October 26, 2003 - TwentiethSunday after Pentecost
Hebrews9:24-28
NRSVKJV
Mark12: 38-44
“Mighty Mite”
'I have known of societies formed by Americans to send out ministers of the Gospel into the new Western States, to found schools and churches there, lest religion should be allowed to die away in those remote settlements, and the rising states be less fitted to enjoy free institutions than the people from whom they came. I met with wealthy New Englanders who abandoned the country in which they were born in order to lay the foundations of Christianity and of freedom on the banks of the Missouri or in the prairies of Illinois. . . . If you converse with these missionaries of Christian civilization, you will be surprised to hear them speak so often of the goods of this world, and to meet a politician where you expected to find a priest. They will tell you, “. . . It is therefore our interest that the new states should be religious, in order that they may permit us to remain free.”' [Democracy in America, vol. 1, p. 317-8]
Those words were penned by Alexis de Tocqueville in Democracy in America, a book published in 1835, not quite twenty years before the building in which we worship today was dedicated. Evidently those New Englanders he spoke with also managed to find their way “up North” to the woods and the prairies of Wisconsin – Hart’s Mill was settled in 1835. It was just seven years after de Tocqueville’s book was published that eleven people gathered this church in Richard and Nancy Gilbert’s cabin just about a mile from here. So, we come together today to offer thanks to God for those hardy souls whose “habits of the heart” – to use another of de Tocqueville’s phrases – led them to gather a church and build a meeting house that have benefited this community for one hundred and fifty years.
The story of the “widow’s mite” in Mark’s Gospel really applies to what we celebrate today. Jesus sets up a rather stark dichotomy between the scribes, whom he says, “devour widow’s houses,” and the widow who gives everything she has. In either case the widow ends up with nothing. What’s the point here? Well, first Jesus is showing the radical difference between those who always seek to take and one who is ready to give everything for the right reason. This widow gave two tiny coins – leptons, the smallest coin in circulation – which was the minimum contribution permitted by Temple regulations. She gave the least in terms of monetary value, but the most because it was from her substance and not from her surplus – hers was the mighty mite, if you will.
Second, and most importantly, Jesus is telling us that the point isn’t about the money. Rather, it’s about our priorities. At the core what isn’t important is what we have. What is important is who we are and how that affects how we live. Two Sundays ago we heard Carrie Kreps talk about the “stuff” in our lives as she reflected on the story of the rich young ruler. Someone commented to me after the service that she made a great point, but that “selling all you have just isn’t sustainable.” My response was, and is, that it is sustainable, because the ultimate point is that we’re tohave the stuff and the stuff isn’t supposed to have us. And that’s the point here again – this widow’s priority was to be in relationship with God and she expressed it the only way she knew how, she gave out of her poverty, her stuff if you will, all that she had.
When we have our priorities straight, when we manage our lives from the inside-out, placing God first, others second, and ourselves last, the relationship flows naturally. It is, as I’ve said, “a no-brainer” because our actions follow our attitudes. If we value what our faith teaches and try to live it out, it will show. That’s what happened here one hundred and fifty years ago. After eleven years without a stable meeting place, the first members of this church decided that a meeting house was a priority. They bought the land for $50 and then set about building the meeting house. The building cost them $3,185.45, including donated lumber and labor. It was furnished, largely by the ladies’ societies, for $162.35. It doesn’t seem much now, but $3,347.80 was a princely sum in 1853. They gave because it was right.
This building, and its successor where we normally gather for worship, isn’t the essence of what being the church is about. They made the commitment to build, as the widow made the commitment to give, because it symbolized their priority to make God first in their lives. As the historian Harry S. Stout said of meeting houses in his book,The New England Soul, “The buildings meant nothing because the church – the gathered body of believers – meant everything.” [p. 14] It was the gathered people who meant everything, and that’s still the case. This assemblage of buildings from 1853, 1921, and 1959 simply symbolize to the community at large the people who worship here and who open their hearts, and indeed open these buildings, for sake of the community and the common good.
I ran across something in theSemi-Centennial History that I’d like to share with you. It confirmed for me the foundation “not made with hands” on which this church is built. J. M. Wheeler – who still has relatives in this congregation – wrote this about the first fifty years of our church’s benevolence giving.
