Below is the transcript of the sermon I recorded for my church's June 7th Gathering.
Good morning New Community family. I’m excited to be able to share God’s Word with you, the life giving source for understanding who God is, what He has done, who we are in Him, and how we get to live as a result.
CONTEXT:
We’re going to look closely at Mark 12:41-44, but to understand this passage fully I want us to look back at how Mark uses the whole chapter to set the stage for this short, but crucial passage. You see, these four verses act as a contrast to all the sections about the heart and desires of the scribes that Jesus is bringing under the microscope. Essentially, He is pointing out examples of bad fruit, exposing what is really in the hearts of many of the people who spend the most time claiming to know and serve God.
Jesus wants people to be able to recognize the difference between the heart that believes and acts on the greatest commandment in verses 28-34 of this chapter, and those who only pretend to do so for their own gain.
Let’s look at the warning that Jesus gives to the people in Mark 12:38-40.
“And in his teaching he said, ‘Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces and have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, who devour widow’s houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”
So paired with everything else Jesus has already taught about the scribes and how He answered their questions, this is a pretty condemning evaluation of the people who were supposed to be the examples of righteousness for the people of Israel. They failed spectacularly. While it’s possible that they may have had some good intentions at first in pursuing this role of leadership, their greed and self righteousness leads them astray.
It really reminds me of a story you may be familiar with called, The Hobbit, a fantasy based book by J.R.R. Tolkien. It is about an unconventional company of dwarves, a wizard, and a hobbit who set off on an adventure to reclaim a rich, mountain kingdom from a gold hoarding dragon. This interesting cast of characters are led by a dwarf named Thorin, who claims the right to the throne of this former dwarf kingdom. Thorin often acts as the inspiration for these dwarves, driving them to accomplish their goal. However, once Thorin reaches the mountain and the dragon is slain against all odds, he demonstrates what is truly in his heart. Despite the help he has received from people outside of his company to accomplish the task, he refuses to share and is overcome by his own greed and self-entitlement. It becomes his undoing as reclaiming the mountain kingdom leads to a great battle for power and wealth that he does not survive.
This is the picture that Jesus paints of the scribes. They are greedy and self-entitled. This type of heart is not what God is looking for in His people. Mark 12:41-44 in contrast, reveals exactly what God seeks.
SETTING & PASSAGE:
In this passage, we see Jesus go and find a seat where He can keep an eye on the treasury located in the Jerusalem temple without attracting attention. He carefully watches people placing their tithes in the offering box. He observes as many rich people offer large amounts.
Several versions specifically say that they “threw or cast in large amounts”. Not gently placing. There is a clear expression here that this is like a display or a show. Many of these rich people enter the temple, some of them likely with so much to give that they even have servants parading in their wealth because it is too much to carry themselves. They are likely trying to draw awareness to the amount of their giving, much like the scribes sought to stand out and be recognized for their status and false humility.
What Jesus notices next though is the act of a poor widow. Just as the self-righteous, attention seeking rich people, this widow was pretty noticeable. She could be recognized as a widow by her clothing, tattered and worn. He observes the widow put in two coins called “lepta”, meaning “peeled” or “fine”, as an indication of the smallness of the coins. This was like dropping in a penny. In comparison to the previous offerings, this amount was entirely forgettable. However, according to a commentary by R. Kent Hughes, these coins represented her entire earnings for the day. She could have even given just one coin and kept the other, giving half of her sum, but what did she do instead? She gave up all she had to give in that moment as her offering.
After seeing this, Jesus calls His disciples over. He points out the widow and says, “this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box.” All of them! He explains the contrast between the rich He observed and this widow, showing how the rich gave out of their abundance. It didn’t cost them a loss of status or the ability to provide for themselves. The widow though, gave everything she had out of her poverty. It is the gift that catches Jesus’ attention. He said nothing about the other large sums given that day, but approves greatly of this seemingly insignificant one. He calls the disciples over to explain not only what he sees but also what He is looking for and approves of.
CONNECTED PASSAGES:
There is another biblical story that resembles this passage of the widow’s offering. In Genesis chapter 4, we find the account of Cain and Abel, two brothers who presented offerings to God. Cain, a farmer, offered up some of his “fruit of the ground” while Abel brought God the “firstborn of his flock”. Both brothers gave of their work unto God but while He approved of Abel’s, God rejected Cain’s offering. Cain became angered and downcast, and so God went to him and said, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.”
In this story, the difference in amount offered is not highlighted, but ultimately we take away is that it’s about what God sees in the hearts of the two brothers that matters. He approves of Abel’s heart but not Cain’s. He demonstrates this by giving Cain an opportunity to repent. Cain’s actions only further reveal the condition of his heart though. He murders his brother in cold blood out of jealousy. Just as Jesus calls out and despises the twisted hearts of the scribes, God curses Cain and the wickedness in his heart.
We see from these stories a pattern in what God seeks and approves of. The distinction being made is that while people might look at the amount of someone’s offering or their appearance in doing so, God is looking at our hearts. 1 Samuel 16:7 shares what God tells Samuel to look for in His anointed:
“But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
God is not interested in the appearance of things. He knows that it can be faked and insincere. God is interested in how things really are, hidden deep within the heart.
THE BIG IDEA:
The condition of our hearts is deeply important to God, more so than the total amount we have to offer. While we certainly can conclude that God loves a generous giver from Mark 12:41-44, it isn’t just a story about generosity. The widow is an accurate picture of what a disciple of Christ has to offer at face value. We are deeply impoverished and lacking in spirit and gifts. To be approved by God we must adopt the mindset and posture that we are like the raggedy old widow. As His servants, we must accept the reality that we are destitute and severely lacking. While our flesh would like to think we can parade into the temple pridefully and have much to offer that others should take note of, we are fooling ourselves. We must acknowledge that apart from God, our good works on their own are like filthy rags. They mean nothing if they are for ourselves instead of an outpouring of our identity in Christ.
