Imagine the Bible as your iPhone photo album. Swipe the screen left or right and note all the amazing photos. Landscapes. Monuments. Food. Lots of food!
And people.
People making funny poses. People engaged in all sorts of activities. People living life!
Now imagine your iPhone photo album showing you a picture of today’s Scripture reading from Mark’s gospel.
The photograph is snapped at the Temple in Jerusalem, just as people are making their offerings.
Ask yourself this question:
“Where is Christ in this picture?”
You may notice in this photo that there are differences between the way we take offerings today and the way they took offerings then. Instead of receiving the offering in the Temple during the service, the offering was taken outside. Strategically placed around the Temple courtyards were a number of shofer chests. These were uniquely designed, with a wide bell like on a tuba at the top. This tapered down into a narrower tube that led to a box where the collections were safely kept.
But just as there are differences between today’s church offerings and offerings back then, there are similarities too. If you’ve ever been to a church where the plate is passed several times during the service – once for the regular offering – again for the building fund – again for the electric bill – again for the regular offering because the first one wasn’t enough – you’ll appreciate the fact that there were no fewer than thirteen shofers scattered about, each one for a different part of the Temple’s annual budget.
I hope you’ll also notice in this photograph all sorts of people milling about the Temple court. Some traditions have it that people would loudly announce the amount of money they were placing into the shofer, and then drop their coins in. In this particular picture, you may note that there many rich people present. If we had an audio recording to go along with our photograph, we would hear something that sounded like a Las Vegas slot machine paying off a jackpot as the coins rattle their way through the metal tube to the chest below.
And one more thing in this photograph: an almost unnoticeable figure, virtually lost in the shadows cast by the crushing crowd of people. It appears to be a woman, and she stretches out a thin, wrinkled arm. She is obviously poor. From her dress we know she is a widow. In her hand are two tiny coins – together making barely a penny – probably everything she owns. Quietly and without announcement, she drops her widow’s mite into the shofer.
Clink. Clunk.
And Jesus freezes the frame for his disciples – and us. Holding up the photo he asks, “Where is Christ in this picture?”
Is the hidden Christ one of the Temple priests in long, flowing robes, offering beautiful chanting prayer? Is he that doctor of the Law, or that patron of the arts, or that keen intellectual, or that wealthy landowner whose wonderful generosity makes the shofer chests sing loudly for joy?
Where is Christ in this picture?
Why, it’s the widow, Jesus says!
Nothing wrong with the others, mind you. They are good people. Generous people.
But this widow is a spectacular illustration of what faith is all about.
Jesus says, “All these others gave out of their abundance. But this little woman has given out of her poverty.”
And when you take this photograph and lay it beside all the others Jesus has shown us in his iPhone Bible, you may notice that this is not really a lesson about money, but rather a lesson about life.
May I ask you today, how do you give yourself away? Do you give out of your abundance, which is the most common form of giving? Or have you learned to give out of your poverty, like the widow did?
A woman by the name of Linda Teeple, writing in Spirit magazine offers some refreshing insight:
“What would it mean for me to give out of my poverty? Perhaps it would mean that I would abandon my excuses about not being knowledgeable or skilled enough to volunteer my time, confront my pride and fear, and step forward with an apprentice’s heart and be willing to learn as I go. Maybe it would involve admitting my character flaws and pushing the envelope – for instance, of my shyness – to speak out on controversial issues, or make the first move and introduce myself to a stranger. Or could it mean admitting my sins and mistakes to others, and encouraging them with my personal example of struggle, forgiveness, and renewal?”
I think Linda Teeple is right on track. You see, the essence of walking with God is not about easily strolling down a road with which you’re already comfortable and familiar, but about testing new trails you’ve never been on before! Walking with God is not so much about loving the people you already love, but about learning to love those you can’t, don’t, won’t or find it virtually impossible TO love. Walking with God is not about your strengths, your gifts, your skills, your abilities, but rather it is about your weaknesses, your inabilities, and even your flaws – and offering them as gifts to God.
