Stories of Wonder
This passage from Mark is one that I have only heard during sermons series on stewardship. The lavish apparel and exterior gratification that the scribes seek is contrasted with the generosity of the widow. We have the difference between giving of our excess or giving our all. Right? Not so fast. Peeling back the layers of this passage we will find that Jesus offers a scathing prophetic critique of religious arrogance and hypocrisy. This insider critique forces us to reckon with corruption which we deem ordinary, and the wonder of faith expressed by a widow. In such stories of wonder, we find the entanglement of woe and injustice as they meet tender-hearted mercy and compassion. Let us look closely at these two foils.
We first come to the scribes. We are met with a four-part description of things the scribes like. They relish over their fancy robes, delight in the honor received at their high-brow greetings, wallow and well-up over their choice seats in the synagogue and bask in their seats of honor at feasts. We have a description not of all scribes, but of a select view who have taken a particular liking to the honor, glory, and respect directed their way. We might imagine these people with their chests out and noses up. This was a group of people enraptured by the trappings of their own elite status. But their crime is worse than mere pride or self-indulgence.
Verse 40 says that these scribes “devour” widows’ houses and mask their corruption with fanciful prayers and hyperbolic religiosity. We see that the scribes are not only praying on the excesses available at feasts but have taken advantage of vulnerable widows. Orderly, civilized, and bourgeois dining is contrasted with the ravenous preying of widows. Behind the beautiful robes lies something more sinister. The only other use of “devour” occurs in 4:4 where the subject is birds that are later allegorized as Satan. Mark implies an overlap between Jesus’ human opponents and his devilish ones. The very pillars of society, men distinguished as such by dress and universal recognition, are revealed to be demonic abusers of the helpless who use prayer as a means for veiling their assaults.[1]
So what did these wolves in sheep’s clothing do? Let us recall an earlier reference in Isaiah 10:1-4. It is said that there are those who “write out evil writs… compose iniquitous documents, to subvert the cause of the poor… that widows may be their spoil.” Scribes were using false documentation to defraud the widow of their estates. They may have done this by charging exuberant rates or forcible seizure for not tithing nonpayment of tithes.[2] We have a picture not only of puffed-up scribes, but scribes who’s religious status is funded by their victims. Yes, these people worshipped God with the lips they used to deceive people. Yes, these people gave to God from the money they stole from others. This story is far more than a call to stewardship.
The rot of the antagonistic scribes is contrasted with the story of a widow- a story of wonder. As Jesus is watching scores of people placing their tithes into the treasury, Jesus notices many rich people putting in large sums. Then the camera immediately shifts to a poor, widowed woman. The camera zooms further, and we see that the widow gives two lepta, the smallest monetary denomination in first century Palestine. This is the equivalent of a person tithing two cents. By any measure in any age this appears to be little more than a pittance, but Jesus is taken aback. In this crowd of people, Jesus calls the disciples to himself. Jesus, somehow knowing this woman’s financial situation, indicates to them that she has put in her whole life.[3] Rather than lifting up those with power and influence in the community, Jesus identifies the widow as having given more. The Greek phrase holon ton bion autais translates to she gave her whole life. She gives herself. Whereas the proud, puffed-up scribes put in their excess, their leftovers, and their stolen apportionments, the widow puts in her whole life.
The widow’s action was a sign of faith in the community. Even though she might have fallen victim to the same scribes who had defrauded other widows and despite the corruption of the religious elite, the widow signals genuine faith in God. She did not worry about herself in the context of a caring system that she trusted would look after those in need. Despite its shortcomings and the hypocrisy of her the rich and the scribes, she trusted in the temple and the people who administered its grace. Mark tells us to “Beware the scribes” who devour the houses of widows and the rich who relish the recognition of their generosity. On the one hand, Mark directs our attention to the widow who “gave her whole life.” Mark 12:38-44 transforms our understanding of honor, who has it, who receives it, and what it means to communities of faith.[4] This is not merely a stewardship story, but a story of wonder.
