Our Two Cents. On the Election.

Widows Mite J. Kirk Richards

Mark 12:38-44

November 10, 2024

 

What can you buy with two copper coins?

I mean really? You used to be able to get candy maybe,

Stamps a long time ago, but you really can’t get anything

With two copper coins these days.

I googled it and even pennies cost 5 cents each.

I don’t think that this woman’s gift was worth much more.

Two copper coins. It’s not of any value, really.

 

Jesus was teaching disciples in the temple,

people were walking by doing what they usually did

and he was using them as object lessons.

It says that he was doing this loud enough

so that everyone that was around them could hear.

The scribes and Pharisees had just finished up

a conversation with Jesus and were walking away.

 

And he Jesus out loud “Beware the scribes”

Watch out for those guys we were just talking with.

They like the accolades of being leaders,

they like the notoriety and respect,

but they devour widow’s houses.

 

Scribes were not just people that transcribed things.

They were the interpreters of religious law

and they were the record keepers for the temple.

 

Historians now, don’t seem to be in agreement about

what set of shenanigans these scribes did that would

devour widows houses and what Jesus was referring to

but the best guess is that it involved the temple tax,

the fee that Jewish people were

obligated to pay for the upkeep of the temple.

The tax was one half shekel, or about two days wages,

every year for every Jewish male over 20.

 

The most likely scenario, is that in interpreting the law,

and keeping the records, a scribe could have

determined, truthfully or not,  that a woman’s

deceased husband was in arrears on their temple taxes,

and demanded that the widow give everything

she had left to the temple, thus devouring their houses.

And the scribes might get a percentage of the collection.

 

So Jesus was saying that the scribes were

taking advantage of their position .

Jesus is describing corruption.

The definition is simple enough:

“dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those

entrusted to a position of power.”

People taking advantage of the positions

they’ve been given for their own gain.

 

The fact that many of them were corrupt

seemed to be common knowledge that was

just not said out loud very often.

 

But on this backdrop of corruption,

of Scribes walking around in long robes

wanting seats of honor, and devouring widows houses,

an obviously poor widow comes into Jesus field of view.

 

Now widows were not compelled to give to the temple tax.

Women couldn’t work, and people with no earnings

were not legally obligated to give.

This woman didn’t have to give anything.

But she still gave what she had -- to God.

 

Remember in this time there was only one temple.

Only one way for Jews to worship,

only one place that was interpreting the word,

and keeping God present in people’s lives.

 

There wasn’t another one across town for her to go to,

there wasn’t even another non-profit, social service agency

to support and give to. The temple was it.

If she wanted to give to God, this was the option.

And still in the face of the corruption of some

of its leaders, the widow gave.

We don’t know why she gave.

I think her gift was generous considering how little she had,

and her gift showed a strong faith in God and a bold hopefulness.

It showed that she believed that God’s justice would prevail.

 

It would have been very easy to become apathetic,

or cynical, or jaded in the face of the injustice,

it would have been very easy to step out,

or turn away, or not be involved, which, I’m sure

many people in her situation did, but her great gift

that I think Jesus was pointing out, was not the

ratio of the gift to her income, but the

earnest hope and faith that it represented.

 

Which brings me to today.

I looked back at past sermons after past elections

And I usually try to be objective, and I tried that,

But the Spirit was not letting me preach that today.

 

So I have to be honest and tell you what I feel.

And if you disagree with me, you can talk to me later,

we can all still love one another and come to terms.

But as a pastor, I feel I have to be honest, and

right now as a Christian and as an American citizen,

I have to say that I’m sad and disappointed with the outcome.

Not really with who lost, but with who won.

 

I was despondent earlier in the week,

but now I’m just sad and disappointed,

so I’m feeling much better.

 

Now, when I think about it, I really didn’t think

that the candidate that lost was going to fix everything,

or make many substantial improvements to the big issues

that we are facing this country.

No one in my lifetime has done that.

I didn’t see anything that made me super hopeful for any change,

and maybe that’s why they lost.

 

But the campaign that won was cock full of terrible things.

Like hatred for immigrants,  and hatred for transgender people,

and threats of violence and death for political opponents,

just to name a few. And the last this candidate,

the last time they lost the election, they were willing to break the law

and incite violence to get it back.

Which was the biggest deal breaker for me and I thought

It would be for a lot of other people too.

 

Now I know that everyone who voted for the winner was not

on that same page. Everyone who voted for him was not a racist,

or hates LGBT people, or advocates for political violence.

But I was actually surprised that kind of campaigning, 

and behavior didn’t deter more people from voting for him, especially people of faith.

 

So I’m sad and disappointed, but mostly right now,

I have fear of what the next four years will bring us.

I have fear for immigrants. I’m afraid that they’ll keep the promise

of mass deportations which would include

most of our friends at Chimney Cove and other friends I have.

And I’m afraid for our gay, lesbian, and transgender friends

who were the target of so much fear and misinformation, I’m afraid

that their rights to live their lives and to marry will be taken away.

