Give God a Chance

The message given in the Sunday morning worship services in the United Methodist churches of the Wheatland Parish on February 19, 2023.  The Bible verses used are Mark 12:38-44.

            We’ve all heard the saying, which comes from the book of James, that faith without works is dead.  I think sometimes that saying gets misinterpreted.  The point is not that works are more important than faith.  The point is that, in our lives faith and works need to go together.  Our faith needs to be revealed in our works, and our works need to be inspired by our faith.  Neither one, by itself, is anything.  Both are needed if we’re going to live lives that are pleasing to God.  And both come from our trust in God.

            In our reading for today, Jesus makes this point by words and by actions.  It starts out with Jesus talking about the teachers of the law.  Now, the teachers of the law had faith, or at least they thought they did.  They knew exactly what the rules said.  They knew exactly how to live a perfectly religious life.  And in their eyes, they were.  They were following all the rules that a follower of God was supposed to follow.

            But their faith was not revealed in their works.  They were not doing anything to help anybody.  They could see people in need and completely ignore them.  Listen to how Jesus describes them.  They walk around in flowing robes.  They like to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces.  They have the most important seat in the synagogue.  They have the places of honor at banquets.  They “devour widows’ houses”--in other words, they try to cheat widows out of their property.  And then they make a big show of how long they can pray, probably using all kinds of fancy words, too.  Jesus had no use for them, because while they may have had faith, their faith was not shown by the way they lived their lives.

            Then the scene shifts.  Jesus sits down opposite the temple treasury and watches people putting money into it.  And he sees wealthy people putting large amounts of money into the treasury.

            Now, most of us would say that’s a good thing to do, right?  Certainly those of us in the church would.  Especially those of us who know what the church’s finances are like and who know how it’s not always easy to find the money to pay the bills.  For the most part, in the church, we like it when someone puts a large amount of money in the collection plate.  We would say that’s a good work.

            But Jesus was not impressed.  Because Jesus knew that good work was not inspired by faith.  As Jesus said, those people gave out of their wealth.  In other words, the money they were putting in was nothing compared to how much money they had.  They could put in that much and even more and not even miss it.  It did not take any particular faith for them to put a large amount of money into the treasury.  They could give all that and more and still have plenty left over.  They were not relying on God to take care of them.  They were taking care of themselves.

            And then, of course, the poor widow comes up.  She puts in a very little bit of money, a few cents worth.  But it was all she had.  That was a work, too, of course, but most people would not consider it a particularly impressive one.  A few cents?  What’s that good for?  What’s that going to do?  You cannot buy anything for that.  You cannot even rent anything for that.  Why even bother with it?

            But of course, Jesus was impressed.  Not because of the amount of money she put in, but by the faith she showed.  The widow did not give out of her wealth.  She had almost nothing.  And yet, she took the little that she had, and gave it to the temple.  After the widow gave, she had nothing left.  She was relying on God to take care of her, because she had just given up the little she had that she might have used to take care of herself.

            The teachers of the law had faith, but they did not have works.  The wealthy people putting money into the church treasury had works, but they did not have faith.  The poor widow had both faith and works.  And that’s why Jesus praised her, rather than the others.

            It’s tempting, at this point, to launch into a message about how we all need to give more money to the church and put more faith in God.  It’s tempting, but I don’t think it’s correct.  I don’t think Jesus’ point was that we should give more money to the church.  I think he was using the poor widow to make a larger point.  The larger point is that we should put our entire lives in God’s hands.

            Giving is one way we can do that.  I’m not suggesting everyone put their life’s savings in the collection plate, but I suspect all of us, if we’re honest with ourselves, could give more than we do.  One of the reasons we don’t is that we don’t trust God as much as we should.  We’re afraid that if we give more money to the church, we won’t have enough money for other things, things that we need, sometimes things that we want, things that we think we need to save money for.  We don’t trust God enough to believe that if we give more to the church, God will provide us with enough for everything else we need.

            But again, Jesus’ point was not just that we don’t trust God enough in regard to money.  Money was just one example, an example that presented itself to Jesus.  His larger point was that we don’t trust God enough in most aspects of our lives.  We don’t trust God enough with our time.  We don’t trust God enough with our talents.  We don’t trust God enough with our health.  We don’t trust God enough in all kinds of things.

            Again, I’m not suggesting that we be foolish.  I’m not suggesting that we cross the street without checking for traffic because, hey, God will take care of me.  But I am suggesting that we could all trust God more than we do.  And I’m also suggesting that our lack of trust in God causes us to miss chances to serve God.  We miss chances to do works that serve God.  And when we do that, we show a lack of faith in God.

            We all admire the poor widow.  But in reality, we tend to be more like the rich people.  And sometimes we’re even like the teachers of the law, wanting to be greeted with respect and given places of honor.  And I most definitely include myself in that.

            So the question is, what can we do about it?  But before we get to that question, there’s an even more important question.  Do we want to do anything about it?

            We know we should.  That’s not the point.  The problem is one we’ve talked about before.  Most of us are comfortable with our lives the way they are.  Maybe they’re not always great, but they’re what we’re used to.  If we put complete faith in God, well, who knows what might happen?  Will God really take care of us?  Or will we have to take care of ourselves, and not be able to?

            I wonder if those thoughts occurred to the poor widow.  It seems like they must have.  Maybe not on the day Jesus saw her–maybe she was past it by that point–but there must have been a time when she thought, am I doing a smart thing here?  Does it really make sense for me to take the little bit of money I have and put it all in the temple treasury?  If I do that, will God really take care of me?  Or am I going to be left with nothing, struggling to find a way to survive?

            It had to be at least a little scary for the widow, the first time she did this.  In fact, maybe the first time, she did not do it.  Maybe the first time she just gave a part of what she had.  And in fact, that in itself might have been scary.  I mean, she had very little to begin with.  If she put even a little bit of that little into the temple treasury, she’d have even less.  

            She probably thought about it.  She probably prayed about it.  Maybe she prayed a lot.  And then, somehow, she got the courage, and the faith, to trust God.  And she put in that little.  And God came through, and she had enough.  So eventually, she decided to put in a little more.  And God came through again, and she still had enough.  Eventually, she worked herself up to a quarter of her money, and then half, and then three quarters.  And by the time Jesus saw her, she was able to put in, as Jesus said, everything.  All she had to live on.  Because she knew she could trust God to provide for her.

            Maybe we can do it that way, too.  And again, I’m not just talking about money, any more than Jesus was just talking about money.  Money is just the example I’m using, because it’s the example Jesus used.  But in every aspect of our lives, most of us need to trust God more than we do.  Most of us need to be more willing to step out in faith, to take chances to serve God, to give of our time and talents and abilities to serve God.  Most of us need to be willing to reach out to others, to spread the gospel message, to go and make disciples of Jesus Christ.  We need to be more willing to do that, and more willing to trust that when we do, God will take care of us.

            Maybe the way we can do that is to just take small steps.  Take a small step out in faith.  Take a small chance to serve God.  Give just a little more of our time and talents and abilities to serve God.  Take a small step to reach out to others.  Take a small step to spread the gospel message.  Make a small effort to go and make disciples.  See what happens.  See if when we do that, God takes care of us.

            I think He will.  And when He does, that can encourage us to take another step.  Maybe a little bigger step.  And then a little bigger one, and then a still bigger one.  And maybe, after a while, we’ll find ourselves fully trusting God to take care of us, just as the poor widow was able to fully trust God to take care of us.

            God wants to show us we can trust Him.  So let’s give God the chance to do that.  Let’s take some steps in faith.  If we do, I think God will come through for us, just like God came through for the poor widow.