The Power of Half

Joshua J Sander
6/26/11
2nd Sunday after Pentecost—13th in Ordinary Time
Neutral Pulpit at First Congregational Church of Ansonia
"The Power of Half"

Matthew 10:40-42

This morning’s Gospel lesson is a little bit like picking up a television series in the middle somewhere. Yes, every episode stands on it’s own with it’s own little story arc and you can probably piece together what’s going on--more or less. But in the end, it’s obvious that the episode has it’s place within the larger story and that you need some knowledge of what happened earlier in the series to really understand everything that’s going on. The common story-telling device used to give the viewer that knowledge is called the recap and it usually starts with the words, “Previously on...” and is followed by a montage of clips from the show. Sound familiar?

So, previously on the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 10, Jesus gathered the twelve disciples and gave them the authority to cast out unclean spirits and to cure every disease and every sickness. Then he sent them out with instructions to go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel and proclaim the good news that “The kingdom of heaven has come near.” They were told to cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons--all without being paid. They were instructed not to take any money or supplies, but rather to depend on the hospitality of those they served. “Whatever town or village you enter,” Jesus said, “find out who in it is worthy, and stay there until you leave. As you enter the house, greet it. If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town.”
 
After the instructions, came the warnings. “See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of them, for they will hand you over to councils and flog you in their synagogues; and you will be dragged before governors and kings because of me... Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death; and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.”

And again, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.”

All is not doom, however, for Jesus tells the Twelve to “...have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul... Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven; but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father...”

This morning’s lesson is the final word of instruction from Jesus to the Twelve as he sends them out to share the good news, “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple—truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.”

These instructions and warnings were spoken to a very specific set of people--the Twelve Disciples--at a very specific time and place--during the life of Jesus in Israel. We do not live in twenty-something BC Israel--but that doesn’t mean we should ignore these instructions. Instead, we should ask ourselves how to interpret them for life in post-modern America. How should we preach the message that the Kingdom of God is at hand, knowing that the heavenly rewards will outweigh the earthly ones? It’s pretty easy to come up with examples, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Theresa, Hannah Salwen...

Wait, how many of you have heard of Hannah Salwen? Hannah is 18 years old this year and graduating from high school where she was a member of both the varsity volleyball and swim teams. Growing up, Hannah wanted for nothing, her father Kevin was a former Wall Street Journal writer and editor turned entrepreneur and her mother Joan was a former high-powered consultant turned school teacher. As Kevin would later observe about their lifestyle, “We weren’t trying to be obnoxious, consuming yuppies, we just were. This was the American Dream, wasn’t it, to live better than your parents did?”

But then one day, when Hannah was 14, Kevin was driving her back to their “6,500-square-foot landmark home” after a sleepover, when they got caught at what may very well be the Longest Light in Atlanta. And there, “perched in front of a rusting chainlink fence, was a homeless man.” Her father was busy with his own internal dialogue, “I’m out of McDonald’s cards. Should I give him cash? No, just sit tight.” He “squirmed in his seat, avoiding eye contact.”

“But over in the passenger seat, Hannah was having quite a different experience. As she looked at the homeless man, a sight she had seen dozens of times before, on this day his situation registered more deeply. That’s because when she looked in the other direction, she spotted another man driving a black Mercedes coupe... She started talking slowly, thinking as she went. ‘Dad,’ she began, ‘if that man had a less nice car, that man there could have a meal.’”

This moment of realization--this Epiphany--lead Hannah to challenge her family as they ate dinner together, insisting that “We should fix this.” Kevin and Joan reacted to Hannah with a certain amount of defensiveness. They pointed out to both Hannah and her brother Joseph that their family wasn’t exactly sitting around doing nothing. They “told them about” their “annual giving.” They “reminded them of the volunteer work” they “did... “Hannah didn’t say much more that night, but it was clear as she and” her father “loaded the dishwasher that she remained unconvinced of the seriousness of” her “family’s contribution to society.”

