A Tale of Two Rewards

Text: Mark 12:38-44

Focus: Sincere faith

Function: a contrast between Pretense and worship through giving.

³⁸As he taught, he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces ³⁹and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets! ⁴⁰They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”

⁴¹He sat down opposite the treasury and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. ⁴²A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. ⁴³Then he called his disciples and said to them, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. ⁴⁴For 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.”

Good morning everyone!

The focus of this morning’s message is on having a sincere or genuine faith.

I want to be cautious about how we apply this message. Jesus is teaching us by example how to discern for ourselves whether or not our actions are from a pure heart or selfish conceit.

And there are two cautions I want to mention:

Don’t beat yourself up. Don’t judge others.

Now in this passage, Jesus is indeed judging between two different people. He can do it since God is the ultimate, and fair, and merciful, judge.

He wants the disciples to understand the difference between pretense and sincere worship.

Again, don’t beat yourself up about whether or not your worship is sincere. You came here with a sincere heart. But more than that, it is the Holy Spirit who leads, empowers and draws us back to God. It is the Spirit’s job to keep us vital in the faith.

So, as we judge ourselves, we examine where our hearts are without beating ourselves up

After condemning the hypocrisy of insincere worshipers, he illustrates sincerity with an example of giving money.

Now, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells the disciples to give secretly, metaphorically he says, “Don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.”

The idea is to not brag about it or make a show of our charity. One of my pastoral colleagues posted a meme on her Facebook wall as a practical application to this teaching. It said: “When you give to the poor, don’t bring a camera.”

The idea is that we keep our charity between us and God. I’ll tell you an uplifting story about this:

I pastored a church in Pennsylvania. And we had an undocumented family worshiping with us that we helped through the process of becoming citizens.

Sadly, but not unexpected, a very few people in the church resented giving aid to what they called illegals. As I talked with them, I found out that they were afraid of them. Fear is not from God. God has given us the victory to overcome our fears through the Spirit. I am convinced that it was divine providence that sent this family to us because God knew that we would take care of them.

The children had no choice in the move to the US from Columbia. And like all children, they needed to grow and to develop. So, I found out later from the family that when it came time for them to go to college and they couldn’t apply for any student aid because of their immigration status, a few members of the church quietly, without telling me, paid for 4 years of tuition for two children.

I still weep at the awesomeness of the charity given by men whose politics aligned with the side that calls still calls them illegal But because of the teachings of the Christ, they gave sacrificially and quietly. By the way in dealing with the border crisis, I have to remind myself that using Jesus’ term, “Neighbor” for those refugees instead of illegals changes my heart to line up with Jesus’ command to love the least of these.

It just goes to show that when we practice love for our neighbor, even if they are our enemy, or someone we have been taught to despise, our faith goes beyond the divisive politics of the kingdoms of humanity to enact Christian love fueled by the Holy Spirit inside of us.

Praise God our faith rises above the divisiveness of politics.

So, as Jesus contrasts the two groups of peoples for us to understand sincerity in our devotion to God, he points out the trusting faith of the woman who gave all that she had.

It is easy to give out of abundance because it doesn’t take a sacrifice. And I would never ask you to give until you lack. Giving should be done willingly. For the Lord loves a generous giver. I am convinced that the Holy Spirit will tug at you in just the right amount at the right time. Listen for the voice of God.

When we give to the poor, the scriptures say that we lend to the Lord and God will pay us back.

This woman demonstrates what it means to rest in the fact that we belong to God and that God promises to give to us our daily bread.

Rest, or trust in God’s provision is what this woman offered God. She was living by faith.

God will repay our love for others when we give it.

We are living by faith when we rest in the fact that God will provide for us when we are generous.

And while I hate going negative in my sermons, Jesus does give a description of what I think it means to take the name of the Lord in vain.

Jesus’ condemnation is that their acts of piety will not save them when their greed compels them to kick widows out of their homes. Sure, it was legal for them to foreclose and profit off the sale of her home, leaving them homeless, but it wasn’t moral.

Their religious acts will not save them if they do not love their neighbor as much as they love themselves. They would not foreclose on themselves or their own family, so they can’t foreclose on others.

Jesus says their condemnation is greater.

I hope I am not getting confusing. But the scriptures give over 1,100 references to the way we use our money and treat the poor.

But beyond that, Jesus shows how we can care for others in this lesson by praising the widow. Our confidence needs to be in God who gives us the ability to provide instead of ourselves. When we recognize that if God has blessed us, even by giving us the mental and physical strength to work hard, then God has given us the responsibility to be a blessing to others.

The reward for the greed is condemnation. The reward for the faithful is provision.