sincerity

 Mark 12:38-44 is the Lectionary Gospel text for Sunday, November 7.

The scribes had given it all over to empire.  They looked the part they were playing (hee-po-cree-teis).  They had the status they sought, seats of honor in front of everyone.  They loved life under empire.  They also lived the ruthless greed of empire, in stealing widows' houses, exploiting and destroying the lives of the most vulnerable for their own gain, even while saying long, fancy, elaborate, well-fashioned prayers to God.   Jesus warned people IN THE TEMPLE of them, even after acknowledging that ONE of them "got" the message of His Good News.

Then Mark's author pivots to the teaching and example of faithfulness in this passage.

It comes in the form of one of the poor widow who was probably defrauded of all that she had by the scribes under empire.  Jesus watched the crowd that came to do what was demanded of them by the twisting of the Law of Moses perpetrated on the people by the religious leaders of that time.  The rich came and put in large sums, no doubt so that everyone could see how generous they were with the money they had stolen from them.   They were seeking status for their giving of stolen wealth.  And, like in our culture, economic system and time, they got it.

Then came the poor widow with very little.  She gave a pittance, but it was ALL that she had.  Unscrupulous religious leaders or not, she was making a sincere offering to God as commanded.  A victim of their twisting of God's Word and unjust dealings with God's children in full view, still she gave her sincere gift to God.  It was tragic.  Just as it is tragic today when the scribes of our time in Thousand-Dollar Suits and shoes, driving Bentleys and living in mansions, dupe thousands of children of God into giving under false pretenses of being blessed monetarily in their desperate plight, she was being used for the gain of the unscrupulous religious leaders of her time.  And just like so many today, she gave out of a sincere, though perhaps misguided, heart.  The wealthy give, as they did then, to gain status and perhaps more wealth under the same false promises of the false teachers.  This woman gave, perhaps out of desperation, but also perhaps from a sincere obligation to God, regardless of what was being done with her offering, trusting in the act of giving to God from a sincere heart.

Jesus assigned the greater condemnation to those who twisted the Word of God and lived their duplicitous and predatory lives and schemes.  Jesus recognized the poor widow for giving all that she had in sincerity of heart to God.

Three people in my ministry, all from the same parish in Cleveland, exemplified this kind of faithful giving.  

One, a woman on public assistance, who joined the church and was eventually elected to the church council, only to be pushed out later by members who thought she was beneath them, gave a half bag of corn meal in what our youth group called a "pantry raid" to collect food for our emergency food bank.  It was all she had to give, and she gave it.  She had a heart for the neighbors who were struggling and often gave from her own, meager means to help them out.  She was, in truth, beneath no one.

The other was a woman of limited cognitive abilities and very limited monetary resources, who weekly made a homemade get well card and took the bus to all members of the church in the hospital to talk and pray with them.  She accidentally put her name on a stewardship survey that the Synod required of us, and her income as a pittance, but she gave 10% faithfully AND incurred the expense of her travels and materials to do her "unofficial" ministry.  I will never forget her.  She gave me $5 in a homemade Easter card one year.  When I asked the church council to make her an Emeritus Deacon for her ministry over the years, they refused because she was never "duly elected" by the congregation (and never would have been because of her limitations).  She was a giant in the faith and the living of Agape Love as commanded by Jesus.

The third person who exhibited this kind of sincere faithfulness to God was also on public assistance and never heard an end of it.  She was a single mom with physical disabilities involving arthritis.  She volunteered as an unofficial secretary for the two-point parish, so that when I was available at one church building, she was available at the other.  She answered phones, helped put the bulletin together and provided a hand-drawn picture for the children to color, based on the Gospel lesson each week.  She also helped organize and carry out a successful Vacation Bible School program every summer with almost 100 children, and provided the crafts for the two week program, guiding teen volunteers.  Yet, when I recognized her for her many ways of helping the parish, members did not hesitate to point out her "questionable life choices and habits," even to her.  She was a faithful follower of Jesus.

Regardless of a church leadership (and membership) that ignored their plight and specifically refused to recognize the gifts of these women, they offered their gifts and themselves to their God in sincere and faithful service, even at times, benefitting those who refused to recognize them, and who championed a system that exploited them and held them down, back and out.  But Jesus knew.

Jesus knows.  Jesus recognizes.

Pastor Jamie