This is why Jesus points out this widow to His disciples. He is pointing to the posture and heart condition His disciples need to adopt to be approved by God. The widow is cloaked in humility and poverty as she gives all that she has. She is a reflection of how Jesus came into the world. He was not recognized as important by the vast majority of people nor did He come with great monetary wealth or titles. The Godman presented Himself as a humble servant seeking to obey the will of the Father by offering up all of Himself. It cost Him His life. And Jesus already made it clear that it is the same cost of being His disciple.
This story of the widow actually beckons us to look back to Mark 8:34-38, where Jesus first explains in Mark what an approved offering from His followers looks like.
34 “And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever would save his life[d] will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. 36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? 37 For what can a man give in return for his soul? 38 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
Mark 8:34-38
The path of Jesus’ disciple is denial. We must say “no” to all the temptations of this world that are aimed at pleasing and glorifying ourselves. The path of Jesus’ disciples is also acceptance. We take up our cross by willingly accepting any and all suffering and shame as a result of following Christ. And the path of Jesus’ disciples is submission. We submit to the will of God by trusting Him to lead us as we follow closely behind.
All of this helps paint the richer picture laid out in Mark 12:41-44. At the heart of this passage is the big idea that God seeks and approves a devoted and sacrificial heart. Jesus sat down in the temple that day to find someone whose offering He approved of and delighted in. He identifies the widow and sees her heart of devotion and sacrifice. Though she was poor, she didn’t hold back, but gave all that she had to offer God that day.
APPLICATION:
So what do we take away from this passage from a practical standpoint? How do we get to live in light of what we know about God, what He has done, and our identity as His devoted and sacrificial disciples?
How we get to live in light of the story of the widow is simple, but not easy. We get to live a life of devotion and sacrifice knowing that God is looking for and approves of us living this way. If we desire to be followers of Christ, we must walk closely behind Him, allowing him to lead us.
Every morning when we wake and as we go about our day until we go to bed we must remind ourselves that it is another day that we get to offer up to the Lord. Everything God has given us each day has to be on the table for His good purposes. The paycheck deposited in our bank accounts each month belongs to God. The house and cars and even children we’ve been blessed with can be used as an offering to God. It doesn’t necessarily mean we have to sell all our possessions, but we should continually dedicate them to serving God. With our children, it means training them up to do the same and being willing to help send them to whatever mission field God calls them to.
With that mindset, we should also be evaluating if the things in our lives are helping us be more devoted to Him or if they are merely there to serve and please us. Is our job a place where we glorify and reflect God through our hard work and attitude? Does that job serve people well? Is it meaningful and productive? Do our houses, cars, vacations, and many possessions point to our own wealth and comfort or play a role in helping us point ourselves and others to Christ?
I struggle with this tension everyday. There are things I want and I keep in my life just for me. It feels good, even though it leads me away from God. All my human heart wants to do sometimes is to withdraw from it all and sit peacefully delighting in my books, my movies, my little routines, my precious family; and to just block out the rest of the world, a world we all know has been bursting with pain, loss, injustice, and violence the past two weeks. It could be incredibly easy to ignore the pain and fear felt from the African American community, from business owners who’ve had their livelihoods destroyed, from people whose family members are police officers on the frontlines. My sinfulness tells me that if I pretend it doesn’t exist and build up walls of comfort around myself, that I don’t have to engage. This is not how it should be. I must repent for my inaction. My heart desperately needs redeeming. I need to actively seek to listen to hurting people, to fight for godly justice, and point people to the only hope that any of us have for goodness to prosper.
Devotion and sacrifice are no joke. It is difficult. So let us continue to pray for the strength, humility, and wisdom in knowing how to be devoted and sacrificial to God in a world that tells us to accumulate wealth and prosperity for ourselves and our families. A world that either tells us to turn a blind eye to injustice and pain or to angrily and violently revolt. May we approach God’s throne like the poor widow, offering up all we have to give independent of whether it appears like a huge gift or only a small sum to others. Because we know that God is looking at the heart of our giving.
REPENTANCE & REDEMPTION THROUGH COMMUNION
While it rails against our fleshly desires, repentance and redemption are the vehicles through which we approach God and prove ourselves worthy as His devoted and sacrificial servants.
When our hearts belong to God, we recognize that our worth only comes from pursuing the One in whose image we were created. And we cannot pursue Him if we don’t give up the things that He hates and the things we withhold from Him. We must continually turn to repentance, letting go of the sin we so often cling to so dearly.
Brothers and sisters, this is what life is! God’s redemptive breath coursing through our hearts, our thoughts, our actions, and our possessions, so that they may be used for His glory. Like the poor widow, we must offer up all of ourselves no matter the amount.
And Communion is our faithful reminder to let go so that we may continue to be made new. It is when we remember what Christ has done for us. So at this time, as we get ready to sing and praise God again, whether you are with your family or if you are gathered with your house church, reflect on what part of your life needs redeeming. Think. Does it need to be removed or is this something that you need to dedicate to God and allow Him to breathe new life into? We should repent of our wrongdoing and remember the transformational power of Christ to save. His body broken for us, His blood poured out for us so that we might truly live as the devoted and sacrificial servants God seeks and approves of.
Let’s pray.
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