You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.
Jesus was usually on the move, but in this week’s gospel story we see him sitting still, watching: He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny.
What induced Jesus to sit and watch people putting money into the temple treasury? He has just lambasted the scribes for their corruption, greed and exploitation of widows – maybe he wanted to see if he was proved right by their actions. All we’re told is that he watched the crowds putting money into the treasury, which is depicted as being funnel-shaped and narrow at the top, presumably so you can put coins in but not take them out.
Jesus observes a great deal of generosity - “Many rich people put in large sums.” While Jesus said it is hard for the wealthy to enter into the Life of God, and that one cannot serve both God and wealth, he never accused the wealthy of lacking generosity. He simply states a reality – wealth and faith don’t dance well together. It is extremely difficult to have wealth and not put our trust in it or fear losing it. That’s what gets in the way of our relationship with God.
Giving out of plenty is pretty easy, just as is loving those who love us. Yet Jesus said, “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return.” (Luke 6:32-35)
Jesus invites us to go beyond giving out of our plenty to giving even when it costs us; to give out of our harvest, our income, not only out of our savings. That widow was free of the obstacles that kept the wealthy bound. She gave it all, maybe because she had nothing to lose. When we have wealth, we have everything to lose.
Does this mean we have to give everything away? I hope not! I’m not ready. But it may mean we are ready to give everything should we sense God’s call to do so, and to reduce our reliance upon our wealth and comfort. It may mean we ask God regularly where God would have us use our wealth, and tune our antennae to God’s response. Each of us may be faced with a need that invites us to give way beyond our comfort – and we will do it if we feel God calling us to that.
In the meantime we can build up our giving muscles by releasing more and more of our wealth, putting it into play in God’s service. This is the season when many churches are inviting members to determine how much they think they’ll give in 2025 to support God’s mission at that church. Think of this as exercise season for your generosity and trust muscles.
How far are you willing to trust God’s provision?
How excited are you to invest in what you see God doing through your congregation?
How free do you want to be?
© Kate Heichler, 2024. To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Here are the bible readings for next Sunday. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.
11-5-24 - Citizen Saints
You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.
Last week we celebrated All Saints Day – a major feast day in the Christian calendar. It is a day that affirms your sainthood and mine. The term “saint” is conferred not only on those who are “holy” or “a good person.” In the New Testament it is simply a label assigned to those who follow Christ, however straight or wobbly our path may be. Paul’s letters are often addressed to “the saints who are at Ephesus,” or “the saints in Thessalonika.” We know from the contents of those letters those folks weren’t always “holy.” They were saints by virtue of their baptism into the holiness of Christ. You are too.
Today is Election Day the United States of America. How does our identity as saints of God affect the way we exercise our citizenship, the way we seek to protect liberty and justice for all, especially those most vulnerable to having those things taken away? How does our identity as saints in the body of Christ dictate the way we deal with conflict in the “body politic?”
We are made saints at baptism. We grow into our sainthood as we increase our capacity to love, to hold God’s power and grace, and learn to carry that contagious love into the world. At our best, as saints of God we spread viral love, clustering to infect people with hope and dignity, scattering to carry this love far and wide. What if we think of saints as viral cells that strengthen rather than weaken the bodies with whom they come into contact? Who help people become whole?
Who might you want to “infect” with hope, compassion, dignity, love? How can you, working with the other saints with whom you worship and work, carry God’s contagious love into your community?
Whatever the outcome of this election, and however long it takes to determine that outcome, a good half of our citizenry is likely to have strong feelings of fear, anger, confusion and perhaps animosity. We will be called upon to take up our mission as citizen saints, crossing boundaries of difference, seeking to forge unity wherever we can, being intentional about spreading viral love.
It is not our own love we spread – that can be a flimsy and fickle thing. It is the love of the God who is Love, who cannot but love – that’s what we carry and share. And that Love is stronger than death.
© Kate Heichler, 2024. To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Here are the bible readings for next Sunday. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.
Last week we celebrated All Saints Day – a major feast day in the Christian calendar. It is a day that affirms your sainthood and mine. The term “saint” is conferred not only on those who are “holy” or “a good person.” In the New Testament it is simply a label assigned to those who follow Christ, however straight or wobbly our path may be. Paul’s letters are often addressed to “the saints who are at Ephesus,” or “the saints in Thessalonika.” We know from the contents of those letters those folks weren’t always “holy.” They were saints by virtue of their baptism into the holiness of Christ. You are too.
Today is Election Day the United States of America. How does our identity as saints of God affect the way we exercise our citizenship, the way we seek to protect liberty and justice for all, especially those most vulnerable to having those things taken away? How does our identity as saints in the body of Christ dictate the way we deal with conflict in the “body politic?”
We are made saints at baptism. We grow into our sainthood as we increase our capacity to love, to hold God’s power and grace, and learn to carry that contagious love into the world. At our best, as saints of God we spread viral love, clustering to infect people with hope and dignity, scattering to carry this love far and wide. What if we think of saints as viral cells that strengthen rather than weaken the bodies with whom they come into contact? Who help people become whole?