. . . from her small beginnings and her poverty of means, there are many who will “rise up and call her blessed.” Was there ever a call upon her, when she did not hasten to help, giving of her means, her love, her sympathy, her good wishes? And I tell you that in this term “good wishes,” it meant very often going down deep into almost empty pockets; empty of hard cash, but, thank God, with hearts full to overflowing with Faith, and whatever tends to lift up and aid those around her. [p. 75-6]
In the first fifty years First Church benevolences amounted to $23,526.97. Money supported home and foreign missions and went to help build Beloit College, Ripon College, and the Chicago Theological Seminary. The foundation of right priorities, of seeking the good of others, of promoting spiritual and intellectual freedom was laid early on in our church’s history. The mighty mite made a difference here.
The story of the widow’s mite, then, is about making a difference and we see that same emphasis in the reading from the Letter to the Hebrews. The language about Christ entering the true temple, not a copy, makes reference to the Platonic concept of the ‘ideal.’ We tend not to think in those categories any longer. However, it is interesting to consider how that which is ‘real’ is not what we see or touch, but that which underlies it. What we think is real, according to this concept, is only actually reflective of the greater, the true or real reality. The text reminds us that in our turn we are to reflect the greater reality of God’s love expressed through Jesus Christ in our own lives. There is a call in this for us to, again, set our priorities properly and to live an ethical, moral existence with a concern for that which is right, good, and true that expresses itself in concern for others and not just our own narrow self-interest. The writer of this Letter is holding up Jesus as the ideal, the model for us, because he lived that kind of existence. When we consider the ideal God places before us our response ought not to be guilt, but joy; the same with the widow and her mighty mite. The difference is simply to show in our lives because it’s a living, growing relationship – that’s not about guilt, it’s about joy.
Now, I must confess that I don’t have a great amount of joy this time of year. As most of your know – I hate to talk about money. The annual process of budget and stewardship are a source of great anxiety for me. Why? Because people who tend to be otherwise very loving and kind tend to get testy when they talk about money or some one tries to put the touch on their pocketbook. I dislike talking about money because I see it as only an instrument, a tool to accomplish something far more important. For me, the priority should be on the end – establishing and maintaining a loving community that makes a difference for the common good – rather than on the means. In fact, I believe that if we have a vision of the end and hold it up before us, the means should just follow. You have no idea how hard I pray that they will!
Let me tell you a story I read. It seems that a church needed a new treasurer so they asked the local grain elevator manager to take the position. He agreed, with two conditions: one, that no treasurer’s report would be given until the end of the first year; and two that no questions be asked about finances during the course of the year. The people were surprised, but finally agreed since most of them did business with him and trusted him – and none of them wanted to be the treasurer. The end of the year came and he gave his report. He told them that the church mortgage of some $68,000 had been paid, the minister’s salary had been increased by 10%, the congregation’s pledge to the mission work of its denomination had been paid twice over, there were no outstanding bills, and there was a cash balance of $11,252.50. Immediately the shocked congregation erupted, “Incredible! How did you do it?” “Where did the money come from?” “You’re a genius!” He quietly answered them, “Most of you bring your grain to my elevator. Throughout the year I simply withheld 10% on your behalf and gave it to the church in your name. You didn’t even miss it.” While we may not agree with the church treasurer’s methods – and I assure you there will be no attempt at withholding here – I believe his point hits home: “You didn’t even miss it.” If our priorities are straight, if we give from the heart, as the widow did with her mighty mite, it won’t be missed, but it will make a difference.
I began today with a quote from Alexis de Tocqueville. Elsewhere he said, “America is great because it is good. When America ceases to be good it will cease to be great.” I believe that, not only for America, but for all free people. Greatness comes from goodness, from doing the right things for the right reasons. Recently you got a letter from the Board of Stewardship that encourages us to go from “good to great.” In it there was some language about my “pushing” us to it – however, the pushing has got to come from a better, a higher source, than me. What will push us from good to great, beloved, is our freely responding to God’s love made real for us in Jesus Christ. It’s important for us to go from good to great because God has shown us the destiny we have, the freedom we have to live and to grow and to love as Jesus did. It is that example of self-giving love that makes any mite mighty and pushes us from good to great.
I leave you with this old joke about an argument between the chicken and the cow as to which had made the greater contribution to the farmer’s breakfast. The chicken said that she had because without her eggs the breakfast would not have been as tasty. The cow countered that her milk, cream, and butter actually made up more of the meal, and so provided the larger contribution. The bickering continued until the horse spoke up, “May we have a moment of silence for our departed brother, pig. While both of you make a great contribution, his commitment to breakfast has been total.” There’s the final point of the mighty mite – it’s more than just a contribution. Rather, it’s a total commitment. One hundred and fifty years ago our spiritual ancestors made just such a commitment – we enjoy the benefits of it today. Now we must look to our own priorities and to our own legacy and judge them by the standard they have set for us and of that widow’s mighty mite.