Readings for Proper
8B:
Ps. 112; Deut. 15:7-11; 2Cor. 8:1-15; Mk. 5:22-24,35-43
June 29, 2003
The Rev. Karen Siegfriedt
St. Jude the Apostle Episcopal Church, Cupertino,
CA
A couple of years ago, the dental assistant at my dentist's office experienced a terrible loss. Her husband died suddenly, leaving her with a young child and few resources. (Dental assistants, as you know, make very little money.) As she was trying to cope with the pain of her loss, a client came into the office and gave her a check for $20,000. She was astounded. She asked him why he was giving her so much money when he hardly even knew her. He replied: "Because I have it. You need it. And I want to give it to you."
The theme of today's readings from Holy Scripture is stewardship: the appropriate handling of time, talent, and treasure that have been given to us. Stewardship forms a framework in the life of a Christian. It is a framework that helps us make decisions on how to spend and save money, how to apportion our valuable time, and how to best utilize our gifts and talents. To give and to give abundantly, is at the core of the Christian life. Without an attitude of generosity, it difficult to experience the power and presence of God. Without an attitude of generosity, the scales will remain unbalanced, causing untold suffering in the world. At the core of Christian stewardship is the attitude: "I have it. You need it. And I want to give it to you." Let's take a look at today's readings.
In our first reading from the book of Deuteronomy, Moses lays out for the Hebrew people, some advice on how to create a society that works. At this point in the text, he is concerned about the poor, the widow, the orphan, the Levitical priesthood, the enslaved, and the oppressed. He calls the people to pay attention to the suffering of others and to respond to this suffering with compassion: "If there is among you anyone in need, a member of your community in any of your towns within the land that the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your needy neighbor. You should open your hand, willingly lending enough to meet the need, whatever it may be." [Deut. 15]
In the second reading, Paul is asking the Church in Corinth to pay its diocesan pledge. At this point in the development of the Christian Church, not all churches are equal. Some churches have money while others are barely hanging on. Paul is asking those churches who have more, to give more, so that the poor Jewish-Christians in Jerusalem can be taken care of. He does not force the Corinthians to give to the diocese but instead tells them: "I do not mean that there should be relief for others and pressure on you, but it is a question of fair balance between your present abundance and their need." [2Cor. 8:13] Paul is trying to encourage them to move from a place of hesitancy to a place of proclaiming: "I have it. You need it. And I want to give it to you."
In the gospel reading, Jesus is asked to share his gift of healing with a very sick girl who is about to die. A leader of the synagogue approaches Jesus and begs him to break away from his busy schedule in order to lay hands on his daughter. By the time he reaches the girl's house, she is dead. Jesus resuscitates her and brings her back to life. Any parent can identify with the pain of this father who was about to lose his beloved child. And because of this, we can identify with the joy of this father, who because someone took the time to share his special gift, was spared the loss of his daughter. While Jesus was able to use his gifts of healing on this young girl, he was not able to heal all of the sick in 1st century Palestine (either because of lack of time or skill). But he did give what he could. This is the nature of Christian stewardship: "I have it. You need it. And I want to give it to you."
The poor of this world are so poor and so numerous. The conflicts in the Middle East are so complex and extended. AIDS in Africa is so widespread and out of control. The governments of the world are so arrogant and powerful. Alzheimer's, mental illness, and cancer are endemic. The world's problems are so large and we have no grand scheme to fix them all- and so often times, we do nothing. Martin Luther King Jr. calls this response "the paralysis of analysis."
Barbara Brown Taylor (a well-know Episcopal preacher), describes this "paralysis of analysis" by telling of a conversation with her husband, Ed. They were discussing the destruction of the environment through ozone depletion and the green house effect. They talked about it until they understood all of the issues. Then, they began to talk about what they would personally do to address environmental degradation. Would they start using public transportation? Would they boycott Styrofoam packaging, even if it meant going from store to store looking for eggs in cardboard containers? Would they cut down on their own energy consumption by replacing the furnace and doing without air conditioning? At this point in the conversation, they lost momentum. Ed remembered that he had things to do in the basement and Barbara needed to get back to her sermon.
Stewardship is a framework that prevents "paralysis from analysis". We can't do all things for all people but we can do something. We have the power to hold back and the power to give. Stewardship is based on the premise that we are caretakers of each other, of the environment, of our personal talents and gifts, of our time, and of all the things that we have been given. We have been blessed with an abundance. Our responsibility as people of faith, is to share a portion of this abundance for the well being of the society. When taken seriously, stewardship prevents us from becoming too greedy and self-focused. It prevents us from becoming paralyzed and doing nothing. It only asks that we share a portion of our time, talent, and treasure, while keeping the remainder for our own needs. Stewardship opens up our eyes so that we can see the need in the world without becoming depressed but rather, coming to the conclusion: "I have it. You need it. And I want to give it to you."
Jesus' message was not so much about himself as it was a call to action.
We pray to God about the conflicts in the Middle East. And God said: "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."
We pray to God about the poor and the hungry. And God said: "Open your hand to the poor and the needy neighbor in your lands. Give liberally and ungrudgingly when you do so."
We pray to God about injustice, sickness, and all the suffering in the world. And God said: "Do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God."
| Updated 6/30/03 |
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