Sermon preached at Tualatin Presbyterian Church, November 10, 2024
Just a few weeks ago, I said goodbye to a church that I really loved.
Truth be told, I said goodbye to five church homes a few weeks ago.
Rather than explain exactly how this could be so,
let’s just say I’m a ‘church junkie’ and leave it at that.
While I come with deep gratitude and joy to serve Tualatin Presbyterian Church,
I also come to you as someone who has endured much sadness in my life,
including some very recent and big upsets.
Not unlike a lot of us gathered here this morning …
Anyway (back to my story), in one of those worshipping communities,
the minister offered a simple, public blessing at the end of the service.
My colleague Rev Heather, and the community gathered at St. John’s,
knew I was moving away from the San Francisco Bay Area
and would not worship with them much going forward,
so Heather kindly offered a ‘charge and blessing’ for me personally.
Right at that moment (while I was slightly everyone’s focal point),
my cell phone called out ‘GPS Lost’ (Global Positioning System LOST).
As a professional worship leader,
I obviously know the importance of turning off my phone
when I enter a place of worship (and I know that I had done that).
Needless to say, my phone didn’t agree with me.
It was startling and slightly embarrassing, but I chose to laugh it off,
as did most everyone in the room, I think.
I figure these digital devices are part of our world
and so maybe they too need a voice.
Maybe God even speaks through them?
As I was leaving worship my other colleague at St. John’s,
Rev. Chris said to me,
“Lisa, ‘GPS Lost’ will preach!
I don’t know if you’re going to use it, but I am!”
I laughed and assured him that I most definitely would.
Being a woman of my word, here I am.
Walking out of church to my car that day, I thought ahead …
knowing I would be preaching my very first sermon as your pastor
just five days after a contentious and divided national election
here in America.
While I wasn’t yet aware of the lectionary scripture passages for today,
nor exactly how our election would go specifically,
I thought GPS Lost was a good opening story.
At the time, I thought I knew …
(somewhat) what was going to happen this past week,
not the particulars of course, but I thought I knew.
I didn’t … and GPS Lost does still preach.
Approximately half of Americans, and countless people the world over
feel that their GPS, their Global Positioning System is Lost.
I would contend that people on both sides
of the election results feel this way:
most Harris supporters feel lost that they didn’t win and
many Trump supporters feel lost by our country’s
traditional form of government
and in this state of lostness voted their candidate into office,
a man who tells us that he will challenge and maybe change
much of our historic ways of governing.
People on both ‘sides’ have views on the best way to proceed,
and yet I think every last one of us, if we are honest with ourselves,
must admit that the path forward,
the one that will play out,
is truly unclear.
Going back to my opening story,
even when we think we know how something is going to go,
we aren’t always right, clearly.
I suppose you’ve heard the phrase, “Make plans, and watch God laugh.”
If you come to church today feeling lost, please take heart,
because you have come to a place
where you have a chance to be found.
Now, I won’t and we (those gathered here in person) won’t,
solve your lostness, but we will point to the One who will.
As in God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit.
So, please take heart.
If you feel lost, I hope and pray you’ll feel at least a little more found
by the end of this service.
Our Scripture readings today are fascinatingly appropriate.
I’m amazed at how often that happens, but it very often does.
At first glance they are not comforting stories, at least not on the surface.
So if you unready feel uncomfortable, I ask you to please hang in with me
because it’s going to get a little more uncomfortable before it gets better.
I promise, I’ll do my best to leave us on a hopeful, but honest, ending note.
Now, traditionally, in the way I was taught to preach,
a minister focuses on one text out of the four offered
in the Common Lectionary,
a calendar that walks us through the major themes
and stories of the Christian Bible.
Today, I am not going to do that,
because each of the passages you just heard deserves some air-time.
This means we won’t dig very deep into any one of them,
but we will peel an outer layer or two of the onion on each.
In the first reading, we hear from the book of Ruth in our Hebrew Bible,
what we Christians call the Old Testament.
In it we hear a snippet of a story about Ruth, Naomi and Boaz.
There is so very much in this story that I would like to unpack,
but I am going to be very succinct here and just point out
that this story is about two vulnerable women who chose
to remain faithful to each other in the midst of considerable duress.
