What Can Half A Penny Do?
"Then a poor widow came and dropped in two small coins." Mark 12:42 (NLT)
Intro: John Wesley’s Journal---Thursday, May 7, 1741.
—I reminded the United Society that many of our brethren and sisters had not needful food;
many were destitute of convenient clothing;
many were out of business, and that without their own fault;
and many sick and ready to perish:
that I had done what in me lay to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to employ the poor, and to visit the sick; but was not, alone, sufficient for these things; and therefore desired all whose hearts were as my heart:
1. To bring what clothes each could spare to be distributed among those that wanted most.
2. To give weekly a penny, or what they could afford, for the relief of the poor and sick.
This got me thinking about the value of a penny.
You used to be able to buy a piece of bubble gum for a penny…(but not anymore)
Recently at the high school concession stand they charged a nickel for a piece of gum…,
But got tired of fooling with nickels and started selling 3 for a quarter…
I have been at truck stops and saw machines that will smash a penny into souvenir keepsakes…
but that can cost a quarter or even 50 cents to turn the wheel on the smasher…
You might have a jar full of pennies but how often do you see a penny and walk past it…
And think “Oh my aching back…,” is it worth the chance of hurting myself or feeling the sharp back-pain to rick bending over to pick up a penny?
Pennies seem worthless…
Someone said, “You can use a penny to scratch off a lottery ticket to try to win a million dollars…”
We say “a penny for your thoughts,” that can really be worth something…
To share…, to exchange…, to communicate what two people are thinking.
The cost of the Federal Reserve to make a penny is greater than the monetary worth of a penny…
Pennies are not made out of copper any more…, they started making them out of zinc 1982
Lots of people want to demote the nickel and drop the penny altogether…
Today we really don’t put much value in the penny.
We hear people say “A penny saved is a penny earned…”
But a “penny pincher” is not a very nice person..
They are thought of as “stingy”
People say don’t ask them for money…,
they wouldn’t give you penny
or maybe due to inflation is it “they wouldn’t give you dime?”
I “Googled”--what can you buy with penny--
The web sight came up with this message
“Unfortunately, the market dynamics of the past few years have made it impossible for us to continue posting updates on the value of what you can buy for a penny.”
Certainly you can save pennies… a roll of pennies is 50 cents…, two rolls or a 100 pennies make a dollar…
But a “farthing” is two ½ pennies
a “farthing” or what is called a “widows mite” is two half pennies…
So it takes 200 “farthings” ---to make a dollar.
A “widows mite” would be twice the work to make dollar
She would have to save twice as much… to have a dollar’s worth…
She would have to beg twice as long to give a dollar’s worth into the offering or collection plate…
(So it would take 200 coins or widows mite… to make a dollar…)
Jesus sat and watched the collection plate in the Temple and he watched as the crowds dropped in their money.
And he taught this lesson: [The value of a gift is not determined by its amount…,
but by the sacrifice and spirit in which it is given.]
Today a lot of people categorize church into one of two categories.
The first category would be: What do I get out of church?
In other words: What does the church teach me?
What does the church provide in support for my family?
Does Worship service give me strength and encourage me?
Is church a place to fellowship and cultivate community?
What am I getting when I attend church?
The second category would be: What do I give back to church?
I give praise to God in worship.
I lead and teach children and youth and adult classes.
I serve others by bringing food on Wednesday nights and sharing in the potlucks.
I use my gifts and talents to organize and plan the programs of the church.
I give my tithes and offerings to the local church
I join in a partnership with the larger connection of United Methodist churches around the world.
I tell my testimony about what Christ has done for me…,
and so I’m witnessing my faith to lead others to Christ.
These are briefly…, both what we get out of church…., and what we give back to church.
Both of these lists can be expanded and there are more details about ongoing ministry
and the daily presence of God at work of this church.
But basically there are two questions people ask themselves:
What do I get out of church? and What do I give back to church?
