Ahhhhhh.
Another stewardship sermon
about giving all that you can to the church
Based on the text about the widow’s mite…
Is not what I need to hear,
does a disservice to this text,
and does a disservice
to our current moment.
Alex is going to talk about stewardship and finances
after communion anyway.
While Jesus next talks about the temple and its destruction
for now it is the center of Jewish worship life.
We hear this story of the woman
who gave two of the smallest coins possible —
all that she had —
in contrast to the scribes
who like to walk around
in fancy clothes
and get called special titles
when they’re out in the marketplace.
There is no punctuation in the Greek text,
so this comma we have in the NRSV
is an editorial choice.
Jesus could be warning against all the scribes
because they all like being celebrated for who they are
while they fail to be servants of the servants of God.
Or Jesus could be warning
against just the scribes
who keep their heads up
and yearn for the limelight.
Nevertheless,
Jesus is drawing a comparison
between the haves who want more
and the have-nots who give all that they can.
The scribes are seeking praise while
“devouring widows’ houses
and for the sake of appearance
saying long prayers.”
It’s quick, easy, and maybe accurate
to look at the Joel Osteens
or Robert Jeffresses
or Bishop Joseph Stricklands, but
this warning certainly falls to all leaders of the church
lay and ordained
despite denomination.
It was probably already starting to be a problem
in the early church
when Mark was written.
With ascendent Christian nationalism
and gross misogyny seeking to further marginalize
all the “other”
there are those who have ignored Jesus’ warning
and sought power for its own sake
by its own works.
They’ve forgotten Jesus’ direction
about who will be at his right and left hand
and worked to be at the right and left hand
of political levers in the United States.
As Jesus critiques the scribes
he is not critical of the rich
who give from their abundance.
All he says is that her two copper coins
are worth more than all the generous donations
because they are her all.
The next passage from Mark
is Jesus’ foretelling of the temple
followed by his “Little Apocalypse.”
After that teaching section,
the plot to arrest Jesus begins.
Jesus isn’t saying that his followers
should give to temple or church
until it hurts.
In highlighting this woman’s gift of her all,
Jesus is drawing a comparison between himself
and this woman giving her all.
In giving these two copper coins,
this woman is giving her whole life to God
as Jesus is about to do
for the redemption of the whole creation.
Giving these two copper coins
is like the line from Rite I:
“And here we offer and present unto thee,
O Lord, our selves,
our souls and bodies,
to be a reasonable, holy, and living
sacrifice unto thee.”
As Jesus is arrested, tried, and crucified,
he gives all of himself.
Such that this is about stewardship,
it’s about the stewardship of our whole selves,
and responding by giving up of ourselves
because of God’s love for us.
Again, not financially giving until it hurts,
but truly giving up our whole selves
to serving God by serving our neighbors.
I think it’s important to note, too,
that we are not Jesus.
Our baptismal covenant
gives us lots of work to do —
seeking, serving, striving, respecting —
all with God’s help.
God’s love for God’s creation is so deep
that They gave up everything
to get dirty with us.
Jesus’ love for humanity
and the whole of the cosmos
is so broad
that he was willing to go to the Cross
to show that God’s way of love
triumphs over evil, death,
and plain human
greed and selfishness.
None of us is called
to give up our lives
for the salvation of the world.
Any giving we’re able to do in any capacity
is a response to God’s goodness and generosity
and gifts given to us.
If you’re just hearing me talk about money,
I’m sorry that I’m not communicating
how much bigger this passage is
in this present moment.
I wrote to the congregation on Thursday
about how what’s been promised by the president-elect
is out of step with the gospel.
Aspects of the current administration
and a potential Harris administration
would have been too.
As we’re still reeling from decisions other citizens have made
or celebrating what we think is the best way forward
Jesus calls to to something more.
There are lots of reasons
that people are really, truly scared right now.
We don’t know what campaign threats
will come to fruition.
We trust that in Jesus’ giving his all
in this widow’s giving her all out of love,
we’re not alone.
I don’t know what we may be called to do:
offer sanctuary to someone undocumented;
be baptized in tear gas
as a way of claiming or awakening our faith;
defy directions not to give food to the unhoused;
rebuild and revitalize
our Transgender Day of Remembrance Service.
I know that when we come through the font,
regardless of which promises were made at our baptisms,
we are joined to Jesus’ death and resurrection.
We’re made a part of giving all
for love of God and our neighbor.
We’re strengthened in that giving
when we join to Jesus and he to us
as we eat his flesh and drink and blood
here at his table.
God’s grace is sufficient for us, though.
Whatever realities and challenges arise,
God is with us
and we have one another.
Jesus’ promise to his followers
was that following him
led to the cross —
death to themselves,
and maybe dying.
As this widow gives her all,
and Jesus gives his all,
I pray for us to be made worthy of the callings
to which we’ve been called.
Amen.