Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost 11/08/09 Mark 12:38-44
Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost
11/08/09
Text: Mark 12: 38-44
Title: Faith does marvelous things.
The Gospel lesson for this morning is a perfect Stewardship text. It is about the giving of money to support the church and its work. We see in the reading two different types of givers. There were first those who were rich and made a show of their giving and then there was the poor widow who gave all she had. The offering at the time of Jesus was put into a trumpet shaped container. Imagine the sound of the coins; remember there was no paper money at that time, making its way down into the holding container. People could tell how much a person gave by the clanking of the coins. When the widow put her money in the container it probably did not make any noise, for it was the smallest of the coins.
Those that had money gave out of their abundance. She gave out of her poverty. When they gave they had plenty left over. When she gave she had nothing left over. You can tell by Jesus’ words that he is displeased with the giving of the rich and pleased with the giving of the widow. By the way, in researching this particular text I learned that there was a system in place, so that those who gave a lot could do so quietly, so as to not draw attention to themselves.
I think there is a strong probability that there are a good number of Christians, in reading this text and seeing how much God thought of the widow giving two almost worthless coins think that when they give a little to God that he is pleased and in thinking that way miss the whole point of the lesson Jesus is teaching us. They think, “Wouldn’t God be more pleased with a little given with a happy heart, than a lot given grudgingly.” And so they give a little because there is no sacrifice in the giving of a little. God’s happy and they are happy. That is what you would call a win win. Of course that way of thinking is wrong and those that think that way know deep down that they are doing wrong.
This lesson is really not about how much or how little one gives. It is not even about whether money given to the church is given is such a way that people can see it or is given in secret. What this lesson is really about is faith, which is an action word. Faith is trust, an ongoing action that shows itself in good works. We know this because James tells us in James 2 verse 17, “So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”
As much as we might not like to hear it God’s Word, is full of examples of how faith and works, whether it is the support of the church or the doing of good deeds is not separable from faith. Good deeds are directly tied the level of one’s faith. We would not even have to have a stewardship drive each year, if we all understood how faith and works are tied together. The money would just be there.
Dear brothers and sisters in Jesus, do you ever find it hard to believe in Jesus? It may sound like a strange question, but I don’t think it is too farfetched. We read almost every Sunday where Jesus is having to constantly tell his hearers of their need to believe in Him. Over and over to his disciples, Jesus chides them for their "little faith." We also see how difficult it is for those who hear Jesus to believe in him. They grumble and complain. They throw out objections.
If we are honest with ourselves we see that the disciples are reflections of ourselves as we too struggle with our faith. We come to Jesus with wrong motives and hidden agendas. We find that, in spite of what Jesus teaches about pursuing the Kingdom of God and the righteousness we receive from Him, we constantly struggle after the food which perishes while ignoring the true, spiritual, heavenly food that Jesus came to give.
On this side of heaven, we see dimly the reality of Jesus. We often want Jesus to be who we want him to be as we follow him on our terms. We hear and read of his miracles, of his walking on water, his miraculous feedings, his calming storms, but we often look at them and say that these things happened so long ago and really have no connection with me. And sometimes we're tempted listen to those voices around us which would rob us of our faith by explaining away the miracles of the Bible as if they didn't happen.
Sunday after Sunday, we hear of his wonderous works. We see Jesus healing the sick, causing the lame to walk, the blind to see, and the deaf to hear. Yet, we think that we need to see it for ourselves. We say to ourselves, "If only Jesus would display his power immediately before my eyes. If he would only work a wonderful work in my presence then I would truly trust him with my life. I would leave everything and follow him.”
These are dangerous thoughts. Perhaps you don't see the danger right this moment. I can assure you that it would be no make no difference in your faith even if you were to see Jesus stand before you today and work a tremendous miracle. It would not be any easier for you to believe. The people in our text saw his miracles, they saw him heal and raise the dead. They saw him feed thousands with a few small loaves and a few small fish; yet they didn't believe. Why would it be any different for us, we who struggle to trust Jesus with our stuff, much less with our lives?
We must constantly be aware of such thinking because such thoughts will cause you pain, torment and sleepless nights. The fact is that the devil will use these thoughts against you. The devil will use them and bring them before you to convince you that you do not have enough faith. He will torment you with fear and doubt, as he tries to rob you of your confidence and your hope and ensnare you in despair.
The good news is that Jesus knows our struggles and yes, at times our unbelief. He tells us over and over that we must believe in him. Not because he wants us to look at our faith and fall into despair, but that he might encourage faith that trusts in his promises.
We struggle so much because we see our faith as something we do. We think believing is something we do. God’s Word dispels this myth and makes clear what was taught to us from the catechism, "I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ or come to Him."
Jesus tells us, "no one can come to me unless the Father draws him." The real question is not, "Do I have enough faith." The real question is, "Have I been drawn to Jesus by the Father?" Jesus tells us that, "Everyone who hears the Father and learns from Him comes to me."