They found a way to work within a system in which they had virtually no power
by binding themselves to a man who can, and in fact does,
choose to come along side of them.
The result of this is that Obed,
the grandfather of the great King David is born.
One commentator I read this week said:
“Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers,
for thereby some have entertained the great-grandmother of a king.”
In the second reading, we hear from the Psalmist, who proclaims
“Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the Lord guards the city, the guard keeps watch in vain.”
I’m going to let that first verse of Psalm 127 speak for itself.
It is a word of tremendous hope, because what it says is God is in charge.
If we believe God loves us and wants what is best for us, always and in all ways,
then this is truly good news indeed.
Nothing other than the hand of God will build the house or keep the city
… at least in the end.
The third scripture passage we hear is from the Gospel of Mark.
This gospel overarchingly seeks to provide a theological record
of Jesus as a mighty miracle worker.
In today’s particular story, Jesus is found teaching his disciples,
about what it means to give sacrificially.
In it we meet the poor widow who gave to the treasury two mites
(the equivalent of one penny), which was all that she had.
Mind you, her contribution didn’t touch the much larger gifts given by wealthier members of the gathered congregation,
but Jesus still lifts her up as the most generous.
I would contend that Jesus did this for a few reasons:
1. Jesus always notices the poor … be it poor monetarily, poor in spirit (i.e. the grieving widow), poor in social location which was and unfortunately still is women and the disenfranchised of every ilk.
2. Jesus always illuminates things hard for us to see or hear or know straight away. He uncovers things for us. We humans might see two little coins and think, what is that? That won’t pay the bills. It’s a nice gesture and all, but that won’t solve the financial needs of much. And Jesus says, look again. Do you know who She is? Do you know what She has? Giving all she has, while not much by the world’s standards, is A LOT. Do not, humans, look down on her for her seemingly modest giving.
3. Jesus upends our world … pointing out that the last shall be first.
Now, there are a few additional things I need to unpack further about this story,
particularly because after worship today, all members of this church
are going to be given a pledge card for 2025
asking each of you to proclaim what monies you plan to contribute
to this church starting January 1, 2025.
Next Sunday, we will ceremoniously dedicate these cards in worship.
An important side note, if you can’t quite prayerfully consider what you wish to contribute to the ministry of this church by next Sunday,
we’ll still accept your pledge in the weeks following 😉
Because I referenced this Markian gospel passage in my stewardship letter to you,
I need to be sure that I help illuminate a few things,
which may still not be apparent about this story, The Widow’s Mite.
Jesus is not necessarily saying that the widow is doing the right thing.
He is definitely lifting her up as a positive example,
but not because he wants her to be in this position,
at least insofar as her financial contribution may leave her further destitute
That would be the antithesis of who Jesus is.
He is never about the widow being further diminished
by the worldly powers that be.
Jesus is simply making an observation.
While her two mites (or one penny) may seem small and insignificant,
she is giving her all.
That is what he is lifting up.
And, he is placing that alongside of the fact that those who appear to be giving much more
are not giving their all.
They are giving only a portion of what they have.
They are not giving sacrificially.
They are giving out of their comfort,
and, if we attach this action with the story that precedes it,
some of them feel lofty about tossing those big dollars
into the kitty in an ostentatious way.
They like the accolades they receive, because we all like to feel big and important.
This doesn’t make them ‘bad people.’
Jesus is emphatically saying I don’t care about that sort of thing (their posturing).
So, where’s the Good News?
It’s possible that the ‘widows’ here in my midst feel taken advantage of
and the ‘wealthy’ feel ashamed.
That’s not a good way to go home today.
We already have enough pain in our lives.
Well, here it is … here’s the Good News.
Jesus loves and forgives and welcomes new behavior from all of us.
Whether we give sacrificially or comfortably out of our abundance.
He is (as he always will) inviting us to see what we couldn’t see before.
He is (as he always will) inviting us to straighten out this messy human world
and its broken systems so that rampant oppression will cease to exist.
He is (as he always will) saying open your eyes, my people.
Open your ears, my people.
Open your mind, my people.
Open your heart, my people.
I love you.
Do better by one another and you will experience what it looks like to have MY LOVE REIGN
and be lived out here on Earth.
May it be so. Amen.