Sermon 11-17-24
Gracious Heavenly Father, You have blessed us with the gift of life and all that is needed to sustain us from day to day, please help us to have grateful hearts. You have revealed the depth of Your love for us, through Your son Jesus, yet we are reluctant to share Your love with others. Through our baptism, You have claimed us as children of God and heirs of eternal life, yet we often fail to express our gratitude for Your gift of grace. Through the power of Your Holy Spirit, move us to deeper faith, and empower us to live our lives in thanksgiving. We ask this in Jesus’s name. Amen.
There were a lot of people in Jerusalem because it was almost Passover. People were coming from all over. Some who’d been in Jerusalem before and others for the first time, but everyone went to the Temple, got in line to give their offerings.
There were thirteen “trumpets.” Each of these offering boxes had a trumpet like metal tube, flared out at the end, like a brass instrument; when money was put into them, they made a clanging sound as the coins made their way down the tubes and into the boxes and it was noisy. Lots of people. Lots of offerings. Many large deposits which made lots of noise and the giver smiled from ear to ear. People thought they must be doing something right for God to have blessed them with so much and the noise would draw attention, meaning others knew about it, too and Jesus watched.
Mark doesn’t tell us exactly how long Jesus stayed. He does say that Jesus saw many put in large sums. Is that what Jesus was waiting to see?
Then at last, she came in. At the very end. Not really wanting to be seen. Her offering made hardly a sound at all–and it didn’t take her long. The offerings of the rich took a while, to dump all those coins in. Her two small copper coins quickly disappeared down the chute into the large pile of coins at the bottom.
Except Jesus noticed her. He didn’t speak to her but He spoke to His disciples. He wanted them to see her—not just the rich and strong and able; but also the poor and weak and small.
Maybe Jesus wanted them to help her. Remember the feeding of the 5,000 when He told His disciples to give them something to eat. They said they couldn’t. There were too many. Would they help this one single poor widow, who just put in everything she had, all she had to live on ??
The scribes were quick to notice widows like this to devour them and their homes. Not openly, of course. For then they would have been criticized and would have had to give up their best seats in the synagogues, and the greetings and admiration they got in the marketplaces. But when the opportunity presented itself . . . they’d swindle the widows out of their houses. They were good at looking religious and praying, even while they were plundering widows. Maybe this widow was one. Maybe that’s why two small copper coins was all she had.
So Jesus pointed her out to the disciples. She was someone who needed mercy.
We’re not told what happened. But given the disciples’ track record, we can probably safely assume they didn’t help her. Maybe this text isn’t so much about giving as it is about mercy.
These last few weeks at the end of the Church Year – turn our attention to the last days before Christ’s return. They are a reminder that this world and life – is not all there is. They serve to remind us that our attention and focus must be in the right place. So we’ll notice—people like the poor widow.
People were in Jerusalem for Passover, but they didn’t know this was to be Jesus’ final Passover – His passing over from death to life. These were His last days. The clock was ticking. In a matter of hours– He’d be on the cross and He knew it.
So why did Jesus take the time to sit in the Temple where He noticed this poor widow? For surely there were lots of other important things He could or should be doing—or so we think.
But Jesus always notices what the world doesn’t see. Children, widows, cripples, the poor and He didn’t just notice them, He spent time with them, ate with them, spoke with them, forgave them. Even if you’re a somebody the world notices now, it won’t be long until you’re forgotten too. Like a widow with only two small copper coins . . .
But Jesus noticed her and He notices you. Even when He was about to die on the cross, He noticed the thief next to Him, and His mother beneath Him and He made sure someone would take care of them. There was nothing more important for Jesus to do, than show mercy. For He gave all He had, His very life, for her and you.
Then Jesus teaches the disciples to beware of the scribes. Not just because of what they were doing, but because of what they had become. Self-centered and concerned only with themselves, they had very little room for mercy. It’s easy to criticize them. It’s also easy to become like them.
But the bridegroom soon will call us to the wedding feast and the trumpets on that day will not be ones for receiving offerings but announcing our Savior’s return. On that day those married to the world will pass away. But those waiting for the bridegroom – for them, the feast that will have no end.
So that day in the Temple: who were the poor and who were the rich?
The end of the church year gives us the chance to remember that we should hang onto the things of this world less and hang onto our bridegroom a little more. To focus less on ourselves and notice those in need of mercy. We should forget about the approval of the world and remember the good news that Jesus is never too busy and you are never too small for Him. Even if all you have are 2 small copper coins.
But you have much more than that! We have been baptized and redeemed not with gold or silver of the world, but with the blood of the Son of God. All of our sins are forgiven. There is nothing –not even death, that separates us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, the bridegroom. For while the widow offers her two copper coins, all she had, into the Temple’s offering trumpet, Jesus offers His Body and Blood, all He has, into you; with the promise of His forgiveness, and that He is coming back.
So that day in the Temple, the rich put in all she had. The poor gave out of their abundance.
We praise You, O Lord, for all the great things You have done in our lives. Through Your grace, and through Your son, Jesus Christ, we have become Your children. Help us to be children who are pleasing to You and bring glory to Your name every day in every way. Amen.
