Monday, March 16, 2015

Can a Little Ever Be Enough? ( A message of hope shared with the residents of a nursing home 3/15/15)


            Do you ever think about any of the things you used to be able to do, and that you can’t do any more? Do you ever think about the way your life used to be configured, when your life used to be freer, less limited by age and time? Maybe it was back when you had your own house or you had a good job…? Maybe you think back to when you used to have a big family around you all the time or when you had people working for you or listening to you. Or when you had a good income or a bigger living? And then you look at where are you now... and how apparently “small” your life has become, measured out in trips to the cafeteria, down to the lobby for your mail, or on the bus to Meijer. Sometimes our lives here in Independence Village Care Facility can feel pretty small, a little meager, a far cry from where we used to be or what we once were.
            It doesn’t help that we live in a time and a culture that celebrates big things – big accomplishments, big incomes, big titles, big deeds. A former defensive lineman for the Detroit Lions just signed a contract this week for $114 million dollars. But today I want to remind us all – including me – that the God who is spoken of in the Judeo-Christian scriptures has always favored little things. Have you ever noticed that about God or about Jesus Christ? God always seems to have a soft spot in his heart for the little guy. God has managed to do a heck of a lot with very, very little. I’d like to take us on a quick tour of scripture and remind ourselves of some of the tiny little things that God has used in some very big ways…
            Moses…what do you picture when you hear that name? Perhaps a handsome, burly Charlton Heston, parting the mighty waters of the Red Sea with his staff? But let’s not forget that Moses was nothing but a stuttering, orphaned shepherd boy, found in a basket floating in a river. And God chose that little, insignificant shepherd boy Moses and said to him, “I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.”
            Then there was David – that scrawny, runt of the litter. He was the youngest – and by far the smallest - of 8 brothers. While his brothers went off to seek glory by assisting King Saul in battle, David was relegated to tending his father’s sheep near Bethlehem. But David knew and had come to believe in God’s love for the little guy, and so David stepped up to Saul in the face of the Philistine threat, saying, “Let no one lose heart on account of this giant Philistine. I, your servant, will go and fight him. And so little David went and took on Goliath, slaying him with a simple slingshot and single smooth stone.
            And it isn’t only little people God has always used in big ways; God has also found ways to use little offerings, little contributions to help bring about his big plans. Think of the birth of Jesus. We always remember with derision that innkeeper who had no room at the inn – a very understandable situation given that census Ceasar Augustus had ordered that put everybody on the road to be enrolled. But why don’t we remember and celebrate that innkeeper, or whoever it was, who said to Mary and Joseph, “I may not have any room in my inn or in my house, but I do have a little stable out back. You are welcome to that.” What a precious gift that turned out to be, right? That little, tiny stable turned out to be enough, didn’t it?
            And what about that the little boy who was in that huge, hungry crowd, when Jesus turned to his tired disciples and said, “You give them something to eat.” The disciples couldn’t imagine how they were ever going to feed so many. They didn’t have nearly enough money to buy everyone lunch. But that one little boy came forward with his tiny little lunch and said, “I have five loaves and seven fish here. You can use that to feed these people.” That little boy’s meager lunch turned out to be enough, didn’t it?
            We might live very little and limited lives here at Independence Village. We might not have big houses and big jobs and big families around us anymore. We might not have our cars or the freedom of movement we once did. But we would be making a terrible mistake if we concluded that our lives and our abilities were too small to be used by God in important, life-changing ways.
            How many of you can still write? If you can write a letter, you can make a difference. You can encourage someone or brighten someone’s day. Do you know how rare it is these days to receive a real, live, handwritten letter? Here is a handwritten little card I received a month or so ago. It is from a little old lady who heard a sermon I preached over in Harbor Springs and wrote me because she appreciated it. This little card meant so much to me and lifted my spirits so much that I keep this on my refrigerator. A hand-written letter or card can do SO much. It can remind someone that they are loved and thought of. With your letter you can remind your senator or congressional representative of what he may have forgotten about.
           How many of you can stand or sit by a doorway and shake a hand? I saw a piece on the news lately about an awkward 15-year-old boy who didn’t like the meanness and coldness of spirit in his high school. So he started going to school 15 minutes early and stood at the door as all his fellow students arrived each morning. He held the door open for each person and said a hearty good morning to his schoolmates and teachers each and every morning. And that tiny, daily gesture made a huge difference in the culture of that school. Could you stand or sit in the front lobby and be a welcome or position yourself at the entrance to the dining hall and offer a smile, a warm hello, and handshake to everyone who came to eat?
            Can you still use a telephone? Who could you call today just to say to hello, to say, “I’m thinking of you.” It feels SO good to be on the other end of a phone call like that. Can you make a call or two like that today? If you don’t know whom to call, your pastor, a deacon from your church, or maybe even someone at the front desk here at Independence Village could you give you a list of names and numbers each week. You could have your own phone call ministry!
            If you are still pretty mobile and get around these halls well, even with walker or wheelchair, you could do what two special little ladies did for my father –GW Jones – who lived the last year of his life right here in Independence Village. Two ladies- who might even be in this room right now - used to stop in on him every couple of days, just to chat, to let him know that he wasn’t alone, and to invite him to their table in the dining hall. My dad was a lonely, sad man, particularly in his later years. I bet he never thanked those ladies for their many kindnesses to him. But, boy, did they make a difference in dad’s life. And not just in his life, but in our lives as well, because we knew that somebody was reaching out to him, even when we couldn’t.
            Little things mean a lot! We worship a God in Jesus Christ who understands the amazing significance of the small, the transformation of the tiny. I want to close with a gospel story from Mark 12:41-44. Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They gave out of their wealthy, but she out of her poverty, put in everything – all she had to live on.”
            And that little, tiny, hunched-over widow, limped quietly to the temple with her tiny, pittance of an offering. A couple copper coins were all she had. But it was enough. God not only saw that offering, but he saw to it that it was enough.
            May each of us have the faith to take what little we have, at this late hour and final chapter of our lives, and offer it in faith to the God of little things, the God of Jesus Christ, who has always proven that a little is actually enough. Sometimes a little, once we put it in God's hands, is even more than enough.

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