“Puttingin Our Two Cents”
Mark 12: 38-44
November 8, 2009 + First Stewardship Sunday
Pilgrim Congregational United Church of Christ
400 Glenwood
Drive
Chattanooga, Tennessee 37404
“Pastor, you’ve got to remember we have a lot of
widows in this church.” How many times over the
course of my ministry have I heard that warning
at stewardship time? I am being warned not to be
too strong in my invitation to be generous to
God and the church because the widows on fixed
or limited incomes might be hurt. They will be
hurt either because they can’t give much if
anything or they will be hurt because my words
may tempt them to give more than they can
afford.
“Pastor, remember the widows.” I’ve often
wondered if those giving me this warning
concerned about protecting their own pockets
from an appeal to generous giving. But even
assuming a certain measure of hypocrisy, isn’t
this still a legitimate concern? We really
shouldn’t expect widows to be generous givers,
should we? Well, actually, yes, if we take
seriously the story of the anonymous widow in
today’s scripture lesson.
One day when Jesus and his disciples were in
Jerusalem and in the temple, Jesus sat down
where he could watch people as they put money
into the donation chest for the support of the
temple and its many programs. There were
thirteen of these collection chests, each one
labeled, telling the purpose for which the money
would be used. Each of these boxes was fitted
with a sort of horn to funnel the coins inside.
They were in a public area so that anyone who
watched could easily hear how much money people
were giving.
No doubt there were some who tried to impress
those who might be watching by putting in a lot
of coins. The story in Mark tells us that Jesus
noticed some rich people who put in large sums
of money, but he was not impressed. He knew that
could afford much more. The person who really
got his attention was a widow who put two small
copper coins in the collection box. Her gift
made almost no sound at all.
This is an unusual story for two reasons: first,
because the person Jesus
used as an example for
all of us was a woman and a widow and second
because of the sacrificial nature of her giving.
Jesus frequently chose the least expected people
as models for his followers.
There are several additional incidents in the
New
Testament of the Bible where Jesus shows a
special concern for women and widows. In doing
that he was going against the culture of his
time. Biblical scholars remind us that in the
culture of Jesus’ day, widows were often
discriminated against not only because they were
women but also because they were widows.
Most of them were poor and at the mercy of
society as a whole. Jesus, however, recognized
their suffering as outcasts and responded to it
as he responded to all those rejected by society
or who suffered in any way.
We can now see why the widow in this particular
instance in the Gospel of Mark made such an
impression on Jesus. Here was a person who
received so little from society around her and
yet was willing to give to the Temple
beyond her
means. “This poor widow,” Jesus said to his
disciples, “has put in more than all those who
are contributing to the treasure. 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.”
Well, now! Does God want poor people to give all
they have to their church? No! Does God want
those of us who have an abundance to give all we
have and become poor? No! The first point that
Jesus wanted to make in using this incident as a
teaching moment is that those who may seem to be
giving the least are actually giving the most.
Do not judge people by the amount they give
unless you know the whole story. Mark quotes
Jesus as saying: “Truly I tell you this poor
widow has put in more than all those
contributing to the treasure. 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.”
We can make the mistake of evaluating our giving
and the giving of others by the size of the gift
rather than by it’s proportion. Those who have
more should give more. But it doesn’t always
happen that way. Furthermore Jesus knew that
some of those who put many large coins in the
collection box at the Temple did so to impress
others with the size of their gift. They knew
people were watching. The poor widow gave with a
different spirit and motivation. God is never
impressed with the quantity of our giving, but
with the proportion and with the spirit in which
we give.
This incident was remembered and written down by
the early church because it makes a second
point: Jesus is watching as we make our pledges
and give money for the support of the church in
today’s world. Listen again to verse 41: “Jesus
sat down opposite the treasury and watched the
crowd putting money into the treasury.”
We tend to make a big issue about our giving to
the church being a private and secret matter. We
don’t want anyone watching us and that’s okay
although we all know that one of the reasons for
wanting to keep our giving to the church a
secret may be because our proportionate giving
is so small. We are secretly ashamed of it
because we know we could be giving more. We know
it wouldn’t impress anyone, least of all Jesus.
In the Sermon on the Mount
Jesus said, “Beware
of practicing your piety before others in order
to be seen by them, for then you have no reward
from God. So whenever you give alms, do not
sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do
in the synagogues and in the streets, so that
they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you,
they have received their reward. But when you
give alms, do not let your left hand know what
your right hand is doing, so that your alms may
be done in secret; and God who sees in secret
will reward you.” We can be sure that those who
would be giving a very small amount
proportionately would not be the ones to blow a
trumpet to call attention to their gift.
According to Jesus, we should give enough so
that we are not ashamed of our giving but feel
good about it. The Bible says, “God loves a
cheerful giver.” If we are giving enough
so that
we feel good about it, then it’s not necessary
to call attention to it or brag about it. We
already feel good about it. We have inner
satisfaction. Furthermore, there are many people
like the widow Jesus observed who, though their
giving is small, are actually giving a generous
gift.
One of the books I read years ago I’ve never
forgotten. The title is: The Magnificent
Obsession, by Lloyd Douglas. The main character
in the book is a physician named Dr. Hudson. One
of the most surprising and helpful discoveries
he makes in his spiritual journey is “you are
your secrets.”
Dr. Wayne Hudson is on the edge of failure and
in deep depression following the death of his
wife. He goes to a monument works to pick out a
suitable marker for her grave. There he
encounters the eccentric but strangely talented
sculptor, Clive Randolph. Sensing the Doctor’s
state of mind, Clive Randolph engages him in
conversation and, gradually, as their friendship
develops, Randolph imparts to Dr. Hudson a
“secret” which he says can transform one’s whole
life. As the story develops it does this very
thing for Dr. Hudson.
At no one place in the novel is the secret fully
and explicitly stated, but when pieced together
it runs something like this: most of us live
lives that have a certain kind of emptiness. At
times we feel weak, lack zest, are apprehensive,
pessimistic, afraid, even neurotic. The reason
is that when we perform a good
deed, we
advertise it, display it, let it be known in
some way and thus collect and enjoy the credit
then and there. We want our reward immediately
and we get it to a certain extent.
On the other hand, when we do something cheap,
mean, dishonest or wrong, something we’re not
proud of, we carefully hide and deny it if we
can, with the result that the “debt” for this
kind of action remains with us and accumulates;
it builds up inside us and can poison us. Thus,
a person who follows such a style of life is
chronically “bankrupt” in humanity.
What is the alternative? It is to reverse the
whole strategy. We openly admit, confess and
thus divest ourselves of our weaknesses, our
errors, our sins, our jealousies, our fears and
doubts. At the same time we hide and keep secret
our good deeds
and our virtues. In fact, we go
out of our way to do more and more good deeds
anonymously. We become cheerful
givers. Instead
of our weaknesses becoming our innermost
secrets, our good deeds become our innermost
secrets. A new and powerful energy begins to
fill our lives.
Isn’t it interesting that these days when we
speak of “putting in our two cents,” we
generally mean that we are letting the world
around us know loudly and clearly what we think
and feel, even what we are doing. What a
difference with the way the poor widow in our
story put in her two cents. She did it quietly,
avoiding calling attention to herself. She
probably thought no one was watching. But Jesus
was watching, The Jesus who at another time
said, “God who sees what good you do in secret
will reward you.” And what is the reward we get?
I believe it is simply this: we are blessed in
our personhood, our humanity. We become more and
more the people God intends us to be. And who
can put a price on that?