Have you heard how, when Adam and Eve fell into sin, God spoke and promised the seed of a woman who would crush the head of the serpent? Have you heard God's promise to Abraham that through one of his offspring, all the nations on the earth would be blessed? Have you heard of God's chosen people, the people of Israel who were chosen by God and preserved in order that these promises would be fulfilled? Have you heard of the baby in the manger in Bethlehem who was born of a virgin, the promised seed of a woman? Have you heard that when this baby boy grew up and went to the Jordan to be baptized by John, where a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son?" Have you heard how he taught in the towns and villages, healed the sick, and cleansed lepers? Have you heard how, through the works of this man, the lame walked, the blind saw, the deaf heard, and the dead were raised?
Have you heard of those things? Of course you have. But there is more to the story. Jesus suffered and died, was placed in a tomb, and on the third day he came out of that grave and for the next 40 days, many saw him alive and talked with him, touched him, and ate with him.
Listen again to the words of Jesus, "I am the bread of life, he who comes to me shall never hunger and he who believes in me shall never thirst?" Have you heard these things and believed? I pray that you have, for when you hear those things concerning Jesus you hear the voice of the Father speaking truth to you. When you hear Jesus talk of himself as the Bread of God that comes down from heaven, when you hear Jesus speak saying, I AM the way, the truth and the life, you are hearing the voice of the Father.
The will of the Father is that all who are brought before him through the preaching of his Word and through His sacraments will receive everlasting life and be raised up on the Last Day. This is the will of the Father. You need not concern yourself with the question of whether or not you have enough faith when distractions or doubts plague you. You only need to hear and believe in Christ and his sure words which are spirit and life. You need listen only to the voice of the one who is the truth when He speaks to you and tells you that you are loved with the everlasting love of the Father who sent the Son that you may have life everlasting and be raised up on the Last Day.
You only need to remember that your sins are forgiven washed with his blood as he shed it for you. There is no reason to fear the assaults of the devil as he seeks to rob you of your hope by saying you don't have enough faith. If you have heard the Father, and I know each of you here this morning have, you already know that He sent His Son to accomplish everything for you. Your hope and confidence rest in God's work, not your own.
Jesus has made peace between you and the Father just as the angels on day of his birth proclaimed. It is my prayer that this peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will keep your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whatever circumstances of life you find yourself. God is good, all the time. Amen
11/08/09
Text: Mark 12: 38-44
Title: Faith does marvelous things.
The Gospel lesson for this morning is a perfect Stewardship text. It is about the giving of money to support the church and its work. We see in the reading two different types of givers. There were first those who were rich and made a show of their giving and then there was the poor widow who gave all she had. The offering at the time of Jesus was put into a trumpet shaped container. Imagine the sound of the coins; remember there was no paper money at that time, making its way down into the holding container. People could tell how much a person gave by the clanking of the coins. When the widow put her money in the container it probably did not make any noise, for it was the smallest of the coins.
Those that had money gave out of their abundance. She gave out of her poverty. When they gave they had plenty left over. When she gave she had nothing left over. You can tell by Jesus’ words that he is displeased with the giving of the rich and pleased with the giving of the widow. By the way, in researching this particular text I learned that there was a system in place, so that those who gave a lot could do so quietly, so as to not draw attention to themselves.
I think there is a strong probability that there are a good number of Christians, in reading this text and seeing how much God thought of the widow giving two almost worthless coins think that when they give a little to God that he is pleased and in thinking that way miss the whole point of the lesson Jesus is teaching us. They think, “Wouldn’t God be more pleased with a little given with a happy heart, than a lot given grudgingly.” And so they give a little because there is no sacrifice in the giving of a little. God’s happy and they are happy. That is what you would call a win win. Of course that way of thinking is wrong and those that think that way know deep down that they are doing wrong.
This lesson is really not about how much or how little one gives. It is not even about whether money given to the church is given is such a way that people can see it or is given in secret. What this lesson is really about is faith, which is an action word. Faith is trust, an ongoing action that shows itself in good works. We know this because James tells us in James 2 verse 17, “So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”
As much as we might not like to hear it God’s Word, is full of examples of how faith and works, whether it is the support of the church or the doing of good deeds is not separable from faith. Good deeds are directly tied the level of one’s faith. We would not even have to have a stewardship drive each year, if we all understood how faith and works are tied together. The money would just be there.
Dear brothers and sisters in Jesus, do you ever find it hard to believe in Jesus? It may sound like a strange question, but I don’t think it is too farfetched. We read almost every Sunday where Jesus is having to constantly tell his hearers of their need to believe in Him. Over and over to his disciples, Jesus chides them for their "little faith." We also see how difficult it is for those who hear Jesus to believe in him. They grumble and complain. They throw out objections.
