"Holding on and letting go: a continuing struggle."
There is a story about a circus athlete who earned his living by displaying astonishing feats of physical strength. His show would normally conclude with a simple, but impressive, demonstration of his ability to squeeze a lemon dry! After completing his act, he would then challenge his audience to produce anyone who could extract even one drop of juice from the crushed fruit.
On one of these occasions, a little Scotsman volunteered. He was small enough that his very appearance raised a laugh from the spectators. Undaunted, however, the man stepped onto the stage and took from the athlete what appeared to be nothing more than a shriveled-up piece of rind. Then, bracing himself, he slowly and firmly compressed his right hand. Every eye was on him. The atmosphere was electric!
A moment or two elapsed and then, to everyone's amazement--and not least the athlete's--a drop of lemon juice formed and dripped to the floor. As the cheers subsided, the athlete beckoned the man to come forward, asked his name and then invited him to tell the crowd how he had managed to develop such fistic powers. "Nothing to it," replied Mr. Magruder; and then, with a grin, he added: "I happen to have been the treasurer of the local Episcopal Church!"
This story is humorous to us because it speaks a truth about how we think about church finances. There is a pervading sense that churches should be frugal at least and live as best they can on dollar donations. Like circus strongmen or Scottish treasurers, churches should do their best to squeeze out the last drop from every penny.
I'm not sure where this basic attitude known as "poor church" got started. Maybe it is the result of the financial excesses of the Middle Ages and maybe our inherited American puritanical ancestry continues to haunt us. Maybe it is just the continued struggle inside all of us between holding on and letting go.
For those of us who continue to struggle with holding on and letting go, giving to your church or any charity, I share with you this morning three understandings which have helped me change my giving habits.
Note that both of our stories this morning are about widows, the poorest of the poor in ancient Biblical times. Women were not allowed to work and there was no welfare and no Social Security. In the first story, a widow was commanded by the prophet Elijah--who surely looked for all the world like a wild man from the wilderness--to give up her last meal as an offering to him. Now, it is important to remember that times were hard in ancient Israel. There was no rain which resulted in widespread famine throughout the country. This woman was down to her last meal, yet she gave it to a starving prophet who came begging in the name of God, knowing it was her last morsel. It is an astounding act of generosity.
The New Testament story tells of another poor widow. She comes into the synagogue one day and gives to God of her poverty, everything she had, her whole living. I am astounded that a person would do this. In the face of such great personal need, she gave to God everything that she had.
While I do not believe that these stories are telling us that we must go and do likewise, I do think they are metaphors about giving; pointers to get our attention and force us to rethink what giving is all about.
Did you know that of the thirty-seven parables Jesus told, seventeen of them deal with property and our responsibility to use it wisely? Jesus knew that everyone, whether rich or poor, lay person or priest, has difficulty using worldly goods and money with integrity, generosity and freedom. And so he told stories like the parable of the talents and this fantastic story of the widow's mite to help us along the way.
I can't tell you how or when or where to give of your goods to others, but I can direct your attention to the many Biblical imperatives to do so; to think about and act on Scriptural words like proportional giving, tithing, giving of first fruits (or, in the case of our widow's, last fruits). Let me suggest that you take some time this fall and read through one Gospel, the Gospel of Luke, for instance. And read it with the idea of "giving" in mind. What does the whole story say about my part in sharing of my goods? See what comes up for you and then act on it.
One day the king decided to visit a small village in the outlying area of his realm. Everyone was naturally excited and all vied for the opportunity to entertain him. So it was decided that everyone would bring their best food and finest wine to the village square where they would share with one another and their king of their food and drink.
Each family was specifically requested to bring one litre of the family's wine to dump into the common vat for the party. One family decided, well, no one will really notice since the vat was high and the confusion great, so they brought a litre of water to dump into the community pot
Well, the great day came, the king and his retinue arrived in splendid state and the village celebration began. To welcome the king, the mayor stepped up to the great vat of wine, reached down and drew out the first drink for the king, using the village's only silver tankard. And he handed the king a drink of pure water. Like that quite ordinary family, everyone had thought the same thing--it will not really make a difference if I dump in this one litre of water, everyone else is bringing good wine. Giving has to do with sharing the community load.
