11/14/54

Scripture: Mark 14: 1-9.

One of the most beautiful and moving stories of the New Testament is that which was read this morning as our Scripture lesson. Jesus was having a meal at the home of Simon the leper. While he relaxed in company with others at table, a woman came in without announcement or introduction. In here hands was a flask of precious, fragrant ointment. She went directly to Jesus, broke open the flask, and with ministering grace poured the ointment upon the head of Jesus.

The anointing of someone’s head was nothing new among those folk. It brought soothing and comfort. Kings were formally anointed with oil as a special sign that they were set aside for royal duties. Even weary sheep in the fold were given the comfort of a bit of oil on the head. But this was no common oil. It was a costly, rarely perfumed ointment. And the woman put not just a few drops of it on the Master’s head, but the whole flask of it. Because it was costly, some of the guests muttered severe criticism of the woman. Why such an extravagant waste? The stuff could have been sold to someone else (they didn’t say to whom, of for what use) and the proceeds given out in charity to the poor! “Some people just don’t have sense in their giving!” But Jesus was deeply moved by this gesture, and defended her vigorously. He accepted the act as one of pure, unselfish, unreserved devotion. He made the incident memorable by transforming that simple deed into something sacred.

Similarly, our gifts to Christ, and his cause, and his service, take on a sacred nature when they are prompted not by caution and prudence, but by unreserved devotion. If a person will give liberally of what he has, without reserve or “conditions” or “strings” or “comparisons,” then truly his life abounds with majesty! What a marvelous way this woman gave! She brought her gift, and delivered it, with joyous abandon. There is no evidence of any reserve or restraint. She had made up her mind what she wished to do, and carried out her purpose completely.

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I once studied with a man who was convinced that one can learn considerably about so-called normal behavior by studying carefully the abnormal behavior of some. He was chaplain in a hospital for the mentally ill, and had once himself been a patient in such a hospital. If his thesis is valid, perhaps an incident from the autobiography of a psychiatrist, Dr. James Fisher, may be relevant here. The doctor calls his autobiography: “A Few Buttons Missing.” In it he relates an encounter with one of the hospital patients. He had given a partly-filled package of cigarettes to the patient. The patient at first protested that he could not take them, for the Doctor would then have none for himself. But, being assured that the Doctor had more downstairs, the patient accepted them with gratitude. A few minutes later he handed the doctor a check which he had written out for $50,000. “That’s for the cigarettes,” the patient said humbly. Dr. Fisher made a great display of putting the check in his wallet while the patient asked anxiously, “Is that enough? I was going to make it out for a million, but I’m trying to discipline myself. My financial secretary keeps getting after me for giving away too much money. He’s a bore, but I try to humor him.” The psychiatrist assured the old man that $50,000 was quite adequate. “I’m glad,” sighed the patient. “One thing I couldn’t stand, would be for you to think I’d been a cheapskate.”

Well, whichever buttons he had missing, the old fellow’s giving was characterized by a certain abandon. While his amounts may have been fantastic beyond sanity, the freedom with which he gave is something to ponder.

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I once knew a family of more-than-merely-comfortable means wherein the distribution of some means was a matter to be earnestly considered. The husband was a Christian minister. The wife came of a family of well-known wealth. It was the minister-husband who confided to me that his wife was enjoying her giving more than she ever had before! After years of carefully considering each object for her giving, and wondering if she could give wisely without harming elsewhere her financial structure, she had decided on a definite proportion of her expected income that she would give. This proportion she definitely set aside from other funds. It was never to be mingled with the funds for her personal expenses, or family comfort. Because she no longer had to consider whether her giving would take away from something else (that had been settled!) she took great pleasure in her giving, putting each item of her contributing where she wanted to help, with joyous abandon.

Part of our stewardship of living is some such plan of proportionate giving of substance, and of time, in which we spend of ourselves without inhibition and with joy. How the numbers need to be increased, in the church, of those who spend themselves with cheerful purpose. Some habitually give without stint. Some measure their devotion to their church with a cautious eye. Some measure it as with a basket!

In the village near where I was born there was a store-keeper who was a singularly happy fellow. Part of his happiness lay in the way he measured out the commodities which he sold to people in his general store. There were other merchants who would make a great showing of filling a measure of seed ‘till it was heaped up. As the customer looked on it with satisfaction, and then turned to look for the next item of purchase, the merchant would flick off the heaped up mound of seed back into the bin, putting barely a measure full of seed into the sack for the customer to take away. Pretty slick!

