“She Gave Her Whole Life”
Mark 12:38-44
What if, at the beginning of our lives, someone were to say to us: “Would you like to have the most satisfying life possible during your short stay on earth?”
I think most all of us would say, “Yes, yes I would.”
And if this “someone” asked us if we wanted to know the secret or the key to this successful living, we most likely would be eager for them to tell us.
Jesus Christ talks a lot about what is truly important in life; about what will give our lives meaning and substance.
He says: “I have come that [we] may have life and have it to the full.”
What does it mean to have life to the full?
Let’s keep this question in mind as we look at our Gospel Lesson for this morning.
We are told in verse 41 that “Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury.”
He saw a whole bunch of rich people come and throw huge amounts of money into the receptacles or what we would call the “offering plates.”
Why do you suppose Jesus was sitting there?
Why was He watching these people.
Why did He have His disciples so close at hand…watching the parade?
I think Jesus was using it as a teaching moment but I’d also guess it was a popular pastime for many.
After all, they didn’t have t-v or movies, smart phones or video games.
“Wow, look what that guy donated.”
“Ooh, she must be really rich to afford that much.”
“Ah, he must be really devoted to God—look at His gift.”
But this doesn’t seem to impress Jesus much.
As usual, Jesus finds true meaning where we often miss it.
While everyone else’s attention is focused on the rich people and who gives the most money…
…Jesus’ attention is focused on the same thing, but from a different angle.
It’s not the amount of money that Jesus is noticing, it’s the commitment.
It’s what’s in the heart of the giver that intrigues Jesus.
So, with all these rich people throwing large sums of money into the offering, the biggest offering Jesus sees turns out to be two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny that a poor widow donates.
What is Jesus doing here?
What is He thinking?
“Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you; this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others.
They gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”
Huh?
Is this a case where Jesus is romanticizing and idealizing the poor?
Certainly, a poor person would be the first one to say, “Hey, being poor is no picnic. It’s not something to aim for.”
Life in poverty is what we all want to avoid, not aspire to.
No one dreams of growing up poor, of living from paycheck to paycheck.
I mean, this is not something to put down.
It’s not something we want people to be ashamed of—we could all find ourselves in this situation--but digging through garbage cans or living in run-down apartments with no heat—we wouldn’t wish that on anyone.
(pause)
Wednesday morning a man from Cocke County, who had lost everything he owned in the recent floods showed up at the church doors.
He was crying and apologizing.
He had just dropped his son off at school…hungry.
He had nothing to feed him.
And he felt horrible.
Denna, a few others and I scrambled to try and find some food for him in the kitchen.
Kali was able to provide him with a list of other churches and non-profits that offer help with food and clothing, and then I walked over and filled his car up with gas.
I was able to do this because of the love and generosity of this church.
The man was so thankful and humbled.
He kept telling me he would pay us back and I said we all need help sometimes and this is why the church is here—to help people, to love people.
If we weren’t here for this, we might as well not exist.
He told me that he doesn’t find many people who are willing to help him, listen to him and take him seriously.
Lord willing, we were able to be a blessing to him, but he was also a blessing to us.
Before he walked in, Denna and I were discussing our distress and sadness about the presidential election that had taken place the night before.
But helping this man and then getting on with our day in helping others, freed us to forget our sadness, and our feelings of hopelessness.
At another church I served we had a feeding ministry to some of the local extended stay hotels in the area.
Every Tuesday afternoon, 15 or 20 of us would go into the fellowship hall and spend 45 minutes to an hour making sack lunches.
Then we would go, two by two, to the places where the folks who were most hungry and hurting were.
We would knock on the doors of these hotels, and a voice would call out from inside: “Who is it?” or “What do you want?”
We would simply answer: “We are from the church and have brought some food to offer you.”
The food was never turned down.
The people were always thankful.
And the scenes we would witness, prostitutes with their johns, families with 8-12 little kids cooped up in a 300 square foot run-down hotel room, people strung out on drugs—you name it—would break our hearts.
But it was a greater blessing to us than it was to them.
I used to say, “I need to do this ministry.
It is part of my spiritual food.
It keeps me grounded.”
And it’s true.
Putting our faith into action.
Helping others in need is what WE have been created to do.
(pause)
In our Gospel Lesson, Jesus describes our main character as a “poor widow,” and it’s true.
But in all reality, she was poor BECAUSE she was a widow.
My understanding of sociology and economics in first-century Palestine tells me there was no such thing as a rich widow in that culture.
Women were totally dependent on their male relatives for their livelihood.
