Sermon 11/9/03
Putting in Your Two Cents - Mark 12:38-44
(view lectionary notes for this text)
Today, Jesus' teaching and our church calendar finally seem to be working in sync. The lectionary reading from the Gospel of Mark is all about money and giving, and so is our church calendar today - today is officially "Stewardship Sunday" in United Methodist Churches. Today, we are asked to consider how we will pledge to support the financial needs of St. Paul's, how much we will pledge, and why we will pledge to support our church and its ministries. So what does Jesus have to say to us on this Stewardship Sunday? Perhaps we can make a few guesses before we even look at the text again. We can bet that Jesus warns us against riches and how persuasive they can be in our lives. We can bet the Jesus urges us to give more, to give our all. We can bet that Jesus holds up a model of living that is contrary to what is currently deemed as successful by society as a whole.
And indeed, when we turn to our actual text for today, we will find certainly components of all of these expectations ready in place. Today's gospel lesson brings us the familiar story of the widow's mite. We find Jesus teaching the disciples and the crowds outside the treasury. First, Jesus spots the scribes, and offers a critique of their behavior. He lifts up several of their practices:
1. "They make a public display of their 'perceived blessings'", by walking around in robes that showed their status as pious religious persons. (Imagine such behavior!)
2. "They are political animals; they make sure they are known by all." The scribes would wait to be greeted by their inferiors in the marketplace. They would never say hello to someone beneath them in social status, unless the person recognized them first.
3. "They are ostentatious in the public display of their spirituality." They would pray loud and long, with the guise of being humble, but truly sought only recognition from others, not caring about recognition from God. (1)
Then, in obvious juxtaposition to the portrait of the religious leaders, Jesus sits down outside the treasury and comments on a widow placing her offering in. She puts in two coins, barely worth counting, certainly making no dent in the budget of the temple, certainly not making a tangible mark in the shared ministry payments. But her, Jesus praises. "Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on."
So, what to do with this story? We know we should give more, ever so much more than we already give. But we can't - we're strapped, like this widow, aren't we? We can barely make ends meet. We can barely pay the bills on time. There's not much room for extras. Not this year, not with the economy how it is . . . But hang on just a minute. Before we excuse ourselves from responsibility, let's look at those descriptions again. Are we more like the widow, or more like the religious leaders - the scribes? Perhaps we like to believe that at least we fall somewhere in between, even if we can't claim the poverty of the widow. Surely, we aren't as bad as the scribes Jesus condemns. Or are we? Theologians Jeff Krantz and Michael Hardin warn us: We American Christians should not begin to identify with the widow. That would be an insult. We may feel more comfortable as the faceless nameless crowds. But . . . Really, whether we like it or not, we are the 'teachers of the law.'" (3)
We are the teachers of the law. I can unfortunately recognize my own self in the description Jesus shares. Can you see yourself? Here's a test for you - perhaps you have heard it said that the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer in this world. Or that the top 1 or 2 percent own or hold a huge disproportionate percentage of the world's wealth. I have often heard these statistics, and shook my head in dismay at the offensive wealth displayed by so many. But what I was shocked to learn, and maybe you will be too, is that I am in the top 1 percent. To be in the top percent, to be among the richest people in this entire globe, you simply need a household income of about $23,000 a year. The top 10% for the globe earn around $8000 and up. (3) That's us. That's you and me, no escaping it. Sure, we have financial concerns that are real, stressful, and pressing, and we shouldn't make light of that, the struggles for food, job security, and stability that we face in our community. But we must also be clear about how Jesus is addressing us. For most of us sitting here, Jesus speaks about us as he speaks about the scribes, not as he speaks of the widow.
Still, we must listen to and learn from his words about the poor woman, even as we struggle to view ourselves as the religious leaders. What can we learn from her, from her behavior? Rev. Gordon Cosby tells this story of his own modern-day encounter with the widow and her two mites. He relates, "My deacon sent for me one day and told me that he wanted my help. 'We have in our congregation,' he said, 'a widow with six children. I have looked at the records and discovered that she is putting into the treasury of the church each month $4.00 - a tithe of her income. Of course, she is unable to do this. We want you to go and talk to her and let her know that she needs to feel no obligation whatsoever, and free her from the responsibility.'
I am not wise now [writes Gordon]; I was less wise then. I went and told her of the concern of the deacons. I told her as graciously and as supportively as I know how that she was relieved of the responsibility of giving. As I talked with her the tears came into her eyes. 'I want to tell you,' she said, 'that you are taking away the last thing that gives my life dignity and meaning.'
Crosby continues, "I tried to retrieve the situation. I was unable to do it. I went home and pondered the story of Jesus in the temple watching the people put their offerings in the collection plate. Jesus' attitude amazed me. He had the audacity to watch what people were putting in the collection plate. Not only did he have the audacity to watch, he had the audacity to comment. Of the rich who put in large sums he said, 'They put in what they can easily afford.' Of the poor widow who dropped in two coins, he said, 'She in her poverty, who needs so much, has given away everything, her whole living.' I knew I would have said to her, 'Let us take this to the council. We have a sensible council that always makes exceptions and I know that they will relieve you of your discipline of giving.'"(4)
Would we have behaved as this pastor? Probably our first instinct would be to do as he did. But maybe we feel that way is because we forget that our giving is actually supposed to cost us something. We don't want to feel the loss of what we give to the church. We don't want it to really affect our lifestyle, or force us to go without something else, in order that we might give more to God. So when we contemplate how affected this widow must have been by what she gave to God, we can't comprehend, can't imagine why she would feel the need to make such a gift. Theologian C.S. Lewis once wrote, "I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare." Likewise, Mother Teresa said, "If you give what you do not need, it isn't giving." (5)
Jesus asks us to give our two cents, whatever that might truly mean in our own lives. How comfortable would I feel, and would you feel, if Jesus was sitting next to us when the plate was passed, or when our pledge cards were filled out? What is your widow's mite? What in your life will be the equivalent of her two coins, her whole savings? Will you put in your two cents worth? What does it cost to be a Christian? Are you willing to feel the difference it makes in how you live if you give really, give more than you can spare? Jesus is waiting. He wants to hear your two cents. Amen.
Benediction: Go in peace, love and care for one another in Christ's name, and may the grace and love of Christ attend you, the knowledge and the strength of God surround you, and the wisdom and the gentleness of the Spirit fill you and equip you for every good work, both now and forevermore. Amen. (5)
Notes:
(1) From "Preaching Peace" (2) Jeff Krantz and Michael Hardin, http://www.preachingpeace.org/proper27.htm
(3) From the Economic Journal, January 2002.
(4) Illustration taken from a sermon by Rev. Kirk Alan Kubicek, "The Widow's Gift to Us", http://64.89.140.177/worship-that-works/001112sr.html. (
5) Quotes and benediction taken from a sermon by Rev. Richard Fairchild, "How Much is Enough?", http://www.spirit-net.ca/sermons/b-or32su.php