St. Patrick: Intimacy with God

We Are All in This Together The Reverend Dr. Howard J. Hess

24^th Sunday After Pentecost 11/11/12. The Episcopal Church of the Ascension

I. Introduction. There are no coincidences. This morning’s Gospel reading from Mark presents us with a very clear teaching by Jesus about giving, pride, and humility. This passage about the widow’s mite, through no design of our own, has coincided with the ingathering of our pledges for 2013. Our God is a God of immediacy – speaking to us in the here and now about our stewardship campaign and about our giving decisions. Jesus attached great importance to the topic of giving, and I believe that it is safe to assume that God is desiring to talk with us this morning, not only about what amount we give, but also about the attitudes and motivations associated with our giving.

II. The Widow’s Faithfulness. The most immediately apparent part of Christ’s message in today’s Gospel is his lifting up of the widow’s faithfulness. Jesus was sitting in the Temple after having condemned the Scribes for their lust for prominence and power. He observed that many of the rich were giving large sums of money that landed noisily into the offering box. Among the givers was a poor widow who placed two copper coins into the offering box. These were the least valuable coins in circulation, and each represented approximately 20 minutes of labor. Yet Jesus commended her for giving all that she had. The widow hasclearly being held up by Jesus as an example of sacrificial giving. In the eyes of Jesus, the value of the widow’s gift was not determined by its amount, but rather by what it reflected about her relationship with God. This story suggests that God sees the heart of the giver and knows whether our gifts come from what is leftover – the extra or surplus -- or _________________ from a place of deep gratitude.

III. I believe that we can also dig more deeply into this Scripture to find another level of meaning – a meaning that has to do with “journey.” Jesus wass on a journey that was nearing its final chapter. He had entered Jerusalem and courageously spoken truth to power. What he had done will cost him his life. Thus it would stand to reason that Jesus was choosing his teaching lessons carefully. Jesus himself was about to sacrifice his own life, and he knew that his disciples still had much to learn about sacrificial giving and commitment. What Jesus Christ wanted his disciples and what Christ wants us to comprehend is how very blessed we are and how the choices we make about our giving reflect our recognition of what God has given us. This, in fact, is what our Stewardship Campaign has been about this year –recognizing God’s many blessings that are evident at Ascension, celebrating those blessings, and responding in kind.

IV. Our Journeys. Two Sundays ago here at Ascension, we focused upon the last of five themes in the Celebration Stewardship Campaign – the theme of “journey.” Many wonderful stories about our spiritual journeys were shared in a written booklet and on a videotape. The stories are compelling. I would like to mention one of them this morning – the reflection shared by Venice Peek. Venice wrote and spoke so eloquently about how over time God revealed new insights to her about giving, how she learned from other saints along the way, and yet her deeper understanding about giving came directly out of herr faith journeys. We listen, we learn, we take risks, and we rely upon God’s safety net. There is no question in my mind that through the voices of Venice, David, Mary, and so many others, God is clearly trying to get our attention. Thank you, God, for being so persistent with us.

At the same time that Ascension was focusing upon “journey,” a group of 27 of us were celebrating a journey of our own – our pilgrimage through the Holy Land. Each of has many journey stories to tell. Today my story is about our ascent up Mt. Sinai in Egypt. During the exodus from Egypt to the Promised Land, Moses climbed Mt. Sinai and was given the Ten Commandments. I had anticipated climbing Mt. Sinai with great excitement; and, it was on Mt. Sinai that I was to meet God in a new way for the first time on this pilgrimage.

Our journey up Mt. Sinai began at 2:00 am in the darkness. As most pilgrims do, I rode the first 75% of the trip up the 4,000 plus foot high mountain on a camel. It was then necessary to climb to the peak by foot because the path became too steep for the camels. Since there is no light pollution in the Sinai, the stars were magnificent. In the light of the stars, I could see the shadows of pilgrims from all parts of the world ascending the mountain. Some were singing hymns; some were calling back and forth to one another; others were moving forward silently. The goal for all of us was to reach the summit in time to see the sun rise from the top of the mountain. We reached the summit just before the rays of the sun began to appear. The crowd fell silent. Then a group of Orthodox Christians began to sing the morning liturgy acapella. My eyes filled with tears that ran down my face as I felt myself moved by standing in that sacred place with other pilgrims from Ascension and remembering that those who had decided not to climb with us were at the base of the mountain praying for us.

As I stood on the summit, I was reminded again and again that I was not standing there alone. Of course God was there with me. But there was an aspect of this journey that impressed upon me how reliant we are upon one another in the Body of Christ. As I had made this challenging climb, I became fatigued. Many of you know that I have a history of respiratory problems. When I would begin to falter along the way, to start to fall or to feel that it was hard to get my breath, other Ascension pilgrims came up beside me to catch and steady me and to help me take my next step. You see, not only was I experiencing God’s presence on the journey to the summit, but also the grace-filled presence of others who helped me when I needed them. At the top of the mountain, our joy was shared with one another in that sacred space. This is a beautiful metaphor for the Church.

V. Conclusion. You see, although we have been thousands of miles apart during these recent weeks, God has been teaching all of us what a gift it is to be with one another on this journey. We -- you and I -- are the church, the Body of Christ, here to hold one another up, to share our resources in gratitude, and to do the work that Christ has given us to do. Yes, we are flawed and have unfinished business in our lives, but we are on this journey together here at Ascension with Jesus Christ leading us forward. In this morning’s gospel, Jesus knew that his disciples would soon have to establish the church; that they would have to give up their own needs for recognition; and let go of their own pride. And I believe he wanted them to really understand and teach others that their possessions and resources were given to them by God and were never really theirs to begin with. God wants us to learn this as well. This morning God is giving us another opportunity in our journey to step forward in faithful and grateful giving. I’d like to conclude with a quotation used by Venice in her reflection by the Rt. Reverend Gregory H. Rickel, Bishop of The Episcopal Diocese of Olympia:

All we have been given in this life is on loan, at best. It is not ours; we will never truly own it. We have it, for whatever reason, in order to care for it as best we can. This is true of everything we, or the bank, says we own, and it is just as true for every relationship we have. We are stewards of all of it, called by God to leave the land, our material possessions, our money, and our relationships better than we found them, or than they found us. All we now see, hold, and know is God’s vineyard, and we are called to tend it, for the One who truly owns it all. Thanks be to God, Amen.