November 11, 2018 - Twenty-fifth Sunday after Pentecost - God's Kingdom Comes in Unexpected Ways

There were flowers at the altar today from my mother's memorial service and I thought about the community who gathered together yesterday, family and friends who were important to my mother and Creator members who did not know my mother personally but attended to support our family. There were also the members who had expressed their prayers and sympathy. Inwardly I blessed them all for their thoughtfulness and prayed with gratitude for this congregation, my friends and my family.

Today was a reminder that God's kingdom comes into this world in unexpected ways.

Pastor Ray preached a powerful sermon with a new perspective on what Jesus taught by calling out to the disciples the widow who gave the treasury two coins. Traditionally she is thought to have demonstrated her extraordinary faith in God through this generous (for her) contribution.

As usual for this time of year, Creator is in the midst of our stewardship drive. Joe gave a Temple Talk  about a church being like a wheel where hub spokes and tire all need to be present, like members, ministry and money are needed for the church. All are needed to keep things rolling.

This could be the basis for a strong sermon and has been used in that way, building on this story as an example of how to cheerfully give to the church. Another sermon might be how any amount offered, no matter how small, makes a difference. Pastor Ray took this story in a different spiritual direction.

Pastor Ray drew our attention to a proceeding verse in today's Gospel that gave a warning abut the scribes "They devour widow's houses and for the sake of appearances say long prayers." He preached that Jesus might be calling the disciples to take to heart the widow's condition as she gave her contribution. The two coins dramatized an unfair social structure that allowed her to live in this poverty. Jesus needing to draw the disciples' attention to this implies that her giving would probably have gone mostly unnoticed. Important moments can easily be overlooked or forgotten. 

A story I once read that was constructed to make a point about what Jesus taught and may help illustrate what Pastor Ray was pointing out.

In this story Roman soldiers  (as a show of their power and designed to humiliate and intimidate Christians), would often order Christians to carry their heavy packs for a mile,  When complaints about these orders were brought to Jesus he commanded his followers to carry the soldiers packs for two miles instead of one. A group of faithful followers heard this command and were delighted to be able to demonstrate Kingdom values and suffer in some small way for the faith.

Soon they developed a reputation for their way of life, and many from this group often emphasized the need to carry a soldiers pack for two miles as a sign of one's faith and commitment to God. One day Jesus heard of this groups actions and visited them with another message, "...you have failed to understand the first message. Your Law says you must carry the pack for two miles. My law says carry it for three...."

One point of this story is that Jesus is not simply teaching do and don't rules. Christianity is about life transformation. Followers are called to go beyond the law and live in a different way. Our familiar Christian stories may sometimes make this hard to see. We become accustomed to not living out every day what we are called to do as Christians. We believe we live in "Christian" times in a "Christian" nation, yet we, like all humankind, live mostly outside of what Jesus taught and called us to do, even if those teachings are understood as simple, ethical do and don't rules.

We should not take the main teaching of Jesus to be that the widow, by giving two pennies, is more moral, more faithful or is giving "more" of a monetary amount than the scribes. When Jesus says "Truly I tell you this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury" I doubt now he is talking about the monetary quantity of the gift as calculated and expressed as a percentage of her wealth. Rather he considers the widow is giving beyond and more than the monetary value of the two coins.

Teaching that giving a greater portion of personal wealth could indicate a greater faith obviously leads to some concerns. This can escalate to a "good works" race. Should followers calculate the biggest contribution that shows their great faith by the percentage a contribution represents of their wealth? That is why I doubt that Jesus was teaching wealth percentages should be a measure of faith.

Instead Jesus may be teaching his followers to observe actions that defy expectations - looking for 'turn the other cheek" moments or moments of humanity. This moment, for example, could be a way to take back the sting of being asked to contribute to Roman oppression and re-evaluating a social structure in need of change. Giving the two coins may demonstrate how the widow is using her personal choice and power for positive change.

Her two coins may stand as an accusation, what we would now consider a nonviolent protest. The injustice of her condition is laid bare for all to see with these two coins. The scribes, working within the law, devoured her house and wealth according to the Gospel. Her giving shows anyone observing her that those two coins represent a tangible symbol of injustice.  Jesus, if this is the case, sees this moment others have overlooked and he helps her in her fight.

This may also be a lesson to followers on how to look for changes that bring about God's Kingdom. Humanity's temptation is to look for powerful, world-impacting historical moments to measure the coming of the kingdom, believing these are the moments we have to remember. Yet, more often than not, this is not the way these moments of change initially come.

They may be as simple as a choice a black woman makes on where to sit on a segregated bus. In 1906 South Africa passed an ordinance, the Black Act, that required Indians required to carry a registration card to be produced on demand. Some Indians organized and did not carry the card and were jailed. Mohatma Gandhi led this protest after he was thrown off a train for riding with a first-class ticket as an Indian.In retrospect, he called this incident as "one of the most creative experiences of his life".

Personal and societal transformation we truly might recognize may be barely noticeable and missed in our reactions to the ever-present gloss of status and striving of daily life towards what we feel to be our true desires.

God's kingdom comes in unexpected moments we could not have predicted.

Back to today's service the musical moments included Matt leading and singing the tenor part in a SATB choir quartet. Together with Shirley, Kim and I we all sang two classic hymns that Kim chose for us to share, It Is Well With My Soul and Be Thou My Vision during Offertory. The acapella portions felt particularly chilling and dramatic as we offered these hymns to the congregation.

It Is Well With My Soul made me think about a story Kelly, our choir director, told us about the composer, Horatio G. Spafford his wife Anna and five children. In 1873 his family, without Spafford, was crossing the Atlantic from the U.S. to Europe in a ship with 313 other passengers. Although Mr. Spafford had planned to go with his family, he found it necessary to stay in Chicago to solve an unexpected business problem. He told his wife he would join her and their children in Europe a few days later.

Four days into the crossing the Ville du Harve collided with another ship. Anna hurriedly brought her four children to the deck. She knelt there with them and prayed that God would spare them if that could be His will, or to make them willing to endure whatever awaited them. Within approximately 12 minutes, the ship sunk, carrying with it 226 of the passengers including the four Spafford children.

A sailor, rowing a small boat over the spot where the ship went down, spotted a woman floating on a piece of the wreckage. It was Anna, still alive. He pulled her into the boat and they were picked up by another large vessel which, landed them in Cardiff, Wales. From there she wired her husband a message which began, “Saved alone, what shall I do?” Mr. Spafford later framed the telegram and placed it in his office. Another of the ship’s survivors, Pastor Weiss, later recalled Anna saying, “God gave me four daughters. Now they have been taken from me. Someday I will understand why.”

Mr. Spafford booked passage on the next available ship and left to join his grieving wife. With the ship about four days out, the captain called Spafford to his cabin and told him they were over the place where his children went down.

According to Bertha Spafford, a daughter born after the tragedy, Spafford wrote It Is Well With My Soul while on this journey. This was a meaningful story for me to be reminded of today, a story about a couple's grief and the faith they both shared in their God.

When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll
Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

The service closed with Eternal Father, Strong to Save to honor those who serve and have served in the military on Veteran's Day. The lyrics were a prayer to God to protect those who stand in danger on land, air and sea.  A tribute on Veteran's Day that made my heart swell in recognition of what many have done and sacrificed for us.