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The Rev. Dr. Dennis E. Morey, Pastor
Scripture: Mark 12:38-44
You Can’t Afford That!
The scene was the Temple in Jerusalem. It all took place in the area between the Court of the Gentiles and the Court of Women. Both men and women were present.
Jesus had just previously overturned the tables of money changers and animal sellers who were cheating the people when they provided them with sacrifices for worship to celebrate Passover.
Jesus had been telling the people to beware of the religious authorities who had no real answers to their God questions. The religious loved to parade around in such luxurious, long robes that they could neither work nor hurry. They were always in kind of slow motion so everyone could behold the beauty of their clothes and understand their prominence.
The focus of this was what the religious authorities had done with the whole system of worship in the Temple and how they had polluted what God outlined into a method to make them rich.
Not only did they rake in huge profits from the business of selling in the Temple, the religious often devised schemes to take any inheritance a widow might have. The women were told that, if they participated in supporting such an important man personally, they would have a greater place in heaven.
Jesus warned everyone about those kinds of religious men even though they were standing right there in front of him. He had nothing to lose. He was going to tell the truth. He knew they hated him; the people might as well know the truth about what they were doing.
Near the Beautiful Gate, in between the Court of the Gentiles and the Court of Women, there were 13 metal trumpet-shaped receptacles poking through the wall.
The worshipers were to put their money in them and the coins would go through the wall to the other side where the money was counted. This money was used to keep the Temple beautiful and supplied with items needed for worship.
The religious liked to stand at a distance and throw a heavy coin to make a lot of noise so everyone would look up and applaud their generosity. They could afford it.
Jesus sat down on a seat opposite those receptacles. Jesus watched as people put in their offering. Wow! How would that make you feel if you knew Jesus was watching what you put in the offering?
A widow passed by and slipped in two of the thinnest coins, worth about 1/128th of a denarius. The denarius was the payment for a day’s work of about 12 hours. The thin coin was indeed a tiny amount of money.
Jesus pointed out that it was not the amount of the offering; it was the attitude with which she gave it.
She gave it humbly, without a big show, and she gave sacrificially. She could not afford it. Jesus said it was all she had between her and her needs for tomorrow.
Jesus said everyone else gave out of their abundance. That meant they gave without feeling it. It didn’t matter. It was spare change. They would not have missed it if they had a hole in their pocket or gave it to support the Temple. The amount did not matter to the status of their lifestyle.
In contrast to such giving, the widow gave everything she had.
The point is, Jesus does watch what we put in the offering. He sees not only the amount; he sees the attitude with which we give it.
He knows if we just give the spare change, money we wouldn’t need, it wouldn’t matter if we lost it as the result of a hole in our pocket or simply put it in the church offering plate. He knows if what we give is of any consequence to our standard of living.
What we give won’t prevent us from buying a new car, or going on a trip, or buying new clothes, or having a night out with our friends.
We can afford it.
We can afford all those things and more. They are part of the way we enjoy life. We deserve it. We have worked hard to get that money.
Jesus said it is only when we give more than we can afford to give, it is only when what we give cuts into our own comforts, prevents us from buying that new car, or going on that trip, buying that new house or boat, that demonstrates our faithfulness.
It is easy to fill a shoebox with things that would delight a child in a foreign country, but would we keep filling shoeboxes until the cost cut into our Friday night pizza or our decision to buy a new shirt or a better cell phone?
It is easy to give God an hour on Sunday morning, but would we dare go and help someone who needs us, using the time that might cut into our favorite TV program or our time with our friends?
When we give up something so we can give more to God, can we do it without a round of applause? Can we give it without our name listed on a donor plaque?
No one paid attention to widows in Jesus’ day. They were a drag on society. They were not contributing to the economy in any way. They were costing more than they were worth. Yet this woman has gone down in history as the one who caught the praise of the Son of God in what she gave.
She did not give leftovers. She did not give what she would not miss. She could not afford it. She gave it all.
Next week, as part of our worship service we are going to be dedicating our Estimates of Giving for the 2010 year. Some have already sent their estimates to the church office. I don’t know the status of your giving or the amount. You do. I know it is not a popular thing for the pastor to talk about money, especially our personal giving, although Jesus talked more about money than any other subject. He knew that it is our money that reveals what is important to us. He said where we spend our money is where our heart is. Where we spend our money speaks about our priorities in life.
I know some are offended and don’t like to be in a position where they feel guilty. We want a pain-free and a guilt-free society, yet we know in reality that life itself can be a pain and we are all guilty, so why keep up with the lie?
If you go to the doctor with chest pains, you don’t want the doctor to say comforting words, “You are fine, go home and eat a big meal. You will be fine tomorrow.” You want the doctor to tell you the truth. Without the truth, your health won’t get better.
It is the doctor’s responsibility to tell you the truth. “Your arteries are blocked; you need heart surgery.” The doctor is not going to throw you down and fix your heart. After telling you the truth, the doctor knows what you do with that truth is up to you.
Friends, I think you would want the truth from your pastor as well. The truth is, giving is not giving unless we can’t afford it. Unless it cuts into the status of our lifestyle, we are giving from what we would not miss, giving from whatever is left over.
Now you can go away mad today. You can vow never to set foot in this place again because you don’t like the preacher saying these words. But if we don’t know the truth, how can we become what God has in mind? Isn’t that our goal as followers of Christ?
It doesn’t matter how old you are. We are all in the process of growing up. While growing up we all have to adapt our way of thinking. Growing up, we all have to learn where we are wrong and decide to change.
None of us have this God-and-me relationship figured out. We are all in the process of learning. Only when we quit learning does our religion become just a show as it did for the religious of Jesus’ day.
If we are followers of Jesus Christ, you and I are in the process of becoming what God has in mind.
Now we can fight it and believe a lie, believe that we have what we have because we deserve it, and we will keep giving only what we can afford. Or we will hear the truth and begin to get better at being what God has in mind, even risking what we cannot afford.
I know talking about money makes you uncomfortable. I would rather tell you that you have done enough, and that all is well and we have accomplished what God has planned for us, but that would be like the doctor telling you to ignore the chest pains and go home and eat a big meal. It would not be the truth.
This teaching is not mine. This is not the Gospel according to Dennis. But Dennis is responsible to tell you the truth. What you do with it is ultimately up to you.
We all know what we can afford to give, but is our faith in what God is doing in our lives strong enough to give what we cannot afford?
Amen.
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Mark 12:38-44 He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. Then he called his disciples and said to them, “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.” (From the
New Revised Standard Version of the
Bible) |
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