Obligations Drawn From The Widow’s Mite

Obligations drawn from the Widow’s Mite

Mark 12:38-41

Rev. Dr. Michael H. Koplitz

41 And He sat down opposite the treasury, and began observing how the people were putting money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums. 42 A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent. 43 Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; 44 for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on.”

Today, the church uses this passage to shame people into giving money to the church. If a poor widow can give her last two coins to the LORD, why cannot our well-off parishioners give more than 1.8% of their income to the church? The financial problems in most churches can be solved by an easy 1% increase in giving. However, saying this in the church can land the preacher in many difficulties. People do not like to be told what to give. Wait, reader, the preacher is not saying this, but rather the Scripture is saying to do this. Shaming people usually does not work.

I have used this narrative in this manner. I took a stewardship class in seminary, which was one of the main Scripture passages. The instructor told the class that as preachers, we needed to express the Word of the Lord. That included shaming people into giving more money. Perhaps this is where the church’s reputation of only wanting its members’ money came from.

I heard that the church only wanted my money when I lived outside of the church for 35 years. If the church’s people gave 5% of their income to their church, there would not be a problem. The need for fundraising would stop. It is sad when the congregation’s giving does not meet the ministry costs of the church.

The culture about widows is not discussed when commentators examine this narrative. Why should they? This is a straightforward narrative. Wrong! To obtain the original meaning of the narrative, it is critical to understand the culture about the treatment of widows. A new window opens, and a new understanding becomes available.

This narrative has a different meaning when the culture of Jesus’ day is known. The care of widows and orphans is well defined in the Scripture. There is an obligation on the community to take care of the widow and orphan. Why did the community allow a widow to become so poor that she only had two mites left to her name. What happened to the family obligation? Perhaps Jesus was talking about our obligations to our neighbor?

Today’s culture is very different than in Jesus’ day. Family units tend to take care of their members. However, some families do not. There are plenty of reasons for these differing situations. Today’s laws in the United States say that adult children are not financially responsible for their parents. That does not mean that adult children will not help their elderly parents. On the contrary, this happens all the time. However, there are circumstances when adult children abandon their parents. Family dynamics are different today than they were in ancient times.

There are times that the parents do not deserve the children's help. Now I have to stop there and say that in Jesus’ day, that statement would not fly. It happens today because of the treatment of children by their parents. My parents did not take care of me in the same way they did their other children. I was a middle child and suffered for it. I was told many times that I was not a wanted child. That is something one would have never heard in the ancient Jewish world. All children are considered blessings from the LORD and would be treated appropriately. Why would I assist my parents when they made it clear that they did not want me?

So, my personal story draws fire from my premise that Jesus is saying in this narrative that widows should be helped. I am adding to today’s culture that if a widow wants help from her family, she would have to show her family consideration and love. Our culture treats the elderly very differently than in Jesus’ day. Nursing homes did not exist. Elderly parents lived with the family. They were considered important to the overall family. There was plenty of help from the family to attend to the needs of elderly parents. The elderly in Jesus’ day were very different from today. People generally did not live more than fifty years. Therefore, elderly parents could still get around.