As you read the title, how could this be? How could a four year old little girl lead the church in giving? By giving up her whole life's savings to Deerfield UMC this past Sunday. On my drive back to Boone on Saturday, her mother called to say her little girl had a special gift. She had been saving coins her whole life and she had decided that she wanted to give them to the church. She wants to give them to the church for the playground. So we made arrangements to give the gift and the giver a chance to be honored on Sunday morning as we were preparing to receive the offering. What church stewardship team wouldn't want this kind of a story to kick off a giving campaign? We wanted to do a stewardship campaign during the season of Lent, but it got postponed because the church activity has been revolving around getting parsonage repaired and helping me get settled again after the fire. So even though we needed to press on with the stewardship campaign, life required our energies to be directed in other ways at this moment. But, by the grace of God, a little one was nudged, and I believe used by the Holy Spirit, to soften the hearts of a whole congregation and make each one of us think about our giving. When a little child knows that what they have to offer in worship is worth something, and valued by all who are there, God has a way of breaking down walls through the softness and innocence of a child. When children come to God in obedience, I believe with my whole heart that is makes God smile. It makes us grown ups want to be so willing to do as the Holy Spirit directs that a reverence comes over the whole congregation. We celebrated Holy Communion and dedicated four prayer shawls. Worship was wonderful. God was with us.
Grown ups say, "Well I can't give my whole savings." God does not ask that of each of us, God only asks us for 10 percent. What she gave was all she had. Remember there is some scriptural precedent for this (the widow's mite). This little girl's gift came out of the blue. No stewardship campaign. No letter sent to each home from the pastor. No begging for money from the pulpit. She has heard people talking about getting starting with rebuilding the playground! Our United Methodist Men are taking on a great interest in working with the women's groups of the church to get the playground updated with new equipment. If I were her mom or dad, or grandma or grandpa, you couldn't stand to be around me this week. All you would hear about was her beautiful gift. I would be so proud and I know they are! I am proud of her obedience and I want to be so generous.
I don't want to try to explain away the wonder of how God can use a little girl, to call her to give up all the money she has in the world and totally surrender it to the church for God's purposes. It was a beautiful gift, and we honored it. Our whole church was touched by the tenderness of her heart. Who knows what influence this gift may have on our adults? We are so grateful to have her with us. Jesus calls us to radical obedience to be his follower. What she did was radical, even if she was four. What would it take for us to be so bold?
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