True Thankfulness
Mark 12:38 – 44
Jesus loved to point out the hypocrisy of the Jewish elite, they didn’t care much for him, the Son of God, and Jesus despised the two-faced nature in them that he had been sent to correct. They may have been in the religious elite, but they weren’t very righteous.
They were foolish because they refused to follow the spirit of the Word of God which they were expected to protect for the culture, and they refused to acknowledge God’s Messiah when He came. They were foolish in that they had come to love themselves, to love the notoriety, more than they loved God to whom they were to serve.
In our lesson today, while Jesus was teaching in the temple courts, where He and His disciples could see everything going on during the Sabbath services, He said to them “Beware of the scribes”. In Jesus’s time the scribes were the “doctors of the Law” for the Jewish society. They read, copied and interpreted the Law for the Jewish people. They were considered the authorities in what the Law taught. Scribes had knowledge of the law and would write legal documents, contracts for marriage, divorce, loans, inheritance, mortgages, the sale of land. Righteous Jewish life could not function properly without their works. They were essentially religious celebrities, receiving hero worship from the common man.
In the end however they were takers from the community rather than givers. They used the church and its people for their own benefit rather living lives that benefited others. They used what they had not to empower and improve the others around them but rather to take from them and the church to improve their own position. I think that we have all known people like that in our communities and even in our churches.
Then when Jesus finished teaching the people about the corrupt ways of the scribes, he got up and moved to a seat near the “treasury”. This area was in the “Court of the Women” the farthest place that women could get into the temple and was an area set aside for giving. The treasury consisted of thirteen receptacles where people could make their contributions. Nine of the receptacles were for various dues related the Law. The other four were for voluntary offerings of various natures.
These thirteen wooden boxes had trumpet-shaped bronze funnels on top to guide the coins into the box and whether it was intentional or not, the sound these coins made against the metal funnels would be an indication for all around of how much money people were putting in.
As Jesus sat there, He watched the people bringing their gifts, and He watched how they gave those gifts. Jesus saw what they were doing with His eyes, and He felt the motive of their hearts as they gave.
Some came in with great fanfare, standing back and tossing in their gift for the greatest effect. Others gave with a frown on their face, holding onto their coins as tightly as they could to the very last second. Others probably stopped to make sure that everyone was watching them as they gave their offerings. They would come to the treasury and make a great show of casting in their money. As their money fell into the trumpet, it would make a great noise.
Heads would turn and people would stare in admiration at these people who gave great sums of money to the Temple. Imagine the scene as the trumpets blared, the applause rose and fell, and the sound of coins echoed throughout the Temple.
These people were not giving for the glory of God; they were giving for the praise of men. According to Jesus, when they received the praise of others, they got all they were going to get. They were fools, because they also loved themselves more than God or His people.
Then as Jesus sat there and watched the parade of pious and self-centered religious leaders making an intentional spectacle of themselves and their riches, He saw a poor widow enter the treasury. As Jesus watched, this poor, humble woman gave her gift, she threw in two mites into the box.
While the people shouted and applauded for the rich people and their seemingly large gifts, no one even noticed this widow. No one, that is, but the only One that matters! Surely Jesus was standing and applauding in His heart. In this widow’s giving, we can see a portrait of True Thanksgiving to the Father.
The evidence of her True Thankfulness is seen in the fact that she even gave all that she had, in her poverty she put in everything she had, all she had to live on. Here is a widow who comes into the presence of God to offer Him all that she had, and she didn’t have much. It was a gift that amounted very little in terms of real-world value. When she dropped her two little coins in that bronze funnel, they made no noise at all among the clamor of the people and clanging of the gifts of the rich. She didn’t have much, but what she had she gave anyway!
But I am here to tell you today dear ones, that this story is not about money and who gave what to the church but rather it is about giving from the heart and soul not just from the wallet. I guarantee you that the widow didn’t spend her lifetime just giving the pittance of money that she had but instead it had been a lifetime of giving her life in True Thankfulness to her Holy Father.
She didn’t start giving in her advanced age or when she became a widow when she did need to help and assistance from others but rather, I guarantee you that it was in a lifetime represented by and witnessed as giving all that she had, all of the time, treasure and talents that she had to her church and to her God, not out of responsibility but rather out of gratitude, out of True Thankfulness.
You know it is amazing how God can orchestrate the happenings of the lives around us to fit the edification needs of our souls. As you may all know, St Louisville Church lost one of our most faithful souls this week, the widow Betty Street. You know I don’t know how much money she had or gave as a widow, there are no brass plated trumpets at the front of our church by which to gauge or infer what anyone gives. I don’t know and I don’t care, that is between God and his children. You all know what the church needs are and you know what can provide to fill those needs. But I do know this about what Betty gave, she gave it all, body, soul and spirit until the last mite was given.
I did not know Betty as well as I wished I had, because of my short time here before the isolation caused by the pandemic, but I learned much from you this week from the remembrances and reflections that you provided for the family. Here is some what was said:
Betty served in many positions. Over the years she was the historian, education leader, worship committee, but most of all she was the church organist. She made a wonderful greeter at our doors each Sunday service. As she handed visitors and parishioners a bulletin, she would always ask how you were today. She really wanted to know how your day was and everyone felt welcomed.
Betty also loved having our breakfast once a month downstairs at the church. It gave us all a chance to fellowship. She was involved in every part of the church. I remember her being at VBS and the after-school program and every other function that we had. Then in 2011 the church offered confirmation classes and Betty was a mentor to some of the children. She also offered to come pick up my girls and take them home afterwards.
Did you notice something here, no one talked about money that she did or did not give but rather that she gave of herself, to others, for others, for her church and out of True Thankfulness to her God. I am not here today to hold Betty above others but rather in this time and place to tell you that she was given to us by God, at this time and place, as an example for us all to follow!
Hear the Good News my friends………..
Betty, like the widow in our lesson, was a living, breathing illustration of you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. They gave because they loved God, not because they wanted to be seen. They gave what they had out of True Thankfulness because He had given them everything they ever needed, not wanted but needed. They loved Him more than their own life and they proved it by the way they gave of themselves, time, talent and treasure.
Friends, you should have received a small coin as you came in today, it is a replica of the Greek coin called a “mite”, the widow is said have given the last two mites that she had in thankfulness and gratitude to God. The hymn that we are going to sing next is “Take my Life and Let it Be” and it captures this idea of sacrifice and thankfulness that we are all called to show for our God, our Savior and this church and the Church Universal.
The middle verse often sung by us with our fingers crossed: “Take my silver and my gold; not a mite would I withhold.” In this story of the widow’s mite, we need to grasp something of what the high calling this life of True Thankfulness really is and what is required of us.
True Thankfulness is about giving everything that can: your time, talents and treasure because He gave everything He had for you. It’s about showing how much you appreciate all that He has done for you, it’s about showing how much you love Him by willingly and quietly sacrificing the last of what you have, because that’s what He did hanging quietly on the cross yet making the loudest statement ever heard on earth.
I implore to take this mite and keep it with you, so when you feel like you can’t give any more, reach into your pocket and remember that you have really do have more “might to give”, not for your own benefit but for the Kingdom of God! Amen.