SCRIPTURE: Mark 12:38-44
TEXT: 44c put in everything she had, all she had to live on. THEME: Living an attitude of devotion towards God. INTRODUCTION Charlie Kaneyama* told this joke at my home church in Waimea. When Charlie was young boy, his mother sent him to Sunday school, and gave him one dime for offering, and one dime for ice cream after Sunday school. Oh, he was so happy, walking to Sunday school. He was playing with the coins as he walks when all of a sudden, one of the coins got away from him, it fell to the ground and rolled down the storm drain. Poor Charlie was so sad, he looked up to heaven and said, “Dear God, I’m so sorry what happened to your dime.” SCRIPTURE Looking at the events that take place in the last week of Jesus’ life It sees that Judaism is taking a turn away from temple worship to a relationship model. Jesus began his week in Jerusalem by ridding the temple court of unnecessary distractions, clearing the way for those who were seeking God. As he teaches in the temple, he fields questions from the congregation to help them move towards the loving intent of God and to live in relationship with God. When the questioning became antagonistic, a scribe jumps in and asks a question about the Commandments. This calls to consciousness the behavior of the inquisitors, as those who love God and are to be loving towards each other’s. Jesus recognized that this scribe was close to the Kingdom of God. As Jesus continues his time in the temple, he makes a scathing criticism of the temple religion in the form of a warning. “Beware of the scribes who are in the temple religion for themselves and not for God.” The temple attitude of market place racketeering shows itself in the behavior in how the scribes take advantage of the most vulnerable for their own benefit and prestige. Jesus then witnesses the effect of their selfishness as a poor widow comes forward to place two coper coins into the treasury. She could have been one of those widows who was devoured by greedy scribes. She followed the ostentatious displays of wealth, as loud offerings called attention to the givers. But she was not deterred or ashamed. She is poor but knows that she has a right and a place to be here in the temple and gives her offering. She offers all that she has to live on to the treasury. This woman of faith gives each other’s herself to God. What is being ignored by the snobs is noticed by Jesus. He tells the disciples, 44a“All have contributed out of abundance but she in her poverty has put in everything she had…” Throughout Jesus’ ministry, he has been repeating the theme of serving others and not being served. It is not a matter of who is the greatest or sits at the right or left side of Jesus. The Kingdom of God is more like what we do in welcoming children, we enfold them with our resources, we include them as heirs, we help them, nurture them, teach them, instill our faith in them, enrich their lives with our values and our culture, we do all of this with no benefit to ourselves, but with a caring for them and a hoping for their future. Holding this vision of the Kingdom of God, Jesus notices the widow’s actions and raises her to a position of power and influence of the community, by her attitude of devotion, her act of service and her sacrificial trust in God. APPLICATION Despite how she has been treated. She has kept her faith in God. She does not back down by the looks of others, but is confident in her relationship with God. She contributes all she has to live on, to live on what God will provide. How does the church respond to God’s mandates of love? When I was in college, I was on an allowance. There were times when I ran short of cash. I remember one Sunday; I placed my last two dollars in the offering plate with about a couple more weeks before my next allowance. I didn’t tell anyone and decided to suffer in silence. After service, one of the members of the church invited me to dinner. I was sent home with left overs that held me to the middle of the week when some other Christian friend took me out to eat. And The church, my Christian friends helped me even though they didn’t know it. Just by being who they were in Christ. This is how Jann and I began our marriage. After we got married, we left for the mainland for my last year of seminary. The money we deposited in my checking account needed 10 working days before it cleared so we were left with nothing to live on for the next two weeks. Again, it was the people of the church that I was attending that took care of us without even knowing. Friends from seminary also came to our rescue. It was answered prayer by the Body of Christ just being the Body of Christ with each other. We don’t have to go out of our way to live in service of others, it may be a meal, sharing papayas, lending a helping hand, a phone call, giving a ride, or a generosity in how we live our lives with God and others with thankfulness, gratitude and worshipping God. Community is built by living in this way as loving relationships are fostered. CONCLUSION Charlie Kaneyama’s joke is funny because we feel the same dilemma with our finances, when we spend what we intended to give to God, while making sure we have our share for ice cream. It is an uncomfortable situation giving up what we think is ours, towards a treasury that already has wealthy contributors. But it is not about how much is in the treasury as much as it is about what we do with what we have, with what is in our hearts. Jesus talks about serving others and not being served. When we are a steward of what we have, there is a portion for us to worship God, by giving a part of ourselves to God and a part for us to live on. Being a steward of the gifts of God in this way, we are influencers of community and culture with our attitude of devotion towards God. *Charlie Kaneyama, grew up in the plantain camps in Kekaha. He learned to play the ukulele from Hawaiian friends. His day job was working at the plantation but his passion was music and entertaining. He taught the ukulele to children and had a troupe that performed all over the island at multiple events. He told jokes and did magic tricks. He was a member of the Waimea Christian Church. Good humored, humble, kind, faithful and great story teller.
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