Sure enough, Hannah wasn’t going to let it go. Later that week, right after the “Amen” at the end of their prayer over dinner, Hannah burst out with the statement, “I really don’t want to be the kind of family that just talks about doing things.” she said, “I want to be a family that actually does them... This time Joan was better prepared than she had been three days earlier.” she “...wanted to see how much” Hannah “was willing to sacrifice to change the lives of others... So when Hannah brought up the subject of doing more over dinner, Joan looked” her “square in the eye.” and said, “What do you want to do... sell our house? Move into a smaller one and give what’s left over to charity? ...If you guys really want to make a difference, we don’t need this large house... Enough is as good as a feast. We could live in a place half this size and use the excess money to really do something to help others.’”

“I’ll give up my bedroom. Dude, we should definitely do this,” Hannah declared. “We should sell the house and give away the money. Definitely.”

“Are you sure... that you want to move out of the house that has been yours since you were seven? And give the money away to help people we don’t know? Are you aware this would mean giving up a bunch of your stuff--maybe half the things in your room?”

“I want to do this... Let’s sell the house and do some good with it. We don’t need this place.”

As you can imagine, this led to quite a family discussion; a discussion that culminated in the decision to do just that. They put their mansion on the market, bought a house half the size, and entered a long and intricate process to decide where the money should go, and why. You can read about the whole thing in the book, The Power of Half, but it’s worth mentioning that to make the project work, the whole family had to dedicate themselves to finding one hour a week to journal and discuss how they were going to move forward. I don’t know if any of you have two teenage children, but I come from a background in youth ministry, and believe me: finding that one hour a week takes an amazing amount of dedication.

It’s also worthwhile to uplift the fact that Joan and Kevin realized that for Hannah and Joseph to really feel like they were doing something--to know in their hearts that they were truly part of the process--they needed to have real authority and help guide the project with full voting rights. As Joan explained to her husband, “We might end up with decisions different from those you and I might make on our own, but I think we’ll end up with something that we all actually believe in.”

It’s also worth noting that the Salwen family made their move just as the economy and the housing market tanked. They made their decision on how much money they would donate based on the pre-market-crash value of their mansion. Their house was still standing, unsold, costing them in mortgage and upkeep when it came time to honor their agreement to give to the Hunger Project. When faced with the decision to stall on their payment, pay just a little bit now and the rest when the house sold, or find some other way of funding the full payment--and by “some other way” I mean to say “primarily Hannah’s college fund.”--Hannah claimed that the choice was a “no brainer.” “We should definitely use our savings, and we’ll repay the college fund somehow. Or I’ll figure out something for college. We made a commitment. We keep it.” I’d say that Hannah and her family are living their lives as if the Kingdom of God were at hand, wouldn’t you?

I’d like, if I may, to send us all out with a challenge. Now, before you get nervous, let me give you a thought from Hannah’s father. He writes, “Some people say to us, ‘I could never sell my house.’ Who expects you to? Our project was never about size. We chose to sell our house because it was something that our family could handle form the perspective of giving half... your ‘half’ can be whatever you choose at whatever budget you set.”

And Kevin is right--it doesn’t have to be about size. After all, whoever gives even a cup of cold water to a little one will receive their reward. And yet I wonder how loudly we could preach the good news that the Kingdom of God is at hand if we all went out and embraced the same process the Salwen family did. What if each of our local churches dedicated themselves to fixing one of the ills of the world, dedicated an hour a week to journaling, discussion, and decision making, and then actually did something about it? Something measurable, and real? What if we all figured out what our “half” is and then acted on it? I really do wonder...

Please be with me in the spirit of prayer: Loving and abiding God, we pray that you give us the insight, the strength, and the outrage of a fourteen year old girl. We pray that you give us the dedication to have discussions and make decisions about how to best do your work here on earth. And we pray that you give us the bravery to go out like sheep among wolves, with gentleness and wisdom, to preach your good news, knowing full well that even giving a single cup of water has its own reward. We pray these things in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.