Later this morning, as we accept the offerings we have brought, we will also accept the pledge cards each of us received in the mail this week. We call them ‘pledge cards’ because we understand that although we have prayed about how to fill them out we know we can’t be certain of fulfilling our pledges apart from the providence and grace of the God whom we serve. We can be faithful in our intentions, but we rely on God to provide the means for us to be faithful.
By way of background, this portion of Mark occurs during Holy Week. Earlier in the week, Jesus left Bethany and rode into Jerusalem on a colt to cheering crowds who shouted out, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’ But the cheering has stopped. Jesus has spent the past few days in the temple and the scribes the Pharisees and the priests have been trying to catch him in a lie or an inconsistency – to no avail – and now – no one even dares ask him a question. But certainly, they have their eye on him and his followers.
Surely, they are analyzing his every move – and some are lurking at the edges of the listening crowds – hoping for some word of blasphemy they can use to accuse him. But Jesus is watching them, too – and he sees them - the rich and famous coming and going in the temple – just imagine, in those days, the rich and famous included religious scholars – anyway, he sees the rich and famous decked out in their best clothes – strutting into the temple to the accolades and adoration of the crowds – swishing their long robes. How does Peterson say it? ‘Preening in the radiance of public flattery, basking in prominent positions, sitting at the head table at every church function ‘
We’ve seen them too, haven’t we? The ones who come in and act as if they deserve everything? The ones who say, ‘me, me!’ not ‘Lord, Lord?’ – and the saddest thing is – just like in the 1st century we like to watch them. We must like it because the air waves are full of people parading down red-carpeted aisles with interviewers at the ready and the background lit up with the flashing cameras of the paparazzi. There are more award shows than I can count. The Emmy’s, the Oscars, the Country Music Awards, Miss America, Miss Universe, Mr. Universe – and there are all those reality shows. Bachelor this and Millionaire that and even survivor drop-outs who show up in guest spots on David Letterman.
It is no wonder that it is easy for us to think that if we are not one of them, then perhaps we are not anybody at all.
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Throughout the gospel of Mark, the writer has stressed that those who follow Jesus should not be like that. People who follow the way of Christ should be greeting one another in love and humility, not greed and pridefulness – with kindness and mercy, not with a sense of entitlement or with an inflated ego. And Jesus sees plenty of the latter here in the temple. Here in the temple, the very ones who should be defending the poor and the fatherless and the widow are the very ones who use up their wealth in high living while foreclosing of the homes of the poor.
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At a time in history when money meant power – perhaps nothing has changed here – and men were the exclusive holders of both, widows rarely had much of anything – and yet, even for widows the custom of giving hospitality to strangers was important. Among the Old Testament stories about the prophet Elijah (1 Kings 17:8-16) is a story that we read earlier this morning. During the time of this story the prophet Elijah prophesied a 3½ year drought in Israel.
The Lord sent him to Zarephath to the home of a poor widow. He greeted the widow who was busy gathering sticks and asked for some water – which she gave him. Next he asked her for something to eat. The widow confessed that she has nothing prepared and had only a little flour and oil in the house. She went on to say that she was gathering the sticks so that she could cook one last meal for herself and her son – and that after that, she and her son would probably die, because there was no more food.
Things were looking pretty dark for her and her son – and Elijah had the nerve to ask for even the little she had. But Elijah said to her, ‘Go and make some for me first – then you and your son can eat the rest – but I promise that as long as drought lasts, your jars of flour and oil will not be emptied.’ Now I don’t know if I would have been that generous to a stranger, but the custom of hospitality was so strong in that culture that this woman did share the little she had – and the food never ran out.
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The poor widows in our New Testament text have no such assurances from the people who come to their homes seeking hospitality. In Mark’s gospel the very ones who should be protecting the poor are the ones still expecting and accepting the hospitality of the widows. They are using up the little the poor have, leaving them destitute and sometimes even homeless – all the while trying their best to look high and holy.
