November 8, 2015
Sunday

“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, 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.”

He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. 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. 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.” Mark 12:38 – 44

The poor widow indeed exemplifies sacrificial giving, but only a perverted imagination can turn her story into a general example. Mark’s Gospel goes out of its way to make clear that she is just as much a victim as a hero. The most important hint lies in the context Mark provides. The poor widow’s story dos not stand alone. Instead, it follows Jesus’ condemnation of the scribes who run the very temple to which she contributes. “Watch out for the scribes,” Jesus says. They’re all about themselves and their status. But Jesus goes on: “They devour widows’ houses.” Having said this, Jesus immediately calls attention to one of those widows who have nothing left. Many preachers read only the widow’s story without Jesus’ condemnation of the scribes. The two stories belong together, the one story telling us how to read the other.

Finally, we might ask ourselves a simple question. Does Jesus seem like the kind of teacher who wants poor people, especially vulnerable widows, to give away their very last resources? Do we seriously imagine Jesus as rejoicing when a widow’s generosity deprives her of “her whole livelihood”? I hardly think so. The widow’s generosity places the reality of poverty before our eyes. It reminds us that the poor do not represent parasites who drain society of its resources. This story reminds us that we live in an economy that siphons its resources upward and leaves the vulnerable to face destitution on their own — and we inhabit churches that ignore the process. Whether our institutions and religious leaders recognize it or not, we have lots to learn from the poor and the vulnerable. If we would just look.” (Greg Carey Professor of New Testament, Lancaster Theological Seminary Mark 12:38-44: The Value of Chump Change)

Sacrificial giving – what does that mean to you? If we take the example of the poor widow, suddenly it seems to be something out of our reach. Who can give to G*d everything they have to live on? And what was the motive of the poor widow? Was she tormented by the Scribes who “devoured widow’s houses”, money that most likely ended up in the pockets of the Temple leaders? Her poverty is something we must address head on in this text, because we will always have the poor with us, and they are not all lazy and unwilling to work. And, as Greg Carey so eloquently put it, is Jesus the kind of Lord who wants poor people to give away their last resources?

No, we must face the reality that we live in a society that encourages the rich to get richer often on the backs of the poor and at the expense of the poor who labor long and hard and have little to show for their efforts. No, I do not consider myself a socialist. But I do have a problem with the unequal distribution of wealth and opportunity. People often live in poverty because it is a negative cycle in which families struggle for generations trying to break out.

I used to work for an outpatient head injury and spinal cord injury program, assisting patients as they tried to return to the work force after a debilitating injury. One day I was completing a vocational evaluation on a young man, when his wife came home from work. The family was poor – period. The husband’s injury had a devastating effect on the family and their ability to earn enough income. It was approaching dinner time, when they asked me if I wanted to join them for a meal. The wife got out her calculator and determined they had enough money to order a pizza – and invited me to join them. I declined because I could not accept food from any clients – and yet I marveled at the level of generosity they displayed in that one act. We have a lot to learn from the poor – and often it involves lessons around generosity.

Pastor Dave