“He (Jesus) looked up and saw rich people putting their gifts into the treasury; he also saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. He said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them; for all of them have contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on.” Luke 21:1-4  

“A little child in church for the first time watched as the ushers passed the offering plates. When they neared the pew where he sat, the youngster piped up so that everyone could hear: “Don’t pay for me Daddy, I’m under five.” 

“When friends speak overmuch of times gone by, often it’s because they sense their present time is turning them from friends to strangers. Long before the moment came to say goodbye, I think, we said goodbye in other words and ways and silences.” (Buechner, Frederick. Listening to Your Life. HarperOne. Kindle Edition.)

Buechner speaks of “times gone by” – these times can not only turn friends into strangers, they can often be the curse of the church. Look at the scene Jesus is watching in the Temple. He is watching people go through the motions of putting gifts into the treasury but they are simply going through the motions – they are following long standing traditions that do not challenge them any more. You might say “Well a gift is a gift”. And you are right. But the poor widow’s gift is not just 1/10^th of her abundance, it is her entire savings — and Jesus lifts up her gift as something new.

So what am I getting at. Well, it is easy for us, as humans, to begin to lose our connection with our actions, just like old friends can lose their interest in a long-term relationship. Over time we begin to live into and lift up the “old ways” while losing connection with the now. If our giving, the giving of ourselves and our time and our treasure never changes, then, as Buechner suggests, we “speak overmuch of times gone by”.

One of the things you will be doing in 2021, I hope, is taking some time to re-prioritize your schedule — adding time for exercise, adding time for more sleep, and adding more time to spend with G-d. I hope you can find some ways that you can give more to G-d: more of your time, your prayers, your devotion, and yes, your gifts of talent and treasure.  

Pastor Dave  

“When the king heard the charge, he was very much distressed. He was determined to save Daniel, and until the sun went down he made every effort to rescue him. Then the conspirators came to the king and said to him, “Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians that no interdict or ordinance that the king establishes can be changed.” Then the king gave the command, and Daniel was brought and thrown into the den of lions. The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you faithfully serve, deliver you!” A stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet and with the signet of his lords, so that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel. Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting; no food was brought to him, and sleep fled from him.” Daniel 6:14-18

“To journey for the sake of saving our own lives is little by little to cease to live in any sense that really matters, even to ourselves, because it is only by journeying for the world’s sake—even when the world bores and sickens and scares you half to death—that little by little we start to come alive. It was not a conclusion that I came to in time. It was a conclusion from beyond time that came to me. God knows I have never been any good at following the road it pointed me to, but at least, by grace, I glimpsed the road and saw that it is the only one worth traveling.” (Buechner, Frederick. Listening to Your Life. HarperOne. Kindle Edition.)

Frederick Buechner says: “God knows I have never been any good at following the road it pointed me to, but at least, by grace, I glimpsed the road and saw that it is the only one worth traveling.” Buechner is speaking about the struggle we all encounter inside our very selves – the struggle to live only for ourselves or to live for the world.

This is partly the story of Daniel in the lion’s den. The satraps had determined to convince the king, King Darius, that he: “should issue an edict and enforce the decree that anyone who prays to any god or human being…except to you, Your Majesty, shall be thrown into the lions’ den.” (Daniel 6:7) If Daniel had sought to live only for himself, he would have bowed to the king and saved his life for sure. But Daniel did not only live for himself, he lived first and foremost for the Lord, and his trust saved his life.

Now, we could surmise that lesson we should learn from Daniel is thus: trust in G-d will solve all our problems. But that is not the lesson we should learn.

The chief lesson we should learn comes from the confession of King Darius: “For he is the living God and he endures forever; his kingdom will not be destroyed, his dominion will never end” (Daniel 6:26). In other words, our faith in G-d is a faith in a sovereign, omnipotent presence whose will takes precedence over our own. G-d’s ways are not our ways, and G-d’s thoughts are not our thoughts. And following G-d’s will, you know, to love G-d with our whole being and to love our neighbor as ourselves should and will be the “only road worth traveling.”

Our faith does not guarantee us a rose garden – it only confirms that G-d is the source of all blessings, and challenges, and that the Holy Spirit will follow us and guide us along every road we travel.

Pastor Dave