Proper 27
8 November 2015
Mark 12:38-44
Jesus
is present where His word is taught and preached. Jesus is present where the
Sacraments administered. When hymns are sung. And prayers said. But He is also
present where money is given for the work of His kingdom. Such giving is holy. An activity that Jesus
willingly observes. He observed that many gave much. The poor widow gave the
most!
Jesus
sees everything. He sees how much we give.
And our giving is not limited
to cash. He sees how we invest our time. He sees how we use our talents. He
sees how we employ our gifts. He knows what we value. He sees how we care for
others.
Much
is not always the most. You may be among those who give much to the church.
V.41 If that is so. God be praise. Generous contributions make possible
the expansion of the church's work.
Large
sums may well be given from a cheerful heat. And for the right reasons. Yet we
are not the most generous givers if we have merely contributed out of our
abundance. V.44
It
won't do to say that we lack abundance. We are still rich. If we have more than
we need. To support our body and life. Every gift. Large amounts and small. Are
given out of abundance. We have been blessed. Giving out of abundance requires
no sacrifice. Jesus sees how much we give. And that much is not always the
most. Large contributions do not in themselves make us the most generous
givers. It’s not the size of the gift. It’s the attitude of the heart.
Jesus sees the most involved sacrifice. This widow gave
voluntarily all that she had. She had so little. "Two mites." (KJV) "Two very small, copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny."
(NIV) Two coins. Which she
needed desperately.
This impoverished widow. Why was
she poor? Back then. Most were poor. The widows were even more destitute and
deprived – of property and possessions. Impoverished and insolvent. Overdrawn
and in debt. She was broke and bankrupt. And, it could very well be. She found
herself in this horrible condition. At the hands of her own children.
In Mark 7 Jesus takes issues with
the religious elitists and their false and petty piety when He says, “You
neatly reject the commandment of God in order to set up your tradition. 10 For
Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever
insults his father or mother must be put to death.’ 11 But
you say that if anyone tells his father or mother, ‘Whatever help you would
have received from me is corban’ (that is, a gift for God), 12 then
you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother. 13 Thus
you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And
you do many things like this.” (Vv.9-13)
The
Law of Moses required the Hebrew people to “honor” their parents. That term
“honor” did not suggest mere “lip service”; it included the idea of caring for
them in their various needs. However, they had concocted a scheme to avoid
parental responsibility.
“Corban” simply means a gift or
offering consecrated to God. Anything over which this word was once pronounced,
was irrevocably dedicated to the temple.
They would designate certain of
their financial resources as “Corban.” According to the prevailing tradition,
one could designate his financial resources as “Corban,” which, practically
speaking, was a way of “tagging” them, suggesting, “This money now belongs to God,” and thus was not to be used for
personal interests.
So, for example, the son is
sitting on some money. Money set aside to help Mom and Dad. Once the son had
pronounced those funds as “Corban”, they were no longer funds earmarked for his
parent’s care. It now belonged to God.
Property however had a loophole. Land,
so dedicated as belonging to God could be redeemed before the year of jubilee. (See
Leviticus 27:16-24) So, the family farm, as an example, could be
designated as a Corban gift. It would be dedicated to God. It became a frozen
asset. But in fifty years. Long after Mother and Father were gone. At the year
of jubilee, the property would revert to family. And the process would start
all over again.
Our Lord condemns the Pharisees
for their false doctrine. By their traditions, they had destroyed the commandment,
which requires children to honor their father and mother, teaching them to find
excuse from helping their parents by the device of pronouncing
"Corban" over their goods, thus reserving them to their own selfish
use.
Now she had nothing. Nothing left with which to buy even
a piece of bread. Yet Jesus knew she would be taken care of by God, in whom she
trusted. That's God's economy.
This widow is singled out. She had given more than all
the rich put together. She gave her whole living. (Vv.43-44) We have
no right to call our grudging little contributions "widow's mites."
Do such contributions represent all that we have?
Jesus
moves you to voluntary sacrifice. By reminding you, that He willingly gave His
all. His vey life for you. He left heaven's glory and became rich for you. He
freely bestowed on you forgiveness. And clothed you in His righteousness. By
renewing your minds through Word and Spirit so that you give first yourself and
then your money, as thank offerings to Him[1] By
pointing you to His ample provision of all your needs. [2]
Jesus
sees how much you give and that the most involves sacrifice. We are the most
generous givers when, regardless of the size of our gift, we contribute sacrificially
for the sake of Christ's Church.
Jesus is not
dependent on your gifts. Yet He has arranged to carry out His church's work
through people just like you. He encourages you to give sacrificially and
joyfully.
Jesus sees everything. He sees how much you give. And your giving is not limited to cash. He sees how you invest your time. He sees how you
use your talents. He sees how you employ your gifts. He knows what you value.
He sees how you care for others.
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Words –1,065
Passive Sentences -10%
Readability –76.3
Reading Leve -4.8
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