The Urge To Give Give it all you've got! homily 3

"... they all contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had"

Mark 12:44

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It's not the passages in the Bible that I don't understand that bother me so much. It's the ones I do understand.

Today's Gospel includes a passage that no one can fail to understand. But, in varying degrees, it bothers all of us. Jesus is watching as the members of the worshipping congregation deposit their temple offerings into the collection basket. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow puts in a tiny amount. Jesus then calls His disciples to Him and says, "Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For they all contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had ..." (Mk. 12:43-44).

The Lesson is clear and unambiguous: unmistakable. Merely for emphasis then, we remind ourselves that Jesus could say that the poor widow put in more than the others because He knew that her gift, however small, was given from the heart. Her outward worship offering reflected the quality of her inner-response to the experience of God's Loving Presence. Her gift of everything she possessed symbolized the unconditional surrender of her entire being to God.

A young man approached his girl friend's father. "Sir, there's something important I would like to ask you. I was wondering if you would ... I was wondering whether, er, uh ... That is, I was thinking you might be, uh, willing to, well ...er ..." The father grabbed the young man's hand and shook it warmly. "Of course, my boy!" he said with enthusiasm. "Certainly I'll give my permission. My daughter's happiness is all that matters to me in the world!" The young man was completely puzzled. "Permission?" He said. "Oh that's not it sir. It's nothing like that. You see, a payment was due on my car last week and I didn't have the money. I was wondering if you would lend me ninety-five dollars." The father snapped back, "Certainly not, young man! I hardly know you!"

Although there is no cause for puzzlement over the meaning of the Bible passage about the widow's mite, nevertheless it is undeniably true to say that it bothers us so much we would rather not deal with it. Already we have begun to dismiss it from our minds. And when the worship offering is taken, many of us, I fear, will symbolize the depth of our inner-experience of God's Loving Presence with a gift that says, "Lord, we hardly know you!"

A young clergyman was invited to speak to one of the local service clubs. He felt flattered by the invitation until the master of ceremonies rose to introduce him. "Unfortunately," he said, "our original choice to be today's speaker is unable to attend." Then, in a clumsy attempt at humor, he pointed to a broken window pane which had been covered over with a piece of cardboard. "Our speaker," he said, "is like that piece of cardboard in the window. He's a substitute." Being somewhat taken aback by the sloppy introduction, the young clergyman decided to show them: Substitute or not he would deliver a good talk. And he did! When he finished the speech, he received a rousing ovation. But when the emcee returned to the lectern, his attempt to thank the speaker was even more awkward than his introduction. "Reverend," he said, "we want you to know that you were not at all like a cardboard substitute. You were a real pane!"

In the opening verses of today's Gospel Reading, Jesus instructs the disciples to beware of certain individuals who, by Jesus' description of them, must have been real pains. "Beware of the Scribes, who like to go about in long robes, and to have salutations in the market places and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts" (Mk. 12:38-39). You know the type, surely: the puffed-up status seeker, always trying to impress, always reaching for compliments. It is not unlikely that a Scribe who fit this mold would prefer the company of the rich who put large sums, at no sacrifice, into the temple treasury over the company of the poor widow who had put in a tiny sum, but at great sacrifice.

The final measure of a human being is not limited to what that person has done for others. What also counts is what others have done because of that person's presence and influence. Two thousand years after the event, the Gospel story of the "Widow's Mite" has been told and continues to be told, not to commemorate the showy demonstrations of the rich who put large sums into the Temple treasury but to inspire others to give from the heart.

Each of us has a God-given potential for service according to her own unique gifts. And our life's fulfillment is realized to the extent that we are willing to share our unique gifts, talents, achievements and possessions. It is not in the hoarding but in the sharing of our gifts that we grow in understanding of our life's meaning and purpose. It is in the sharing of our gifts that we grow in understanding of the meaning of eternal life which is to know God. It is in the sharing of our gifts that we grow in understanding of what it means to share in God's own life.

Andy Warhol, the pop artist, has ventured to guess that future celebrities will be famous for about fifteen minutes. In Jesus' time and among his people, the Scribes enjoyed a certain celebrity status. Poor widows had no status at all. And yet it is the spirit of the poor widow that has endured through the ages and will continue to endure for all eternity, as a symbol of a right relationship with God.

There is an old story about a little boy who ran up to a high fence. He stopped and looked at it for a while. Then he did a strange thing. He took off his hat and threw it over the fence. Seeing this, a man standing nearby asked, "Why did you do that son?" The boy replied, "I need to get to the other side, and I thought if I threw my hat over there I would try real hard to get over the fence."

When it is time for you to present your worship offering, don't forget Jesus' warning. Don't be a modern-day Scribe looking for signs of respect. Don't fold your one dollar bill four or five times in the hope that your neighbor might think it's a ten or a twenty. Rather, do your best to emulate the poor widow in today's Lesson. Give it all you've got! Give enough to make you feel like trying real hard to get it back. Think of the boy who threw his hat over the fence. Then think again of the poor widow. And instead of throwing your hat, think about throwing your heart, and you may feel the urge to give even more.