Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Good morning, friends. Let's take a moment and pray.
Holy and gracious God, give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that with our hearts enlightened, we may know the hope to which Christ has called us, the riches of his glorious inheritance among us, and the greatness of his power for those who believe. Amen.
This morning we'll be skipping through Luke a little bit, beginning in. Luke twelve. Starting in.
Yeah, Luke twelve, verse 32 to 34, which is on page 847 of your p Bible. And then we'll jump over to Luke 20.
Let's hear from God.
Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give alms, make purses for yourselves that do not wear out an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
And now chapter 20, beginning in verse 45, which you'll find on page 856 in the hearing of all the people, he said to the disciples, beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes and love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor. At the banquets, they devour widows houses, and for the sake of appearance, say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.
He looked up and saw rich people putting their gifts to the treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. He said, truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them, for all of them have contributed out of their abundance. But she, out of her poverty, has put in all she had to live on.
This is the word of the Lord.
[00:02:09] Speaker B: So this past February, I attended the Calvin Symposium on reformed worship in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It was Marianne who first turned me on to that. I learned she was one of the keynote speakers there and heard and listened to some of the music and thought, I've got to get there. So I've now been there, along with our former director, worship director Elise Carver. Jill's been there, hope to get others as well. The symposium brings together all kinds of pastors and worship leaders and musicians, all in Michigan at exactly the time you don't want to be there, which is the dead of winter, but there's some amazing worship that takes place during that time. You get to hear great preaching from preachers. They pull in from not only all over the country, but all over the world. You get to hear gospel choirs and visiting choirs and guest musicians and worship leading ensembles. You get to hear various instruments, gospel music, a variety of musical forms. And it was particularly in a large sanctuary, this auditorium on the campus of Calvin, where so many people are gathered together. It is a powerful experience to join so many voices from people, with people all over, giving praise and thanks to God. Certainly it was a time for me of rich communion with the God that we call our loving parent and know through Christ and is present with us by the power of the Holy Spirit. Well, in between these amazing gatherings for worship, and we'd have several a day, we would go to particular workshops, and we'd tackle a particular topic in smaller sort of breakout sessions. And one that I attended dealt with preaching in particular, and it was intriguing to me. It was called prophetic preaching. Mark Laberton, who's a former president at Fuller Theological Seminary, was one of the presenters. And we learned as we gathered that one of the presenters was not able to be with us in person. So we were then told that this presenter was still able to offer a video message. And then on a big screen, we got to see and hear from Mitri Raheb, the longtime pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bethlehem, Palestine. He was not able to be with us in person as planned, he said on this video, given the crisis in Gaza right now. But he shared via video about the suffering of the people of Palestine, about how churches there were leaning on the liberating gospel of Christ. And he called upon us as participants not only to give aid to the people of Palestine, but to be advocates for them in calling for an end to the violence.
Now, what he shared did not remove or solve the complexities and the various systemic issues that are associated with the Middle east and that conflict today and as it has existed for decades. But looking back on that time and on what that Bethlehem Palestine pastor shared, I saw it as a helpful reminder for those of us who just come from a time of praising the triune God, that christian life is not just about giving praise and glory to God in worship. It's also about loving our neighbor, loving that neighbor right next to us, loving that neighbor locally, and loving that neighbor in as far away a location as Bethlehem Palestine or Israel or another part of the world. And given the ways we are connected as individuals and nations today with the world faithfulness and loving our global as well as our local neighbor is part of the journey.
Well, here at Knox, we have been looking at practices that Jesus highlights in his teaching and his example according to the Gospel of Luke. It's a sermon series called Habits of the heart. And in this series, we're looking at how the transformation that God in Christ brings about in our hearts leads to concrete practices.
And you might have noticed that some of those practices are very much focused on our relationship with God, on loving God. We began the series looking at scripture study, at worship and praise. Mary Ann offered a powerful sermon on giving thanks to God last Sunday. If you were here, you got to hear the Reverend Karen Burns give a sermon on prayer. Powerful and vital practices of the christian life that Jesus himself directs his followers to engage in and engages in himself. But in Luke, Jesus doesn't just direct people's attention to God, though he does precisely that on many occasions. Jesus also points the attention of his followers to their neighbor, especially that neighbor in need. And so Tod Bolsinger reminded us some weeks back of the good Samaritan passage and lifted up that practice of hospitality as Jesus communicated it. Tommy Givens will be preaching next week about Jesus'entry into Jerusalem and the practices of service and sacrifice that this offers. Today's story from Luke tells of a time where if people thought they were going to the Jerusalem temple just to worship God, if they thought they were just going to get time in that immense, grand auditorium for worship and ancient jewish life to fix their gaze on the creator of the universe, they had another thing coming.
For Jesus points their attention not to the one he had taught his disciples to pray to, saying, our Father, who art in heaven, Jesus points his listeners to earth and to a living, breathing, human neighbor right in front of them.
