Lutheran Church of the Resurrection

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There is really only one conclusion that we can honestly come to if we have really heard our Old Testament and Gospel reading for today. We are cowards, every one of us.

We have been given the assurance of eternal life through the unfailing and unchangeable promise of God in our baptism. Through the same baptism, we have been given the Holy Spirit as the security deposit and down payment that God will complete all that He has begun in us. We have the testimony of the Prophets of Old and the Apostles of New who bear inspired and infallible witness that God took on our humanity in order to become sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God. And as if that were not enough, we have the body of Christ, crucified for you, and the blood of Christ, shed for you, placed into our hands and pressed upon our lips, over and over and over again for the assurance that all of this is most certainly ours.

And yet, even with all of that, we are afraid to take a risk and step out in faith for fear that we might fall or fail. We put our faith into action, but only insofar as it's safe. We're cautious. We calculate the cost of discipleship and manage it like we do our portfolio; spreading the risk around, because after all, you wouldn't want to take the chance of loosing everything.

We live by faith, but the faith we live by is safe, convenient, painless. Nothing too risky, nothing too threatening, nothing too dangerous. Nothing that might cause us to suffer, or face rejection, or to deny ourselves.

What else are we to conclude from our Old Testament and Gospel readings this morning? Two, poor widows have exposed us and shown us who we really are – cowards, every one of us.

"Jesus sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums." That's us. We're rich. Certainly when it comes to material wealth, we're rich. But if we make this is just about money we've either missed the point or we're intentionally evading the point. If we make this to be just about how much money we put into the offering plate, we're playing it safe, we're not taking the risk of going where this text really wants to take us.

We are rich in a lot more ways than just financial and material. We are rich spiritually. We are rich in the kindness, forbearance and patience of God. We're rich in the love of God. We're rich in the grace of God. We're so rich with these spiritual treasures; we can't even begin to count what we have. We don't even know how rich we are. I am quite sure that we can all count our money. But St. Paul says that the riches of God's grace and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus are 'immeasurable.' You can't count it. It's too great. (Eph.1:7).

"Many rich people put in large sums." If this sounds like Jesus is attacking rich people who put in large sums, then what must it sound like to rich people who put in small sums?

The problem is not with the size of the sum but with the size of the faith. "They all contributed out of their abundance."

That word "abundance" shows up in a couple of other places in the New Testament which may help us understand the problem.

After Jesus fed the 5,000 there were 12 baskets full of 'abundance.' After the feeding of the 4,000 there were 7 baskets full of 'abundance.' In other words, there was more than the crowd could eat. In our house we call that, 'leftovers.'

"They all contributed out of their leftovers." They collected the scraps lying around after they had their fill and were satisfied and gave some of them to the Lord. They calculated how much they needed to live on and pay the bills and maintain the house and put away for emergencies, vacation, retirement, the kid's college, and that 'superlite, 5 weight, tip-flex, Orvis fly-rod.' And from the leftovers, their abundance, they gave to the Lord. And they never felt it.

They were careful to spend most of their time with fellow believers where it was safe to speak about their faith and call upon the Lord. But they never spoke about Jesus where they thought they might be challenged or rejected. They played it safe.

They used their gifts and talents and abilities to do lots of good and charitable things. And out of their abundance they accomplished much. But they did their best not to get involved in anything that they felt inadequate or insufficient or that didn't come easy. They said, it made them uncomfortable.

But they put large sums into the offering box. And they never felt it. They were never challenged. They didn't take risks. They never lived dangerously. They always played it safe. They were cowards.

And isn't it true that the same can be said of congregations?

What a contrast these two poor widows are. What a refreshing contrast.

There had been a drought in the land for over two and half years when Elijah hiked into the village of Zarephath. It wasn't by chance that he had come there. He had been sent there because a poor widow lived there. God wanted to be sure His prophet was taken care of. Who better to entrust him to but a poor widow.

Elijah asked her for a drink of water, no small request during a time of drought. She went him a drink. But before she got too far, Elijah asked her for a piece of bread. This stopped her in her tracks. She turned and gave the bad news to this stranger. "As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die."

But Elijah sees what this woman does not. He sees abundance where she sees lack. "Do not fear, go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son. For thus says the Lord the God of Israel, 'the jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.'"