If we are honest with ourselves we see that the disciples are reflections of ourselves as we too struggle with our faith. We come to Jesus with wrong motives and hidden agendas. We find that, in spite of what Jesus teaches about pursuing the Kingdom of God and the righteousness we receive from Him, we constantly struggle after the food which perishes while ignoring the true, spiritual, heavenly food that Jesus came to give.
On this side of heaven, we see dimly the reality of Jesus. We often want Jesus to be who we want him to be as we follow him on our terms. We hear and read of his miracles, of his walking on water, his miraculous feedings, his calming storms, but we often look at them and say that these things happened so long ago and really have no connection with me. And sometimes we're tempted listen to those voices around us which would rob us of our faith by explaining away the miracles of the Bible as if they didn't happen.
Sunday after Sunday, we hear of his wonderous works. We see Jesus healing the sick, causing the lame to walk, the blind to see, and the deaf to hear. Yet, we think that we need to see it for ourselves. We say to ourselves, "If only Jesus would display his power immediately before my eyes. If he would only work a wonderful work in my presence then I would truly trust him with my life. I would leave everything and follow him.”
These are dangerous thoughts. Perhaps you don't see the danger right this moment. I can assure you that it would be no make no difference in your faith even if you were to see Jesus stand before you today and work a tremendous miracle. It would not be any easier for you to believe. The people in our text saw his miracles, they saw him heal and raise the dead. They saw him feed thousands with a few small loaves and a few small fish; yet they didn't believe. Why would it be any different for us, we who struggle to trust Jesus with our stuff, much less with our lives?
We must constantly be aware of such thinking because such thoughts will cause you pain, torment and sleepless nights. The fact is that the devil will use these thoughts against you. The devil will use them and bring them before you to convince you that you do not have enough faith. He will torment you with fear and doubt, as he tries to rob you of your confidence and your hope and ensnare you in despair.
The good news is that Jesus knows our struggles and yes, at times our unbelief. He tells us over and over that we must believe in him. Not because he wants us to look at our faith and fall into despair, but that he might encourage faith that trusts in his promises.
We struggle so much because we see our faith as something we do. We think believing is something we do. God’s Word dispels this myth and makes clear what was taught to us from the catechism, "I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ or come to Him."
Jesus tells us, "no one can come to me unless the Father draws him." The real question is not, "Do I have enough faith." The real question is, "Have I been drawn to Jesus by the Father?" Jesus tells us that, "Everyone who hears the Father and learns from Him comes to me."
Have you heard how, when Adam and Eve fell into sin, God spoke and promised the seed of a woman who would crush the head of the serpent? Have you heard God's promise to Abraham that through one of his offspring, all the nations on the earth would be blessed? Have you heard of God's chosen people, the people of Israel who were chosen by God and preserved in order that these promises would be fulfilled? Have you heard of the baby in the manger in Bethlehem who was born of a virgin, the promised seed of a woman? Have you heard that when this baby boy grew up and went to the Jordan to be baptized by John, where a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son?" Have you heard how he taught in the towns and villages, healed the sick, and cleansed lepers? Have you heard how, through the works of this man, the lame walked, the blind saw, the deaf heard, and the dead were raised?
Have you heard of those things? Of course you have. But there is more to the story. Jesus suffered and died, was placed in a tomb, and on the third day he came out of that grave and for the next 40 days, many saw him alive and talked with him, touched him, and ate with him.
Listen again to the words of Jesus, "I am the bread of life, he who comes to me shall never hunger and he who believes in me shall never thirst?" Have you heard these things and believed? I pray that you have, for when you hear those things concerning Jesus you hear the voice of the Father speaking truth to you. When you hear Jesus talk of himself as the Bread of God that comes down from heaven, when you hear Jesus speak saying, I AM the way, the truth and the life, you are hearing the voice of the Father.
The will of the Father is that all who are brought before him through the preaching of his Word and through His sacraments will receive everlasting life and be raised up on the Last Day. This is the will of the Father. You need not concern yourself with the question of whether or not you have enough faith when distractions or doubts plague you. You only need to hear and believe in Christ and his sure words which are spirit and life. You need listen only to the voice of the one who is the truth when He speaks to you and tells you that you are loved with the everlasting love of the Father who sent the Son that you may have life everlasting and be raised up on the Last Day.
You only need to remember that your sins are forgiven washed with his blood as he shed it for you. There is no reason to fear the assaults of the devil as he seeks to rob you of your hope by saying you don't have enough faith. If you have heard the Father, and I know each of you here this morning have, you already know that He sent His Son to accomplish everything for you. Your hope and confidence rest in God's work, not your own.
Jesus has made peace between you and the Father just as the angels on day of his birth proclaimed. It is my prayer that this peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will keep your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whatever circumstances of life you find yourself. God is good, all the time. Amen
posted by Pastor Rhoads | 6:45 PM
|
0 comments
