Abundance in Scarcity

Luke 20:41-21:4

The Widow's Mite. It's odd--the language appears to contradict the Stewardship messages we received over the past month in which we've been asked to give with a Spirit of Abundance rather than one of Scarcity. But I think the message is there.

The Widow gives all she has, thus giving the greater gift from the Rich Man. I wonder how many of our churches see it this way? We are asked to give--joyfully, in the spirit that God will provide for us, but then we're still faced with the bottom line: You're not giving enough--we'll have to make cuts. How do we reconcile the bottom line with the Spirit of Abundance--the knowledge that God has given us everything we need to carry out His mission in this time and place?

As a working mother, I frequently feel as though I'm running on empty--that there just isn't enough of me for work, husband, baby--forget self. But we always eat, and there's always a bedtime story and special snuggles for C. Most nights I even get to talk to my husband. And occasionally, I get to read a book in the bathtub or knit while I watch a movie. I don't have enough to be SuperMom--to make sure my toddler is taking yoga and French and Karate Lessons while learning ballet and cooking and mastering the art of the sonnet. I had to stop and recognize what resources I had and how I could make best use of them, knowing that certain needs had to be met no matter what.

And there's enough. There isn't much extra, and sometimes I wish there was more, but we have enough.

I think the same holds true for many of our churches. We have enough, but we have to be brutally honest about the resources we have to offer and the needs that have to be met. Of course we can have dreams of what we want to do and where we want to go and of course that vision is vital to continuing mission. But we need that vision to help us move forward and not cripple us like my visions of SuperMom. We do have enough if we give our all--like the widow. If we only give out of comfort, we cripple ourselves with the knowledge that we aren't truly willing to commit.