Every year about this time one of the selection included in our lectionary has something to do with money. In one of the years of the three year rotation there is the story of the Pharisees trying to catch Jesus in a gotcha moment. Jesus is presented with a coin with the impression of the emperor on it. He is asked whether people should pay their taxes. Jesus says “Give to Caesar’s what is Caesar’s, and give to God what belongs to God.” Then, in another year, there is the story of the humble tax collector and the proud Pharisee praying at the Temple. In Jesus’ eyes the humble but despised tax collector is the more faithful of the two because he gives his tithe from his heart. And then, of course, there is the story we just heard. It is most often referred to as the story of the widow’s mite … although our contemporary bible translations no longer call it a “mite.”
We hear these stories this time of year because of the wisdom of those powers-that-be who decided on the lectionary. They understood that it was usually in the fall that annual budgets for the coming year were being discuss by vestries and mission boards, and the annual stewardship campaign needed a good story to get things going. So, this morning is a stewardship sermon!
We hear these stories this time of year because of the wisdom of those powers-that-be who decided on the lectionary. They understood that it was usually in the fall that annual budgets for the coming year were being discuss by vestries and mission boards, and the annual stewardship campaign needed a good story to get things going. So, this morning is a stewardship sermon!
24 Pentecost
November 8, 2015
In the name of the God of all creation,
The God alive in each of us as God was alive in Jesus,
And the power of God known in the Spirit.
Amen.
November 8, 2015
In the name of the God of all creation,
The God alive in each of us as God was alive in Jesus,
And the power of God known in the Spirit.
Amen.
