Times are getting to be tougher for a lot of people. Money related decisions, in particular, are causing stress aplenty. In light of this reality, I thank God for the level of your giving through special weekly offerings since January 1. I thank you for your response to the various ways that God has graced you. Of course, it’s only April, so we need to remain diligent so that our ministry and mission priorities can be funded, both near and far. Again, Thank you!
Living and giving during tough times is a theme which history retells over and over. A few weeks ago I mentioned in a sermon the remarkable efforts of Oskar Schindler who, during the holocaust of WW II gave of his own personal assets to save over 1100 Jews from death. In the 1993 Oscar winning film, Schindler’s List, Liam Neeson portrayed Schindler. A week ago, Mr. Neeson suffered the tragic loss of his wife, Natasha Richardson, who died after a skiing accident. Such sudden loss. Such broken hearts for him and their two children. In my mind the connection was made between the sense of loss Neeson’s family experiences and the amazing, heroic efforts made by the man he portrayed in a movie. Celebrities suffer loss under the microscope of the press, I suppose, but the thousands of Jews saved by the man Neeson portrayed went pretty much unnoticed to most of us until Steven Spielberg made the movie. Somehow, all of this can speak to us today about the power of giving, especially when times are tough, if not downright dangerous.
Shindler's List is the story of one man's efforts to make the most of a desperate opportunity. Oskar Schindler is a vain, glorious and greedy German businessman who becomes unlikely humanitarian amid the barbaric Nazi reign when he feels compelled to turn his munitions factory into a refuge for Jews. He decides to use his position to save lives. By employing them in his factory, Schindler is able to rescue condemned Jews from the gas chambers.
But keeping them on is costly. Little by little, he liquidates his personal possessions in order to keep the business afloat. At the end of the story the Nazis are defeated. The full weight of Schindler's efforts is finally revealed as the dead are counted and the living stagger back to freedom. In one scene, kneeling by the railroad tracks that had carried thousands of Jews to their death, Oskar Schindler has a startling realization: he could have saved a few more. Overwhelmed with regret, he laments the few goods still remaining in his possession. If only he'd known when the war would end, he would have done more. But now it was too late.
History regards Oskar Schindler a hero. He's credited with saving more lives during World War II than any other single person. But interestingly, all he could think about was what he didn't do. He wished he had done more.
We can learn a powerful lesson about giving from this man. Because, in the same way, even joyful givers will look back on their lives and wish they'd done more. And as for those who never gave at all, or gave less than they could, imagine their thoughts as they stand before God in the final audit to give an account of how they used their finances - and are rewarded accordingly!
Jesus brings salvation by means of the cross, but talks about money and giving more than anything else. The Bible speaks of this on over 2,000 occasions. Here are two dandies:
"All must give as they are able, according to the blessings
of the Lord your God that he has given to you . . . "
(Deut 16:17 NRSV).
". . . Each of you must give as you have made up your mind,
not reluctantly or under compulsion,
for God loves a cheerful giver"
(2 Corinthians 9:7 NRSV).
Pastor Sherer