To be widowed meant not only losing someone you may have loved, but more tragically, it also meant that you were losing the one on whom you were totally dependent.
Let’s take another look at verses 43-44 in Mark Chapter 10.
The New International Version of the Bible says she “put in everything—all she had to live on.”
The original Greek is a bit different and, I think, it gives us a better picture.
It says, “She gave her whole life.”
And this goes all the way to the heart of the Christian Gospel.
It goes all the way to the key to experiencing life and life to the full.
It speaks of priorities.
It talks to us about what is really important in this life.
It points out what so many of us miss out on.
Throughout His ministry on this earth Jesus told us in so many ways, through so many parables: It is only in losing one’s life that we truly find life.
It is in giving our lives completely and totally over to the God of love, mercy and compassion for the sake of others that we find our true selves, happiness, a satisfaction and a peace that really does transcend all understanding.
(pause)
Pastor Denna told me this week that in seminary she had a professor who used to pray: “God free us from the burden of our wealth.”
Being poor is not glamorous.
It’s not something to be desired.
But sharing and giving our lives to help others in such circumstances is what gives us life.
But when we seek life in other areas that are not life-giving, we are being deceived.
In our Gospel Lesson, Jesus watched the teachers of the law who liked to walk around in their expensive robes and be greeted with respect by important folks in the marketplaces.
They lived to have the best seats for themselves in the synagogues and banquets…and they made a show with their lengthy prayers and so forth.
Jesus watched them and it made him sad.
He saw people who were completely self-absorbed, living without a thought about helping anyone but themselves, while others were entertained by them and filled with jealously—wanting what they had—thinking they were living the “good life.”
It was like watching that old t-v show: “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.”
And the Rich and Famous are dependent on their riches.
What did Jesus say, “You cannot serve both God and money…
…for where your treasure is there you heart will be also.”
Money was their was their master.
They were the truly poor people—not the widow!
They were the ones who were missing out on life—real life.
The widow, on the other hand, was not dependent on her money or her status in life; she had none of these things.
She was dependent on God for everything and that is what Jesus pulls out of her story like a Pearl of Great Price.
This is what we are to be like before God—dependent on nothing but the grace of God.
We are to be people without any resources we trust in other than the riches of God’s mercy.
Because the issue is not what we have in the bank, but what money means to us.
Is it our heart’s desire, where we find our security, our source of power, or is it a tool to serve God by helping others?
Are we dependent on our money to give us all we want and need from life, or are we dependent on God to make us rich?
I think Jesus teaches us to walk in the way of the widow.
It think Jesus wants us to live lives that show in everything we do and say we are dependent on God for all we have and all we are.
As good Americans we’ve been taught to celebrate our independence—and there is nothing wrong with this—but Jesus teaches us to celebrate our dependence on God above all.
I think our culture often counsels us to become like the people showing off in there fine robes and box seats, but Jesus teaches us to model our lives on the person who tossed the only shred of “supposed” independence she had into the offering plate, because by doing so, she kept intact her complete dependence on God and her love for her neighbor.
Her’s is a life lived in the conviction that we are stewards of all we have in our hands and our lives, not the owner of these things.
This is the time in the life of our church when we ask God to guide us in what of God’s money, we will give back for God’s grace-filled and loving work on this earth for the next year.
It’s a time when we are given the opportunity to allow ourselves to be unburdened by our wealth by not holding on to it or clinging to it as if it were our salvation, our god, our master.
First United Methodist Church of Oak Ridge has so many ministries and missions that it carries out and supports through the money you give.
It is food for the hungry, heat in the winter for those who have to choose between food and utilities.
It is the life-line for addicts recovering from addiction.
It is relief for those hit by disasters.
It helps support non-profits in our community.
I could go on and on and on.
One of our members made the statement last week that he and his wife decided that instead of giving a little money to a bunch of different causes—they would simply concentrate all their efforts in giving 10 Percent of their income to this church—because in doing so—so many things in this community are supported.
What will you give to God in 2025?
The widow in our story gave her whole life to God.
She gave everything she had and everything she was.
She wasn’t dependent on money; she was dependent on Jesus.
In doing so, she discovered the key to life and having it to the full.
Let’s make the decision to live like the widow and ultimately like Jesus—Who gave His all for the sake of others—for the sake of you and me.
Let us pray:
Oh, Merciful and Gracious God,
free us from the burden of our wealth and our dependence on it.
May we make the decision and live into the decision to depend completely on you instead, and in doing so—to find life—Real Life. Life to the Full.
In Jesus’ name and for His sake we pray.
Amen.
