Monday, November 18, 2024
Gospel Reflection: Joy Giving
The Rev. Dave Desalvo
When Tom Brady was coming out of college, the scouting report on Brady read, “Poor build. Very skinny and narrow. Lacks mobility. Looks a little frail and lacks great physical stature and strength. Lacks mobility and ability to avoid the rush. Lacks a really strong arm. Can’t drive the ball down the field. Does not throw a really tight spiral.” Asked what the scouts overlooked, Brady said, “I think they underestimated how much I really enjoy playing football.”
Friends, when something touches our soul, we’ll do just about anything to live it out. In 2000, Brady was drafted in the second-to-last round of the NFL, yet he went on to play 23 pro seasons, earn three MVP awards, was awarded a record five Super Bowl MVPs, and led his teams to a record seven Super Bowl titles.
In this reflection, I’d like us to think about what happens when we love something enough to be the major change we believe can happen—to world economies, political systems, climate, and poverty. On a smaller scale, families change and suffer when parents become unemployed and lose their health insurance and savings. There are changes in seasons and weather patterns. Sometimes friendships change. Every person reading this reflection will one day lose someone they love. Perhaps the only thing for certain is that nothing stays the same; every one of us is a finite being. Change happens all the time, but our time on earth is limited.
This fall at Common Table, lovely pumpkins adorned the ten indoor tables set up to serve an average of 80 indoor guests every Thursday. Currently, twelve tables are needed to serve the 120 people who come inside, and another 100 bag lunches are being handed out in the St. John’s parking lot every Thursday. Positive change is happening!
Change was a central idea of last Sunday’s Gospel about a widow’s simple act of giving. The message shared by our rector was very powerful—the more we have, the more responsible we must be to be the change. Face it, members of this community have plenty; we are the haves of this world, and when Jesus warns his disciples about watching out for the scribes and Pharisees who strive for the best seats in the synagogues, he might as well be talking about us. Aware of our human potential for idolatry, Jesus offered an example to follow. In all the ostentatious din of VIP activity in the temple, Jesus’ ears picked up a tiny sound—a sound so slight that no one else noticed. It was the tinkling of two tiny coins in the collection box, dropped in by a poor widow. There, in that grand temple, with all of the important people dressed in their silk suits and alligator shoes, dropping $100 bills with grand gestures, Jesus heard her pennies, saw her, understood her joyful offering. That act had a powerful impact on him because, although she was a poor widow, she gave.
Don’t get me wrong: there is nothing noble about being poor, and nothing wrong in being rich, but it is what we choose to do with our wealth that matters to Jesus, our inspiration to give, our spirit in giving, our love, so to speak, that makes the act of giving a noble one.
Each of us is born with the potential to be a MVP of generosity. In giving, we discover who we are, doing what we can, giving what we can, small or large, for the joy it brings. We discover that we really can be the change we long for.