Rock Spring Congregational United Church of Christ (UCC)

All In

Hebrews 9:24-28
Mark 12:38-44
For the text of the readings go the end of the sermon.

Three years ago I was Interim Senior Pastor at Evangelical Reformed Church in Frederick, MD, a church in the Catoctin Association. In the Spring the Association coordinated a mission trip to Mississippi to help rebuild the Katrina-ravaged area. Our younger son volunteered to go along and joined the group on the one-week adventure to Mississippi. Our UCC members were part of an ecumenical group of volunteers who converged on the area that week and bivouacked at a Presbyterian camp. Jason came home with stories of the resilience of the residents and the joy that was all wrapped up with the sweat and toil of rebuilding amidst the devastation.

He also came home with a new favorite game. Each night after the group returned to the camp, several convened in one of the areas to play Texas Hold ‘Em. Now, if you’re not familiar with that game it is the more popular form of poker played in casinos and poker championships broadcast on TV. Jason reported that one of the better players was a Lutheran pastor from Wisconsin from whom he learned to play the game and picked up some effective strategies. So, there on the mission trip he learned a new skill! Of course, one of the strategic skills necessary for the game, as articulated in Kenny Rogers’ famous song, is “to know when to hold-em, know when to fold ‘em, know when to walk away and know when to run.” And then, there’s that other strategy when you’re down in the chip count, have a competitive hand (or are convinced you can bluff your way into victory), and want to mount a come-back: you go All-in. You push all the chips that you have to the center of the table and risk everything on winning the hand. Folks who are opposed to gambling often site the inequity of the risks: the poor are always at a disadvantage, they are more quickly thrust into the need to go all-in than are the wealthy. The ones who start with next to nothing risk the most just to keep up.

Jason’s strange juxtaposition of joining in on a mission trip and learning how to play poker seems to match a strange juxtaposition in the gospel lesson today. Usually the story of the poor widow’s contribution of two small coins (equivalent to the smallest denomination of Roman coins in circulation) focuses on Jesus' evaluation that her gift is much greater than all the rich people’s gifts. It’s used as an exemplary story for us to ponder as we plan our own giving. But, what if Jesus is not so much praising her for her generosity? Instead, what if he is actually lamenting the inequity of the temple system that takes all she has? What if Jesus is lamenting that this poor widow had to go all-in just to ante-up? Look at the context. Jesus has just chastised the scribes for being so concerned about their own positions and maintaining the temple wealth that they allow widows to lose everything in the process of accumulating contributions for the temple. Then, beginning with the very next verse after today’s lesson, Jesus and company leave the temple and the disciples comment to Jesus how beautify the temple looks. Jesus replies that this glorious temple will soon lie in ruins — not one stone left on top of another. Within this context doesn’t it seem likely that Jesus could be lamenting the widow’s gift: it’s everything she has but is it worth it?

Widows were the unsung, unnoticed, unimportant underclass of Mediterranean culture. Widows, especially when poor to begin with and with no sons, had no status. They were especially vulnerable to slipping through the cracks of society. We find that throughout the Bible the status of widows is an ongoing concern and caring for widows is a mark of genuine faithfulness. James for instance challenges his audience that religion that is pure before God is to care for orphans and widows in their distress (James 1:27). No wonder Jesus laments when he sees widows giving away their entire livelihood for the temple!

I wouldn’t say that Jesus is necessarily condemning the temple, and certainly not the widow. Rather, I surmise that he laments how maintaining a system can inadvertently ignore the marginalized members of society. Nevertheless, for those of us so accustomed to seeing this as a stewardship story par excellence, we are taken up short. Unfortunately, we don’t know what motivated the widow to give so much, literally to go all-in. Was it her sheer love for the temple? Was it an offering of utter gratitude? Or was it an ante to gamble on the temple’s guaranteeing good standing with God? Was it a gift given freely? Or was it a payment out of fear for what would happen if she didn’t give? We’ll never know. But it does give us pause!

It causes us to wonder who those are among us who are struggling to keep their heads above water. Who are those who are in a position that they come to the table with almost nothing to begin with? Can our enthusiasm for funding our buildings, budgets, programs and priorities give the impression to these individuals that they are under pressure to go all-in just to ante-up in our game of being church? And then, I wonder if there are some who, as mentioned in the song earlier, have counted the cost and thought it best to fold their hand and walk away? It’s not that our building, budgets, programs and priorities are unessential. Indeed, they are integral to our life together. But do we allow them to distract us from noticing the poor widows among us? Or, are we, like Jesus, able to recognize the magnitude of their contributions when they give everything they have to offer, even though the gift is small in comparison to others? Do we take the time to say, “Thank you” for the smallest of gifts?

If, like the temple destruction spoken of by Jesus, Rock Spring Church’s buildings would lie in ruins — not one brick left on top of another. If our brand new HVAC system came crashing through the roof pulling down the walls of the Hunter Building around it. If our programs no longer had rooms in which to operate, our organ, instruments, and sound system went silent and lay in ruins. If all the material goods of this church were swept away, would there still be a Rock Spring United Church of Christ? I think a clue lies in what we say every week when we call for our offerings. It is a call that focuses our minds, our souls, our hearts, and our wallets on what really matters in the life of the church. What gifts really count.
Jesus said, "I was hungry and you gave me food.
I was thirsty and you gave me drink
I was a stranger and you welcomed me.
I was naked and you clothed me.
I was sick and you visited me.
I was in prison and you came to me.”
When did we see you in need and minister to you?
“Inasmuch as you did it to the least of these,?
my brothers and sisters, you did it to me.”
Let all you do be done in love.

Then all we do and all we are will truly matter. And all we give shall surely be worth it. Amen.

(Both of the Scripture quotations below are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America, and are used by permission. All rights reserved.)

Hebrews 9:24-28

For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made by human hands, a mere copy of the true one, but he entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. 25 Nor was it to offer himself again and again, as the high priest enters the Holy Place year after year with blood that is not his own; 26 for then he would have had to suffer again and again since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to remove sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And just as it is appointed for mortals to die once, and after that the judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

Mark 12:38-44

As he taught, he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, 39 and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets! 40 They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”

41 He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. 42 A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. 43 Then he called his disciples and said to them, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. 44 For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.