In the places of our poverty, God often leads us to the greatest treasures of all!
I like the story about the crow who happened upon a field of corn. He would sit up in the tree and stare down at the tall stalks. It was the most scrumptious corn he had ever seen and he was so hungry. But there right in the middle of the field was the scariest scarecrow he had ever seen. He shuddered every time he looked at it until one day, out of hunger and a burst of courage, he swooped down near the field, keeping his eye on the scarecrow. It didn’t move. So the crow landed on a stalk of corn, his eyes still fastened on the scary figure who somehow didn’t seem quite so scary anymore. And the crow began to eat. Day after day he returned to that field, eating corn right in the shadow of the scarecrow. Indeed, it was the BEST corn he ever tasted. He went back to his crow friends and led them to that field, though it took some convincing on his part to get them there. But soon they too were enjoying the corn. And from that day on, those crows always looked for the fields with the scariest scarecrows, for they knew it was there they would find the best corn.
What Jesus is teaching us through this wonderful widow is that best of life is not really found in our strengths and our comfort zones. Rather, the best of life is found when we let God into the fearful and uncomfortable places of our lives. And of all the places we fear the most, our poverty – our sense of inadequacy and insufficiency – is probably the greatest.
“I wish I could forgive him for what he did to me, but I just CAN’T!…I wish I could be a stronger witness for Christ, but I just wouldn’t know what to say or do!….I wish I could change this self-destructive habit of mine, but I’m powerless to deal with it!…I wish I could have more patience with my children, but I just get so frustrated!…I wish I could believe that God will help me through this difficult time, but right now, I just don’t have any faith left!”
Where are the places in your life that you find yourself muttering words like these?
For some of us, advancing age can make us wonder if its too late to change our lives, or to serve God and humanity in significant ways. How often we joke about our senior moments here in Tellico Village, and rue the things that don’t work quite as well as they used to. You may have heard about what happened to Bob Puckett. Bob was hiking up in the mountains years ago when, from the side of the trail, he heard a tiny voice calling, “Help me! Help me!” Well, Bob looked down and was surprised to see a little green frog. “Did you say something little frog?” Bob asked. “Help me! Help me!” the amphibian squeaked.
“Well, how can I help you, little frog?” asked Bob who, as you know was a very kind and compassionate soul. The little frog answered, “Kiss me! You see, I am really a beautiful princess who has been turned into a frog. If you kiss me, I’ll become a beautiful princess once again. And then,” the frog said, batting its little eyelids, “then you can kiss me as much as you want!”
Well, Bob took the little frog, gently tucked it into his side pocket and resumed his hike. But a short while later, the frog’s voice piped again, “Hey! Hey!”
Bob reached into his pocket and retrieved the little green frog. “What is it, frog?” Bob asked.
“Aren’t you going to kiss me so I can turn into a beautiful princess and you can kiss me as much as you want?”
And Bob answered, “Frankly, at my age, I’d rather have a talkin’ frog!”
Oh yes, age can affect our faculties and our facilities, and make us question our ability to do a lot of things.
Difficult life circumstances at any age can also make us feel spiritually inadequate. When you’re caring for a terminally ill family member, when you’re facing a terrible illness yourself, when life hands you tragic losses and you’re at the end of your strength, and your wits, and even your faith, people sometimes make you feel like you should be stronger, more mentally tough, more believing. But Jesus wants you to know that you can give him your weakness, your exhaustion, and even your doubt. And somehow, in giving out of your poverty, God is able to do wonderful things in your life and the lives of those you care for.
You see, the widow’s mite – “m-i-t-e” – turned out to be the very source of the widow’s might – “m-i-g-h-t”!
And Jesus gives us this extraordinary photograph to take home with us today and to ponder. Its a picture of how much God loves us! And how the little we have is more than enough when we give it to Jesus.
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