“Scribe vs Widow”
Original sermon given November 10, 2024, written and delivered by Pastor Jeff Leininger at First Saint Paul’s Lutheran Church.
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“Scribe vs. Widow”
Mark 12.38-44
Mark 12.38-44
In the name of the Living God and his risen Christ. Amen.
There could hardly be a greater contrast: that of the scribe on one side and the impoverished widow on the other. The scribe has great respect, learning, and wealth. The widow has nothing — no money, no social standing, and perhaps even no family. The scribe wears a long, flowing white linen robe as a sign of his devotion to the law and as respect in his society. The widow is clothed in the garb of a desperate mourner. The scribe is given the seat of honor at banquets and festivals, and when he enters the room, all rise in respect. The widow… hardly noticed at all, practically invisible to those around her. The scribe has a lot, so he can give a lot. He profits by piety. Like our modern day charlatans who manipulate the religious fervor of the poor, he gets what he wants from those that can afford it the least. The widow simply gives… all that she has. She gives the smallest denomination possible: two “leptons” — little copper coins worth one four-hundredth of a shekel. One of these coins is about 1/8th of our penny. But our Lord tells us that these two almost worthless pieces of copper had the greatest value that day in the temple.
The Lord Jesus is getting himself in real trouble these days in Jerusalem, because he is criticizing the wealthy, the powerful, the pious in two ways: 1) their teaching and 2) their living. Their teaching in that they refuse to recognize that all of the law and the prophets point to him as the Messiah, and the embodiment of God’s action on earth.
But Jesus also calls out how they live. Today’s gospel points out their hypocrisy and the religious abuse of those they were called to serve. He contrasts their “sacred showmanship” with the simple heart of the poor widow. Out of her poverty, she has put in everything she had. Out of their abundance, they take more and more.
This is not just a nice Bible lesson; it is an important lesson for life. God measures us not by outward appearances, by the quality of our clothes, or the amount that we give, the letters behind our name, or the number of followers on Instagram. God sees the heart, like he saw the heart of that impoverished widow that day in the temple. He spoke not one word to her (so far as we know) and I imagine she lived her whole life unaware that what she did that day out of simple gratitude and love would live on in this sacred text as an example to millions and millions of people, in nations she had never heard of and couldn’t even have dream existed. God measured her heart and holds it up to us as an example. Humility. Sincerity. Sacrifice.
What does God see in your heart, today? Truth be told, if we’re completely honest with ourselves, our hearts often have both scribe and widow in them. Would you agree? There are times and moments and circumstances when our desire is simply to give, to serve, to not think of ourselves, but only to offer what we have — a desire to simply love God and serve our neighbor, no matter what the cost.
Don’t you wish there were more of these times: in family, in ministry, in life? The other part waging within us is the scribe. The scribe often pushes the poor widow out of the way in our hearts. He’s religious and he loves God, but loves a whole lot of other stuff, too. And thus, the love he has grows tainted and twisted, confused and corroded. If we’re honest as Christians, we find this battle within us: Scribe vs. Widow, arrogance and manipulation vs. humility and sacrifice. And the battle is fierce — like a cage match within us, daily and exhausting.
That’s why we need to look to Jesus. In Jesus, we find neither scribe nor widow, actually. Think about it in this way: the scribe had a lot but gave relatively little like the other rich ones at the temple that day. The widow had so little but gave relatively so much. Christ Jesus had the most and gave it all. He was Lord of all, maker of all that is, seen or unseen; all powerful; worthy of all glory and honor and worship; King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And yet he gave up all of this, emptied himself, impoverished himself for us and for our salvation. The Lord of the universe submitted himself unto death at the hands of his creatures and dealt face-to-face with their sin (our sin) and selfishness. And in the blood flowing from his head, his hands, his feet, and side we see the outpouring of God for us — though we don’t deserve it and can’t explain it and can’t pay it back. God in Christ emptied himself completely for us that we might be filled completely in him.
What this does for me (and I hope for you, as well), is it sort of kills off the scribe in me. (“Scribalcide” we might say.) The death of Christ means the death of the Old Adam in us. It means the putting away of infatuations with appearances, with conditional love, with ulterior motives, with the manipulation of faith for personal gain. These things we crucify with Christ, and put to death, and put away, and drown in our baptism. Our whole lives we will sin. It will be difficult to find one completely pure thought or motive; the scribe and the widow will struggle back and forth in us so long as there is life in this flesh. But daily, weekly in this place, by contrition and repentance, we put away the old self and let the new arise and go forth and serve.
Then by the power of the Resurrection, the Lord Jesus arises in us, again — the one who had the most that can be imagined and gave it all for us. In the message of the gospel, we receive forgiveness, life and eternal salvation. But we are also changed — made to be new creatures, new “widows”, as it were. Humble, sincere, sacrificial.
Today begins our fall stewardship initiative — a time when we consider all the gifts God has entrusted to us (so much in abundance) and discern how best to use them in his name. Stewardship is not about the noise of piles of coins in the treasury box, nor about lengthy prayers, nor about long flowing robes. It simply that “widow” arising in each of us. All she has belongs to God, and so “gladly, freely” she gives it all back.
Come soon Lord Jesus. Amen.