love in fullness

life worth living

 

 

The HolyGospel according to St. Mark, the twelfth chapter!

"But she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on."

Wow.

There is so much that is remarkable going on in this story, but I think the most interesting thing is a detail that we all take for granted...

 

This story is often called "The Widow's Mite." The story has this name because the two cents that woman had to give were worth a mite - or not much. Another, less popular, name this story goes by is "The Anonymous Widow."

Now, both of these titles are just fine, but I do think the title "Anonymous Widow," helps us notice what is so remarkable about this story.

 

This widow, indeed, was anonymous. We don't know her name, and it is unlikely that the Scribes, those folks giving to the treasury from their abundance, the disciples and perhaps even Jesus knew her name.

Yes, she was anonymous.

The world we live in now is quite different from the world Jesus lived in, when these stories were collected. There are, however, also significant similarities. For instance, the world then, just as now, was a world that commodified everything.

In other words, everything has to have a price, everything must have a value attached to it. Nothing is value-neutral, nothing can have value just because it exists.

Everything must have a price, a value!

It is in this kind of world, that such widow is doomed to be anonymous.

Notice, she is not doomed to be anonymous because she is dull; for all we know she was quite interesting and wise. This widow is not anonymous because she had no talents; for all we know she may have been quite gifted at any number of things.

 

No, this widow is anonymous, because she is poor.

In a world that puts a value on everything; you must prove your value by your ability to purchase, you must exhibit your value by what you have, not who you are.

This widow is poor, she puts together all she has - which is about a cent - and then gives even that away. This act of the widow makes her completely worthless to a world that puts a price on everything.

 

In a world that must put a price on everything, this widow isn't worth much, is she?

As such, the world doesn't have much time for her. It is this widow's poverty that dooms her to anonymity. In this world which must put a price-tag on everything, this creation of God, this widow, is deemed worthless. It is tragic.

 

Yes, we may not speak Greek or Aramaic, but we all know all too well what it is like to live in a world that puts value on everything. We try our best to dress our children in nice clothes so they won't be picked-on, so they won't be doomed to anonymity like that widow. We do what we can to spend our money to hide any struggles that we may have. We use our money to show that world that, indeed, we have value - that we're not worhtless.

Yes, we know, like that widow, what it is like to live in a world where we must continually prove ourself. And honestly, we all know how close we are to that widow, too. A tragic accident, a poor economy, a bad investment, and suddenly we all too can be in the position that widow found herself in.

 

Yes, in a world that puts a price on everything, we all know how precariously close we are to anonymity. In fact, I am sure that there are folks here who have experienced the ignored life of that widow living in poverty at one time or another.

In a world that puts a price on everything we put our head down, keep on in the rat-race so we don't get tossed aside to a life of struggling and being ignored.

That threat of economic insecurity and so being forgotten, even while we live, is all too real, and it is incredibly frightening.

And see, it is right there that what is so incredible about this story grabs our attention!

 

Jesus sits opposite the treasury and watches folks put in thier money. There are plenty of people putting in tons of money; but who does Jesus notice?

Yes, that's it!

Jesus notices that one woman. Jesus notices that poor widow.

In a full-house filled with wealthy donors and elegant guests, Jesus notices that single, poor widow. Jesus notices that woman condemned to a life of anonymity, and breaks the isolation. Jesus notices the anonymous-one.

Wow.

In other words, what Jesus does is notices the one the world ignores.

That is incredible. It was incredible then, and it is incredible now.

 

For a couple of weeks we made a few announcements about a woman who left the domestic violence house, looking for furniture. Last week we mentioned she was looking for a bed.

Well, after church a few folks came together, chipped in some money, and now a child has a bed to sleep on. This is a child who has, in one way or another, experienced the trauma of domestic violence. This is a child who has experienced the difficulties of being uprooted. This is a child, frankly, who, at some level, knows that isolation of poverty.

 

When I spoke to the woman to ask about bedding, if there was any need for blankets, sheets and pillows; this is what she said: "Well, we have two blankets, so I guess another one would be good."

 

Now listen, I'm a single, young man and even I have more than two blankets. This is a single mother and her child, and between them they had two blankets...

That poor widow in todays Gospel only had two coins...

 

Do you see what I am getting after?

Not only do we all know what it is like to live in a world that puts a price on everything; we also live in a world that is full of folks, like that widow in the Gospel, struggling simply to survive.

 

Now, in a wealthy country like North America, it is not often that we get to practice costly discipleship. In a wealthy country like North America, it is not often we get to really walk the steps Jesus trod.

But!

But, I think here at Trinity we are terribly close.

 

We can all look around us and tell that resources are limited. We ration how checks are cut to make sure we don't go into the red. We have to make tough decisions about what can be paid and what can't.

In fact, lets be honest, one of the reasons I am a candidate to be pastor here, is because there are questions of how much that can be afforded to pay a pastor.

Now, these realities can simply be a threat for all of us.

In fact, in a world that tells us we must prove our worth, as it gets harder and harder to pay the bills, these realities can only be a threat.

 

But!

But, as followers of Jesus, the one who noticed, not all those wealthy donors, but that one poor widow, perhaps our situation isn't a threat, so much as an opportunity.

Maybe now we are being offered to, as they say, put our money where our mouth is. Julie Higgs, from the synod office likes to say, "Don't tell me what your priorities are, show me your budget and I will tell you what your priorities are.

 

In other words, are we going to hoard what little we have left, or are we going to put it into mission?

 Are we going to squabble about who the church belongs to, or are we going to live out the fact that the church belongs to Jesus, the one who gave himself for the poor?

Are we going to be obsessed with how to get more folks in here, simply so they can help us pay the bills (essentially using these folks); or are we going to serve the needy, the anonymous?

Now, I don't pretend these are easy decisions, and not all of them are probably mutually-exclusive. it is not often that when presented with the opportunity to really live out our mission we have the courage, the foresight and the faith to act on the opportunity.

I worked at a church in Seattle, where tons of those "nones" who have no religious affiliation live. What I learned there talking to those folks is not that they are antagonistic to religion, it is that they have good BS-detectors. They don't need churches to pretend they care about them, just so the churches can make these people into donors. No, these folks are open to religion, but they just want us religious folk to walk our talk.

 

I know these words are hard, but I want us all to be honest. I want us all to look past our fears, and to where God is calling. I want us all to have a meaningful faith.

 

I know full-well how hard it is to say, 'yeah, lets close our doors, not struggling to pay the light-bill, but serving others.' Yes, it is hard to say we're not going to be caught-up with attracting the big donors, but instead we're simply going to serve those folks Jesus noticed, repayment/survival or not.

Listen, I know all these things are tough. Contemplating them can be difficult, scary and sad. I know that. But, I have a promise to tell you:

Jesus dares to love dead-things. Jesus walks that path of self-sacrifice with us.

Earlier I said maybe this challenging time is an opportunity. I mean that, maybe it is. Maybe now is a chance to really be sacrificial. Maybe now is a chance to notice those folks Jesus did in a way that, like the widow's giving, is costly.

 

We talk about growing, let's talk about growing disciples. Let's talk about being a witness, let's talk about being a light. The world is full of organizations doing anything, using anyone to survive; let's be a witness of a group of people serving, not ourselves, but others.

 

We are being presented with the opportunity, right now, to serve others in a way that is costly. In a way that widow, who Jesus noticed, did. In a way that Jesus did for this world we live and serve in.

These questions are challenging, they are though, they are scary - but in a world obsessed with the wealthy, Jesus notices the vulnerable, the weak, the self-giving.

This is enough. It can be enough.

Amen.