And now just listen to what happens next. We read, "And she went and did as Elijah said." Did you hear that? Talk about taking a risk. Talk about living dangerously. She gave not out of her abundance. She didn't have any abundance. She gave out of her poverty, all that she had. What courage. What faith.

And don't you just hate her? This poor widow makes us rich people look so bad.

And then there's that other poor widow. She came into the temple along with all of those rich people. The treasury was set up in the court of the women. Thirteen containers shaped like trumpets were lined up against the wall, each one for a specified offering to support the upkeep and maintenance of the Temple. Roman coins with Caesar's image stamped on them were forbidden in the Temple. But moneychangers were always nearby to swap Roman money for temple coins, made of copper and without any image on them.

When the rich put their large sums into the box it sounded like a waterfall of metal against metal, all crashing together, loudly, impressively. Don't you love that sound? But when this poor widow put her offering into the box, it was an embarrassing, clink, clink. Anyone who had ears to hear, knew that her offering amounted to less than a penny. How pathetic.

But what Jesus heard was the sound of great faith. "Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. She in her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on."

This is courageous faith. She lives dangerously and takes a huge risk, because she trusts that God will provide for her an abundance that she cannot see. Believing in what she cannot see, she is bold to live by faith in the promise of God to provide all that she needs.

Compare this poor widow to the rich man who came to Jesus in search of the key to eternal life. "Sell all that you have and give to the poor and come follow Me," Jesus told him. And the coward went away, afraid to risk it. But this poor widow, with her two copper coins, "our of her poverty put in everything she had, all she had to live on."

And don't you just hate her too? Her two copper coins dropping into the box are like two stone tablets dropping onto our heads. The scar that it leaves upon our forehead and upon our heart marks us as one who is a 'coward.'

Oh, but can you just imagine what whole congregation of poor widows just like these two would be like? Hard to imagine isn't it. Brave, courageous, risking it all in faith.

Of all of the congregations that St. Paul has come across in his travels, the Macedonian congregation is the one that he's most proud of and brags about the loudest. "We want you to know brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part." (2Cor.8:1-2). Sounds like a congregation of poor widows doesn't it. People in extreme poverty and severe affliction, who give all that they had. And who got more joy out of doing so than they knew what to do with. Abundant joy. Leftover joy.

I challenge you to read Hebrews 11 sometime this week – the faithful hall of fame. After naming name after name of the courageous faithful, the author of Hebrews lumps together all of the nameless heroes of the faith, like these two poor widows, whose names we are never even given, saying, "Others suffered mocking and flogging and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated – of whom the world was not worthy – wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth." (Hebrews 11:36-38). They did not play it safe. They took great risk. They lived dangerously. They gave everything they had. All they had to live on.

And so we want to know, we who play it safe and avoid danger and hate to take risks, we want to know, what does the Bible have to say to cowards? Men and women and congregations that have only ever played it safe and given out of their abundance? What is God's word to us?

First, it says, 'repent.' And second, in the same breath, 'believe the gospel.'

After this encounter, Jesus leaves the temple never to return to it again. From here, Jesus goes to the cross and in His poverty He gave all that He had. From the cross, He received the nails in His hands and feet and the spear through His side so that He might drop His blood the offering box. And though His offering is nothing in the eyes of the world, not worth even two copper coins, pathetic. But it's worth everything in the eyes of the Father. By just one drop of His blood shed for you and offered up to the Father, comes the forgiveness of all of your sins and abundance of God grace upon you.

Out of the abundance of His grace, Christ has instituted a meal just for cowards like you and me. We line up at the railing just like those offering boxes lined up along the wall of the temple. And Christ drops His offering into us, a coin sized piece of bread and a sip of wine, His body and His blood, given and shed for cowards.

Truly, I say to you, this poor God/Man has put into you a large sum. He, in His poverty, has put in everything He has, all that you need to live on.

Related Entries:

» Sermon Index – Lutheran – LCMS
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» Sermon – Pentecost 6 – "Predestination" – Ephesians 1:3-14
» The Season Of Lent
» Sermon – Pentecost 18 – "Is It Lawful To Divorce?" – Mark 10:2-16 – 10/4/09

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