On one level, today’s reading is very simple. Jesus teaches us to beware of the scribes,
but commends a poor widow. These two
couldn’t be more opposite. The wealthy
and powerful scribes, probably well known and well regarded, and the poor widow
who exists on the fringes of society.
The scribes made a show of their wealth, their status, and even their
religion.
But they are not truly righteous. It’s all a big show. When no one is looking, they take advantage
of the weak, and devour even the houses of widows, making their profits and greedy
gain at the expense of the poor and lowly.
The widow, on the other hand, poor as she is, does what
these muckety-mucks do not, and cannot.
She gives all that she has. And
Jesus commends her for it. He doesn’t
care about the amount. He is impressed
by the proportion, that she gave ALL that she had to live on – 100%! A far cry greater, in a way, than even the
massive sums the scribes gave in their prideful showiness.
So, be like the widow, and not like the scribes, might be
one way to read this account. A simple
contrast and a moral encouragement toward sacrificial giving. Get out your checkbooks, and make them
payable to: Messiah Lutheran Church.
Or is Jesus going after something far more here?
It is rather convicting, if we are honest, this comparison
between the scribes and the widow. Sure,
we’d all like to think we are like the commendable widow in the story, but
maybe we’re a lot more like the scribes than we’d care to admit.
They loved to be regarded by others, and yet, don’t we? Imagine how you might feel if you go to a
party, for instance, and everyone else is introduced to the host except for
you. You’re left standing in the corner
alone. How dare they not regard me!
We all love compliments.
Nice shoes. Nice haircut. Nice sermon, pastor. We all want others to think well of us,
notice us, and treat us with respect.
Not that those things are bad in and of themselves, but they are a
temptation toward pride and self-righteousness.
If other people like me, I must be good!
If other people respect me, I must not be so bad! If someone tells me that I’m great – well
then – there must be some truth in it.
And it can even lead us to do things, or not do things, to
be regarded by man – and not by God. To
do what makes us well liked and accepted, and not necessarily what is moral and
good and godly.
Even our religious life can fall into this sort of
temptation. That we would show off just
how Christian we are, much like the long and pretentious prayers of the
scribes, so are we tempted to put our supposed good deeds on a pedestal. Rather, ought we not practice our good works
in secret, and not let even our left hand know what the right hand is doing?
And worst of all, these supposedly outward fine upstanding
citizens, they had a dark secret. They
devoured the homes of widows. And it
doesn’t seem like that bothered them a bit.
They surely rationalized it as legal, so it must be moral. Appearing on the outside as pillars of the
community, but truly just predators out for their own selfish gain, at the
expense of even poor widows.
If we are truly honest, we must admit the darkness of our
own hearts, that we can be just as selfish, that we can rationalize our own
lack of kindness and disregard for others.
We like to look good on the outside, and cover up the darkness of sin
that lurks in our hearts.
But there’s this lowly widow. And Jesus commends her offering – that it was
all she had – as greater than any of the great treasures offered by the
wealthy. She gave all she had to live on
– which implies a different motivation as well.
She gave out of her faith.
She trusted, we must conclude, that God who had cared for
her thus far, would continue to provide for her. After all, those two small coins wouldn’t buy
much food anyway. And God had cared for
her thus far. So she gave out of
faith. Trusting that the same loving,
caring Lord would continue to regard her in his mercy.
The reality is, this widow’s great faith also convicts us
all. We must admit, none of us gives as
we should. None of us trusts as we
ought. We forget that we, too, live each
day by his grace, and that even our daily bread comes only from the hand of our
generous Father.
This whole scene takes place, we might note, during Holy
Week. On Tuesday, in particular, and we
all know what was coming on Friday.
Jesus was about to go to the cross.
After the scribes and Pharisees had him arrested, put him on trial, had
him mocked and spat upon and struck.
They would turn him over to Pilate and lobby for his death. They would take everything from him, his
freedom, his dignity, and finally his life.
Or rather, he gave it.
Our Lord Jesus gave all that he had – not earthly wealth in
the temple offering box – but the far greater riches of his holy precious blood
– shed on the cross – for the sins of the world. He gave all, even his very life into
death. He gave all, held nothing back,
and thus gave more and better than anyone could imagine.
He did none of it for show, but all of it for our good, for
our salvation. He did it not for his own
righteousness, but for ours. He did it
to give us all the treasures not of earth, but of heaven.
The truth is none of us gives as we should. Not as much, not as joyfully, not as
intentionally. Our own works are always
tainted by selfishness and sinfulness. Even
if we could give all, everything, it wouldn’t be enough. But Christ gave us the gift of himself. And that makes all the difference.
If God gave up his own Son for us, if Christ gave himself
completely for us, then can’t we trust him to graciously give us all good
things? And if he cares for us so well,
then we can trust him to always provide for our needs of body and soul. Such faith is really the starting point, you
see, for our entire life as Christians – whether it be service to God or love
for our neighbor.
It is from faith, out of our trust in him, that all our good
works flow. Such as they are. Maybe just a couple of mites. Maybe a little more than that. But thanks be to God that Christ has given
all – that we might live in him. Rich or
poor, husband or wife, widow or orphan.
All we have is from him, and all belongs to him. Thanks be to God that he given so much to us,
and for us.
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