My 2 Cents

23rd Sunday after Pentecost

Mark 12:38-44

Jesus noticed her. He pointed her out – to His disciples – and to us. He thought she had some things to teach us. Maybe we ought to listen.

She doesn’t get much of a headline. The sentence is brief by biblical standards. “A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny.” But Jesus noticed her, and He pointed her out to all of His disciples, and that includes you and me.

Her actions seemed so extravagant. Mark tells us that she was a “poor widow.” I wonder how he knew. Did they know her? Did they interview her after Jesus pointed her out? Was it obvious from her dress and her demeanor?

I was listening to a debate – well, really an argument on one of the evening talk shows Friday night. Post-election rhetoric, don’t you know. One man said, “I’d like for the Democrats to tell us just who qualifies as ‘rich’.” It was an interesting debate about the possibility of roll backs on the tax cuts we have seen over the past years, and the sense of the argument was in defining just who the “rich” were. Well, I’ll tell you this – we may not be able to make that distinction very easily, but the poor know who they are.

This woman was poor. The bible has a lot to say about poverty and poor people. Jesus said that we would always have the poor among us. He wasn’t wrong. In 2002, the United States government estimated that 12.1 percent of the people in our nation live in poverty. For those under the age of 18, that number is higher – 16.7 percent. America is one of the wealthiest nations in the world. Globally, the problem of poverty is much greater. It is estimated that 1 out of 6 people in this world do not have enough to eat. That’s 1 out of 6. 40,000 people around our world die each day from hunger. Poverty is with us, and by every measurement, it is increasing.

Some of us have seen this kind of poverty. Larry, Jan and I have seen the really poor in Juarez. People who live in cardboard houses in the old city dump – men who work at the Adidas factory for the equivalent of $5 a day – many of them stop off and drink that away before it ever reaches their families. Mike Pontious has seen the face of poverty in Jamaica. He said a few things about that last week to us. I suspect I will see the face of poverty in Romania when I visit there in January. Others of us face the poverty problem in our own community – a little closer to home. Poverty doesn’t go away when we ignore it. It has a way of presenting itself, right in front of our eyes, at the most conspicuous of places – like the temple treasury.

Or yesterday’s mail – while I was in the middle of writing this sermon, I remembered that I hadn’t checked the answering machine or the mail since I got back in town. We received this letter in the mail – it’s addressed to you – I opened it, but it has your name on the address line. READ LETTER. I don’t know how he got our name, or why he thought we had the resources to help them. I wonder what we should do with mail like this?

You know, out of your generosity, we are able to help some of the poor in our town. For the years that we have been in existence, we have put in place the “Pastor’s Benevolence Fund,” which you graciously allow me to administrate in helping the poor of our town. Over the years we have helped hundreds. There are so many more we could help with additional funds. On average, we receive about $50 a week, and that amount is usually gone by the end of business on Monday. I wish we could do more.

My sister’s church does an interesting thing. For fifteen years now, they have done this thing – each week, in their service of worship, some member gives the “$50 report.” In their congregation, a different member each week is responsible for taking $50 from the treasury and using it in some benevolent manner, and then reporting back to the church how that money was used. They might use it to buy school supplies, or help with a medical bill, or put gas in someone’s car. It is a wonderful ministry – it serves to keep charity in front of the congregation, and it reminds them that serving others is everyone’s responsibility. I wonder if we could do something like that?

She was a widow. That’s not all that unusual – most of us, if we live long enough, will find the loneliness that accompanies the loss of a spouse at the end of life. This woman was alone, and in that society, that meant that you were relatively unnoticed. She was on her own – no children mentioned, no relatives – she was alone. She had no one to rely upon, save God. Her story reminds me a little of the story of Ruth, who when her husband died, had no one except her mother-in-law. She eventually was noticed by Boaz, who was her kinsman Redeemer. There are obvious parallels between the two stories.

Jesus noticed this woman. How could He not notice this kind of extravagance? She gave little, but it was all she had. We know that because Jesus said so – “she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

You know, you and I might have noticed her for a different reason. We might have noticed her for the foolishness of her actions. Here she gave away all that she had – how foolish is that? You and I might call that kind of action foolish. And we might have something to say about her emotionality in the matter. Obviously, only an emotional, overly sensitive person would do something like that!! Give away all that she had – REALLY!!

Jesus noticed her. He pointed her out – to His disciples – and to us. He thought she had some things to teach us. Maybe we ought to listen. So, perhaps a few lessons.

Lesson 1 - Maybe being emotionally involved in our faith isn’t such a bad thing. Will Willimon says that “those of us who practice a more moderate, balanced form of Christianity, for whom religious faith is a matter of reasoned deliberation and cautious examination, are judged by the testimony of this anonymous widow.”[1] Contemporary Christians have a tendency to separate their daily living from their faith. That practice insulates daily actions from things like emotion and extravagance and reckless self-denial. It protects us from the possibility of seeing our life-style change on account of our faith.

Lesson 2 – comparative giving may be deceptive. You’ll notice that I didn’t focus on the first part of the scripture for this day. I don’t think our congregation has a problem in this area. I don’t know of a person in this congregation who has ever given out of their pomposity. For that matter, I don’t know any of us who serve in any capacity out of our pomposity. That was the problem Jesus was identifying in looking at the scribes of that day – they loved to be identified – for what they had and what they did. We don’t have that problem. If we did have this problem, that part of the scriptures would have spoken to us. What we can take from this point is that what we have to give – in offerings, in talents, in time – is important. It is not the size of the gift that counts – it is the scope. She gave all.

That’s the problem with the scriptures – it challenges us with little things, and little words – like the word “all.” And I guess it all depends on what your definition of the word “all” is. For some, “all” means more than for others. I’ll tell you what it means for me, and you see if this sounds anything like your definition. First of all, “all”, for me, is a term best measured in longevity. When I think of giving my all, I think of measured, consistent giving over the period of my life. I don’t want to expend too much energy at this particular point in time, because it might mean that I won’t be able to do as much in the future. Second, “all”, to me, is compared to my other pursuits in life. I’ll gladly give all – as long as it doesn’t cost me everything. And third – “all” shouldn’t be too difficult. For example, I’ll do all I need to do to get the physique I want – as long as I don’t have to put out too much effort.

On this Veteran’s Day weekend, I am impressed by the story of Marine Cpl. Jason Dunham. He is the soldier who, in April of 2004, threw himself on a grenade in a small Iraqi town in a selfless act of bravery which saved his comrades from injury and possibly death. He would have turned 25 this past Friday. I think his definition of “all” was a bit different than mine.

Lesson 3 – and this point comes from the sermon title. You know that on our Channel 9, Kelly Ogle does a periodic commentary called “My 2 Cent’s Worth.” His point, and one of the points Jesus was trying to make by singling out this woman, is that our “2 cents worth” matters – it counts. Hers did. Yours does. And I’m not just speaking of money, although that’s important. And I’m not just speaking of talents, and time. I’m talking about your general contribution to Christ, His Church, and to His Kingdom. It’s intangible, really - until you give it – until you put in your two cents. And every person’s two cents is important and unique. In the eyes of Jesus, you aren’t unnoticed, or unimportant. Your contribution to the kingdom is important. Every person’s two cents is important and unique.

Hers was. At least – Jesus noticed it.

Richard W. Dunn, PhD.

[1] Will Willimon, Pulpit Resource, Vol. 34, No. 4, p.30