Last week, the Governor of the Rotary district shared this simple story with us:
A Rotary Club gave a lunch one Christmastime at a home for disabled children. The men all gathered with the children at table and after lunch gave each of the kids a Christmas stocking. One little girl, who was quite thin and obviously poor, opened her stocking with expected excitement. She laid out before her an apple, an orange, some nuts...and then reached into the bottom of the stocking and with a beaming smile grabbed a handful of Christmas candy. Then, quite unexpectedly, rather than stuffing the sweets into her mouth, she got up and went around the table, giving a piece of her candy to each of the men seated near her. Of course, one man tried his best to refuse, but the girl protested loudly, insisting that he take it. She said, "This is the first time in my life I've ever had anything to give away, so please take it!"
One philanthropist said, "I get three kicks out of each dollar I've every had. One, when I make it. And you know," he added with a grin, "how much I do love to make a dollar. The second kick is when I keep it and I do have a Yankee lust for saving. But the third kick comes which I give it away--and this last one is the biggest kick of all."
I've learned to master these first two kicks pretty well in my life, but the third still comes hard. It is hard for me, and I suspect hard for some of you, to allow myself the joy of experiencing this third kick...giving away that which I've earned...and saved so well. But I'm working on it and I hope you will, too.
So these three thoughts about giving as our family of St. Margaret's begins its time of asking for your support and pledge:
..Giving is a Biblical imperative and is theologically sound.
..Giving has to do with sharing the community load.
..Giving is personally rewarding and is good for you.
Finally, this word from St. Augustine, a saint who struggled as we do with letting go (worth posting on your refrigerator door):
"Find out how much God has given you, and from it take all that you need. The remainder which you do not require is needed by others. The superfluities of the rich are the necessities of the poor--those who retain what is superfluous possess the goods of others."
Amen.
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[Tom Warmer, the Methodist minister who so greatly influenced Brad in Coronado in the early 1970s, taught him a great deal about giving. "He introduced me to giving my life away as a way of receiving life," Brad recalled. "Once a friend from his past was in trouble and needed money. Tom brought the few earthly possessions he owned to the parish hall one day and sold everything, furniture and books. He mailed off the proceeds the next day with great cheer and hope. It was an absolutely crazy thing to do and I remember sitting on the floor in his empty apartment and laughing about the whole thing. Shortly after that, I was asked to give away something in my life--my time. Tom asked me if I would take on the church youth group. I stalled, choked and pleaded innocence, but finally gave in. Our daughter Susan was only a one-year-old, and I had little experience or interest in teenagers. My own youth, though healthy, was mostly a serious time of working through a difficult academic Christian Brothers Academy of all boys. We were not allowed time to date, so I just didn't understand teenage girls (and about eighty percent of the church group was girls).
"It wasn't long before I was totally captivated by those kids. They brought themselves as living stories and for the first time in my life I began to listen to their music and play their games. I heard the music of the Beatles, the words of love and suffering, and above all, the immeasurable joy of living. I have never had so much fun in all my life. I finally learned something about the pain and joy of living. I needed no uniforms, medals, talents or skills. We played loud music, wrestled in the grass, played thousands of volleyball games and roller skated on Saturday nights. We offended some of the members of the church with outrageous music from Jesus Christ Superstar and ate a lot of ice cream and cookies.
"We also struggled to learn something about who we were as Christians. The kids asked hard questions about life and death which I found I couldn't answer. I discovered at age thirty-six that there were times I wasn't as advanced as they were at sixteen. I was learning about life from them. Indeed, I was growing up with them. Within the structure of that church, through Tom and the youth group, I handed myself over to the Stories of God as preached and lived out by Tom, as shared in the lives of the youth. I was jumping and dancing while praying."]
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