Now, what practice is Jesus highlighting as he directs his people's attention to this widow and her two copper coin offering? Well, that's a fascinating question, and I'm really glad you asked it.
You see, two separate answers are given as to what this story of the widow and her two copper coins was all about.
It's like people see in this one story two different women. Have you seen this image before?
Even if you have, I wonder what woman strikes your eye first? Which woman do you see in this picture?
Maybe you look at it and you see an older woman whose left eye is right there, whose mouth is right there, and whose nose is here.
Maybe that's the woman you saw.
But then perhaps the woman you saw was a younger woman, whose left ear is right there, whose cheekbone is here, and who's wearing a necklace, and whose right eye is over there.
Which woman did you see? It's interesting, isn't it, to think about how the same picture can call to our eye, depending on our perspective, two different women. Well, some people read today's story of a widow and her two copper coin offering, and they see a portrait of alms giving. They see Jesus painting a portrait of generosity. Earlier in Luke's gospel, you heard read in the scripture text, Jesus said to his followers, sell your possessions and give alms. The greek word that is often translated as alms can mean mercy or charity or benevolence. It was often used in reference to the poor and to those in need. And some see in this passage the story of the widow as a case study in exemplary generosity. In Alms giving, her action of placing two copper coins in the temple treasury is a living sermon illustration of exactly what Jesus was talking about back in Luke twelve when he said, sell your possessions and give alms. She gave all she had and then contributes it.
And there was a common theme in Greek literature, going back to at least the 6th century BCE, of how the poor, those of very modest means, would give offerings and how the gods would receive these offerings and be far more satisfied with those than with even the lavish offerings of the rich. That was a common theme we find in greek literature. The widow, the orphan, and the immigrant in ancient times were categories of people that were especially vulnerable, prone to being destitute and often poor. And so lifting up a poor widow as an example of one so often poor and destitute and yet exemplary in her alms giving, might shame the rich and say, look at that example from a widow engaging in that action that so classically benefits the widow, the orphan, and the immigrant. Some even imagine that the receptacle we don't read about this particular treasury receptacle often in the New Testament, there are just a few references to it. And some imagine that precisely the receptacle in the temple that this widow dropped her coins into might have been one of the trumpet receptacles. There were 13 of them that we read about in the Mishnah that were located in the court of women on the temple grounds. Several of them were meant for the temple tax or the temple dues, others for required offerings. But there were some that were related specifically to voluntary offerings over and above. Some imagine it was into those receptacles that the widow put her offering, and some imagine even further that she might have put her offering into what was called the Chamber of Secrets. The chamber of Secrets we read about in the Mishnah was a sort of a treasury that was not as prominently placed, and yet when you offered it, you often did so in secret, and that offering went specifically to benefit the poor. It was like a first century deacons fund where people might give to that in secret, and it might go to benefit the poor in secret. You recall in Matthew's gospel how Jesus said to give alms, not by blasting a trumpet, maybe calling to mind those trumpet receptacles for the offering. But Jesus said, do it in secret. And so some imagine the widow chose not to put her offering in one of the trumpet receptacles, but the chamber of secrets. And Jesus is saying, look, this is what true giving involves. Not blasting a trumpet or using one of those ostentatious trumpet receptacles, but rather giving in secret and having it benefit those in need in secret.
Maybe that's the widow you saw in today's passage, the alms giving widow.
But some see quite a different portrait in this painting Jesus makes some see quite a different story and a different practice lifted up when Jesus points his disciples attention to this particular widow. Sure, back in Luke twelve, Jesus had lifted up alms giving as a habit of the heart for christian disciples. But just before the story of the widow's offering, Jesus had condemned the practice of the scribes as those practices specifically related to widows. Jesus had decried how the scribes loved to walk around in log robes and be greeted with respect and say their long prayers for the sake of appearances. But they devoured, Jesus says, devoured widows'houses. Our savior sounds like the prophet Isaiah, doesn't he? Who proclaimed to the jewish people and their authorities in his time, ah, you who make iniquitous decrees, who write oppressive statutes to turn, well, just after that Isaiah like critique Jesus offers, just after he laments how the scribes devour widows'houses, Jesus points to a poor widow giving an offertory in the treasury.
Wouldn't it stand to reason that she is an example of what Jesus had just criticized in the scribes? When Jesus says how the widow had given all she had to live on, wouldn't it make sense that Jesus was lamenting this and saying, look how this widow, right before your eyes, is being made destitute by a system that benefits the religious authorities, that benefits this particular system and the chief priests and the scribes or lawyers, and harms the poor, like this widow, forcing her to give her last penny. Some imagine the receptacle for this widow's two coins was not the trumpet container for the voluntary offerings, nor was it the chamber of secrets. She was rather paying the required temple tax or dues that Jesus is arguing left the poor destitute. There, Jesus may be saying, is an example of the religious authorities of your time devouring widows'houses. It's happening before your eyes.
