"Don't Be Afraid. There Is Enough"
Mark 12:38-44; 1 Kings 17:7-16
We don’t know this woman’s name. We really don’t know anything about her,
other than that she is an impoverished widow in first century Palestine, living
on the margins of her society, with no safety net. No husband to protect or advocate
for her. No pension. She’s part of a poor and vulnerable class of
society.
So don’t
you wonder what it means to point to a destitute woman who gives her last two
cents to the Temple? Should we applaud
her self sacrifice—or see her as naïve and impractical?
Mark only
uses this word for “widow” twice in his gospel, both times in the passage we
just heard. Unlike Luke, Mark doesn’t emphasize
a mission to “the poor” in his narrative.
The first time Mark mentions the poor is when
a wealthy man comes to Jesus asking how he can inherit eternal life.[1] Jesus responds: “Sell what you own and give the money to the poor.”
The man couldn’t do it.
But
this poor widow does just that. She gives it all.
What
do we do with this? What does it mean? Why would this poor widow give everything
she had to live on? Surely her
small gift couldn’t make any difference to the Temple. In ancient Israel, the “poor” were not required
to give to the Temple.[2] If they did give, they might have done so out
of a sense of obligation… or a sense of hope.
We just don’t know.
Our gospel lesson today is framed by verses that show what Jesus
thinks about what was going on in the Temple.
Jesus has visited the temple and cleansed it by driving out those who
were selling and tossing the tables of
the moneychangers. He quoted the
prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah to explain his prophetic action:
“Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for
all the nations’” But you have made it a
den of robbers.”[3]
In today’s
lesson we heard Jesus teaching his disciples to “Beware of the scribes,” those
religious leaders who like to walk around in their long robes. Jesus said, “They like 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.”
In the two
parts of today’s lectionary passage Mark offers us contrasting examples of
discipleship. These are teaching
moments for Jesus as he calls his disciples to pay attention to the scribes,
who “will receive the greater condemnation.”
Then Jesus points to the widow’s giving.
This is one
of the widows Jesus had just accused the scribes of abusing—offering her copper
coins amidst the grand displays of generosity from the rest of the temple
crowd.
The widow
gives sacrificially—all she has to live on.
Her sacrifice is complete—so complete that Jesus wants his disciples to witness
it. “Truly,” Jesus says, “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.”
That is why
we know about her today, this nameless woman—because she gave all the little
she had, holding nothing back.
But don’t
you wonder? Are we really supposed to
admire a poor woman who gave her last cent to a religious institution? Was it
right for her to surrender her living to those who lived better than she
did? By ordinary human standards, what this widow
did makes no sense. Is Jesus saying we
should all follow her example? What does
Jesus want us to learn from her?
Did you notice? Nowhere in this passage does Jesus praise the
widow for what she is doing. Nowhere in
this story does he say, “Go, thou, all of you, and do likewise.” He simply invites the disciples to
contemplate the disparity between abundance and poverty, between large sums and two copper coins,
between grand donations--and real sacrifice. He
doesn’t dismiss the gifts of the rich.
He simply points out that the poor widow turns out to be the major donor
in the story.
In Mark’s
gospel, this is the last of Jesus’ lessons in the upside-down kingdom of God,
where the last shall be first, and the great shall be the servants of all. When Jesus leaves the Temple that day, his
public ministry is over. In four days,
he will be dead, giving up the two copper coins of his life. The widow
withheld nothing from God; neither did Jesus.
In the
scriptures, there are recurring themes of abundance and of trusting in God to
provide what we need.
In the Exodus
story, the people begin to complain, afraid that they won’t have enough
provisions for the journey ahead of them.
God responds by sending them manna—white flakes of bread falling from
heaven—just enough manna for today. The
people aren’t willing to trust that God will
continue to provide, so they try to hoard their food for tomorrow. But when they wake up the next morning, they
find that the left-over manna has rotted overnight. God was trying to teach them that hoarding
and lack of trust deny God’s daily providing…the predictable and faithful grace
of God.
In today’s
lesson from the Hebrew scriptures, God tells Elijah to go to Zarephath, and
that a widow there will feed him. The
widow is preparing to bake the last little bit of meal and oil into a last
supper for her and her son—everything she had—and then they would die. Elijah says to her, “Don’t be afraid. Make me a little cake, and then make some for
yourself and your son. God promises you
won’t run out of meal and oil as long as the drought lasts.” And it was so. There was enough.
Jesus, the
one who gave his all for the sake of the world, for the sake of all of us, calls us to follow him… and learn from him. The gospel gives us clues about how to live
joyful lives of freedom and trust.
Like the angels
who keep showing up in the Bible, saying, “Don’t be afraid,” so Jesus uncovers our motives, those habits
of the heart that keep us holding on tightly to things, to money, clinging to
the things we think might keep us safe. Then
he invites us to care for the poor, and he offers us a new life of freedom from fear-- an abundant life of
gratitude and trust.
So how are
we to love God? With trust, instead of
fear. With gratitude, instead of
demands. With hope instead of despair.
How do we
comprehend the poor widow’s offering in the Temple? I think we can see it as a statement of
radical trust. She chooses not to play
it safe. Instead, she gives her love
gift first, trusting in God to provide what she needs.
But how
does this happen? How could she give
everything?
I wonder if she somehow has come to
feel that she has enough, and that she will have enough. I wonder if she
has allowed herself to experience life as a blessing. I wonder how this poor widow has come to
trust in God as the one who blesses and provides—abundantly, predictably,
faithfully.
I wonder if
she has discovered something about the ultimate meaning of life-- that when we give,
we are most like God. Could it be that she has come to see that-- when we are lavish and gracious and
generous-- we are most like our lavish
and gracious and generous God?
How much do
we love God? How much do we trust God? These are ongoing questions that we encounter
on our journey of faith. No one can
answer these questions for you. I don’t
have an easy, pat answers for you today.
But not to keep asking the questions is to shut God out of some of the
most intimate details of your living.
Like many
of you, I enjoy supporting charitable and social causes I think are important,
causes that help me to live out the Christian values that shape my life. But my main giving is focused on the church,
in the local congregation, as well as several church-related missions. There is something about putting a check into
the offering plate as part of worship that gives focus to my life and to my
faith. It’s part of my spiritual discipline
to write the check each week. It’s part
of my spiritual growth to increase my giving each year. I believe that my giving is a witness to the gratitude
I have for life…and the joy and freedom that I experience when I give my money to
the church and the causes that express my faith values..
You and I
have received commitment cards in the mail. Sometime between now and next Sunday morning, I
hope you will hold it and pray over it…and then fill it out with joy and gratitude. Then, I hope you will offer it with great joy
during worship next Sunday.
How do we
love God? Let us count the ways. And then let us respond with the offering of
our very lives.
May it be
so.
Amen.
Rev. Fran Hayes, Pastor
Littlefield Presbyterian Church
Dearborn, Michigan
November 8, 2015
