It Mite Not Mean What You Think It Means (Mark 12:38-13:2) Series

This week I get curious about what was considered “the most quotable movie of all time.” Because there are certain movie quotes that work their way into our regular vocabulary, and we find ourselves applying them to all sorts of different situations. “Houston, we have a problem” is like that. “Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore.” “Your mother was a hamster.”

So I got on Google and entered, “What is the most quoted movie of all time?” Anyone want to guess what popped up in nearly every list? That’s right. The Princess Bride. Even if you’ve never seen Princess Bride, you’ve probably heard someone quote it. There are so many great lines in The Princess Bride.

One character uses the word “Inconceivable” a lot. Even in situations that are pretty conceivable. Finally, one of the other characters calls him on it:

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

We do the same thing with a lot of Bible stories and verses. We can talk about “David and Goliath” and it becomes shorthand for any “underdog” story. Sometimes the reference actually is the opposite of the truth of the story. For example, a few years ago the Pointer Sisters name checked “Samson and Delilah” in a love song, and now everyone thinks Samson and Delilah is a great love story. Read Judges. Its not!

So this morning, we come to one of those famous stories—the story of the ”Widow’s Mite.” And it’s so familiar to us that it’s become shorthand for the virtues of sacrificial giving. We usually talk about her during a stewardship campaign or when we vote on the budge. But this morning, I want us to not just look at this familiar story, but also the context of it. We are going to look at the story, but also the backstory—what came before it. Then we’re going to look at the rest of the story—what comes after it. And when we do, we may wind up like Inigo Montoya in the “Princess Bride,” saying, “I do not think that means what you think it means.” So let’s dive in. This is Mark 12, starting in verse 41:

41 And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. 42 And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny.[f] 43 And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. 44 For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

Let’s pray…

Now, just to orient you to where we are in Mark, this is Tuesday of Holy Week. This is the point in the gospel where Mark slows down to a slow walk, when he’s been at warp speed for the entire gospel. We have 94 verses about the Tuesday of Holy Week, so we are in the middle of the day here. And Jesus leads his disciples to a place where they can watch all the people presenting their offerings at the Temple.

Now, there were these thirteen boxes in the Court of the Women (they put them there so women could give too!) They were called “Shofarot” or shofar chests, because they had a wide, trumpet shaped funnel at the top—like a shofar—that people threw their coins into, and then they would be collected in the box at the bottom.

So bringing in your offering was a pretty noisy deal. Typically, if you had a lot to give, you wanted people to know it, so you would drop your coins in one by one—clang, clang, clang.

[demonstrate with a handful of coins and the offering plate]

Side note—there’s a verse in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew where Jesus says, “When you give to the needy don’t announce it with trumpets like the hypocrites do.”

So in the middle of all that noise, a poor widow comes in and drops in two tiny coins. In the Greek here the word “poor” means “a beggar, destitute of wealth, influence, position and honor.”

So the sound goes from, CLANG… CLANG… CLANG… to… (dink)

Jesus points her out to the disciples and He’s like, “Guys, did you see that?” (or maybe, did you “hear” that?). Let’s read verse 43 and 44 again.

“Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box.

44 For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”