This is a very uncomfortable Gospel. Every time I make a pledge or contribute to this church, Jesus is watching me. It brings to mind that quote from “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”:
He knows when you are sleeping,
He knows when you’re awake,
He knows when you’ve been bad or good,
So be good for goodness’ sake!
Only this time it isn’t Santa Claus, it’s Jesus.
It’s the story of two people, essentially, in the Temple. One makes large gifts, and the other, a widow, gives two small copper coins—a penny—all she had. Joan, I’m not sure how you feel about this whole business about Jesus keeping an eye on what you give, (The Rev. Joan McPherson is here to talk to us about the Night Ministry), especially because the objects of your giving are those with whom we might put this widow in the same category: homeless, poor, castaways, scavengers, runaways, addicts.
Let me take the spotlight off us and say that Jesus is watching you, Joan, especially as you approach the Sears Tower or the Hancock Building, those secular temples of our society, but also Holy Name Cathedral, Fourth Pres, or St. James Cathedral, specifically religious institutions. In any event, that’s where the widow is whom you observe, whom you commend as a child of God. But Jesus really sees all of us, he watches the bankers and the lawyers who offer their pledges in the Temple and perhaps what they might or might not be offering the widow in her distress.
Good thing it’s not Las Vegas! Did you know that in Las Vegas it’s illegal to give food or water to the indigent in a city park? On the one hand no one wants poor and homeless people living in public spaces, but to have a law against giving a poor person a bottle of water, especially in the Las Vegas heat in the summertime? But the Las Vegas ordinance would allow you to offer some of your picnic to a middle-income friend but not to a poor one. And so if you have a picnic you are supposed to have everyone give you a financial statement.
But back to the Gospel where it was the widow who was giving away what she had. This is so typical of Jesus. He doesn’t condemn those of us who have much to give. He simply draws a comparison and says “she had next to nothing, but what she had, she gave.” It’s like that old story of the chicken and the pig who are grateful for the farmer’s kindness and decide to make him breakfast. The chicken says “We should give the farmer bacon and eggs.” The pig says, “That’s fine for you. You’re making a contribution. I’m making a total commitment!”
Jesus often had something to say about total commitment, which is to say that Jesus often had something often to say about the human heart. A few weeks ago we noted how sad the rich young man was when Jesus asked him to give away what he had to the poor and to “Come, follow me.” And Jesus often used himself as an example of what it means to have your heart right with God when he said, “I have not come to be served, but to serve and give my life.”
And so as this story comes back to us, I have to ask myself, “Is my heart right with God?” Frankly, I’m afraid to ask the question whether or not I would be willing to give everything I have, and I’ve got tons of justifications for not doing that: I have a family to support, I need income to help support the Church and some other favorite charities, I’m supporting Father Ikenye for his missionary work in Kenya, etc., etc. It would be foolish to give everything away, and besides, I have not discerned that Jesus has specifically asked me to do that. But he’s watching me, nonetheless, and he takes me by the arm and says, “Let me show you this widow.”
