This week's gospel: Mark 12:38-44
Jesus Denounces the Scribes
38 As he taught, he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces 39 and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets! 40 They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”
The Widow’s Offering
41 He sat down opposite the treasury and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. 42 A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. 43 Then he called his disciples and said to them, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. 44 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.”
The message:
I don’t know how closely you’ve followed my tenure at Churches United, but on Day 1 … Aug. 12 … the day I started … I found out that we needed to raise $68,000 to ensure that our staff could be paid that week.
And we had less than 48 hours to do it.
But the news got worse than that, we also only had about 2 weeks to raise an additional $200,000 to ensure that we could keep the shelter open going into September.
That same day, I went public with our plight and Fargo-Moorhead and the surrounding area responded in mercy, helping us to reach both goals and more.
What a remarkable feat of generosity, right? … Blew my mind. I was beyond grateful. And there were a lot of special moments in those first couple of weeks that touched me.
There were churches that dug in and sent checks for thousands of dollars. Small businesses sent in checks because they knew we’re a better community with Churches United in it.
There were everyday folks who contacted their financial advisors to figure out what they could withdraw without severe financial penalties so that they could give.
The stories about how the money came in were endless …
But you know what I will remember most? … One day I happened to be standing in the lobby of the shelter and this quiet and disheveled-looking gentleman approached me.
I didn’t know him. He wasn’t one of our shelter guests that I was aware of. And so I can only assume he was one of the many people who were still on the street and who came in to use our cafeteria or other services.
He approached me cautiously, looked at me with sad eyes and then pulled his hand out of the pocket of jeans.
He reached out to me in a gesture indicating that he wanted me to take what he was handing me. … And when I did, he dropped into my hand a wad of cash.
A very crumbled, dirty wad of a couple fives and ones. … $16 in total.
He sheepishly looked me in the eye, and said, “Sorry, it’s all I got, but you need it more than me.”
Before I could protest, he turned and walked out the door. … And I’m pretty sure I haven’t seen him since.
Everything he had. $16 … Now, that’s giving Faith Family.
That’s giving like the poor widow we heard about from today’s gospel.
Now, that’s giving Faith Family.
If you think about it honestly, how many of us can say that we give everything we have, everything we have to live on.
It seems an impossible feat, right? … And I hear you, I don’t give everything I have. Don’t think I’m on a pedestal.
I give here at church. I ask Lisa to take some out every month, but not that much that it hurts. … It’s certainly not everything I have to live on.
I give to the shelter now too. And to several other organizations. … And yet still, I don’t give everything I have.
Not like the widow in our gospel … or the gentlemen who contributed to our shelter. … I don’t give like that. … Who does! … That’s crazy, right?
However, lest we forget … let’s make sure we truly understand what the lesson here is.
To be absolutely clear: Jesus isn’t making a point about wealth, and he’s not indicting anyone who has it.
What Jesus is trying to help his disciples understand is that giving should come from a position of accepting God’s infinite abundance. … Trusting in the fact that we can indeed give up everything, and our Creator will ensure that we still will have everything we need.
That’s how the poor widow in today’s gospel lived. She lived out of abundance, trusting that whatever she gave up, God’s love would take care of her.
That’s how the gentleman who contributed his last $16 to me at the shelter that day lived. … He lived out of abundance, trusting that whatever he gave up, God’s love would take care of him.
Is that how I live? … No, not even close.
Their generosity actually shames me when I consider how jealousy I cling to my money … how I cling to all my things at home. … I will be the first to step forward and say I do not live out of abundance.
In fact, you know I find it a bit ironic that I’m standing up here today in front of you … in my clergy robe. And while you don’t see me in it all of the time, you see me in it often enough on Sundays.
And, in our gospel today, Jesus takes note of the religious scribes’ robes they wore in the first century.
“Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets! They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”
Faith family … the expensive silk and linen robes that the religious orders of the first century wore were extravagant. Made of the best materials that were produced from afar and brought in from trade from around the world.
Same for the exotic colorful dies used to color the materials in the deep reds and purples and such. … Dies were expensive, and only the richest of the rich could afford them.
And so one has to wonder just how it was that the religious leaders of the day were the ones traversing around in the fancy duds.
Well, in addition to taking the temple’s donations, the truth is that the religious scribes were often complicit in the local gathering of taxes on the Romans’ behalf.
And so while the poor widows like in our gospel today were giving up their worldly wealth to the synagogue … the scribes lived lavishly.
There were the religious folks of the day, donning their expensive duds and strolling through the marketplace for all to see and for all to envy, and seeking to be feted at ridiculous banquets.
Faith Faith … these religious leaders were not living out of a faith that God would provide all they needed. They lived out of greed and coveted the luxuries this world offers us.
And unfortunately they didn’t act any differently than most people do some 2,000 years later. … Because, if we are honest with ourselves, how many people do we know who actually live like the widow in today’s gospel?
My list is small … maybe I might be able to tick off a handful.
My mom was one of these rare folks. … And I can tell you as the person who helped to oversee her finances the last 20 years or … it drove me bananas.
She gave everything away. When she grocery shopped, she did so for everyone in her life. When I would visit her in Crookston, she always had a present to send home for everyone in the house.
I mean … she was still giving to the church we attended when I was a child, and she hadn’t attended it in more than 30 years.
My mom couldn’t have cared less about where she gave her money … because she knew she’d be cared for.
And I wish I would have understood better when she was living that she was not careless … She was just living out of abundance … while the rest of the world around her lived out of scarcity.
Had I understood that sooner, I would be a much wiser man today.
Faith Family … that is where Jesus is calling to us today in today’s gospel.
Now I don’t want anyone leaving here today thinking, “Pastor just called us out today. He said that I’m not giving enough.”
That’s not the message I want you to be walking out of here with.
But rather, what I hope is that when you walk out of here today, you wonder: … “How am I living my faith life? … Am I living out of God’s promises of abundance in everything? … Or am I living out of the lies and false fears that this world produces?”
Do you hear God who promises us, “Child … you’ll always have whatever you need.”
Or do you hear the siren song of this world which says, “Cling to everything you have because someone’s comin’ for it.”
Because they are two very distinct ways to live life.
This earthly life tells us to live like the religious scribes in their fancy robes … And the heavenly kingdom tells us to live like the widow, trusting in God’s promises that we’ll always have everything we need.
And that, Faith Family, is the Good News for this 25th Sunday after Pentecost, Nov. 10, 2024. … Amen.
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