But the store-keeper I remember, was a fellow whose measures were always heaped up and were sacked that way whether the customer was looking or not. When he sold candy to the children it always seemed that there must be a couple of extra pieces in the sack, so much did he give them for their pennies and nickels.

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The woman of Bethany was even more extravagant with her giving. She could have put a few fragrant drops on Jesus’ head. Or she might have poured out a spoon full. But she emptied the entire flask of it in her devotion. And Jesus accepted it with great appreciation of her devotion.

We sometimes allow ourselves the impression that Jesus was an ascetic about money; that he scorned it, and abhorred all possessions. This is a misapprehension. Jesus seems to have recognized the right of private property. But he strongly recommended the stewardship of that property as a means of living, rather than of withdrawing from life. Not the hoarding and piling up of money, but the right and joyous administration and spending of it is what he emphasized.

A few drops from an eye dropper may be the standard of giving for too many church members; whereas the heaping bushel basket would be a better measure of the joy that goes with abundant participation in the whole enterprise of the church!

God can not give to us what He has for us if our hands are closed. It is only when our hands are open, not alone in supplication but in sharing, that He can pour his bounty into them.

This sermon is not designed to raise money. Few sermons, as such, can raise money. I’m not sure that any should. But I want to stress the attitude of joyous giving that will cause you and me to undergird the church with our time and thought, our prayers and our possessions. When we do that, we find that the money “has been raised.”

It is a conspicuous characteristic of the liberal giver that he has a joyful outlook on living. And those who give the most are seldom conscious of sacrificing or self denial to do it. For giving brings blessing to the giver.

A man who attended church some, but took little part in its work or service, was irritated by what he considered its appeals for money, which he thought came too often. In exasperation he wrote a piece of his mind to the chairman of that church’s benevolence committee. “It seems to me,” said he, “that all I hear from your church is “give, give, give!” When he received the letter, the benevolence chairman sat right down and wrote a reply. “I want to thank you, sir,” he said, “for giving me the best definition of Christianity that I’ve seen in a long while.”

The giving of love never empties the heart; and Dr. Warren Denniston insists that giving never empties the purse. For the dedicated steward, giving is lifted from the purely monetary level to a level of sacramental joy. And it is at this higher level that our Christianity becomes most practical. At that level we put meaning into the saying, “Christ has no hands but ours” by upholding the hands of Christ in vital reality. It does some good for us to pray, “Thy Kingdom come,” when we are willing to do all possible to bring its coming.

How can we emulate the devotion of the woman of Bethany?

1) First of all, consider the possessions which we call ours as actually belonging to God. Whatever we have is on loan from God. And out of sheer gratitude, we will want to share generously in the work that we know is His will.

“How much shall I give?” Give that proportion of your income which you feel that you can rightly and joyously share in the light of your blessings, your responsibilities, your opportunities to serve.

2) Surely allocate top priority to your giving. It takes the cheer from giving if one waits until all other expected obligations are cared for first. To really enjoy giving, say to yourself, this is a first obligation. I wouldn’t for the world miss taking my part with God in the service of my church. And I will provide for that first, believing that these other things will be added unto me in their right place and proportion.

3) A third suggestion: Let us give so that we may possibly merit the approval of the Master. “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your Master.” [Matthew 25: 21].

Today is the beginning of our Every Member Canvass; It is Loyalty Sunday. Most of our homes have received this week the financial explanation that was carefully worked out by representative members who studied our church program and possibility, and which was presented at a business meeting on November 4th. It is God’s work, whether it be that portion that is expended here at home, or in the fellowship of this state, or out over the nation or in distant places abroad. We expect to continue our fair share in the world-wide mission of our churches at the same time that we are confronted with the opportunity to undergird more strongly the work here at home.

Ever church member, man or woman, adult or youth, should give, to and through his church. It is best to give systematically and joyously, so that you will feel confident, and the church offices will know about what they have to work with in service. Every church attendant who, though not a member of this church, is cordially invited to share in this work to the full extent of your interest and ability.

Pledge Cards.

Signing cards.

Dedication of cards.

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Delivered in Wisconsin Rapids, November 14, 1954.