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Jesus moves to the treasury in the temple. This is the place where people come to pay the temple tax. The temple tax was levied so that the work of keeping up the temple and making sacrifices could take place. Jesus and the disciples are again busy watching what people are doing. Just as before, most eyes are on the ones who come into the temple wearing flowing gowns of beautiful colors.
Can’t you jest see them, striding into the treasury, their purses fat with the coins of the temple and held high for all to see. The place where the offerings were deposited was a large metal container, and you could hear the sounds of the coins as they clattered their way down. Can you see the smiles on the faces of the people who were watching as they heard all those coins falling into the treasury? ‘My, that was a lot of money. My ears are still ringing from the noise!’ Of course, the person who put all that money in is rich and will never miss the coins just thrown into the money jar.
Everyone’s eyes are still following the rich person as he struts back across the room when a poor widow comes into the place. Few people seem even to notice her arrival. Her clothes are tattered and worn. Once perhaps they too were colorful and flowing, but now everything about her, from her hair to her sandals, is tired and drab. In the ancient world, widows had no rights, no safety net.
They had to dress in a special way. They could not inherit their husband’s property. If they were childless, they were returned to their father’s house. Mary would see them as cursed and their families cursed by their presence. The scriptures are filled with commands to care for the widow and the orphan, but the truth of the matter is that they were rarely cared for and often exploited by those with power.
The widow makes her way slowly across the floor – and no one’s eyes seem to follow her as she goes. She stands at the container and gives one last look at the two coins she has been clutching in her frail hand. They are all she has and she drops them noiselessly into the container.
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How will she live? Unlike the widow in Zarephath, this widow has no prophet’s promise of flour and oil. Unlike the rich person who preceded her, she has no warm home and loving family to which she can return. And unlike the rich ruler we read about a few weeks ago, who would not leave everything to follow Jesus, this woman has given the little she has, understanding that it is only by faith and by trusting for God to provide for her needs that she will even eat dinner that evening. The widow makes her way out of the room, and there are no smiling nods of appreciation from the onlookers. It seems that no one has even seen her give the last money she had - but Jesus has been watching.
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The widow gave all she had, while the wealthy gave all they could spare – and Jesus was watching. The God of the universe sees the hearts and actions of the meek and lowly as clearly as those of the high and mighty. The Savior of the world values the small as well as the great, the weak as well as the strong, the poor as well as the rich, the hungry as well as the full, the oppressed as well as the oppressor, the lonely as well as the ones surrounded by family and friends.
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Jesus still does look into the hearts and minds of people and knows them and loves them – wherever they are and however he finds them. Jesus himself will soon give all that he has. Jesus himself will soon make his way slowly down the road to Golgotha to give all that he has past onlookers who will not realize the sacrifice that he is making for them.
The Message version of the Bible says it well: ‘All the others gave what they'll never miss; she gave extravagantly what she couldn't afford - she gave her all.’
Faith in God as revealed through the life and work of Jesus Christ is just like that. Jesus asks for 100% commitment of all that we are – of all that we have – of time, of abilities, and yes, even money.
But God asks for all that we are to be devoted to the One who loves more than we can imagine. God who gives us everything we need on this earth – more that we ask for, more than we need, more than we could hope for, asks us to be willing to leave all of that behind so we can follow the way of love and forgiveness and wholeness that is ours in Christ.
Tithe? The first widow must have given 30% of everything she had to the prophet of God. The second gave a 100%. Both knew that the little they had was not enough to keep them alive and well. Both relied on God’s grace and providence to get then through difficult times when life seemed to have turned against them. Both knew that the only way they could survive was to rely completely on the providence and love of God.
This morning as we place our pledge cards in the offering plate, many of us will also place this offering of trust on the altar of God. Many of us will also, in a very real way, place our trust in the God of our salvation. Of course, others of us may give only what we can spare – but then as now Jesus is watching. Amen.
