Dear Truro family,
This past week, in our Gospel reading (Mark 12:38-44), Jesus warned his disciples about the scribes, “who like to walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces and have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, who devour widows’ houses and for a pretense make long prayers.”
In the very next verses, Mark writes that Jesus, “sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”
There are two things in this text that jump right out at me. First, an observation worthy of consideration on its own, is that Jesus watched what the people did with their money. It matters to him – he’s not indifferent to it.
Second, I’m struck by the stark juxtaposition between the haughty, self-important, puffed up scribes (who “devour widows’ houses”) and the widow herself, who gives sacrificially, in humility. The difference between the two (social status notwithstanding), is posture. The self-oriented concerns of the scribes, in the eyes of Jesus, are worthy of condemnation, while the posture of humble generosity is worthy of praise.
Friends, Jesus cares about our posture. He cares about it in the ways we relate to each other, and he cares about our posture when it comes to money. It matters to him. This past Sunday, Mary asked us to prayerfully consider how we might commit to our life together financially. As we do so, let’s consider what a posture of humble generosity might look like, both in our finances and in our life together.
Your partner in Christ,
Mike+