I have come to learn…, over the years…, that these two questions…, are so closely connected…, that you really can not separate one from the other.
The truth is: When you are not getting much out of church…,
It is most likely you are not giving much back to church.
But when you are giving back to church in service…,
then most likely you are getting something out of church…, as the result of what you are giving.
What have you recently done that you would consider service to others?
This week I started my car just like usual.
The motor turned on and sounded just like always…
The lights and gauges came on in working condition.
The radio turned on and there was music playing
But the problem was it wasn’t going anywhere.
The clutch and transmission were out.
The car had the horsepower…,
The motor had the RPM’s to turn and rotate thousands of times per minute.
But nothing happened…
What good is a car for if it can’t take you where you need to go?
There was so much power and so much potential…
And yet it never moved from potential to productive…
One day Jesus told a story about the Kingdom of Heaven
He said there was a man going on a trip.
He called together his servants and gave them each one money to invest for him while he was gone.
He gave five bags of gold to one…, two bags of gold to another…, and one bag of gold to the last
--dividing it in proportion to their abilities— (think about the phrase “in proportion to their abilities.”)
and then he left on his trip.
The servant who received the five bags of gold began immediately to labor and work and invest the money and soon doubled it."
The servant with two bags of gold also went right to work and doubled the money.
But the servant who received the one bag of gold…,
dug a hole in the ground
and hid the master’s money.
After a long time their master returned from his trip
and called them to give an account of how they had used his money.
The servant to whom he had entrusted the five bags of gold said,
’Sir, you gave me five bags of gold to invest, and I have doubled the amount.’" Matthew 25:20 (NLT)
The master was full of praise. ’Well done, my good and faithful servant.
You have been faithful in handling this small amount,
so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’
""Next came the servant who had received the two bags of gold, with the report,
Sir, you gave me two bags of gold to invest, and I have doubled the amount.
The master said, ’Well done, my good and faithful servant.
You have been faithful in handling this small amount,
so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!
""Then the servant with the one talent came and said,
’Sir, I know you are a hard man,
harvesting crops where you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate."
Let’s stop and think about this for a second.
This third servant says the master was a hard man.
He starts making excuses…to avoid doing what God had called him to do…
This servant suggests the master is unfair.
This servant hints that the Master expects to much from him…
This third servant implies that it was impossible to do what the master expected…,
That the job would be too difficult
That the risks would be too great…
What can one person do with only one talent?
"I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth…, and here it is.
But the master replied, ’You wicked and lazy servant!
You think I’m a hard man…, harvesting crops I didn’t plant and gathering crops I didn’t cultivate?"
Now remember…, only one out of three…, thought the job was to difficult.
We find this same answer in other parables that Jesus taught…
Only it is often even more disproportionate and more uneven.
Luke 17:17 tells the story of 10 lepers who were healed….
9 of them left without giving thanks…
Only 1 returned to give thanks…
So in that story 9 servants hid their talents
9 servants did nothing with their gift
And only 1 servant took the opportunity to return to master…
And say Master thank you for giving to me…
Master thank you for healing me.
Master thank you for cleaning me…
Lord thank you for forgiving me…
Lord take me and use me so that I may bring one more into your kingdom….
The master said to the take that which was given from this servant who did not use it…
and give it to the one with the ten bags of gold."
"To those who use well…, what they are given,
even more…, will be given,
and they will have an abundance.
But from those who are unfaithful…, even with what is little…, that they have…, it will be taken away.
Now throw this servant who did not use what I gave him…
into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’"
"But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him,
then he will sit upon his glorious throne.
"All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate them
as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats." Matthew 25:32 (NLT)
I do not want to be the 3rd servant in this story .
I don’t want to be one of the 9 who did not return to give thanks to the Master
I don’t want to be…, the one who has talents…, the one who has power,
the one who has gifts, and blessings…, and opportunity…, but never uses it.
I want to go from potential to productive.
Our mission is to grow the Kingdom…
Our purpose is to win the lost to Christ.
