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The Widow’s Mite

 Mark 12:38-44

November 16, 2003

Jesus Denounces the Scribes

³⁸As 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, ³⁹and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets! ⁴⁰They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”

The Widow’s Offering

⁴¹He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. ⁴²A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. ⁴³Then 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. ⁴⁴For 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.”

There was a man who called the church and asked if he could speak to the Head Honcho. The secretary said, “Who?” Then she gathered herself and said “Sir, if you mean our pastor you will have to treat him with a little more respect than that and ask for the ‘Reverend’ or ‘The Pastor.' But certainly you cannot refer to him as the Head Honcho.” The man said, “I understand. I was calling because I have $10,000 I was thinking about donating to the building fund.” She said, “Hold on for just a moment—I think the Honcho you’re looking for just walked in the door.”

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A woman came to the pastor of a little Armenian Evangelical church and found the Badveli in his office.  The woman was obviously distraught.  She said to the pastor, “Badveli, please you must help me!” 

“Kher Ullah, what can I do for you?”  said the Badveli. 

“Akh, its my poor dog Sevoulig.  He died yesterday and I must have him buried with a good Christian burial.  Will you do the funeral?” 

The Badveli frowns and looks at her sideways, “Amma,” he says, “we can’t do this, we can’t perform funerals for animals.  Come there are a few other churches here in town, maybe they will do it for you! 

“O, I hope so,” says the woman, “I loved my little Sevoulig so much, I have a twenty five thousand dollar check here in my purse to make a memorial donation in his name.  I hope someone churches will take it.” 

The Badveli’s eyes opened up like saucers and he yelled out, “Wait, come back!  I didn’t know your dog was Poghokagan! (protestant), we’ll take care of you.”

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Money money money!  Money makes the church go round doesn’t it?  Often in churches, big money donors carry a great deal of sway.  But this is not what the church should be about.

Jesus, sitting opposite the place where the offerings were put, is observing the people make their donations as they come into the temple.   Free will money offerings in the temples were placed in one of 13 long trumpet shaped receptacles that led to the Temple treasury.  As Jesus sits by and watches, he is not alone. He’s been arguing and teaching and challenging the Scribes and leaders of the community and it’s a good bet that they are even now, sitting there around him, waiting to see what controversial thing he will say next. As he watches, there is no paper money so all the coin dropping makes a lot of noise as coins roll down this long brass tube and falls into a great pool of more coins.

And along comes this little old lady and she has two small coins worth very little and she drops them in. They barely make a noise.

Jesus calls his Disciples over and says, “This poor widow has put more in to the treasury than all the others.” To the Sadducees and scribes “who like to walk around in long robes, to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, ³⁹who have the best seats and places of honor at banquets! and who devour widows’ houses,” to such religious leadership this woman is a waste of time. To Jesus she is the stuff by which Kingdoms are erected.

At its heart, the story of the widow's mite is a strong indictment of the hypocrisy of the scribes.  It in no way insists that the contributions of the powerful and wealthy  aren’t valuable, rather that the spirit of selflessness, complete commitment and honest sacrifice of the widow bear as much value and weight before God and that the weak and the strong, the wealthy and the poor, the loud and the quiet, each have a place in the building of God’s kingdom.  The gifts each have to offer have different weight, different color, different qualities, but they are each as important as the next.

In 1970, a man by the name of Malcolm Muggeridge went to Calcutta to do a special documentary on Mother Teresa for BBC-TV. Muggeridge then was Europe’ s Tom Brokaw.

The morning of their meeting he met her as she was working out in the streets with sick and poor people in a ghetto like he had never seen before, amid stench, filth, garbage, disease, and poverty that was just unbelievable. But what struck Muggeridge more than anything else, even there in that awful squalor and decadence, was the deep, warm love in Mother Teresa's eyes.

"Do you do this every day?" he began his interview.

"Oh, yes," she replied, "it is my mission. It is how I serve and love my Lord." "How long have you been doing this? How many months?" "Months?" said Mother Teresa. "Not months, but years. Maybe eighteen years. "Eighteen years!" exclaimed Muggeridge. "You've been working here in these streets for eighteen years?" "Yes," she said simply and yet joyfully. "It is my privilege to be here. These are my people. These are the ones my Lord has given me to love."

