+ 25th Sunday after Pentecost – November 11th, 2018 +
Series B: 1 Kings 17:8-16; Hebrews 9:24-28; Mark 12:38-44
Beautiful Savior Lutheran, Milton
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
You say “up”, the child says “down”. You say “Yes”, they say “No!” You tell them to sit and eat their dinner, and they run around the table faster than Usain Bolt. We’ve all been there…playing the opposite game. Sometimes it’s funny, other times it’s frustrating. And yet, there’s a deep Scriptural truth hidden in this little word game.
The Kingdom of God is hidden in the opposite of what we’d expect.
God chose Moses the stutterer to speak to Pharaoh and lead Israel out of slavery in Egypt. God chose the family tree of King David, the murder and adulterer, to bear the kingdom of God in human flesh. God chose to speak to the prophet Elijah – not by fire or whirlwind – but in the still voice of His Word.
In the New Testament God even seems to one-up (or is it one-down) himself. God becomes man. A boy. A child. A baby. For you. The Kingdom of God wrapped in our humanity is the exact image and imprint of his Heavenly Father. Everything Jesus says and does follows the backwards, upside down, opposite ways of the Father.
In Jesus, the kingdom of God is hidden in the opposite of what we’d expect. A Virgin’s Son. A crucified King. Sinners saved solely by the blood of Jesus. The Kingdom of heaven is hidden in the emptiness of the One who emptied himself, taking on the form of a servant, and was found in the likeness of men; it is hidden in the emptiness of the widow’s purse.
No wonder the Scribes and Pharisees were so upset with Jesus. They lived for and loved the opposite of everything Jesus taught. They loved the attention, the applause, and the spotlight; they loved the place of honor, loved to be noticed and recognized on the street, in the marketplace, and in the synagogues.
Beware the scribes, Jesus says. And beware of the scribe within each of us as well. For if Jesus’ words reveal the corruption and wickedness of Israel’s religious leaders, Jesus’ words also reveal our corruption and wickedness. The selfish, self-serving, navel-gazing ways of the scribes reflect our own selfish, self-serving, navel gazing sin.
Jesus’ words reveal two opposite value systems. In the kingdom of sinful humanity, our value, importance, and status is found in us, it’s self-centered. In the Kingdom of God, our value, importance, and status is found in the cross of Jesus, in his sacrifice, his humility, his life for you.
And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums.And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny.
Jesus sat in the temple court with his disciples, waiting, watching the people come and go. So was everyone else. Like spectators at a fireworks show, the expectant crowds would wait for the rich to deposit their offerings. They would watch and listen as the long-necked, metal trumpets filled the courtyard like a gramophone with a chorus of coins. The larger the gift, the louder the music. The crowds looked on in amazement. The rich swelled with pride.
With all the clatter it would be impossible to hear the widow’s two small coins. No one heard it. No one saw it. Only Jesus, who in his goodness and mercy cares for the widow and the orphan. “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box.”
The kingdom of God is hidden in the opposites, like this poor widow. But we miss the whole point of this story if we think this it’s only about the poor widow’s offering, and not something greater. It’s not a story teaching us what we must do for God, but what God in Christ will do and has done for us.
The good news of this story isn’t, “Look at this poor widow; she gave all she had. Be like her. Give it all up and God will bless you.” That’s not good news at all. She gave all she had, the whole of her life she gave. Who of us has done that? Not me. Not you. But there is one who has.
The widow’s offering points us not to ourselves and our own giving, but to Jesus and his backwards, upside down, opposite ways of his Kingdom. Jesus’ self-giving on the cross, where the last are first. The broken are healed. The lost are found. The least are the greatest. The lowly are exalted.
The kingdom of God comes not by our living like the scribes or giving like the poor widow…but in the selfless, sacrificial giving of Jesus crucified and risen for you. In his gift of saving faith by grace in Jesus. In the Son of Man who came not to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for you. In the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, who though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.In King Jesus who left his heavenly throne and appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
The kingdom of God comes to us, hidden in plain water hallowed by God’s Word and promise. The Kingdom of God comes to us hidden in that quarter size piece of bread placed into our mouth. The kingdom of God comes to us hidden in the nakedness and shame of our crucified King enthroned on the cross where Jesus gave all he had, his whole life for you; where he filled the Father’s treasury – not with copper, gold, or silver – but by shedding his holy, saving blood – every last drop – for you.
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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