Pentecost 22

May my words and my thoughts be acceptable to you, O Lord, my refuge and my redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)

SEASON: Pentecost 22
PROPER: B
PLACE: St. John's Parish, Kingsville
DATE: November 12, 2000


TEXT: Mark 12:38-44 (13:1-2_ - Jesus’ Lament Over the Widow Victimized by the Temple System
“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.”

ISSUE: - In this passage from Mark, Jesus laments the victimization of the poor. It is believed to be Jesus’ last visit to the Temple. The widows of the period were often victimized like so many of the poor. The passage stands as a challenge to how the church functions in the world today, and how we develop a sense of stewardship, compassion, and meaningful, faithful giving of our lives.
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I must begin this morning by saying that I stand here somewhat uncomfortable in my long robes after reading that Gospel. We clergy are also often greeted after services with respect and the title of “Father.” So having both read and heard this passage from Mark, I assure you it is with humbling concern.
It is a very challenging passage as it refers to the widow who stands as a stark contrast to the rich scribes and Pharisees that dump large sums of money into the Temple coffers as compared to the poor widow who puts drops in two copper coins worth about a penny. The implication is that those who can well afford to put in large sums could probably have done even better, while the poor widow has given everything that she has. There are those with millions who giving even a tithe of all they have are not giving really as much as a poor person with only a few dollars giving a tithe is a far greater sacrifice.
This passage seems to be an appropriate one for this season, in which many churches are in the midst of their stewardship campaigns. It almost appears that it is a deliberate story placed at this point in the lectionary. Needless to say it seems an important point that the poor widow in the story gives every appearance of being most generous and extraordinarily trusting that God will provide for her well being in response to her generosity. She is not only a contrast to the scribes and Pharisees, but all to the rich young man who came to Jesus in the story a few weeks ago. He was told to sell everything and give it to the poor and follow Jesus, but recall how he went away very sad for he was very rich. Here again the poor widow who has so little gives everything. We may well commend her generosity as an example to a very rich and affluent country that we are. Even the poor in this country, I am told, are far better off than the poor in other countries. It has recently been pointed out that the real questions for Americans today is not “Who wants to be a millionaire?” like the popular TV Show asks, but rather “Who is Already a Millionaire,” because there are many in this country, (if not a few in this parish!)
This passage, however, has another twist to it. Modern Biblical Scholars are saying we need to pay more attention to what this story is really all about. The point of the story (and my reason for adding the additional verses to it) is that it is not about the widow so much as about the corrupt scribes and Pharisees. I tell you once again, I stand here in my long robes, a little nervous about the real meaning of this story.
Jesus has come to the Temple with his disciples. He observes how the scribes and Pharisees, who are community leaders are behaving. They enjoy their long rich robes. They like being greeted in the marketplaces. Since they were of higher honor, persons of lesser honor were required to greet them. They sought out the best seats at the banquets that they attended and got the best seats in the Temple where they faced those of lesser honor, and had back rests because of their esteemed position. Jesus goes on to challenge and insult them for their long prayers, when they were in fact cheating and devouring the homes of widows.
Widows, (a word in Hebrew which means silent ones) in a man’s world were extraordinarily vulnerable. Without a husband and son, they had no one to speak up for them. A widow in such a position was totally dependent upon the lawyers, scribes and Pharisees, to settle their estates and manage their affairs. The widows were often cheated and eventually lost their homes; hence, they and their homes were devoured. Jesus sat with his disciples watching the rich, which means greedy, dumping their sums of money, much of which had been extorted from the poor, into the Temple coffers. Then along comes one of the widows and contributes all she has. While we have often thought that this was a great noble act on the part of the widow, and it may well have been, Jesus is outraged. She is being victimized. How can a person who dumps in everything live? What has she to live on? She’s been duped by a corrupt system. The Temple was both the political and religious center governed by the educated scribes and Pharisees, who were themselves manipulated by Roman authority. It was so very corrupt that the coins of the widows and the properties stolen from them were buying the long royal robes and supporting the great sumptuous banquets of the scribes and Pharisees.
