Sacrificial Giving
1 Chronicles 21:18-28; Mark 12:41-44
When I was a teenager, I was really into snow skiing. I went up to Lake Tahoe 7-10 times a year in high school and throughout most of college, skiing on Saturdays whenever I could. My parents wanted to support this habit by keeping me warm and by buying my first set of really good Rossignol skis and boots. They bought me a perfect winter coat, which I skied in for years. It was long, covering my body to just above my knees. It was waterproof and stylish. I also wore it whenever winter hit, as the down insulation kept me warm. I would say it was my favorite jacket I ever owned, save for the cool 80s style denim jacket I wore when Paula and I went to purchase wedding rings back in 1987.
It was around the time we bought those rings that I was working full time as a youth director at Concord 1st Presbyterian Church. At that time, I was shocked to see a surge in homelessness in America, and particularly in the Bay Area. Before the 80s, homelessness in our nation was not a huge problem. As the decade began, however, it rapidly turned into a crisis. What caused this crisis? U.S. homelessness increased dramatically from converging forces including declining incomes, loss of affordable housing, deep federal welfare cuts, and rapid deindustrialization, with homelessness roughly doubling between 1984 and 1987 according to national estimates at the time. As a youth director, I saw an opportunity for our congregation to do what Jesus would do- feed people. We began a sack dinner ministry for people experiencing homelessness in San Francisco, as there were very few unhoused people in Concord at the time. We went once a month with about 25 volunteers and a couple of hundred sack meals, and distributed them down at the U.N. Plaza and park, where many unhoused folks were.
During the winter months, we also collected blankets and coats and distributed them. After one night of giving out food, blankets, and winter coats, we were closing up shop and heading back home. As we were getting in our cars, I saw a young man in his early 20s come up and ask if we had any more food or winter clothing. We were tapped out, as the need was great in those days and remains so now. He looked cold and hungry. All I had left to give was that wonderful warm, green perfect winter coat, which I was wearing at the time. I thought of that passage in the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus said, “If anyone sues you and takes your shirt, give them your coat as well.” (Matthew 5:40) I took a deep breath and knew I was about to give away a prized possession. I turned to the young man, took off my wonderful, perfect coat, and gave it to him. He was very thankful, said “God bless you,” and headed back into the park. That moment of giving felt like a sacrifice to me. It was obviously what God wanted me to do. But in giving, it cost me because it was a meaningful possession. To this day, I can close my eyes and remember that moment when I handed that coat to the young man. Although I was cold and a little sad, I also felt a sense of joy as we drove back home.
This morning’s sermon is about that giving- sacrificial giving. There can be great meaning and joy in giving a sacrificial gift. A sacrifice is not determined by the size of the gift but by what it represents to the donor. There are different meanings of a sacrificial gift. For some, it means to give up something of value (Like a perfect winter coat). For others, it is to put off a significant purchase until a later time to free up funds to support a meaningful ministry or project. For others, it is to reorganize financial priorities to make an impact for God’s justice in the world. For some, it is to give what little you have to make a difference.
I think it is helpful to point out that the root word of “sacrifice” is the word “sacred.” When we declare something sacred, we set it aside for a holy purpose, dedicating it to serve Christ. When people make a truly sacrificial gift, they are setting aside and dedicating resources to furthering the work of the Kingdom. In Scripture, sacrifice is demonstrated in many ways and is often mentioned in the context of worship, with a focus on honoring and loving God. This morning, we will hear two stories of giving something costly and not easy to do.
Our first illustration of sacrificial giving is the story of King David and Ornan, the Jebusite. Ornan, who threshed wheat for a living along with his four sons, saw the King and immediately bowed down before him with his face to the ground. David had been told by the prophet Gad to go to Ornan’s threshing floor, take it, and build an altar to God. Ornan’s first response to his king is, take it; it is yours!” As we are reminded by the great Mel Brooks, who just turned 100, “It’s good to be the king!” Yet David, in all his power, refuses to get some land for free because he is King. Instead, he offers to buy the land from Ornan for the full price of 600 shekels, which in those days was a hefty sum. Why did David do this? Why did the prophet Gad tell him where to go and build an altar? Let’s look at the back story to see what led to this purchase of land by the king.
At the beginning of chapter 21 (Verses 1–6), we find that the evil one has been active, stirring David’s heart with pride. David, after uniting the two kingdoms under one rule, wants to know how powerful his armies have become. So, he orders a census of the armies of Israel and Judah. His nephew and commander of David’s armies Joab protests, knowing the count is rooted in pride, but the king’s command prevails. Joab and the commanders travel for nearly ten months, returning with a total of 1,100,000 fighting men in Israel and 470,000 in Judah.
