Sermon prepared for Messiah Lutheran Church, Auburn WA

By Gregory S. Kaurin, pastor

11/9/03

 

Text: Mark 12:38-44

Faith Breaks Through

 

It seems a bit odd to imagine Jesus, his disciples, and others standing around the Temple’s treasury drop box to watch what people put into it.  Was this some kind of pass-time that people had?  Now, I won’t accuse Jesus of that, but, when we think about it, not much has really changed since then.  …Jesus still knows.  He knows…what goes in…and what’s behind it.

Today’s scripture is an extreme lesson in generosity, but it’s also a lesson in the powerful faith that it took for that widow to be generous.  I want you to think about all that this woman had to walk through in order to make her donation.

 

First, Jesus had just finished talking about these scribes and religious leaders and elders who were walking around in their fine robes, looking to be seen, expecting to be properly bowed to, and expecting the front row seats wherever they went.  Meanwhile, they were eating and dressing and living off the generosity of poor widows, just like the one that dropped her coins into the treasury.

  Jesus had harsh words to say about these Temple and religious leaders.  (These are words that Jesus meant for us pastors and church professionals.  I know my livelihood comes from people’s generosity to God, and I had better respect that, and be responsible for that.  Sometimes I worry that too many preachers I see forget these words.)

These religious and social elites were often power hungry.  They were abusing people’s generosity.  Many of them were abusing the tax system, and getting rich off of the exchange rates between Jewish and Roman coins.  The poor suffered the most.

Women, like this widow, weren’t allowed into the Temple for worship; they lacked the social and religious purity of men.  They were allowed no further than the women’s court.  It would be like expecting women to worship outside on the church lawn, and then telling them to “Please, insert your offering through the mail slot as you leave.”  And yet this woman gave to the Temple treasury.

She was a widow, old or young, we don’t know, but financially she was unprotected, and constantly at risk.  She lived in a social system that only offered menial work, or begging, or worse.  And still she stood in line to give her gift to this Temple treasury.

People were watching while others before her and after her dropped in their impressive amounts of petty cash, showing others what stars they were, how incredibly magnanimous they were …with their spare cash.  She was seen, too, but not really.  In her poor clothes, her thin frame, her pitiful coins: how measly compared to the others.  And yet, after all this, she still gave to the Temple treasury, more than she could afford. 

Jesus saw it, and knew that she, unlike all the others was not giving for self-aggrandizing, not to gain or prove her social standing.  She wasn’t trying to purchase notice.  She wasn’t using her money to get her way, or even to get God’s favor.

How was she able to do this?  How was she able to remain so generous after all that stood in her way?  Was she oblivious?  Was she blind, or just ridiculously optimistic?

What set her apart, among other things, was that she was not actually giving to the Temple treasury.  She was giving to God.  Her faith helped her break through.

She had faith, powerful faith.  Walking in front of Jesus Christ, it made her the richest, most powerful person he saw that entire day.  That is why we still tell her story.

 

But here’s my caution to you.  This is such an extreme story for us that we can lose sight of how it applies to us.  We make her into this wonderful hero of generosity, kind of like a symbolic marble statue in some museum.  We marvel at her pure, unattainable beauty for a moment, her great generosity, but it’s so heroic and unbelievably faithful that we distance ourselves from it as an unrealistic virtue.

Look at us.  We’re not poor enough to give like she did!  We’ve got too much to lose: cars, houses, food, Gameboys®, TV’s, furniture, land, insurance policies, pensions, too much to lose.  How can we possibly give like she did? 

 

For us it is impossible.  With God all things become possible.  Like her, our faith can help us break through.

First, if we give and when we give, whether it’s to church, to the Girl Scouts, or to a woman holding a sign on the exit ramp, we need to give it to God.  I’m not saying that you need to give to everything that comes across your path.  You can pick and choose, based on your faith, intelligence, and values.  I am saying that, as you give, let it go: to God, without strings. 

Generous giving is not a weapon to offer or take back when we’re not getting our way.  Generous giving is not a business exchange.  If we are holding people or institutions hostage with our generosity, then it’s not true generosity.

When Pauline and I give our offering here at Messiah Lutheran Church, or to the Tacoma Actors Guild, or to Campus Ministries, we hope and pray that God will use our gifts and these charities in powerful ways.  However, we also know that, realistically, we are giving to God through human people and charities that will make mistakes.   Then again, if we give it with prayer, if we truly give it to God, then we need to, and can, trust him with the final results.

I believe with all my heart that God eventually redeems all gifts that are given with a prayer of faith.  It may take time, it may be abused in the next moment, but I am absolutely convinced God will bring it around. 

For example, the real value of those two copper pieces that the woman gave to the Temple treasury—even if the priests and scribes misused it for awhile—the true value of that gift is still being redeemed as a treasure way beyond earthly value, every time we tell her story.  I believe that is true for every gift given in faith. 

Those who misuse others’ generosity are judged for it.  When the church abuses people’s generosity, we are judged for it.  (And, God, please forgive us all when we make mistakes.)  God will eventually work through and redeem every generous gift and action. 

We do not actually give because the church and charities need it.  We give to God, and we give because we need to give.  It is an actual human need that God has built into us so that we can feel alive, and useful, a significant part of society and of our faith.  We need to be generous, so that our hands and hearts will stay open.

 

Second, our gifts need to represent our whole selves.  The Bible talks about the tithe, which literally means 10%.  I’ve listened to people and preachers who get completely mislead in trying to demand or apply that rule. 

Instead, every gift, whether it’s a dime given to your granddaughter, or the estate you leave behind when you die, every gift given is meant to represent your whole self, what you value, and your faith.

If it is given to God, if it is given with a prayer and your heart and soul, if it represents your trust in God, hen no matter how big or small it is, it is worth eternally more, and God will do great things with it.  It’s not the amount; it is the heart behind it. 

That is not an excuse or a rationalization for meager giving.  To use what I just said as a rationalization for giving only my spare change, saying “Pastor said, ‘It’s the thought that counts!’”  That doesn’t cut it.  Once again, that is using a rule as an excuse that let’s me keep as much as I can.  That isn’t being generous, is it?  And it misses the point.  The rule is what God has always meant it to be:  thankfulness, true generosity and trust.  Most important, the rule is joy in giving. 

 

What I want for each of you, as you walk from here today, is a greater sense of freedom to be generous, a greater enjoyment.  I even want you to have fun and be creative.  If you haven’t already, set aside a good part of your income to give away, enough that it really will represent yourself and your family’s values.  Not all of it needs to go to church to do God’s work.  You should diversify your giving.

The first few times and the first year, this might be a hard challenge, but real joy comes with generosity.  True wealth and a sense of richness come from being able and willing to give away.

And remember, of all the people who put their money in the Temple treasury, only one of them felt truly thankful, only one of them felt blessed and eternally wealthy.  Jesus watched her.  He knew what was behind her gift.  …He still knows.  Amen.