When Less Is More

Twenty-fifth Sunday after Pentecost

November 15, 2015

Mark 12:41-44

When Less Is More

In the name of the Father and of the ☩ Son and of the Holy Spirit.

In the old days, many of our churches were like the churches in the days of Jesus. After the sermon and before Communion, the congregation will line up and one at a time walk behind the altar (most altars in the old days were the tall beautiful kind) and put their offerings in a box. There were no ushers or plates, just a box behind the altar.

But over time something bad began to happen. People started to think that they were paying for God to care about them. They even thought that their money in a box was what made them worthy to receive the blessed Supper of Holy Communion.

None of our churches receive money in this way today. And I'm glad. Whenever what we are doing or how we are doing it gets in the way of Christ's cross, gospel, and sacraments (the things that God does), then we wisely ask why we are doing what we are doing.

Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny. Calling His disciples to Him, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything―all she had to live on.” (Mark 12:41-44)

Unlike our old practice of giving money where others couldn't see how much you put in to the box, Jesus could. Anybody could see how much money you put in the Temple treasury (the Temple was where Jews of the Old Testament rightly gathered to offer sacrifices to God that pointed them to Jesus).

Could you imagine if I followed around the ushers as they pass the offering plates this morning? Could you imagine if our offering box was behind our altar today and everyone could see you what you put in? Wouldn't that be scary? Intimidating? Offensive? Would you even come to church next Sunday?

But that's what Jesus did. He watched closely what everyone put in. And strangely of all people, He didn't need to. He already knew because God knows all things, and that includes trillions and trillions of very specific things. He knew how much the widow gave, the rich people gave, and He knows how much you'll give this morning.

Did you consider that as you wrote your check last night or you dig through your money this morning? And I'm guessing that doesn't offend us. But if Jesus unhide Himself from our eyes, that would be weird, even uncomfortable. We are sinful people who trust our eyes, and when other eyes are on us, we get nervous. Are they judging me?

In one sense, the Culture has stolen Jesus from the Church and made Him the ultimate Non-Judge. But what was He doing as He watched the people put in their money and then talked about them? Wasn't He judging? We know that Jesus always does what is good, right, and salutary. So His judging of how much money was put in by one and all was also good and right.

And His judgment was that less is more when the heart is full of His promises. His greatest promise is that He became poor so that we might become rich.

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich. (2 Corinthians 8:9)

This is the way God does things. He uses what seems like less in our eyes to accomplish more than we can possibly imagine. For the poor widow and for us Christ gave His own body as an offering on the cross. This offering looked small, just like the widow's offering. Indeed the name of the coin she put in was a lepton, which is Greek for small. To our eyes those pennies and His body seem small. But with our new baptized eyes we see enormous wisdom and mercy.

The widow's small money was given in trust of her dear Lord's promises that even though she dies, she lives.

In those olden days she did die. But she lives around the throne of Christ, not because of her money, but because of His enormous offering of Himself.

Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners―of whom I am the worst. Alleluia! Amen!