Mark 12:38-44[1]
There’s an old saying
that says “you can’t judge a book by it’s cover.” Of course, in reality we do
that all the time. As a veteran book shopper, I can tell you a thing or two
about the way bookstores arrange their books. The best sellers are the ones
with their covers facing out so that everyone can see them easily. Then there’s
the artwork and design. Selling books is a business, after all, and a lot goes
into making a book look “good enough” to buy. I must confess that a book’s
cover may attract my attention at least at first. The real truth is that we
judge a lot more than books by their “covers.” We do it with people all the
time.
But one of the lessons
of Mark’s Gospel is that it’s not always the people who put on a show of being
“religious” who actually put their faith into practice. In fact, many of those
who would have been considered the “spiritual leaders” of that day turned out
to be cruel in real life. Many of them fell under Jesus’ criticism of putting
on a “show” of being godly. In fact, in Mark’s Gospel, even the twelve
“Apostles” failed to grasp the most basic things Jesus was trying to teach
them. Instead, it was some of the most unlikely people who demonstrated their
faith by what they did. It is these “unlikely people” who serve as the examples
for true faith.
In our Gospel lesson
for today, we see one of those “unlikely” people: a widow who gives an offering
that would have been barely noticed by most people. Mark says that while Jesus
was watching the crowd, “A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins,
which are worth a penny” (Mk 12:42). Now there’s a translation problem here.
What she gave was probably worth more than an actual penny is worth today. But
even so, it wasn’t enough to buy food for a single meal. Perhaps we might say
it was the equivalent of a dollar in our terms. It wasn’t going to make or
break the Temple treasury!
By comparison, Mark
tells us that “Many rich people put in large sums” (Mk 12:41). We don’t know
exactly what kind of container held the offerings, but apparently it was
something that would have been very public. And since money in that day consisted
of coins, it would have been obvious to all present that they had given a lot. But
Jesus wasn’t impressed with their large gifts. He said it this way: they “have
contributed out of their abundance” (Mk 12:44). They gave what was convenient
to give. They gave what may have been “pocket change” to them. They gave what
they wouldn’t miss. They made a show of being “religious,” but that’s all it
was: a “show.”
To reinforce that
point, Jesus says this widow gave more than all the rest! On the surface of
things, that might sound like a contradiction. They gave “large sums” of money,
while what she gave was virtually worthless. And yet, what makes the difference
for Jesus is that “she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all
she had to live on” (Mk. 12:44). What she gave may have seemed pointless to
those who put in so much, but she gave everything she had. It may not have been
“more” in terms of the actual amount, but it meant a lot more to her than what
they gave meant to them.
There’s actually a
play on words going on in this verse. In one sense, “all she had to live on”
would refer to all the money she had. But the original word is bios, and
it could also be translated “her whole life.” When you consider that we’ve just
talked about Jesus’ agreement with a particular scribe about the greatest
commandments, I think this comment takes on added significance. While the
scribe in our lesson last week knew that the greatest commandment was to love
God with your whole life, this widow put that into practice. By offering her
last two coins to God she loved God “with her whole life.”[2]
It might seem unlikely
that Jesus would notice this widow and her gift, but in Mark’s Gospel, it’s
unlikely people like her who set the example for the rest of us. The woman who
suffered from hemorrhages broke taboos to seek out Jesus, and her faith became
the example for a leader of a synagogue (Mk 5:21-43). A woman who was a
foreigner came to Jesus and refused to take no for an answer when she sought
healing for her daughter (Mk 7:24-30). The blind beggar named Bartimaeus cried
out to Jesus for mercy, and he kept crying out even when Jesus’ own “followers”
tried to shush him (Mk 10: 46-52). And this widow gave all that she had as a
demonstration that she loved God with all her life.
As we approach our
stewardship commitment for next year, I think all of this can help us. In the
first place, the Bible teaches that everything we have and everything we are belongs
to God. But none of us can afford to give all that we have to God. While this
widow did that, there were social support programs in place that would have
assured she didn’t go hungry. Secondly, the fact that what she gave was
virtually worthless indicates that it’s not the actual amount that you give,
it’s what it means to you in terms of demonstrating your commitment to love
God. St. Paul said it this way, “Whatever you give is acceptable if you give it
eagerly” (2 Cor 8:12, NLT). That last part points us to a third lesson:
whatever we give, what honors God is that we give it “eagerly” or “cheerfully”
(cf. 2 Cor 9:7). When we give generously, not only of our possessions, we love
God with all our lives.
[1] ©
2021 Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Alan Brehm, Ph. D. on 11/7/2021 for
Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.
[2] Adela Yarbro Collins, Mark, 590.
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