Here she is again in today’s Gospel (Mark 12:38-44): the widow who goes up to the temple treasury to put in her two cents.
Every year she shows up at stewardship time. Teachers and preachers love to point and say, “Look at her! Truly I tell you, she has put in more than all the others.”
That is not literally true, of course. In terms of quantity, many people in that line put a lot more money in the temple offering. Certainly she has earned a reputation through the centuries as a good example of sacrificial giving. Yet I have a hunch this anonymous woman would be embarrassed by the recognition she has received in thousands of stewardship sermons.
The fact is, this woman is one of the nameless saints in the Gospel of Mark. She stands in the same company with two other anonymous women. The first had a hemorrhage, and touched the cloak of Jesus to get well.
The other anointed Jesus for death by breaking open a costly bottle of perfume. Like them, this woman comes out of the shadows for a moment and then disappears just as suddenly.
We don’t know much about her. Was she old or young? Did she have a house full of children or did she rock an empty cradle? We don’t know where she lived, what she did with her days, or what kind of support she received from her extended family.
Mark suggests only three details about her. First, she was a widow. Second, she was poor. And third, she gave everything she had as a gift to support her place of worship.
Ever since, the question before the church is whether or not we will keep her on our list of saints….
The single most reliable and most accurate measure of our spiritual life and where we stand with God is how we use our money. Money is such a dominant force in our lives that it greatly figures into the condition of our spiritual lives and our immortal souls.
Money is such a dominant force in all of our lives that it determines who is or who is not the President of the United States. PLEASE REFLECT ON ALL OF THESE POINTS.
DON’T BE SO FOCUSED ON YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES THAT YOU CAN’T SEE JESUS!
Please share today’s Message with your family and friends.
