Living In Reckless Faith

My family and friends know at least two things about me. One, that I enjoy music, and two, that I have this way of remembering odd bits of trivia. Okay, describing yesterday's lunch or remembering more than three items at the store can be a problem. But ask me something that happened a few years back, or the artist of some long-forgotten song, and I just might be able to answer the question! That's what happened this last week as I read through the gospel account for today.

Looking at the scripture, Mark has shared two seemingly different stories back-to-back. The first is about Jesus warning his friends about flaunting one's faith and privilege. The second is about the sacrifice a widow made when she came to the temple to make an offering. We don't want to spend a great deal of time on it, but it's the first story, the one about the pompous religious leaders that caught my attention. This is where the music and trivia come into play.

The vision of religious leaders parading around in self-satisfied grandeur reminded me of a song written about twenty years ago by a man named Ray Stevens. Ray Stevens’ songs were always a bit odd and entertaining. Here's the first verse and the chorus of one song that came to mind:

"Woke up this morning', turned on the TV set. there in living' color was something' I can't forget. The man was preaching at me, yeah, laying' on the charm, asked me for a twenty, with ten thousand on his arm. He wore designer clothes, and a big smile on his face, telling' me salvation while they sang amazing grace. Asking me for money, when he had all the signs of wealth. I almost wrote a check out, yeah, then I asked myself, 'Would He wear a pinky ring, would He drive a fancy car? Would his wife wear furs and diamonds, would his dressing room have a star? If He came back tomorrow, well there's something' I’d like to know. Could you tell me, would Jesus wear a Rolex on his television show…?"

Like the scribes and Pharisees of old, there have been some in the public eye who have not been shy making a show of their success in ministry. Just recently, there was a Time magazine article that asked the question, "does God want you to be rich?" The article said, basically, it depends upon whom you ask. Some preachers say that when Jesus talked about abundant life, he was talking as much about the here and now as the life to come. Others want to focus more on Jesus and the coming kingdom of God when all the trappings of this world will be irrelevant and all will share equally in God's grace.

No matter where we come down on any of this, there is the point to be made that Jesus wanted very much to look at someone's heart, not their clothing or accessories or the apparent successes someone could accumulate. We know how important this kind of distinction is when we consider that just a little over week ago the news was focused on a prominent pastor and national religious leader who was caught in what was what was gently described as "immoral behavior." it's certainly not the first time this has happened, and, sadly enough, may not be the last.

Humility of heart and faith is what Jesus wanted his believers to aspire to. A submissive spirit that looked for God's approval rather than one's neighbors. That theme is carried forward in the second story Jesus told, the one about the widow's offering.

Many scholars believe that Mark received the story about the widow from another source and interposed it into his own writing. Perhaps he did, but I think it's nice the way it dovetails with the warning about being too pretentious about one's faith.Pg.5

The facts of the story are really quite straightforward. It was the practice of that day for the faithful to place their temple offering in a large container that resembled an inverted bell. Since paper money was not yet in use, the coin of the realm was just that - coins, coins that made quite a bit of noise as they were placed in the offering receptacle. Sitting opposite the temple treasury one day, Jesus was watching the crowds bringing their offerings. "many rich people threw in large amounts," Mark says. I don't think it's too difficult to imagine someone dropping a handful of dimes, nickels and quarters into a metal can. "clunky, clunky, clink!" if there a lot of people doing this at the same time, think about the cacophony of noise! Who could ignore the sound all those coins made? But you see, for some of the worshipers, that was exactly the point - just look at me and my generosity!

Mark tells us that a poor widow also came to make her offering. He says that she put her last two copper coins in the offering. "(they were) worth only a fraction of a penny," the scripture says.

"This woman has put more into the treasury than all the others," Jesus says. "they all gave out of heir wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything -- all she had to live on." (Mk.12:44)

This woman gave all she had. It could very well have been her next meal, yet she gave it all to God's work. Jesus couldn't have made a plainer statement. The gift that counts is the gift that costs.

"The distinguishing mark of the widow's gift," one writer says, "was not merely its proportion to her means; there was something in her heart that lifted the gift out of the routine into the realm of sacrifice." (old Bib., Mark, p.853)

Yet another writer says, "this story poses the same challenge to readers today as it did in Jesus' time. People usually think of giving to the church and to charities as an option. The money for charitable giving comes out of the surplus after their expenses have been met. Those "necessary" (in quotes) necessary expenses (often) include extras in terms of entertainment, clothes, food, and toys." (new Bib., Mark, p. 683)

It would have been easy for the widow to justify withholding her pittance of an offering. "what differences do two copper coins make?" She might easily ask. "let those who can afford it, give all they want. I haven't got a penny to spare."

Well, what sets this woman, this poor woman, apart is her willingness to recklessly give up all that she had to honor God. With hindsight, we might believe that when Jesus was pointing this out to his disciples, he might have been foreshadowing his own sacrifice on the cross, giving his all to save others and to honor God.

"The path to joy," C.S. Lewis wrote, "winds through extravagant, reckless, self-denial…give up your self and you will find your real self…lose your life and your will save it. Keep back nothing. Nothing that you have not given away will ever really be yours. Nothing in you that has not died will ever be raised from the dead. Look for yourself, and you will find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin and decay. But look for Christ and you will find Him, and with Him everything else thrown in." (quoted in Purls. 11/12/06, p. 32)

In just a few minutes we will consecrate our own gifts to both honor God and to support this church's ministry for the year to come. Our pledges of support are promises, holy promises, that we will do the best we can to contribute to the good work Christ asks us to do in his name.

To my mind, the story of the poor widow is a challenge to us. Who in their right mind would put all that they had into the offering plate? Yet, that's exactly what this woman did. Sometimes our most reckless, thoughtless and extravagant acts of faith are the best. They need not be the clinked, clinked, clink which garners attention, but the soft and gentle offering up of what we can in quiet faith and service.

Let us prayerfully consider the commitments we are making through our gifts and offerings for the year to come. May God bless us with generous, recklessly, generous hearts and spirits.

Amen.