First Presbyterian Church
The Prayer that Never Fails
Sermon for November 12, 2006
by Pastor Susan Barnes

Children's time:

In Jesus' day, he didn't go to church, he went to the temple. In part of the temple, there were chests people could use to put in different kinds of offering. Where do we put our offering? The chests were called Shofar-chests. 1 Does anyone know what a shofar is? (I held up my clear hyperbolic funnel from my Coin Twister bank.)

That's right, it's a trumpet. I think the chests had trumpet shaped metal tops. It looked sort of like this, but not blue and red plastic, but metal.

Here's what happens when I put in a quarter.

Close your eyes and listen. Tell me how many coins you think I put in. ( I put in a bunch.)

Let's do it again. (I put in two.)

These last two coins were old copper coins, called leptas. Another word for them is mites. They are mighty small, aren't they? They weren't worth very much.

Today during my sermon, we are going to hear a story about Jesus. He was at the temple, watching people put coins in the shofar-chests. He heard a lot of people put in money like this. (I put in a bunch of coins.) So many people putting in so many coins. Until (I put in two coins). How many coins do you think that was? (Two.) How could you tell?

The person who put in those two coins was poor, and a widow; she didn't have any husband and no children to take care of her. What do you guess Jesus thought of her giving her only two coins to the temple?

Let's pray.

Last week we heard about Ruth following her mother-in-law Naomi back to Bethlehem. Ruth's husband and Naomi's husband have both died. Hebrew tradition says that once a husband dies, a male relative of his is obligated to marry her. Listen for the word of God as it is found in Ruth 3:1-11 and 4:13-17.

1 Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, "My daughter, I need to seek some security for you, so that it may be well with you. 2 Now here is our kinsman Boaz, with whose young women you have been working. See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor.

3 Now wash and anoint yourself, and put on your best clothes and go down to the threshing floor; but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking.

4 When he lies down, observe the place where he lies; then, go and uncover his feet and lie down; and he will tell you what to do." 5 She said to her, "All that you tell me I will do."

6 So she went down to the threshing floor and did just as her mother-in-law had instructed her.

7 When Boaz had eaten and drunk, and he was in a contented mood, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. Then she came stealthily and uncovered his feet, and lay down.

8 At midnight the man was startled, and turned over, and there, lying at his feet, was a woman! 9 He said, "Who are you?" And she answered, "I am Ruth, your servant; spread your cloak over your servant, for you are next-of-kin."

10 He said, "May you be blessed by the LORD, my daughter; this last instance of your loyalty is better than the first; you have not gone after young men, whether poor or rich. 11 And now, my daughter, do not be afraid, I will do for you all that you ask, for all the assembly of my people know that you are a worthy woman.

13 So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When they came together, the LORD made her conceive, and she bore a son.

14 Then the women said to Naomi, "Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you this day without next-of-kin; and may his name be renowned in Israel! 15 He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age; for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has borne him."

16 Then Naomi took the child and laid him in her bosom, and became his nurse. 17 The women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, "A son has been born to Naomi." They named him Obed; he became the father of Jesse, the father of David.

This ends our reading from the book of Ruth.

Anthem

Last week we heard how Jesus argued and discussed theology with the priests, scribes, elders, Pharisees, Herodians and Sadducees. One of the scribes answered Jesus well, and he commended him, and said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” Now, Jesus has been teaching the crowds in Jerusalem. Listen for the word of God as it is found in Mark 12:38-44.

38 As he taught, he said, "Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, 39 and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets! 40 They devour widows' houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation."

41 He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. 42 A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny.

43 Then he called his disciples and said to them, "Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. 44 For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on."

This ends our reading from the gospel. Our epistle reading makes use of the temple, and talks about sacrifice. On the Day of Atonement, the high priest entered the holy of holies, to sprinkle blood on the mercy seat in the very presence of God. 2 The people wait outside for the priest to come again. Will it be safe for the priest to approach God? Will the priest survive this holy encounter to return to the people? Year after year, the people see the priest return.

Listen for the word of God as it is found in Hebrews 9:24-28.

24 For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made by human hands, a mere copy of the true one, but he entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.

25 Nor was it to offer himself again and again, as the high priest enters the Holy Place year after year with blood that is not his own;

26 for then he would have had to suffer again and again since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to remove sin by the sacrifice of himself.

27 And just as it is appointed for mortals to die once, and after that the judgment,

28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

This ends our reading of God's word.

