderson The First Community Church of Southborough November 20,

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