Jesu Juva
St. Mark 12:38-44
November 10, 2024
Proper 27B
Dear saints of our Savior~
In just a few minutes we will take the offering. Taking an offering is, admittedly, old fashioned. Ours is quickly becoming a cashless society. Dollars change hands through electronic transfers, debit cards, and Venmo. Even your checkbook is going the way of the dinosaurs. The offering is an anachronism. It’s the rotary phone of the Divine Service. It’s the folded paper map in the glove compartment—a vestige of simpler times. Nevertheless, the offering is here to stay. And today’s text concerning a widow’s offering is a big reason why.
From a business standpoint, the widow’s offering didn’t really matter. The two tiny copper coins she tossed into the temple treasury amounted to barely a penny. It was an offering so small that it almost wasn’t worth the trouble of counting. The widow’s offering would do nothing to help pay down the temple debt. It would do nothing to impact work on the mission field. It would feed no hungry and clothe no poor. It would do nothing to help meet the annual temple budget. To the eyes of the world, that widow’s offering was probably the least significant thing that transpired that day at the temple.
But to the eyes of Jesus—to Him who sees deep into the heart—that poor widow’s penny-sized offering meant more than all the gold in King Herod’s treasury. It is a little-known truth of the Scriptures that God sees the gifts of His people not based upon the amount that is given, but based upon how much remains, after the offering is given. Truly I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on. The rich put in big amounts; but even bigger amounts remained in their pockets. The widow put in a microscopic amount; but the amount that remained in her purse was zero. Her gift totaled one hundred percent.
Most people—even most believers—would have said that the widow’s offering was foolish, risky, and unreasonable. As an investor, you’re never supposed to put all of your eggs in one basket. But she put all she had into the offering basket. And what return would she ever get for that investment? She would never see those two copper coins again. What would she live on? How would she eat? What was she thinking?
But Jesus saw things differently. Jesus praised her gift. Jesus memorialized her gift. Her gift mattered to the Master. It’s because of Jesus that we’re talking about her offering today, two thousand years later. Today rich philanthropists get all the headlines—millionaires who give big bucks to revitalize neighborhoods and build arenas and libraries on university campuses. But the legacies of the Pettits and the Bradleys and the Kohls and the Cudahays won’t last forever. The brick and mortar that bear those names will crumble. But the sound of that widow’s two copper coins will echo on forever.
What does the widow’s offering mean for us and for the offerings that we bring to this temple? Well, some preachers might tell you that since the widow put into the offering all the money she had, that you should put all the money that you have into the offering. She gave one hundred percent; and so should you. Be like the widow! But that’s not exactly what Jesus is teaching in this passage. So let’s dig deeper.
Perhaps the widow’s offering leads to more questions than answers. Questions like, how much money should I return to the Lord? Because remember, it’s not simply the amount of the offering that matters to Jesus; it’s the amount that remains. It’s the percentage that matters. Are we giving to the Lord from what’s leftover, after all the other “important” bills are paid? Or are we giving sacrificially—like the widow—in a way that challenges and exercises our faith? Are we giving an amount that’s reasonable and sensible? Or might your accountant raise his eyebrows just a bit at what you give? Is our giving based on faith in the living Lord Jesus who has destroyed the power of death and the grave for us? Or is our giving based on the church budget, or worse, based upon what other people are giving? Do we give like the Scribes to “keep up appearances” or “for show?” Do we announce it with trumpets, or are we so discreet that our right hand doesn’t know what our left hand is doing? All of these are questions—questions that flow from the widow’s offering.
But there’s also a warning that flows from today’s text. “Beware,” Jesus said. Beware of the scribes. The scribes are the polar opposite of the widow who quietly gave one hundred percent. The trouble with the scribes was that they did everything “for show.” Their prayers, their preaching, their piety—it was all done for popular consumption. It was all done so that other people would see it, and praise them and pay them and honor them and reward them. Beware, Jesus says.
Beware as you live out your faith in Jesus Christ in works of love and mercy, that you aren’t doing those things as a pretense for other people to see and admire. The trouble is that we’re all scribes in that respect. Our Old Adam is a first-rate exhibitionist—saying good words and doing good deeds and giving good offerings, but mostly motivated by the love of the limelight—full of fake and phony humility.
The poor widow in today’s text teaches us to test our motives. She went to the temple and gave everything she had. Like the Israelites who gathered only enough manna for one day at a time, she trusted that the Lord would take care of her tomorrow, and the next day. She would get no receipt for her gift—no tax deduction the following April. Nobody would praise her. Nobody would applaud her. Nobody in the world would see or recognize the incredible sacrifice she was making that day. Nobody, that is . . . except Jesus. For Jesus notices what we do not notice. Jesus always recognizes faith in action. What you and I might call irrational, illogical and unreasonable behavior—Jesus calls faithfulness.
When you stop and think about it, it really shouldn’t surprise us that the widow’s offering caught the eye of Jesus. The widow gave everything—all she had. It was an act of total devotion, motivated only for reasons of love. Do you see where this is heading? Do you see where this poor widow is pointing us? With her pennies she preaches a sermon more powerful than any preacher or any scribe ever could. For her offering points us to Jesus—to the offering He Himself would give on Calvary’s cross. He was condemned and crucified. There Jesus gave Himself for you, for your sins, in an act of total devotion, motivated only by love. Like the poor widow, Jesus gave one hundred percent. He held nothing back, but gave Himself up for your salvation—not with gold or silver—not with coins or currency, but with His holy precious blood and His innocent suffering and death.
No one can hear of what happened to the sinless Son of God on that dark Friday and not conclude that the love Jesus displayed that day was unreasonable. Nothing could justify the spillage of that innocent man’s blood. Unless of course you see that blood as an offering—an offering to God made on your behalf—for your forgiveness. In that offering is your redemption. In that offering is your salvation. Jesus gave His all so that He might make you rich.
Do you believe that—that you are rich through faith in Jesus? I’m here to tell you, you are. Your every debt has been paid by Jesus. You have a pension plan to which you didn’t contribute, which will pay you eternal dividends. You are at least as rich as the poor widow whose offering was noticed by Jesus as the greatest gift given that day. If you do believe that, then watch out. That kind of faith has been known to express itself in surprisingly generous ways. And each of those expressions is an offering—an offering done not for show, but out of love for Jesus who by His poverty makes you rich.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.