Last week, I read about the New Life church in Colorado Springs, and how it is surviving the firing of their pastor, Ted Haggard, who has admitted to buying methamphetamine and having a three year gay relationship with a prostitute. On the first Sunday a speaker in their church said that God “chose this incredibly important time for this sin to be revealed” and “that is God's will.” 3

I just can't believe it's God's will for a gay man to marry, have children, and then have one night stands on the side and do drugs to anesthetize him from the pain of it all. That is not part of God's plan.

It wasn't God's will for the widow to put in all she had. She should have been receiving a portion from the temple, not giving it the little she had. That's the practice that Jesus is denouncing. He's not saying how great it is that she's so noble that she's giving all she has. He's complaining that the temple is taking from the people it should be supporting.

So when people claim that everything that happens in the world is God's will, my hackles go up. The will of God is not about accepting everything that comes our way without question. Jesus didn't do that. He didn't accept poverty or violence or immorality or cruelty.

Our reading from Hebrews tells us that Jesus went into heaven itself, to be with God. And he didn't leave us humans permanently; he will come back to us human beings bringing salvation, like the priest returns, year after year. But Jesus' sacrifice was made just the one time. It is not an offering we are supposed to make to God; rather it is an offering Christ made for us.

We do not demand that everyone here pay 10% or else you can't have communion, or tell you that your salvation depends on the amount of money you put in.

In Betty Kimball's moment for stewardship last month, she read a list of stewardship suggestions. One was “Budget for giving.” That means to “Control your spending habits so that after you give to God, you will have enough left over to meet all of your financial obligations.” 4 That's the one that really struck me. Our giving is related to how much we control our spending, not how generous we feel like being. The others were “Realize that how you give matters more than how much you give” and know that “material wealth will not bring eternal satisfaction” and “give as service to Christ”. There's always the question of how much do I take care of myself and how much do I take care of others. That's a stewardship question.

Part of being a good steward of our blessings is to make some plans so that we can give some away. There are times in our lives where we don't have anything to give away. The widow in our gospel lesson had two lepta, the smallest coin in biblical times. Widows in the Bible are often depicted as poor and vulnerable, as in the story of Ruth. But the book of Ruth has a happy ending because Boaz was an honorable man.

The book of Ruth tells us that widows were supposed to be allowed to glean from the fields after they were harvested, but Boaz let Ruth go ahead of the harvesters. Once he found out Ruth was distantly related to him, he admitted there was a male relative who was more closely related than he was. He gave the other man his rightful opportunity. The man waived his rights, and so Boaz married Ruth. In our text today, we see Boaz still acting honorably. Ruth is a pretty woman, and she comes to him at night, when he is alone and sleeping, and lays on the floor with him. He doesn't take advantage of her. He acted honorably, and allowed her to act honorably also. She accepted his generosity.

If we live our lives with integrity, when we are faced with hard circumstances, we will know what to do. But when we are used to acting only in our own interests, we often don't know the right thing to do even when we want to. Jesus condemned the scribes who wanted the privileges of their positions, but didn't use their authority to assist those less fortunate.

Those of you who have read Jan Karon's Mitford series know that Father Tim often prays “the prayer that never fails.” I always wondered what that prayer was, until the author tells us in the last book. The prayer that never fails is “Lord, thy will be done.” We say it every Sunday together in the Lord's prayer. One of the theological problems with prayer is that sometimes we wonder, “Why do we need to tell God anything?”

It's like the little girl who is on her knees and her mother hears her reciting the alphabet. She says, “What are you doing? You're supposed to be saying your prayers and going to bed.” The daughter says, “Oh, I didn't know what to pray for, so I'm just telling giving God all the letters so he can say the right words.”

We pray “Thy will be done” because that which we pray for, we have to work for. By praying that “thy will be done,” we are aligning ourselves with God's purposes and God's plan. The most important commandment is still love the Lord your God and love your neighbor as you love yourself. When we focus on loving our neighbors and ourselves, when we plan our lives, not just our budgets, so we can give to others, we are doing what God wills. May thy will be done.

1 Mishnah, Shekalim 6.5, There were thirteen shofar-chests in the temple. Shofar possible refers to the tapering shape of these money-chests, footnote 10 on 2.1.

2New Interpreter's Bible , XII, p. 113.

3 Johnson, Kirk, “Church tries to cope after minister's dismissal,” New York Times, Nov. 6, 2006, www.nytimes.com/2006/11/06/us/06minister.html?_r=1&ref=us&oref=slogin

4One Year through the Bible, Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. 2000, Livingston Corps.