The Rev. Canon Anne E. Kitch
Cathedral Church of the Nativity
Mark 12:38-44
I apologize. Please remember that--it will come up later, because things are not always what they seem.
That is perhaps the message of the Gospel passage we heard today. It is a familiar passage, one we often call the Widow’s Mite. Many of you know this story, right? It is especially popular for preachers this time of year, the liturgical season we call Stewardship. Many preachers look forward to it’s appearance in the lectionary and I have enjoyed preaching on it myself. This passage reminds us that that looks can deceive. Jesus and his disciples are sitting in the temple watching as people come and put money into the temple treasury. Just when it seems that $2000 is more than $2, Jesus points out otherwise. The amounts are not what they seem. If you are rich, to give $2000 is less than to give $2 if you are poor. Thus Jesus’ point.
As he watches many rich people put in large sums, he also sees a widow put in a couple of coins--all that she had to live on. He calls his disciples to notice, “Look, this poor widow has put in more than all the rest.” There are many sermons (and I have preached some of them) that use this story to talk about the importance of giving, or that the size of the gift isn’t as important as the intent, or that percentage giving is better than a fixed amount no matter how large, or that giving out of our need is somewhat more worthy than giving out of our abundance. Now if you love this story, and I do, I apologize--because things are not always what they seem. This is not the story you are familiar with, because Jesus doesn’t teach any such thing as those sermons would suggest.
Let’s look at the text. In fact, let’s look at what is not there. Jesus does not condemn the rich people. Nor does he commend the widow. He doesn’t say that the widow’s gift is better, he only comments that she gave more. Nor is the widow set apart because of her motivation, as if her reason for giving is better. The text does not tell us what is in the Widow’s heart. We simply do not know why she does what she does. Nor does the story suggest that Jesus knew he reason (Jesus didn’t know her heart as he sometimes does). In commenting on this passage biblical scholar Addison Wright remarks, “she could have acted out of despair, out of guilt, out of a desire to be seen contributing for all the story says. ”(The Widow’s Mite: Praise or Lament?—A Matter of Context, The Catholic Biblical Quarterly 1982)
You know what else the text doesn’t say? It doesn’t tell us we should all go and be like the widow. Jesus does not tell the disciples to go and imitate her. There is no, “Go and do likewise” or, “Truly I tell you, she is close to the Kingdom of God” or even a note that Jesus looks kindly on her. A few weeks ago we heard the story of the Rich Young Man, you remember, the one Jesus told to go and sell all his possessions. In that story, the text clearly says Jesus looked at him and loved him--and then told him what to do. In this story Jesus doesn’t address the widow at all.
And I’ll tell you what comes next in the biblical text, just in case you think our reading ended before we got to the explanation. In the Bible, the story moves on.
As he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!” Then Jesus asked him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.”
So what are we to make of this? This story that was so familiar but that we now find isn’t at all what it seems? The rich give out of their abundance and are not condemned. The widow gives out of her need but is not commended. If this text is not about how wonderful the widow is, what is it about?
I think perhaps one way to address this is to look where it begins. Jesus has it out for religious leaders who are more concerned about themselves than the love of God. The scribes were the teachers and recorders of Moses’ law. That in and of itself is not the problem. Many scribes were faithful, loving God with all their heart and mind and strength. The scribes that Jesus excoriates are those who allow privilege to blind them to need. Jesus condemns those who devour widow’s houses, who ignore or exploit the poor. So we do know from this passage what Jesus thinks of those who exploit the poor. We don’t know what Jesus thought of the widow, but as far as I know Jesus never told a widow or a poor person to give away everything they had to live on. Perhaps Jesus was scandalized that this poor woman would give away all that she had into the treasury of a temple which would not be left standing. Perhaps here is the widow whose house had been devoured by religious piety. What did Jesus think? We don’t really know.
I knew a widow once. She came to church faithfully and she worried constantly about many things. One of her worries was the appeals that came to her through the mail, especially the ones that told her she needed to give money to save her soul. She would come to the Church office clutching a letter in which some minister begged her through the written word to give more to insure her place in heaven. She worried that she had not given enough and was not good enough in God’s eyes. I had unkind thoughts in my heart about the people behind those appeals, who preyed on her, who devoured her. It appalled me. Perhaps Jesus was appalled by the sight of an old woman giving away to a religious institution all that she had to live on.
So what are we to make of this text if it is not the beloved story about sacrificial giving that we thought is was? What do we do with scripture when it doesn’t say what we think it does, or should? Please remember that I apologized up front, because I am not going to solve this one for us today. But we might ask ourselves what the gospel is for. What these lessons are for? What our scripture is for? I can get us out of this one by referring to the catechesis on p. 853 of the Book of Common Prayer. “Why do we call the Holy Scriptures the Word of God? …because God inspired their human authors and because God still speaks to us through the Bible.”
These scriptures are for us the Word of God because God still speaks to us through them. I know that in times of joy, and in times of confusion and in times of need I have read the same scriptures and heard different things. Things are not always what they seem. I need to remember that maybe I don’t know so much about this scripture passage. Maybe I don’t know the mind of Christ. Maybe God’s word has more to tell me. So I am sorry I have no words of wisdom for you this morning; only a suggestion. Let this be your mantra this week: things are not always what they seem. What might we see, learn, wrestle with if we look at things with new eyes, hear with open ears? What might God be calling us to ponder?
