I'm All In

TITLE: I’M ALL IN

SCRIPTURE: ST. MARK 12:38-44

Jesus has just recently entered Jerusalem, in that triumphal entry that we observe on Palm Sunday. But he has also recently driven out of the temple those who were selling and buying, angrily declaring that this HOUSE OF PRAYER HAS BECOME NOTHING MORE THAN A DEN OF THIEVES. The crowd is spellbound by his teaching, but the chief priests and scribes have begun looking for a way to kill him.

He doesn’t help his cause in today’s Gospel reading when he denounces the scribes who are parading around in long, fancy robes, praying long prayers, but also devouring the widow’s houses.

• This little scene with the poor widow comes along at a time when Jerusalem is very divided over what Jesus is teaching

• And his disciples are understandably anxious

• Jesus has been predicting his suffering and death

• He has led them to the city where it is most likely to happen

• And he is, even now, provoking those in power

• It seems like he is stoking the fire

Just prior to the event of the widow’s offering, Jesus was in the Temple teaching his disciples to BEWARE OF THE SCRIBES, people who were seeking out human approval and putting on a mask of piety and status.

• Their outward lifestyle provided a vivid contrast to what followed

• An anonymous widow quietly offering her whole livelihood

The poor widow walked into the bustling Women’s Court. She quietly offered her whole life -

• Knowing it was not a religious requirement

• Knowing she would receive no praise in return

• Knowing her offering was insignificant in monetary value

• Knowing her limited ability and her poverty

• Yet she offered it all anyway

• Would we?

Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. That’s what Jesus sees in today’s Gospel.

Jesus says those two small coins are more than all the rich people’s large sums combined.

• That’s just not mathematically correct

• You know that, so do I

• I suspect Jesus knows that too

Jesus is not counting the cash or doing the math.

• He’s not talking about a quantity of giving - but a quality of living

• So what is the more, that the widow put in?

• Herself

• She is the more

• You are the more

• I am the more

The widow is ‘all in.’ She holds back nothing, keeps nothing in reserve. What would it be like to live like that? What would it take to live an ‘all in’ life? The temple treasury of Jesus’s time consisted of thirteen chests, or wooden boxes, with metal trumpet-shaped mouths on top.

• These were placed in the Women’s Court

• Seven of the thirteen contribution boxes were for collecting specific offerings to support the needs of the Temple

• The other five chests were mostly for volunteer offerings, which is likely where Jesus sat to watch people dropping their offerings through the bronze trumpet-shaped funnels

While many rich people dropped large offerings that would loudly clink the metal trumpets, the poor widow’s two copper coins were probably too lightweight to be fully audible.

• Nevertheless, Jesus saw and heard her offering

• The woman was under no obligation to offer it

• This was a voluntary offering after all

This widow has only two small copper coins.

• It’s all she has

• What she does not have - is more than what she does have

• She has no WEALTH - POWER - CONTROL - STATUS - REPUTATION - HUSBAND

• And yet, she is ‘ALL IN’

• How did she do that?

• What does she know?

What does she know that so many in our churches today don’t know? I have seen those that have done well in life and just give $10 a month -- month after month after month. What does this poor widow know? I think she knows the power of detachment -- the power of letting go.

• We usually think of detachment in relationship to what we have

• For example in ST. MATTHEW 19:21 Jesus says, “SELL YOUR POSSESSIONS AND GIVE THE MONEY TO THE POOR”

But what if there is also a detachment from what we do not have and what we are not? What if we could detach from the voices - conclusions - judgments that come from what we do not have and what we are not?

• We just might be ALL IN

• Or at least a little more in

I think that’s what this poor widow did.

• She detached and let go of what she did not have