Our goal is grow and mature
To double in love, and double in joy, to go forward in fellowship, God wants us to increase.
Martha Berry…, was a lady with a vision to help children.
She had a dream to start a school for poor children in Georgia.
When she started she had no books… ,
She had no building
But an even bigger problem was she and no money.
But what she did have was a vision of how things could be…,
And she had a desire to go out and live out that dream…
She went to Henry Ford to ask for a donation.
Mr. Ford reached into his pocket and gave Martha Berry a dime.
Now…, Most people would have been insulted…,
here he is…, a multi-millionaire and all he could give her was a dime.
But Martha took that dime…, and bought a packet of seeds
and she took the seeds…, and planted a garden,
and she raised the crop and sold it
and bought more seeds.
After three or four harvests…,
she had enough money to purchase and old building for the children.
She returned to Mr. Ford and said, “Look what your dime has done.”
Mr. Henry Ford was so impressed…, that he donated a million dollars…
to the Martha Berry School for children.
What can one person do…, with a dime?
I want you to look around the church for a minute…
Do you think we have what we need to take us from 100 people who are believers in this church
to 110 believers in this church this year?
That would be just 1 out of 10 people…, (that was the story of the 10 lepers)
who have a talent…, and they use that talent…, to win one more person to Christ.
Do you believe that 1 tenth of the people here are using their talents to serve and win others to God?
What about 1 out of 3 people…, (that was the parable to talents)
That would be 33 people out of 100 that are serving, and working…, and sacrificing…
Not just revving up their motor
but really going where they need to go…,
and taking the gospel where it needs to be delivered…
And now…, What about 100 out of 100?
Let’s stop looking around at other people and let’s answer every person for ourselves…
That is a hard question to ask…, it is a hard truth…, for some people to be asked…, and to think about……..
Someone may think…, well what good can I do?
I am too old…
I am too young…
I am to poor…
I am to sick
I have to many children to care for
I am a widow…
I am to busy
I am to weak
The job is impossible for me to do
You are asking to much…
What can one person do?
One day "Jesus went over to the collection box in the Temple
and sat and watched as the crowds dropped in their money.
Many rich people put in large amounts."
"Then a poor widow came and dropped in two half pennies."
"He called his disciples to him and said,
"I assure you, this poor widow has given more than all the others have given."
"For they gave a tiny part of their surplus,
but she…, poor as she is…, has given everything she has." Mark 12:44
Closing: It is not about doing as much as someone else does.
It is not about equal amounts…., it is not about equal service…, it is not about equal giving…
[but it is about equal sacrifice…, and the spirit in which something is given]
The story of the widow’s mite is the perfect example of sacrificial giving.
She did not give an equal amount as others in the crowd…,
Some gave out of their abundance…
But she gave as much or more than all the others because she gave everything she had.
I have learned many times…, the hard way…, in life…
That the things…, I have tried to keep holding onto in my hands…, were often the things that I lost, but what I have given into hands of God…, are the things I still possess.
She sacrificed and gave out of her poverty
While many others only gave a tiny part of their surplus.
God expects you to work with what you have.
God does require you to plant…, to grow…, to multiply…, to increase…
What did John (Wesley) do with a penny?
What did Martha (Berry) do with a dime?
What does Jesus want YOU to do…, with what you have?
God wants us to get out of idle and into gear…
God wants us to go beyond our potential and into production.
To shift from passive to passion about the mission and ministry
God wants us to win the lost for Christ…, and to work and sacrifice…, to meet the unmet needs…, of people in Liberty and Casey County for the Kingdom of Heaven.
What will happen?
God will take 10 and make 10 more
God will take 5 and make 5 more
God will take 2 and make 2 more…
God will use whatever we give…
God created the talent in you…
God sees the value in you…
God knows the worth in you…
But What Can God Do With Just Half A Penny?
God will teach the world…,
what it means to love…, and what it means to give…, and what it means to sacrifice.
