I had spent the day working with a group of customer service staff, the manager had driven from Charleston, South Carolina to fill in for three months while new staff could be trained. This was the busiest store in the city and these “baristas” were bouncing from counter to counter filling cups of coffee into exotic blends for morning commuters and people in need of their caffeine fix.
However, at the end of my 12-hour shift listening to their concerns and connecting people with helpful resources, I got into my car to drive home, turned the ignition and heard only a clicking sound. The engine would not start, a dead battery. Yes, I have AAA, but I decided to go back to the store and ask: “does anyone have jumper cables to charge a dead battery?” Henry, a University of Buffalo student, smiled and said “let me check.” Outside in the dark and cold, he checks his truck and “voila” out comes the cables and he is connecting the cables to positive and negative, I turn the ignition key and “Yes, God there are guardian angels” the engine starts with no problem. That’s generosity and much appreciated by this shepherd.
There’s another story when, "Jesus sat down opposite the Treasury and watched the multitude putting money into the Treasury." He says, "Many rich people put in large sums and a poor widow came and put in two copper coins which make a penny." Then what happens? It says, "And he called his disciples to him." Check out this widow. Truly, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all those together who had contributed to the Treasury," and then the lesson, "For they contributed out of their abundance. But she, out of her poverty, has put in everything she had her whole living."
I think most of us like to be generous. I like to think when I offered Henry some money for his help that was being generous. But the reality is I can be very generous and it absolutely does not impact my lifestyle at all. And I suspect that's true for many of us. We can be very generous and it doesn't impact our lifestyle, and that's what we're seeing here in this reading. We're seeing a woman, widow, doesn't say how old, but what is a widow? A widow is socially vulnerable, she's financially vulnerable. She's vulnerable. There's a great trust that God will provide.
I think how I was in a jam, dead, battery, in a strange city, far from home and in need of a jump start and Henry came to my rescue. How generous are we? How generous do we think we are? How generous are we actually? And how do we close the gap and go beyond the gap and live lives of staggering generosity?
Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends that we are often invited to show generosity in many forms. Yes, financially to give to a cause, but another form of generosity is sharing our time, or simply listening to someone fears and concerns and yes, maybe helping someone carry a heavy load. And when we give like that widow may we have the same trust that God will provide.
