A Dying Church | Mark 12 : 38–44 | Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost
November 7, 2021 | 10:45 a.m.
Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost
Communion will be celebrated during this service. If you plan to visit with us, please read our communion statement.
READINGS
1 Kings 17:8–16
Psalm 146:1-10
Hebrews 9:24–28
Mark 12:38–44
Message presented by Rev. Frank C. Ruffatto
+Points to ponder
- In the observation of the widow and her coins, what does Jesus want us to learn (and do!)?
- Do you think that Jesus is speaking only of the giving of money? What is He saying about stewardship?
- In what is Jesus calling us to invest – not only our money, but our time and our talents and passions?
+Sermon Transcript
Grace, mercy, and peace be unto each of you from God our Father and our Lord and King, Jesus the Christ. Amen.
Let us pray: Grant us, Lord, not to be anxious about earthly things, but to love things heavenly; and even now, while we are placed among things that are passing away, to hold fast to those that shall endure; through Jesus Christ our Lord; Amen.
As the eddy of the busy-ness of the past two weeks was seemingly beginning to recede, I found myself, late in the week, swimming in our readings for today. I confess, I was tired, and my prayer was, “Lord, I’m dying here – I’ve got nothing!”
But, as I waded into the study resources for this week’s texts, I was reminded of a cartoon that came out some years ago. It was a single panel image of a congregation on Sunday morning. The door was wide open in the narthex. A myriad of people was streaming in. The church was filled with vibrant and animated activity. Ushers were handing out bulletins. People were greeting one another. The pews were filling up. At the bottom of the image was the caption, “A Dying Church.”
“A Dying Church?” What was this cartoon trying to portray to say that it was a dying church? Well, a closer look at picture helped to answer the questions. In the corner of the church was a box labeled “charity.” There was a slot at the top into which people could put their donations. A spider had built a cobweb over the slot. The cartoonist was calling attention to one way in which churches die, not by losing members, but by losing love.
Something similar happens in our reading this morning. Mark offers us a vision of the Temple. If you look closely, you will see death and then, if you continue looking, you will see life.
As the reading begins, Jesus opens the eyes of His disciples to death. It does not necessarily look like death, however. Jesus begins in His teaching, saying: “Beware of the scribes …”
Right in view, the scene is filled by the scribes, those who study the Word of God. We know from the psalms that those who meditate on God’s Word are blessed and Jesus is pointing out to us people who meditate on God’s Word. They fill the picture. The scribes are walking around in long robes, being greeted in the marketplaces, attending synagogue, and sitting at feasts. They say long prayers to display the depth of their piety and the breadth of their learning.
As Jesus describes all this activity, however, He asks us not to look at their actions but at their heart. Even though they read the Word of God, their delight is not in the ways of God. They delight in recognition but, ironically, fail to recognize the cost.
When attention is focused on the greatest, suffering can happen unnoticed among the least. When attention is focused on feasting, it can divert attention away from what is being eaten, the poor. Jesus tells us these scribes “devour widows’ houses.” Those God has called Israel to care for, to feed and to clothe, are treated carelessly. It is not just that their needs are being ignored. They are actually being used. The glory of the scribes comes at the humiliation of the poor.
After describing this dying church to His disciples, Jesus then does the strangest thing. He sits down and observes the Temple. He calls His disciples over and asks them to look. What do they see? Jesus points out a widow who makes an offering: Two small coins – barely worth a farthing – about a tenth of a penny. Most people would not even bother picking up a penny off the ground.
It’s like the joke about the dollar and the dime – “The Dollar said to the dime, ‘You are a skinny, valueless little runt.” The Dime said to the dollar, ‘but I go to church more often than you do.’”
And, here in Mark, Jesus sees a widow who gives her thin and seemingly valueless coins to the church. For the disciples, her gift is virtually nothing. For God, however, it is a symbol of everything. Jesus, who can read the heart, knows her gift is a revelation of grace.
Jesus tells the disciples that this widow, “...out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.” With these words, Jesus asks the disciples to see a different kind of dying. Not a dying church but a dying person, a person who in dying gives life.
“Jesus uses the sacrifice of a widow to illustrate for His disciples [- for you and me - ] the character of absolute dependence on God. Wealth and possession can pose a spiritual threat [as] wealth has a way of owning its possessor. Jesus’ love and sacrifice motivate us to offer our whole lives to Him as our daily offering of gratitude. He gave up everything, including His life, on the cross for us.”
And so, this poor widow is a reflection of Jesus. Faced with a church that is corrupt, a church that devours widows’ houses, she gives her life, to that church. In just a few days, Jesus will be doing the same.
Jesus came to a church which had lost its focus. Though it read the Word of God, it did not hear it. It had lost the love of God. Though the charity box still stood in the narthex, it was empty, and the opening was closed. Into a place without grace, to a people without love, God the Father sent His son Jesus. He sent Him to love. By giving His life to these people, Jesus was killed. They devoured Him. Yet, in that devouring, they gave the world its first taste of love: Saving love. It is a love which gives all for all that all might be saved.
Jesus sat outside the Temple that day and saw this widow, giving all. He then pointed it out to His disciples. Since we have this account in Mark, the disciples remembered this lesson. But when did it hit home? I wonder if it hit home when Jesus hung on the cross, giving all for a church that was corrupt, I wonder if the disciples truly remembered this widow’s sacrificial gift.
I know we do. In His death, Jesus has done the ultimate act of charity. He has given His life for all. Echoes of John’s Gospel arise as Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” This is the highest expression of love – giving one’s life as a sacrifice for a friend. And Jesus goes on to say, “You are My friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide …”
“We do not become Christ’s friends through our obedience, but we obey Him because we cherish our relationship with Him.”
“There is an old legend – and it is, of course, merely a legend – that after Jesus had ascended into heaven, the angel Gabriel asked Him, ‘Who is going to carry on Your work now?’ And Jesus answered, ‘I have left it to John and Peter and Andrew and the others.’ Gabriel then asked, ‘What if they don’t do it?’ Jesus answered, ‘I have made no other plans.’ [This harkens to the verse that says:]
Christ has no hands but our hands To do His work today; He has no feet but our feet To lead men in His way; He has no tongue but our tongues To tell men how He died; He has no help but our help To bring them to His side.”
And so, it is because of His sacrifice that God forgives you. He raises you to new life, not a life of recognition but a life of selfless service. Forgiven by God, you are given by God to a world that is dying, awaiting the moment when it awakens to God’s love in Christ Jesus. Amen.
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”
Background and Study notes from David Schmitt (MDiv, Concordia Seminary, St. Louis; PhD, Washington University, St. Louis) is the Gregg H. Benidt Chair of Homiletics and Literature, Professor of Practical Theology, and Chair of the Practical Department at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, MO. Found at https://www.1517.org/articles/gospel-mark-1238-44-pentecost-25-series-b, accessed on November 4, 2021.