For the Price of Two Copper Coins
Sermon text for October 21, 2007:
Mark 12:38-44
Everyday she walked through the temple, unnoticed and unacknowledged. She was old, poor, homeless and alone. Like a chair or a bench the old woman was just a part of the scenery; she might as well have been invisible.
She lived in the temple along with other invisible old women and made her living from the temple charities. She wasn’t allowed in the inner most parts of the temple where the men went, so she spent her days wandering around the “Court of Women”. It wasn’t a bad life in fact sometimes it was even fun, like the days when the “peacock-like” scribes and Pharisees came to make their offerings. They came into the temple dressed in fine robes that almost screamed, “Hey, look at me! I’m so fine, so rich, so important!” The old woman had to admit they were fine looking and she wished someone would notice her. But nobody ever did. Even if they looked at her they didn’t see her.
Had they taken the time, the scribes and Pharisees would have seen a woman who was deeply faithful, who loved God, and who loved the community. They would have seen a woman who, though impoverished, still found a way to give and thus participate in the miracle of community life.
And that takes us to where our gospel lesson begins. Jesus and his disciples are in the temple and, like the woman, they are watching the “peacock-like” scribes and Pharisees competing with one another to see who is best dressed, most faithful, and most important. They had actually turned giving into a spectator sport – they are trying to out-give one another and climb a little higher on the social ladder.
It must have been a grand sight – the wealthy competing with one another, looking for the approval of their friends. But no one except Jesus saw an invisible, elderly, anonymous woman drop two copper coins into one of the offering plates. By law it was the smallest amount allowed. The two copper coins that she gave that day were worth about a penny. Only Jesus saw what she did. To the money counters, the anonymous gift of two copper coins was worthless.
But Jesus saw a gift of almost incalculable worth. He said to his disciples, “You see that woman?” She has given more than all of them. For they all have given out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has given all the living she has.”
Jesus is amazed at the old woman’s faith and trust. She gave while not knowing where her next meal was coming from. The gifts of the rich were essential because they kept the temple going. The temple could not sustain itself on the gifts of even a thousand elderly women who gave two copper coins. But in God’s wonderful surprising way, this anonymous, invisible woman has become the standard for Christian life and stewardship. We who are wise might call her gift foolish, naïve, or irrational. But Jesus saw a woman who was willing to lay it all on the line and simply trust in God.
So, how about you? Are you willing to make a pledge to the church that forces you to trust God to help you keep it? For many of us that is a frightening thought. Most people make a pledge that is safe and doesn’t require much faith. Most of us figure out how much it costs us to live and then we pledge a portion of what is left over. There is something to be said for feeling safe, but we grow spiritually when we risk and ask God to help us. We grow when our pledge is an amount that forces us into a partnership with God and says, “Lord I trust you to help me do this”. That’s the kind of faith that Jesus saw in the woman in our gospel lesson.
Giving gifts to the church is not primarily to make sure the bills are paid, or a budget met. Gift-giving in the church is about learning to trust in God and participating in the community of faith. It is about joining with God and others in making miracles happen. In our world where everything has a monetary value, gift-giving is a major way of saying to ourselves, “I belong”! When we make a pledge to God, it ought to be challenging enough so that there is some uncertainty about how it will be met. A challenging pledge forces us to rely on God, and helps us to grow spiritually.
Some people rebel against this idea. They desperately want to believe that money and faith have nothing to do with one another. But Jesus teaches that the depth of our faith can be measured by the way we give money away. That’s why the woman in the temple is held up as a role model. Her gift demonstrated an amazing depth of faith.
Several years ago, I served a congregation in South Central Los Angeles. Sadie, at age ninety six, was our oldest member. She always sat in the very back row of the sanctuary and when the offering plate was passed she always put in two quarters.
One week Sadie was not in worship so I paid a call on her to make sure she was all right. Her apartment was in the most dangerous neighborhood in the most dangerous part of Los Angeles. Gang bangers taunted me as I went inside. I remember stepping over an addict sleeping next to Sadie’s door. Inside her apartment, the paint was literally peeling from the walls. Carpets and draperies smelled of mildew. It was hard just to sit there. When I was ready to leave, Sadie got her purse and gave me two quarters to pay up her pledge.
I almost refused to take them. I wanted to say something like, “Sadie, we should be giving to you, not you to us.” But then I realized that Sadie’s gift was her way of participating in the miracle of community life. Her fifty cents came out of what she had to live on, not out of the abundance of what was left over. Because she gave, Sadie went without something, but her faith was strengthened. Her two quarters said, “I belong to God’s people and I participate in what God is doing.”
Now is the time to begin thinking about our gifts to the church for 2008. Maybe, like Sadie, you can only give fifty cents a week – only you know. My prayer is that you will make the kind of pledge that says, “I belong to the family of God, and with this gift I am genuinely participating in the family business.
