The House Generosity Builds: Mark 12:38-44 - 25th Sunday after Pentecost

³⁸As [Jesus] 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.”
  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.”

Today’s Gospel always takes me back to the annual stewardship drive held at the church of my youth.  It was the centerpiece of what was called Every Member Visitation Sunday.  Later that day, my family was visited by a male elder dressed in a suit and tie.  He would present each of us a box of offering envelopes for the coming year.  He would also hand us a pledge card, along with an admonition to increase our giving over the prior year.

I can honestly say I looked forward to stewardship Sunday about as much as I look forward to Tax Day.  Just the same, I find it difficult to think of this brief story as “good news.”

Here, you have a poor widow who’s giving away all the money she had—two small coins worth about a dollar in today’s money.  We could find some encouragement if the temple treasury was a worthy cause—but Jesus makes it very clear that it’s not.  It’s a house built on exploitation—presided over by a bunch of self-righteous men who like to play dress-up and parade their supposed holiness around for everyone to see.  “They devour widows houses,” Jesus says—making it that much more tragic that the widow contributes everything she had to live on.

Mark doesn’t tell us anything about the widow—specifically, why she gave the amount she did, or what ended up happening to her when she left the temple essentially broke.  But there is gospel here: Jesus sees her.  He recognizes that while so many others give out of their abundance, she gives out of her poverty.  While everyone else would’ve noticed the religious leaders and the big-money givers, Jesus notices the one whose life and whose contribution would’ve gained her no other public recognition or acclaim.  Her generosity far outweighs that of everyone else. 

The temple is the house that exploitation built.  But the Church is a household that generosity builds—upon the sacrifice of God’s only Son, clothed as a run-of-the-mill Jewish Carpenter, that brings forth redemption and new life to all the world.  And while wealthy donors, educated persons, and strong leaders will get their names attached to buildings and engraved on plaques, the gifts of all God’s people that make this Church a house where heaven meets earth.

The generosity of this congregation is nothing short of miraculous.  It’s living proof of the power of Jesus.  There are people in this Church who tithe—and who give that tithe priority over all the monthly expenses.  I know because they told me—and not to boast of anything except of how much this Church means to them. 

This congregation does all kinds of great ministry for children—but no one turned in a single receipt to Don this year for the Easter Egg Hunt, the Halloween Party, the game nights, anything.  But can you place a dollar value on our children’s excitement about inviting friends to our events—because they love their church so much?  There are also people in this church who come even when they aren’t exactly feeling one hundred percent well—because they want to worship, and they want to make a difference.  Can you imagine, that if we placed a dollar value on the thousands of hours given in our clothing closet, what that amount would be?  I’m sure it would far exceed the $3,000 we’ve raised selling clothes for twenty cents an item, most of which we’ve given away.  A better measure could be a mother’s tears when she left our church with clothes to get her children through the school year…

Is it possible to measure the value of our newsletter—by the office angels who spend hours here prepping over two hundred copies—or the people who eagerly await the news of all that God is up to here?

Is it possible to measure the value of GriefShare?  On Monday, when eighteen people came for Surviving the Holidays, a participant told our leaders: “this ministry saved my life.” 

Putting together the generosity of Christ with the generosity of people like you, the result is the transformation of lives. 

Jesus wants to draw you deeper into that generosity—so that your hope and joy will increase at an even greater rate than the increase of time, talent, or treasure you share.

And I’ll admit, it gets tough here—because when someone invites/asks you to give, whether it’s your church, a beggar on the street, or a cashier in a store—there’s always going to be resistance.  Giving is not the natural response in the face of the multiple demands upon your time, talent, and treasure.  You won’t want to do without, be without, and miss out.  The path of least resistance will always be to skip discipleship and skip church.  The path of least resistance will always be to let scarcity rule over your faith—and if you’ve done everything you wanted, bought everything you wanted and saved everything you wanted; maybe you can give God some of the leftovers.  But there’s no joy in that way of life.  Maybe some fleeting enjoyment and good feelings, but no lasting joy.  No sense of what God is up to…

We are the house that generosity built—and we must make room, in our schedules, in our budgets, in our priorities—because Jesus is fixing to make this household grow and you to grow right along with it!  Just like the widow’s mite, there is no gift that’s too small and no giver that too insignificant.  Jesus works through everything and everyone to make his resurrection a reality.  Sacrifice and generosity are the means through which we all enter into the resurrected life. 

Thank you for your sacrifices and generosity that makes this church the point where heaven touches earth.  May the story of amazing grace continue to be written by the lives and gifts you share.