The Temple structure was so corrupt that from Jesus’ point of view it needed to be torn down stone by stone. Biblical Scholar, John Pilch, refers to this story not as a statement about the great generosity of the widow, but as a great lament on the part of Jesus. He weeps for the widow who has been victimized by a corrupt system. The rich and greedy can well afford to give away all they have, and need to follow a higher power, but the poor who have nothing need not be further victimized. Let every stone of the temple, let everything that symbolizes and holds this corrupted system be torn down and ultimately destroyed. Jesus was not crucified because he told nice stories about, and pointed out the generosity of widows. He was crucified because he hated the system of the corrupted powerful, who play acted (were hypocrites with long prayers) at being godly when underneath the reality of their cunning was downright evil. We have often referred to the story of Jesus going into the Temple and upsetting the tables of the moneychangers as the “Cleansing of the Temple.” Not so. It was far more likely that it was Jesus’ symbolic gesture at destroying the Temple and its corruption. Once again you see Jesus turning things, the world, its way of thinking and being, upside down. The story is not commending the widow; it is lambasting the larger rich, greedy, and corrupt system that is destroying the old lady. She has nothing to live on and no one to stand up for her. She will now die. Jesus will never again according to the synoptic gospels ever step into the Temple again. It had become symbolic of a world system that drained impoverished people dry. The good news is that Jesus dares to challenge the system so that all might live and have life more abundantly.
It’s interesting, fascinating, that Jesus takes his disciples to the Temple to watch, to observe what is going on. Can we suppose that Christ with all the company of heaven are gathered here this morning watching, observing our actions and motives. And, the priests and clergy in Churches around the world are standing before their respective altars in their long robes lifting up in offering the bread and wine, and the gifts we have placed into the offering basin. What in fact is being lifted up as gathered Christian congregations worship in their finery? What is seen there in that behavior and action? As we gather to worship this day and so many Sundays what is the modern American Christian offering to God today?
They may well be offerings out of our abundance, which may be but a pittance of what we really have and possess. They may be profoundly sacrificial. They may be significant gifts for the church’s building fund, and mere modest token gifts to be used toward human need. The gifts we offer may be offerings accumulated through an economic system that has gained its wealth off of the backs of poor people around the world working in sweat shops for the meager wages that educated Americans and labor unions would not themselves tolerate for an instant. Maybe we offer our gifts out of fear that God will somehow punish us if we are negligent in our giving. Maybe we give out of a thanksgiving that we are well, healthy, and able to contribute to the fullness of life in everything we do. Maybe we give because we ourselves feel, sense, and know the abundant love and forgiveness of God that has been bestowed upon us.
In the story of the opulent scribes and the impoverished widow, perhaps we ourselves can also observe that the scribes are really the more impoverished spiritually than the widow who having so little possession can give herself in loyalty, trust, commitment and faith to God’s care. The fact of the matter is that we are all spiritually impoverished to some degree. We live in the most prosperous age in all of history. Yet, the statistics of our time declare that:
· That the Divorce Rate is doubled.
· Teen suicide has tripled.
· Violent crime has quadrupled.
· The prison population has quintupled.
· And babies born to unwed mothers has sextupled (no-pun intended).
· Cohabitation, which is according to some a predictor of divorce, has increased sevenfold. (Homiletics/2000, Text file NOV1200.TXT)
Maybe all that we have to offer is the victimization and spiritual impoverishment that the modern culture and its hedonistic philosophies have bestowed upon us. Like the scribes and Pharisees we may all contribute to victimization, insensitivity towards, and the humiliation of others. On other occasions we may be the victimized trying to give, even beyond our means with little sense of hope. But then this is the human condition in need of a savior. We need one who stands as the standard that challenges the world’s corruption and demands it be demolished stone by stone. We need the savior who calls us and shows us the way to being responsible stewards and citizens in the Realm of God’s Domain and Kingdom of justice, fair play, compassion, intense caring for human need, and with an insatiable love for God.