The Pastor's Sermon - Pentecost+24 - 11 November 2012

A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny.

• Every story in the Gospels is Good News; that is what Gospel means. Something can be found that furthers the cause of the salvation of the world. I really feel that every story in the Gospels is a challenge. In our lives, the work of salvation of our entire lives is never really finished until we are face to face with our Creator. Until then, we live in a sort of unfinished waiting, knowing we are blessed by God, justified and saved by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and filled by the Spirit. Still, we are not in heaven. There is the challenge. Not that we make our heaven here on earth, but that we hunger for more of God while we are where we are.
• This is odd tension. The words of Jesus comfort us with the assurance of God's love and grace. AND those same words also spur us to more and will not permit us to rest complacent. This may lead us to feel pulled, desiring to rest in the grace of God and at the same time, feeling restless in that same grace of God that may compel us to change ourselves or the world around us.
• The example of the poor widow in Mark's Gospel today is an example of this. First of all, the story:
• The widow places two small coins in the Temple treasury as an offering. Not this is not a simple box in the entry to the Temple precincts. The treasury is said to have been a large cone-shaped or horn-shaped container that worshippers would place their offering in. The rich would place their offerings there and the offering of coins would make a noise in the container. By the amount of noise the offering made, a bystander could pretty much tell how large the offering was. (Doesn't a Twoney make more of a jingle than a dime?) The poor widow would put in her coins which Mark describes as “two small copper coins, which are worth a penny.” There wouldn't be much of a clatter there, would there? Surely the clang and jingle of the offerings of the rich would be far more satisfying to those around. “Did you hear that one? Wow, he must be rich!”
• Jesus sees beyond that. He perceived that the widow's little coins were a much larger sacrifice than the big-time contributions of the rich. “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."
• The Good News here is that God accepts the offering of a giving heart, whatever it might be. It doesn't matter if the giver gives money, goods, or time; if they give from the heart, it is an acceptable gift to our God.
• The challenge of this story is this: “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 are challenged to ask ourselves how we spend our treasure, our talent, and our time. Is our money ours or is it given to us by God for the time-being? Was the widow returning to God what she saw to be God's to begin with?
• The challenge is not about how much we give, but how much of ourselves we give. The widow gave all she had and we can imagine that she understood the cost to her. (What would she eat? How would she keep warm? And what about tomorrow? In the time of the New Testament, widows and orphans were the really poor. There were no pension plans or Children's Aide. They had no 'safety net' to fall back on if no one in the family would take them in.) Despite her possibly desperate straits, she gives and she digs deep. In the sight of Jesus, it is not the amount she gives but her attitude and what she values.
• So do our own actions mirror our values and our true spirit? What exactly do our actions say about our values and what we hold dear. In the Gospel of Luke, it is worded this way: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
• How to live our lives as Christians is always a challenge. We are tempted to many things, not the least of which is to set ourselves and our own will up as a sort of god. Worship of the self is the original sin. A rabbi I was acquainted with once told me that the first of the ten commandments is primary and the other nine are commentary. The great commandment pointed out by Jesus has the same focus - “you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” [The second is this, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.”] (Mark 12:30-31)
• We are not always challenged to give every cent we have. What we are challenged to focus our days and endeavours on our gracious and generous God. If our two copper coins are given in thanksgiving for what we have received from God, let it be so. Let's also pray that our actions always embody faith and our values.

Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. 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."