Sermon – Mark 12:38-44 – Two Small Coins

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

Pitts Creek and Beaver Dam Churches

Sermon – Mark 12:38-44 – Two Small Coins

Stewardship Sunday

November 11, 2012

Today is Stewardship Sunday. This is the day each year when we remember all the blessings we have received from God. We realize that everything we have comes to us from God. And we are under the responsibility to use these gifts as God intends. To do this we discern God's will in worship, Bible study and prayer. Then we use our gifts the way we are directed to by God.

In the first reading this morning God's gifts were being misused. The teachers of the law, those who best understand what God wants, are using Temple resources for fancy robes and extensive banquets. All of this makes Jesus angry and he predicts that Temple will be destroyed because it does not do what God wants. We will get to this, but first let's pray.

“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

Here is the scripture I have for you today.

Mark 12:41-44 ⁴¹ Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. ⁴² But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny. ⁴³ Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. ⁴⁴ They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything-- all she had to live on."

This has to be the saddest, most tragic story I have ever read in scripture. We were told in the first lesson that teachers of the law were devouring widow's homes and now we see a widow, with just two small coins left, and she has thrown them into the Temple treasury. Why did she do this? Was this a way of giving up? The Temple had already taken her home and all that she had and so she threw in her last penny. Or was this a form of protest. Take that you teachers of the law you can't hurt me any more. Whatever it was our hearts have to go out to this woman, who is now penniless, has no means of support, and distrust God because God's own people had violated the trust she put in them.

Widows in ancient times did not work and could not own businesses and property. They were totally dependent on their fathers, husbands and sons for financial support. And when their husbands died they had to be supported by a brother in law or son. If a woman had neither she was destitute, and had no way to support herself.

We don't know what the teachers of the law were doing by devouring widow's houses. These teachers were responsible for reading and understanding the Word of God, our Old Testament. They should have known that God wants us to care for widows. God insists throughout scripture that widows must be taken care of. But the teachers of the law have twisted scripture in some way. And now widows are losing their homes.

Jesus is telling us this story within the context of his prediction that the Temple in Jerusalem will be destroyed. Is Jesus saying that the reason the Temple will be destroyed is because that have prioritized spending on fancy robes and banquets while neglecting and sometimes abusing widows? I think that you could reach this conclusion. It certainly seems that Jesus has a preference for the caring of widows over the purchase of robes and banquets. And so it seems that since the temple is not doing what God wants by caring for the widows it is no longer functioning according to God's will and must be destroyed. This is a sober warning for the American church today. We have to ask ourselves if we are caring for the most vulnerable among us. Are we caring for our widows?

On Stewardship Sunday I am to remind you to use the gifts God has given you to serve God's kingdom on Earth. Most of the time I talk about your giving and the importance of giving to the church. Certainly you need to give to the church. But in our scripture today we are reminded that the church needs to be a good steward of what it has been given. Like the Temple in Jesus' day the church has a responsibility to use its resources to further what God is doing in our community. I don't think that Jesus would be impressed with our robes or coffee hours. Jesus would be looking at how we care for the poor, the widows, and the victims of the recent storm. And the churches that respond to what God wants done will thrive while the ones that focus on themselves will die just as the Temple did.

I know it is difficult for the church to respond to the needs of the people in their community given falling membership and income. I know that our old buildings require more and more maintenance every year. Our budgets are squeezed. But somehow we must care for our widows and those in our area desperately in need if we are to be church.

Pitts Creek and Beaver Dam churches have a large number of widows and widowers who need our care. Many are in nursing homes or cared for by their families. Unlike widows in the first century our widow and widowers are cared for financially. What they need are relationships. They need people like you and me to visit them. The are hungry to hear about what we are doing in church. And they want someone to read the Bible with them and pray with them. Right now Nancy Holdren and Luella Tatum are in the Atria Nursing Home in Salisbury. David Stevens is in Manokin Manor. Emily Schlining and Ed House are in Hartley Hall. Doris Glass is with her niece. Gladys Holland and Dot Lankford have recently lost husband and now live alone at home. What could we do for these widows and widowers that would please God ? This is the key question I want you to think about this Stewardship Sunday. The answer is not money, rather it is another precious commodity we have in limited quantity, time. I think God wants us to adjust our schedules and spent more time visiting these widows and widowers, praying with them and telling them what is happening in our church.

So when you come to church it doesn't matter what you wear or where you sit. It doesn't matter if you are powerful elder or an anonymous person in the back. And it doesn't matter how much you put in the plate. What does matter is what you do when you leave this building. Are you serving the kingdom of God by caring for those in need.

The coins that the widow thew in the plate represent two important aspects of giving. One coin represents the money you give to the church, other charities and to those in need. The Bible gives us a guideline for this, a tithe, ten per cent. The other coin represents our time and how we use it for God's service. Do we care for children, the poor in our community, the victims of the recent storm, and the widows and widowers in our church? Just as we tithe our money maybe we should tithe our time. What percentage of our time should be devote to God's work? I suggest that one hour a week to show off your best clothes and sit in you family pew is not enough. What if we pledged an hour a day for service, six hours a week resting on the Sabbath, six hours a week visiting widows and widowers in nursing homes and hospitals, and caring for people in need? Just think what we could accomplish if the whole church tithed six hours a week. What if all the Christians in Pocomoke tithed six hours every week, what would our community be like? I think that if we tithed our time for service in God's kingdom our church would be blessed with rising membership and expanding budgets because God loves churches like that serves others.

Finally, I would like to tell you that spending your time with the widows and widowers in the church is not some kind of harsh duty. It is actually fun. I wish that I could spend less time in meetings and sermon preparation and spent more time with these wonderful people. Every one of them that I have talked about today loves this church. If they were physically able they would be here to worship with us. They would love to meet you. They are filled with stories about this church. And they have lots of questions about what we are doing here right now. You will have a great time with them. And you will find that the more you visit the more you want to. One hour a day may not be enough. So I urge you to visit our widows and widowers. Have a good time. Share scripture and pray. Talk about our church. And enjoy serving in the kingdom of God.

Lord in Heaven we pray this day for our widows and widowers. Bless them with your Spirit. Ease their pain and loneliness. Bless their families with prosperity and health. And fill us with your Spirit as we visit them. This we pray in your son's name. Amen.