There is a difference between giving everything and having everything taken away.[5] The house of God is not a place to devour widows. It is not a place where anyone should be devoured or taken advantage of. The house of God is a sacred place which should be free from the ooze of corruption and the stink of greed. In this historical parable, Jesus shows us that our assets, belongings, and things are not our possessions to hoard. They are not our own. They have been given to us as a blessing and gift. We are not to store up vast sums of riches but to give away, to give as a blessing, to give as an act of gratitude, to give in service. We are called and invited to be set free from the bondage to things, stuff, and possessions. Jesus invites us to live a life of wonder and gratitude, rather than a life set upon increasing our stores. We are invited to live free and unencumbered by our own lives so that we might embrace the constant hope of eternity.
Mark alerts us to the worship of our economic, political, or religious status. We see that these are masks for the vanity, pride, and emptiness of the scribes. We see that the establishment of our own glory comes at the cost of the widow and the orphan. It is no coincidence that Jesus says that we cannot worship God and money. And yet, this is indeed a story of wonder. The moving act of a widow who gave her whole life is a to call for us to practice our faith with genuine generosity. Take off your masks! Turn away from your hypocrisy and self-deception! “Beware!” Jesus says. These eloquent prayers and grand sums are bankrupt! It is no coincidence that Jesus says in the verses immediately following this section, this temple too shall fall! Jesus shows us where our hypocrisy leads: to the fall of the self, community, and house of worship. Take off your masks and be like the widow who practices her faith with genuine action.
The Kingdom of God is an upside-down Kingdom. God has chosen what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.[6] It is not the healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick.[7] It is God’s mission to “lift up the lowly,” scatter the proud in the thoughts of their hearts,” and “bring down the powerful from their thrones.”[8] This is a message that continues to confound us today. The orders of the world are turned on their heels. What was made lowly has been raised up. The last shall be first and the first shall be last. It is no coincidence that the description of the scribes and the rich precedes the story of the widow. We see that God does not notice how much but from how much. Where we may be focused on the quantity of our faith, God sees the quality of our hearts. She gave everything she has, her whole living.
Our charge today is to take up an authentic faith. To be a people who are honest about who we are. To forget the pleasantries and niceties of church where we look like we have everything together. Our faith is not measured by the broad span of our fancy hats or the depth of our pockets, but by the quality of our hearts. Do we have hearts softened by faith like the widow or hearts hardened by the measures of success this world imposes on us? Do we have faith or merely its appearance? Jesus reminds us that the one whom much has been forgiven has shown great love, while the one whom little is forgiven, loves little.[9] This story calls us to live a life of genuine faith where we are known by the quality of our hearts. Give generously! Love deeply! Forgive often! And as Micah 6:8 reminds us,
God has told you, O mortal, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?
Let us pray.
[1] Joel Marcus, Mark 8–16: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary, vol. 27A, Anchor Yale Bible (New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2009), 854.
[2] Joel Marcus, Mark 8–16: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary, vol. 27A, Anchor Yale Bible (New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2009), 856.
[3] Amanda Brobst-Renaud, “Commentary on Mark 12:38-44,” Working Preacher (Luther Seminary), accessed November 4, 2021, https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-32-2/commentary-on-mark-1238-44-6.
[4] Amanda Brobst-Renaud, “Commentary.”
[5] Amanda Brobst-Renaud, “Commentary.”
[6] 1 Cor. 1:27.
[7] Mk. 2:17; Lk. 5:31.
[8] Lk. 1:51-52 from Elizabeth Myer, “Beware and Shine: Salt's Lectionary Commentary for Twenty-Fourth Week after Pentecost” (SALT Project, November 1, 2021), https://www.saltproject.org/progressive-christian-blog/twenty-fifth-week-after-pentecost-year-b.
[9] Lk. 7:47.
