Mark 12:38-44
Proper 27 / Year B
I suspect we are all familiar with today’s Gospel reading. We have heard it before. We know its meaning. I probably don’t even need to preach a sermon about it. Someone who gives all they have, even if it be a little, gives more than others whose contribution, though of a greater amount, represents a smaller portion of their assets. This message, couched in Jesus’ warning not to be overly swayed by those who make a grand demonstration out of their giving, reminds us we should not think too highly of what we offer because it is not as great a sacrifice as what the widow in the story has given.
There… I said it. We all have been reminded we could always do more. Now we can move on because we have identified the heart of the lesson. Or have we? Should we just transition to the Creed, or is there something more here to explore? Let’s poke at this reading a little bit. Let’s prod it and probe ourselves to see if perhaps we have missed something laying beneath the surface of the action and the meaning we have assigned to it.
Looking beneath the surface is a good metaphor for approaching this passage. Jesus is observing people as they place their obligatory contribution into the Temple treasury box. Today we would say he is “people-watching.” At one point he is overcome by the contribution of a widow whose act of giving two coins without fanfare leaves her completely impoverished.
On the surface hers is an amazing act of faith and leads to a teaching moment which has come down to us through the ages. But Jesus sees more than the surface action. He also perceives what we might refer to as the ‘spirit in which it is given.’ Would Jesus have been as quick to praise the widow if, say, she was giving her coins spitefully out of sense of obligation to a hated family tradition? Or if, say, she was trying to bargain with God in order to improve her lot in life? Probably not.
How important is this ‘spirit in which it is given’ thing? Well consider why Jesus is critical of the religious leaders he observes as they come to the treasury. It is not because they make a small offering, and it is not because their gift is a just pittance of their wealth. He criticizes them for giving in order to be recognized and honored. He criticizes the spirit of their giving more so than the amount.
So, of course, Jesus would not have extolled the value of the widow’s act if, on the surface, it was not an incredible sacrifice, but neither would he have pointed to her if beneath the surface… in the world of motives and emotions… her offering was anything other than genuine. In addition to calling her offering a complete sacrifice, we might say for her it is a wholly authentic expression of her entire being. Did you catch that? It is wholly, authentic expression of her entire being. Short of this her offering, though sacrificial, would not have been as worthy of comment.
A wholly authentic expression of your entire being. What in the world do I mean by this?
We are conditioned for conformity, not authenticity. In the struggle between embodying the values of family and community verses embracing the uniqueness God has created within each of us, often we lean too far toward family and community at the expense of self. We are satisfied with outward mimicking while not valuing the wisdom of our internal life. Jesus is concerned with this. Time and again he lifts up the value of interior motivation. He knows the heart must be right and the widow’s gift comes from the heart… the whole heart. It is an expression which encapsulates all of her gratitude for life, her joy, her sorrow, her fear, her faith, her pride, her pain, her shame, and everything else going into the complex mix of marvelous and murky things which make her her.
What about you? When do you offer something that is a wholly authentic expression of your entire being? What might this look like? Well, for one person it might look like a covered dish for a potluck supper. For some preparing something to offer at a potluck initiates an incredibly rich experience. It begins with a detailed, almost prayerful search of the recipe books. It may involve trips to several different groceries to get just the right ingredients. The cooking process may be a daylong procedure, perhaps two, and all the smells and sounds and even the dirty dishes may evoke cherished memories of baking with a grandmother long deceased. And then, on Sunday after church, a dish… and incredible dish… is offered with joy and pride and fear and hope and everything else the one who prepares it (if you will pardon the pun) brings to the table. Me? If I have to bring something to a pot-luck… I’ll simply go to Food Lion and get two pints of potato salad.
What’s the difference? I am shouldering my portion of the responsibility for our common life, but the other person is making a wholly authentic expression of his or her entire being. Make no mistake, both are important. But what if I never find the thing or those things which are authentic expressions of my entire being? And in never finding them cannot offer them to God or to this community I love so dearly? I will not be me… the me God has created, claimed, called, and empowered through baptism.
What do you offer that is a wholly authentic expression of your entire being? Only you can answer this... no one else. Perhaps an answer readily comes mind. Perhaps not. If you were walking past the Temple treasury box and could put anything into it… anything at all… what would it need to be for Jesus to gather his disciples around and say, “Did you see what that person just put in? Truly I say to you he/she has put in more than everyone else?” What is your Widow’s Mite?