Later, Malcolm Muggeridge said, "I will never forget that little lady as long as I live. The face, the eyes, the love—it was all so pure and so beautiful. I shall never forget it. It was like being in the presence of an angel. It changed my life. I have not been the same person since. It is more than I can describe." By the way, after Malcolm Muggeridge made those comments, Mother Teresa continued to serve in that sacrificial way until the end of her life nearly twenty-seven more years.

Mother Teresa had no riches to give.  What she gave she gave with a spirit of sacrifice and hope in God’s goodness.[1]

The widow gave her two little coins, what do you think she thought she was accomplishing?  Did she have a vision that her two half-penny’s, her two mites were going to make as much of an impact as the riches the wealthy folks put in?  Or even the humble but invaluable work Mother Teresa offered for decades?  Maybe not.  She probably knew that her penny or two wouldn’t change the world alone, but she knew she had to give it anyway.  She knew that to give something, even if it was all she had was better than to give nothing.

A very wealthy man had never been known for his generosity to the church. The church was involved in a big financial program and they resolved to pay him a visit. When the committee met with the man one afternoon, they said that in view of his considerable resources they were sure that he would like to make a substantial contribution to this program.

"I see," he said, "so you have it all figured out have you? In the course of your investigation did you discover that I have a widowed mother who has no other means of support but me?" No, they responded, they did not know that. "Did you know that I have a sister who was left by a drunken husband with five children and no means to provide for them?" No, they said, we did not know that either. "Well, sir, did you know also that I have a brother who is cripple due to an automobile accident and can never work another day to support his wife and family?" Embarrassingly, they responded, no sir, we did not know that either. "Well," he thundered triumphantly, "I've never given any of them a cent so why should I give anything to you?"[2]

Giving is not about what we have or what we don’t have.  Its about how much we want to participate in God’s mission.  Do we want to be a part of what God is doing or do we just not care?

As the widow drops her two little coins in the receptacle and Jesus calls over his disciples, he isn’t necessarily teaching that folks should give all they have.  He’s teaching about sincerity and giving generously. 

That’s an interesting term - “generous.”  What does it mean?  For sure it means ample.  In my dictionary under the word generous, the word “bountiful” appears as a definition.[3]  But also the words “magnanimous,” and “unselfish” appear.  Generosity isn’t just about amounts and bottom lines.  Generosity is about a giving spirit, a willing heart and a glad giver.

Now, was this poor widow generous?  We don’t necessarily know that she was glad or cheerful.  But we can certainly know that she was magnanimous, selfless and generous!  We know too that she was hopeful, that despite her difficult circumstances, she knew that giving to God what she had would not bankrupt her, but lift her up to be a partner with God in God’s Glory!

I didn’t pick this topic regarding genuine, generous giving because the Trustees need a hand pulling up the carpet this afternoon.  I chose it neither because Christmas and New Years are coming up and we’ll be picking up our new offering envelopes nor because meeting the budget is going to be a challenge again this year, as we found out at our annual meeting last month.

But just by chance, I’ve been following the schedule, the lectionary, the UCC lays out in their planning calendar for pastors and churches to voluntarily follow.  I don’t always follow it, but for the last several months, on the advice of those who have prepared the lectionary for the denomination, I’ve been preaching my way through the Gospel of Mark and this topic just happened to be next. 

It is timely though, isn’t it…

So often in church work we’ll hear about a particular church that “It’s all about the money.”  Or “All they ever talk about is how much money we need and how much everything will cost.” 

Sometimes this happens because of the difficulties of making ends meet.  Yet what makes the bottom line come out right in the church isn’t stronger pitches, wealthier people giving more or even successful fundraisers alone.  It’s the eager, generous – meaning unselfish and magnanimous, and often sacrificial desire to participate, to give God his due and have hope that God will take care of us in the long run.

As Christmas comes, as the many requests, draws, drains and attacks on our time, our money and our abilities bombard our senses at this season and beyond, I pray we’ll have some of the faith, courage and hope of this poor widow in the Temple who gave generously whatever she had.

Amen.