Copyright © 2007 by Dwight R. Blackstock
Mark 12:38-44
Everyday she walked through the temple, unnoticed and unacknowledged. She was old, poor, homeless and alone. Like a chair or a bench the old woman was just a part of the scenery; she might as well have been invisible.
She lived in the temple along with other invisible old women and made her living from the temple charities. She wasn’t allowed in the inner most parts of the temple where the men went, so she spent her days wandering around the “Court of Women”. It wasn’t a bad life in fact sometimes it was even fun, like the days when the “peacock-like” scribes and Pharisees came to make their offerings. They came into the temple dressed in fine robes that almost screamed, “Hey, look at me! I’m so fine, so rich, so important!” The old woman had to admit they were fine looking and she wished someone would notice her. But nobody ever did. Even if they looked at her they didn’t see her.
Had they taken the time, the scribes and Pharisees would have seen a woman who was deeply faithful, who loved God, and who loved the community. They would have seen a woman who, though impoverished, still found a way to give and thus participate in the miracle of community life.
And that takes us to where our gospel lesson begins. Jesus and his disciples are in the temple and, like the woman, they are watching the “peacock-like” scribes and Pharisees competing with one another to see who is best dressed, most faithful, and most important. They had actually turned giving into a spectator sport – they are trying to out-give one another and climb a little higher on the social ladder.
It must have been a grand sight – the wealthy competing with one another, looking for the approval of their friends. But no one except Jesus saw an invisible, elderly, anonymous woman drop two copper coins into one of the offering plates. By law it was the smallest amount allowed. The two copper coins that she gave that day were worth about a penny. Only Jesus saw what she did. To the money counters, the anonymous gift of two copper coins was worthless.
But Jesus saw a gift of almost incalculable worth. He said to his disciples, “You see that woman?” She has given more than all of them. For they all have given out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has given all the living she has.”
Jesus is amazed at the old woman’s faith and trust. She gave while not knowing where her next meal was coming from. The gifts of the rich were essential because they kept the temple going. The temple could not sustain itself on the gifts of even a thousand elderly women who gave two copper coins. But in God’s wonderful surprising way, this anonymous, invisible woman has become the standard for Christian life and stewardship. We who are wise might call her gift foolish, naïve, or irrational. But Jesus saw a woman who was willing to lay it all on the line and simply trust in God.
So, how about you? Are you willing to make a pledge to the church that forces you to trust God to help you keep it? For many of us that is a frightening thought. Most people make a pledge that is safe and doesn’t require much faith. Most of us figure out how much it costs us to live and then we pledge a portion of what is left over. There is something to be said for feeling safe, but we grow spiritually when we risk and ask God to help us. We grow when our pledge is an amount that forces us into a partnership with God and says, “Lord I trust you to help me do this”. That’s the kind of faith that Jesus saw in the woman in our gospel lesson.
Giving gifts to the church is not primarily to make sure the bills are paid, or a budget met. Gift-giving in the church is about learning to trust in God and participating in the community of faith. It is about joining with God and others in making miracles happen. In our world where everything has a monetary value, gift-giving is a major way of saying to ourselves, “I belong”! When we make a pledge to God, it ought to be challenging enough so that there is some uncertainty about how it will be met. A challenging pledge forces us to rely on God, and helps us to grow spiritually.
Some people rebel against this idea. They desperately want to believe that money and faith have nothing to do with one another. But Jesus teaches that the depth of our faith can be measured by the way we give money away. That’s why the woman in the temple is held up as a role model. Her gift demonstrated an amazing depth of faith.
Several years ago, I served a congregation in South Central Los Angeles. Sadie, at age ninety six, was our oldest member. She always sat in the very back row of the sanctuary and when the offering plate was passed she always put in two quarters.
One week Sadie was not in worship so I paid a call on her to make sure she was all right. Her apartment was in the most dangerous neighborhood in the most dangerous part of Los Angeles. Gang bangers taunted me as I went inside. I remember stepping over an addict sleeping next to Sadie’s door. Inside her apartment, the paint was literally peeling from the walls. Carpets and draperies smelled of mildew. It was hard just to sit there. When I was ready to leave, Sadie got her purse and gave me two quarters to pay up her pledge.
I almost refused to take them. I wanted to say something like, “Sadie, we should be giving to you, not you to us.” But then I realized that Sadie’s gift was her way of participating in the miracle of community life. Her fifty cents came out of what she had to live on, not out of the abundance of what was left over. Because she gave, Sadie went without something, but her faith was strengthened. Her two quarters said, “I belong to God’s people and I participate in what God is doing.”
Now is the time to begin thinking about our gifts to the church for 2008. Maybe, like Sadie, you can only give fifty cents a week – only you know. My prayer is that you will make the kind of pledge that says, “I belong to the family of God, and with this gift I am genuinely participating in the family business.
Copyright © 2007 by Dwight R. Blackstock
posted by Dwight Blackstock | 2:10 PM
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