The Rev. James A. Todhunter "Poverty and
Generosity" In the story from Mark's Gospel this morning, Jesus deals with one of his favorite topics: the relationship between money and spirituality. The way Mark frames the story is illuminating. The Gospel writer dramatically contrasts the rich and the poor. The rich are described as well-dressed, extremely religious, very status conscious, and able to put large sums of money in the offering box. The poor (the widow is the biblical symbol of destitution) have virtually nothing at all. And she contributes what little she has - a penny. Jesus says that the rich contributed out of their abundance, she out of her poverty. What a dramatic contrast between the lifestyle of the rich and famous and that of the poor. And, the writer is very clear in saying that, though the rich and poor live in separate worlds, one thing connects them: the rich are rich because they steal from the poor. Long before the days of Karl Marx, Mark says of the rich, "They devour widows' houses." Strong language. In some ways this is a kind of sociological snapshot of Jesus' time and place: a dramatic gap between the well-heeled and the miserably wretched, and a system maintained through the exploitation of the poor by the rich. This situation was, sadly, not unique. Seven hundred years before, the prophets of Ancient Israel condemned similar conditions. So did the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., thirty years ago. So do others today. Social injustice is a sin, and that is what bothers both Mark and Jesus. But Jesus has something else on his mind, too. And to get clear about this, we must look more closely at his words. The scribes and the widow are both donating to the Temple, making their religious, charitable contributions. And Jesus says, "This poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury." Now, obviously in tangible terms she hasn't. So what does Jesus mean? Does he mean that she has put in a greater relative amount, a higher percentage than the others? Perhaps. In fact studies have clearly shown the poor are more generous than the rich, if you measure this in terms of giving compared to income. But I don't think Jesus is simply saying that she rates higher on the generosity scale than the rich givers. What is he saying then? Jesus says, "She gave everything she had to live on." I began by saying that this story is about money and spirituality. Now you may think this is a stewardship sermon, but not exactly. After all last week was Pledge Sunday. (Well, there are still a number of pledges out). I think, frankly, that Jesus would run a pretty bad fund raising effort. No doubt his campaign slogan would be something like "Give away all you have, including what you have to live on, and follow me!" Something tells me the line behind him would be short. I think Jesus is saying that the spirituality of this widow woman was of a radically different order than that of the scribes. Why did they give? The Bible is clear. The scribes were the secure establishment types of their day (I will be discrete in not drawing parallels to any current professional groups). Why did they give to the treasury? Jesus is clear. They gave to get recognition: to be greeted in the market place with respect, to get the best seats in the synagogue, and places of honor at the banquets. That is why they gave and what they paid for - visibility, influence, status, and a personal relationship with the maitre d' at Four Seasons. Their giving was an example of what has been called "strategic altruism." The late writer Harold Brodkey captures this well in a story which describes growing up in the Midwest of the nineteen forties. The narrator says "In those days, fine or 'distinguished' families had a decided moral tone: social climbing had a moral cast to it - as in how much you gave to charity and how much charitable work you did..." Their spirituality, such as it was, was directly related to their efforts to secure and maintain status and power. And Jesus says it was bogus. Now comes this widow. Who is she really? What is she like? We know her only by what she has done. She has given her last penny to the Temple. Is she so very generous? Is she simply crazy? Let me tell you what I think. I think she is a person who is in such dire straits, that she has no choice but to throw her life into God's hands. She is engaging in a desperate gamble. A victim of poverty and exploitation and rejection by society, she is engaging in a dramatic leap of faith. She has none of the complacency and cunning and smugness of the rich. She is like the man who brings his dying daughter to Jesus and cries out "I believe, help thou my unbelief!" She is like blind Bartimaeus who refuses to be silenced, crying out "Jesus! Son of David, save me!" She is like the Syrophoenician woman who demands that Jesus listen to her. She is the person who has run out of options, has no more choices, no more strategies, no more hope. And now in one dramatic gesture she gives away all she has to live on. In the frantic hope that....that what? Jesus says, "She gave more." She was giving her very life. Jesus says "They gave out of their abundance, she out of her poverty." In Luke's Gospel Jesus says, "Blessed are you poor. Woe to you rich." And in Matthew "Blessed are the poor in spirit." Jesus says that when we give out of what he have, it is hard for us to make it mean something. We measure, we calculate, we plan, we manage. When we give out of what we don't have, there can be no doubt of our sincerity of faith. Now again, this is not simply about economics. It is about the spirit. Take money out of it completely for a moment. What does it mean to be generous with ourselves, generous in spirit with one another? Most of the time we like to be around people when we feel good. Full of life and full of ourselves. We can brag about how well our children are doing, how well our marriages are, how good work is going. How about those wedding pictures! That's not all bad. I like doing that and I like hearing about how well others are doing. But that may have little to do with generosity of spirit, and can easily slip toward boastful self-aggrandizement. Human nature. It is giving to one another out of our abundance of spirit. But how well do we share out of our poverty of spirit? I don't mean how easily do we complain about our ailments or kvetch about our in-laws. How easily do we share the genuine desperation we may feel about what we are going through? How often do we strive to maintain composure around others and keep a smile in the face of what may be scaring us to death. I sat across from a person a while back who said to me "I am at risk of losing everything that has given my life meaning - my health, my work, my most cherished relationships. I am afraid I have come to the end of my rope. I am desperate." I am telling you there is power in that kind of honesty. A person at that point cannot be cheered up or advised or helped. All you can do is sit in the presence of pain and dread. But yet that very authenticity of spirit is itself a kind of prayer. We often joke and say "When all else fails, try prayer." But it's true. Jesus said the long prayers of the scribes were meaningless. So prayer isn't eloquent phrases strung together to impress others and God. Prayer is rooted in the recognition of a helplessness that rises up from the depths of a human soul in pain. And to have the courage to share that pain with another is a great act of generosity. It is a gift. To let others see you at your worst and let them love you and take care of you is the greatest gift you can offer. To be unable or unwilling to let others know your pain is really to be stingy of spirit. I believe that the ability to receive love is just as important, even more so, than the ability to give love. And I believe that this ability to receive love has within it the power to heal. I really believe. Yes, I know it is said that it is more blessed to give than to receive. But your greatest gift to another is your ability to let yourself be disclosed, to be known. The widow gave out of her poverty. She literally gave out of her nothingness and Jesus seems to imply that she went away filled. I have used the phrase in the past "the hole in the soul." It is something we all carry. We are all broken. We are all terminally ill. We are all clinging desperately to life. The widow was honest about it. The scribes were deluding themselves - filling their emptiness with the "bread of anxious toil" as the Psalmist says. I said before that in giving away all she possessed, in giving out of her poverty, the widow in the story was taking a risk, making a gamble. I have always thought the French philosopher Blaise Pascal had it right when he said that faith in God is a wager. A bet you make one way or the other with your life. Either there is a God or there isn't. And the only way you will know is to make the bet. And if you put all your money on God, and you are wrong, what have you lost? But if you put your money on God and you are right, you've won it all. AMEN Back to Table of Contents. |