 

And I’m afraid for the most vulnerable people in this country,

who rely on Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare, and Obamacare, 

and disability, and other government resources, 

who rely on food stamps and section 8 housing, 

because reduction of government spending 

is always on the backs of the most vulnerable. 

It always devours widow’s houses to save a buck. 

Never does it affect billionaires and large corporations.

  

And mostly I’m afraid for the spirit of this country.

Giving a vote of confidence for the kind of campaign we just heard

really gives voice and license to the worst we have to give

it’s kind of like a pandora’s box, we saw it in in 2016, and it hasn’t

even been started to put back in, and now its out again in force.

I fear people getting more and more comfortable in their hate.

 

I mean I’ve seen more nazi flags in the last 10 years

than I ever thought I would ever see in this country.

Didn’t our veterans die to stop that?

That alone is concerning.

 

On Wednesday a text was sent to hundreds 

of black people across 20 states that said, 

“You have been selected to pick cotton at the nearest plantation” 

They don’t know who sent it, the FBI is looking into it.

But whoever it was, people are now

emboldened by the results of the election

 

And then this happened at Texas State University.

A day after the election, a group that said they 

“preach the gospel every day” came to demonstrate 

at the university and they held up these signs.

 

I mean, as concerning as it is,

I’m kind of used to the “Homo Sex is Sin”,

I’ve seen it at every Pride march I’ve ever been to,

it’s predictable trope for a certain segment of Christianity.

But this one “Women are property” is new and frankly startling to me.

It reflects the words that were used by many supporters

of the winning side of this election.

“Your body, my choice” was what someone tweeted out after the election.

 

And I know that we can’t attribute every crazy thing

that is said by the supporters of the candidate

before or after to the candidate themselves.

But you have to admit, that this candidate

kind of excels at saying crazy things.

And I think their win has given license to

this kind of belief and speech that I thought was solved

hundreds years ago, or at least 50 years ago.

So I’m finding my fear and disappointment and sadness overwhelming

this week. I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels that way.

I’m not sure what’s going to happen, I hope that none

of my fears come true and it’s just an annoying four years for me.

But I feel I’ve been pushing against a lot of this

injustice and hateful rhetoric for 10 years and I’m kind of tired of it.

But that’s kind of what this work is.

Never ending until God’s kingdom comes.

 

Which brings me back to the reading for today. 

It would have been very easy for that widow

to become apathetic, or cynical,

or jaded in the face of the complete injustice surrounding her.

But she did not. She put in her two cents.

 

It would be very easy for us to step out,

physically or mentally, or to turn away, or not be involved.

Or to live in fear of the repercussions of speaking out

and hide, or maybe worse assimilate or acquiesce to the prevailing rhetoric.

But we shouldn’t. God needs our two cents right now.

 

And it doesn’t matter who anyone voted for,

because voting is just a little part of the work we do.

God needs the work of good people who believe in

equality, and justice, and women’s rights,

and feeding the hungry, and welcoming the stranger,

and all of those things that Jesus has instilled in us.

 

This situation in this country might seem overwhelming.

But the situation in this country was actually already overwhelming,

and regardless who won, it would have still been overwhelming.

And in the face of overwhelming injustice and corruption,

and politicians who like to walk around in fancy suits

and have places of honor at every table and devour

widows houses without a second thought,

it might seem like we have nothing much to give,

that what we do won’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world.

Like all we have is just two cents worth .

That may be all that we can give.

 

But Jesus needs us to be like that widow,

Who in the face of that overwhelming injustice that surrounded her,

in a situation that truly seemed hopeless,

in a place that had no free elections, no checks and balances,

no freedom of speech, she put her two cents in the pot.

She showed that in spite of the evidence on the ground,

she still had faith in God and God’s promises.

 

She put her two cents into that coffer.

Maybe we can even see her two cents as an act of hopeful defiance.

Truly I tell you, this widow has put in more

than all those who have put into the treasury.

 

My friend, Jamie Bouzard,

is the Lutheran campus pastor at Texas State University,

and in the face of that terrible and offensive protest

here’s what he did. He stood up beside them

and held up another sign, that represented

their campus ministry’s message of inclusion and love

for all people no matter their sexuality.

 

And the other campus pastor brought another sign

that supported women. And people were holding up

hand held signs, about love and Jesus and women and eventually

the crowd peacefully drowned out the voices of hate and fear.

 

Jamie gave his two cents. And everyone gave their two cents.

Hope. Not fear, not despair, not hate, not apathy, not resignation.

 

We have the same mission we had before this election.

To reflect the love of Christ, to embrace diversity, and to serve Hilton Head.

If my fears and the fears of a lot of other people come to be,

then that mission might become more important than it was before.

And we might have a lot more to do.

 

We don’t know what the future brings.

At every time of uncertainty, its best to rely on God’s mercy and grace

which will never end, no matter what happens in this world.

 

Right now, from us, God needs our hope. God needs our two cents.