Hello again friends,
Below is my homily for November 10th, the 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Gospel passage was Mark 12:38-44, the one where Jesus sees the widow in the temple putting her last two coins into the treasury. This passage has an interesting and diverse interpretive tradition, which I tried to illuminate.
I hope you find it helpful.
Humbly,
Joshua
1 Kgs 17:10-16
Heb 9:24-28
Mk 12:38-44
Our Gospel passage today is a poignant one. It tells of a contrast of giving in the temple.
You have the rich people putting in large sums from their surplus wealth and the widow who puts two small coins in—all the money she had in the world.
A very common reading of this passage is that it is meant to praise the widow. The rich folks sacrificed little in their giving, but the widow, through her faith in God, sacrificed all she had. It’s an example to the reader that the point is not necessarily how much you give, but the heart—the faith—behind it.
In our acts of charity, we push against the forces in our world that want to shape us toward worship of wealth and possessions. These are, arguably, the most hallowed gods of our time and place, so it takes great effort on our part to resist their idolization. Acts of charity are part of our resistance.
As we are entering our stewardship campaign, thinking about ways we can support this parish through our time, talents, and treasures, it’s not a bad message to meditate on.
More recently, however, scholars have begun to come to a different conclusion regarding what this passage is trying to tell us. And a lot of it has to do with the preceding text.
The first part of our reading was a condemnation of the scribes, a word that Mark essentially uses here as a stand-in for the Jewish leaders. In that condemnation, Jesus says,
"Beware of the scribes, who like to go around in long robes
and accept greetings in the marketplaces,
seats of honor in synagogues,
and places of honor at banquets.
They devour the houses of widows and, as a pretext
recite lengthy prayers.”
“They devour the houses of the widows.” It seems like the point Jesus is trying to make is less about praising the widow for giving all she had than it is about rebuking the religious leaders for taking advantage of her.
Through their requirements of giving in the temple and their lack of charity, they have taken the last of this woman’s livelihood, leaving her destitute—devouring her house. And if Jesus wasn’t keeping a close eye, the assumption is that no one would have noticed.
Now, I think we can go too far with this interpretation. Some commentators, it seems to me, in emphasizing the cruelty of the leaders in their exploitation, cast the widow as a helpless, ignorant woman, blindly giving her last two coins to the temple.
But I think two things can be true at once. The leaders, and the system they are employing, are taking advantage of the most vulnerable in this situation. And at the same time, this widow, one of those being taken advantage of, is acting in generosity in the face of her hardship.
We can, I think, take both lessons from this.
As a church, especially the leaders in the church, this passage challenges us to be diligent in caring for the most vulnerable among us. Christ calls us to be a place where, rather than creating undue burden, we go out of our way to meet each other’s needs. This starts by, like Jesus, being on the lookout, noticing when someone is in need.
And as individuals, this passage challenges us to be generous beyond what is considered reasonable. Sometimes, love means going out of our way, giving more than we think we can handle, driving farther, getting up earlier, or staying up later.
Ultimately, it means resisting the gods of this world and trusting in Christ. What may seem foolish to some is, in fact, a deeper and truer wisdom—a wisdom flowing from the cross.