Verses 7–13 – Conviction and Choice
God is displeased with David’s pride and strikes Israel. David’s conscience is pierced; he confesses, “I have sinned greatly.” Through the prophet Gad, the LORD offers David three options: three years of famine, three months of enemy pursuit, or three days of plague. David casts himself on God’s mercy, choosing the plague.
Verses 14–17 – The Plague and Plea
Seventy thousand men fall as the angel of the LORD sweeps across the land. When the angel reaches Jerusalem, God commands, “It is enough.” David, who has by this time been told the plague would cease once he built an altar to God, approaches Ornan and his threshing floor. He sees a destroying angel by the threshing floor of Ornan, cries out that the sheep are innocent—let the judgment fall on him and his family. Before the angel departs, he tells the prophet Gad that the way to end the plague is to build an altar on Mt. Gibeon, where, just so happens, Ornan was threshing wheat for a living.
That brings us back to today’s scene. David’s pride has cost him much. He could have just taken the land beneath the threshing floor, built the altar, and ended God’s wrath and the plague. Instead, he paid full price for the land. He wanted his giving to Ornan to mean something. Biblical scholars suggest that, in giving Ornan 600 shekels, the equivalent today would be close to $15,000.David offers a sacrifice that costs him significantly. David gives Ornan the large sum and builds an altar to God. The plague ceases, and in time the site becomes an important place of worship just outside of Jerusalem. The tabernacle of meeting encases the altar, and the ark of the covenant finds a home there as well.
David was from the wealthy and powerful class, and is one example of sacrificial giving. Our second example comes from one of the poorest of the poor at the time, a widow, whose sacrificial giving was even greater than David’s. Let’s set the scene.
A multitude of people came to Herod’s temple to pay their offerings and to support God’s work at the temple. During Jesus’ time, the inner area of the Temple contained three courts. The easternmost court was the Court of the Women, and it contained the Temple treasury where people donated their money.
It does not appear that there was a separate building called the temple treasury in those days. The name was given to the thirteen brazen chests, called "trumpets," because of the form of their openings, into which the offerings of the temple worshippers were placed. Jesus notes that, in addition to the everyday offering-bringer, many wealthy people were placing large sums of money into some of the chests. These wealthy temple patrons were guided by the law of the tithe (10%) and a long tradition of how to figure it. There was no paper money to speak of in those days, so no doubt when a wealthy person gave an offering to the temple, it made quite a bit of noise as the coins clinked their way down the trumpet-shaped tubes and into the chests.
Then Jesus points out a poor widow, who puts her very small offering, two small coins known as “mites,” into the temple depository. Mites were the smallest denomination of coin in value and size back then, worth about ½ of a penny. I doubt there was much clinking to be heard for this offering.
Jesus sees her act and says, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For they all contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, her whole living.” Why would Jesus say this? Consider that her status was quite uncertain, because her husband, the major source of protection and identity, was dead. Widows at that time were considered subjects of special moral concern because of their defenseless legal as well as financial position. And according to Jesus, some scribes had taken advantage of their plight and seized their homes, leaving widows and their children homeless. Her offering of 2 coins is greater than those who were putting in large sums of money to the treasury, because she gave all she had, her whole living. Jesus lifts her example as an example of sacrificial, meaningful giving.
There are a couple of opportunities for you to consider following David and the widow’s examples of meaningful giving.
In just a bit, we will be collecting pledges for the capital campaign. To date, many individuals have made pledges that cost them something, were difficult, and were given as sacrifices to God. The amount we have in pledges to date, $565,000, was not an easy ask for many. I hope that, as you consider adding to that number, you can give in a meaningful way, which will be different for each of us.
The second opportunity to give in a meaningful way is next Sunday, when we have a love offering for the Zhyvotovskyi family. This refugee family from Ukraine has made a home for themselves here in Ashland, attends our church when able, and finds themselves caught in the government’s immigration crackdown, facing hugely increased fees to stay in the United States. They had saved the required fees to reapply to remain here, but then those fees escalated significantly. Both Misha and Oleena work full time, are saving as best they can so they can renew their legal status instead of facing the very real threat of having to return to an active war zone in Ukraine. Their story is in this month’s Dialogue. I encourage you to read it, and then next Sunday, give meaningfully to this family as a demonstration of God’s justice.
May God be with us as we consider the examples of David and the Widow and their sacrificial gifts and contemplate how we too will give as we are able. Alleluia! Amen.