Some read today's passage, and they see not an alms giving widow. They see Jesus as an exemplary advocate for the widow and calling upon his disciples to follow his example. Some see in this text the very God who we read in Deuteronomy defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the immigrant residing among you, giving them food and clothing. That great passage from God's Torah goes on to say, as the prophets do you, God's people should be defenders of the widow and the orphan and the immigrant. Jesus, in his words about the scribes and his words about the widow's two coin offering, may simply be following the example of Isaiah and Amos and Micah in decrying unjust systems, that he felt harmed the poor and the widow.
So which picture do you see? Which woman jumps out in that particular portrait? Do you see an alms giving story or do you see an advocacy story? Which do I see? Oh, I was wishing you wouldn't ask that.
You know, there have been times in my life I was absolutely certain this is an alms giving story. And then there have been times in my life I was absolutely certain this was an advocacy story. So as I prepared for this story, this particular sermon, I went back to commentaries and read some new commentaries and wrestled with this question. And friends, I'm going to have to leave it to you all to decide. It's a hard question. However, wherever you land on the story of the widow and the two copper coins, know that there are plenty of passages in the scriptures that lift up both. In many ways. How you interpret the passage of the widow's two coins depends on which. Earlier passage from Luke you're looking to. Are you looking to Luke twelve? If so, you'll see that alms giving example. Are you looking instead to Luke 20, to the passage right before Luke 21? In that case, you might see the advocacy example. But here's what I hope you'll take from this. Both alms giving and advocacy are vibrant parts of an engaged christian life, alms giving and advocacy. And both are tied to the God we worship, the God who loves us, the God made flesh in Jesus Christ. On one hand, we worship an alms giving God, don't we? Our savior gave his very life for us when we did not have the resources to save ourselves in our poverty. We were met by God's benevolence and alms giving to us. Jesus, we read in scriptures, gives to the hungry, the very bread of life. He gives healing to the sick, liberty to the captive, good news to the poor. He invites poor sinners to a banquet where bread and fish are shared, where God is praised, and where all have enough. It's a divine alms giver, a divine mercy giver that we have and we have known personally in Jesus Christ. And so, in the face of God's lavish generosity to us in Christ, God's glorious action of alms giving to us, in him making us one with God, showing us God's generosity, we in turn, as those claimed by Christ, give alms. We practice generosity.
But on the other hand, we worship a divine advocate. And it is that advocate we also see and know. In Christ our faith proclaims. It is Christ who advocates for us before the God of creation, before God the Father, before our judge. And it is Christ in whose righteousness we are clothed before God. It is Christ who cleanses us, Christ whose life and sacrifice saves us, Christ whose very life gives us life. We proclaim that though we were sinners, Christ died for us and rose for us. He is our advocate before God. And it is in Christ we are declared God's beloved children, because we have that loving advocate as our savior. And this advocating savior who in his life and teaching points us to that God we read about in the Torah and the prophets and the psalms, a God who advocates for the widow, the orphan, and the immigrant, that God calls the faithful to reflect God's heart in the world and be advocates alms giving and advocacy. There are wonderful examples in history of the two coming together in the christian life. The Reformed scholar and historian Hughes Oliphant old wrote about a time in history when reformation came to Nuremberg, Germany, that cosmopolitan center at the time. And it led not just to new church practices related to worship. It gave people not only the chance to worship in German, the common tongue, which, speaking personally, I would have found, led to far more meaningful and uplifting worship than worshiping in Latin.
The reformation. Nuremberg also, however, brought a radical reduction in poverty to that city. How? Alms giving and advocacy. The deacons in the church collected offerings and used them to supervise the building of homes for the widowed and the orphaned and the elderly. But those homes were also financed by funds from the city treasury. That was the result of Christians both engaging in direct support themselves, giving to those in need, and advocating for civil policy that might benefit the most vulnerable. And as a result, there were no longer beggars in the street. Old rights there are examples of alms giving and advocacy combos by Christians today, like the recent push by church people to allow church properties to be designated as affordable housing. Repurposed churches offer their properties to be used for affordable housing, but it also requires partnership with civil authorities to allow that to happen, for zoning to allow for that. Another example of both advocacy and alms giving you'll hear in a short bit from our immigration ministry team about their journey of accompanying and ministering to immigrants today and how it's that two fold journey. On one hand, they'll share how powerful it's been to connect with and learn from Irma Martinez and from the Spock family and to provide what we can in direct service and support.
But when you draw close to the struggle that so many immigrants face today, you also want to change the systems and structures to fix an immigration system so it can be more just, more fair, that it can treat people more humanely. And so both are part of that journey of accompanying immigrants, aren't they? For both are part of the christian life, alms giving and advocacy. They both emerge from a sense of God's rich bounty for us and for our world. They come from knowing God's love for us and for all the earth. You come in touch with that God who is for us, an alms giver, an advocate. And whether it's in an auditorium at Calvin College or right here in this sanctuary, you step out from encountering that God and you see a widow with new eyes. You see your neighbor with new eyes, and you want to be servants for that neighbor. Alms giving and advocating God we worship in the name of the Father, son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.