Who might you want to “infect” with hope, compassion, dignity, love? How can you, working with the other saints with whom you worship and work, carry God’s contagious love into your community?
Whatever the outcome of this election, and however long it takes to determine that outcome, a good half of our citizenry is likely to have strong feelings of fear, anger, confusion and perhaps animosity. We will be called upon to take up our mission as citizen saints, crossing boundaries of difference, seeking to forge unity wherever we can, being intentional about spreading viral love.
It is not our own love we spread – that can be a flimsy and fickle thing. It is the love of the God who is Love, who cannot but love – that’s what we carry and share. And that Love is stronger than death.
© Kate Heichler, 2024. To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Here are the bible readings for next Sunday. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.
11-4-24 - Hypocrisy
You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.
Last week we explored the story of an encounter between Jesus and one of the temple scribes, who’d asked him what he considered to be the greatest commandment. Compared to many of Jesus’ confrontations with religious leaders, their conversation was quite cordial, and the scribe affirmed Jesus’ interpretation of the scriptures and his insight. But shortly after this encounter, Jesus speaks of scribes with withering condemnation: “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets! They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”
Ouch! Maybe this is why I cringe a little when accorded honor simply because of my position as a clergyperson. "Religious professionals” can as easily fall into the trap of wanting respect and goodies and good seats as anyone else. Long-winded prayers trip easily off our tongues, and Episcopalians particularly need to watch out for the lure of walking around in robes and fancy vestments!
These trappings of position are not necessarily bad in themselves – but if the appearance is masking behavior that is indifferent to or even exploiting the poor and vulnerable, look out. This is the most serious charge Jesus lays at the feet of these temple functionaries, that they “devour widow’s houses.” Presumably this refers to religious leaders’ demanding offerings or insisting on temple “taxes,” even at the cost of a widow’s meagre estate. This predatory greed, cloaked in the name of Torah, was actually a perversion of the Mosaic Law, which commanded care for orphans and widows, resident aliens and Levites – even if that was to come after the tithes to the temple had been fulfilled.
There are plenty of predatory religious leaders dunning widows for donations in our time. Mainline clergy tend to operate with more compassion and flexibility – but we are also generally quite privileged economically. Does a good pension plan and housing allowance put us in the “hypocrite’s” camp? We need always be on guard against this – not just clergy, but congregations in general as they set their spending priorities. When is a new carpet or landscaping essential, and when does it take resources away from mission? Every spending decision needs to be weighed against the church’s mission – or more properly, God’s mission through that church.
The antidote to hypocrisy is humility – seeing oneself clearly, as neither more nor less important than we really are. Humility leads to authenticity, which is arguably the most important quality a religious leader must possess. Seeing ourselves clearly before God, repenting for the ways we fail to make Christ known, invites us to polish our lanterns so that Christ’s light shines through us more brightly. That is our truest vocation, to have less of us, and more of Jesus shining through.
© Kate Heichler, 2024. To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Here are the bible readings for next Sunday. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.
Last week we explored the story of an encounter between Jesus and one of the temple scribes, who’d asked him what he considered to be the greatest commandment. Compared to many of Jesus’ confrontations with religious leaders, their conversation was quite cordial, and the scribe affirmed Jesus’ interpretation of the scriptures and his insight. But shortly after this encounter, Jesus speaks of scribes with withering condemnation: “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets! They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”
Ouch! Maybe this is why I cringe a little when accorded honor simply because of my position as a clergyperson. "Religious professionals” can as easily fall into the trap of wanting respect and goodies and good seats as anyone else. Long-winded prayers trip easily off our tongues, and Episcopalians particularly need to watch out for the lure of walking around in robes and fancy vestments!
These trappings of position are not necessarily bad in themselves – but if the appearance is masking behavior that is indifferent to or even exploiting the poor and vulnerable, look out. This is the most serious charge Jesus lays at the feet of these temple functionaries, that they “devour widow’s houses.” Presumably this refers to religious leaders’ demanding offerings or insisting on temple “taxes,” even at the cost of a widow’s meagre estate. This predatory greed, cloaked in the name of Torah, was actually a perversion of the Mosaic Law, which commanded care for orphans and widows, resident aliens and Levites – even if that was to come after the tithes to the temple had been fulfilled.
There are plenty of predatory religious leaders dunning widows for donations in our time. Mainline clergy tend to operate with more compassion and flexibility – but we are also generally quite privileged economically. Does a good pension plan and housing allowance put us in the “hypocrite’s” camp? We need always be on guard against this – not just clergy, but congregations in general as they set their spending priorities. When is a new carpet or landscaping essential, and when does it take resources away from mission? Every spending decision needs to be weighed against the church’s mission – or more properly, God’s mission through that church.
The antidote to hypocrisy is humility – seeing oneself clearly, as neither more nor less important than we really are. Humility leads to authenticity, which is arguably the most important quality a religious leader must possess. Seeing ourselves clearly before God, repenting for the ways we fail to make Christ known, invites us to polish our lanterns so that Christ’s light shines through us more brightly. That is our truest vocation, to have less of us, and more of Jesus shining through.
© Kate Heichler, 2024. To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Here are the bible readings for next Sunday. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.
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