No More Poor Widows

St. Paul’s Church in Bergen, Jersey City NJ

November 8, 2015

Year B, Proper 27: The Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

Ruth 3:1-5; 4:13-17

Psalm 127

Hebrews 9:24-28

Mark 12:38-44

No More Poor Widows

            …And, that’s why we should all give every last penny to the church!

            Today at St. Paul’s we are reaching the official end of our stewardship campaign.

            And, I certainly hope that those of you who haven’t yet pledged your financial support, haven’t yet taken on a new ministry, will fill out a pledge card today and place it in the offering plate.

            If you’ve been here at least a couple of times you’ve heard me talk about many of the exciting things that are happening at St. Paul’s, how so many new people are becoming members of our congregation while we’ve managed to hold on to most of our longtime members, how we’ve gotten more involved in the neighborhood and are now seen as a “community church” that cares for everybody, not just our own.

            It’s really wonderful.

            And, it should be noted, it’s also pretty unusual.

            Every poll, every study, that I’ve seen indicates that Americans are less and less interested in organized religion.

            Oh, they’re still plenty spiritual, still interested in the big questions of life.

            Why are we here? What gives meaning to life? Where do we go when we die?

            Is this all that there is?

            Forget about finding answers, it seems that Americans don’t really believe that they will find a safe place to explore those questions in our churches. So, they look elsewhere.

            Americans have less and less use for organized religion.

            And, actually, they’re in good company because as we hear very clearly in today’s gospel lesson, Jesus didn’t have much use for organized religion, either.

            In today’s gospel lesson we find Jesus teaching in the Jerusalem temple, the religious and civic center of Israel.

            There would have been throngs of people there, people there to conduct business, to see and be seen, to make animal sacrifices, to learn, and, yes, even to pray.

            And, right there in the temple, Jesus publicly criticizes the bad and destructive behavior of the religious professionals, “who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets. They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”

            Then we’re told that Jesus is in the temple treasury.

            From other historical sources we know that in the temple there were thirteen large metal receptacles, shaped like trumpets.

            People would come and drop their offerings into these trumpet-shaped receptacles.

            You can imagine that the coins made quite a noise as they clanged to the bottom.

            So, everyone would have a pretty good idea of who was giving a lot of money to the temple.

            And, who was not.

            We’re told that a poor widow comes to the treasury.

            It’s almost redundant to call her a “poor widow” since in ancient Israel a woman whose husband had died got no inheritance. Most widows had to depend on the generosity of their families or charity. They were almost all poor.

            That’s why, throughout the Old Testament, God has special concern for widows – they were some of the most vulnerable people in society.

            So along comes this poor widow who drops two small copper coins – the smallest of all coins - into the trumpet-shaped receptacle.

            We can imagine the tiny, tinny, sound they made.

            The text doesn’t say this but we can also imagine other people noticing how little she gave and maybe rolling their eyes or smirking, judging and maybe ridiculing. You know how people are.

            Jesus certainly heard the tinny sound of those two little coins – and knows what it meant.

            He tells the disciples, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. 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.”

            …And, that’s why we should all give every last penny to the church!

            No, of course, not. That’s not what this passage is about.

            When Jesus says that the widow has given more than everybody else, he’s simply stating a fact. Since she has given all that she had, she has, in fact, given most generously.

            But, I’m pretty sure that Jesus disapproves of this whole scene – this ugly glimpse of organized religion at work – some people lording it over others, some showing off their wealth, and the poor giving every last penny.

            Jesus is turned off by the whole thing - just like more and more Americans today are turned off by organized religion.

            So, my fellow religious people, where do we go from here?

            It seems to me that the kind of church that Jesus wants - and the kind of organized religion that people out there are hungry for - is a church that, yes, gathers here in the temple for prayer and worship, forgiveness and healing, but then, instead of squeezing every last penny out of poor widows, actually works with God’s help to build a world where there are no more poor widows – an organized religion that works to build a world where there is no more poor anybody.

            So, we’re called to invite the poor into our temples, including the poor we might not like because of they way they look or smell or what they may or may not have done in their lives or even what they were doing just a few minutes ago.

            We’re called to invite the poor into our temples and, rather than taking their last couple of pennies, we’re called to feed them and to clothe them and to love them.

            And, we’re called to go out of our temples and out into the world and find and serve the hungry and the lost.

            Sometimes the hungry and the lost are easy to find – they’re out on Bergen Avenue right now hanging out around Royal Liquors.

            And, sometimes, the hungry and the lost harder to find, like the homeless families that our county “houses” in motels along Tonnele Avenue.

            So, yes, Jesus and lots of people have no use for organized religion that’s all about people lording it over others, some showing off their wealth, and the poor giving every last penny.

            But, Jesus and lots of other people can really use organized religion that welcomes every single person to the temple without judgment, that gives food and, yes, gloves to the homeless, that prepares a beautiful meal every month and throws open the doors to anyone who wants to come and eat, that offers art and culture that brings beauty into the ugliness that people face every day, that will feed probably about 200 hungry people on Thanksgiving, that works with thirty or so other congregations in Jersey City on improving education, public safety, and housing, that partners with Garden State Episcopal CDC to serve people in need.

            Well, it just so happens I know a church that’s getting to be more and more like that every day.

            And, you do, too.

            My prayer is that we will continue to be the kind of organized religion that Jesus wants and the kind of organized religion that people out there are hungry for - a growing church that, yes, gathers for prayer and worship, forgiveness and healing, but then, instead of squeezing every last penny out of poor widows, actually works with God’s help to build a world where there are no more poor widows – an organized religion that works to build a world where there is no more poor anybody.

            Amen.