“Buying into the Kingdom” - November 11, 2018

Mark 12:38-44

            One of the most cynical, and funniest, books on my shelf was written in the 1960’s and is called How to Become a Bishop without Being Religious.  It’s a satirical handbook that offers advice for young clergy about matters that aren’t taught in seminary.  It says things like,

“Experience will teach you that it is seldom necessary to make public mention of church business and finance.  On those rare occasions when it is necessary, remember to avoid the use of the word ‘money.’  Speak of ‘bringing the tithes into the storehouse’ or ‘the Lord’s business.’”

And then in a footnote it adds:

“See the author’s article ‘The Effective Employment of the Sacred Euphemism in Raising the Church’s Annual Budget,’ which was included in The Compendium of Practical Theology, now unfortunately out of print.”[1]

Unfortunately, Jesus talked about money all the time, which puts everybody who pays attention to him in an awkward spot a lot of the time.

            There are some people, and always have been, who recognize that what is a good and right impulse – the impulse to give and to offer support, the virtue of generosity that I hope we do encourage and foster – can be used to leverage larger contributions if it’s connected to less desirable impulses like pride and a competitive spirit.  One of my favorite stories of a brilliant but borderline-shady fundraiser is about Abbot Suger, who built the monastery of St. Denis in Paris, the very first Gothic-style building.  He invited the King of France and as much of the nobility as he could to the laying of the cornerstone.  For the occasion, he chose a reading from Revelation [21:18-20]:

“The foundations of the wall of the city are adorned with every jewel; the first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth cornelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst.”

Every time one of those jewels was mentioned, the royals tossed a precious stone into the mortar for the walls and the nobles were expected to show that they could keep up, too.  There were people there who hadn’t been warned ahead of time and who, rather than look bad, pulled the rings off their fingers to toss into the waiting buckets.  After the ceremony, the monks went through the cement and took out the jewels so that they could be used to fund the rest of the building.

            It was totally effective and totally unethical.  It played off of, and even counted on, human insecurities that were well known to the people whom Jesus criticized for the way that they mixed the search for status with religion.

“As he taught, he said, ‘Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the market-places, and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets! They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.’” [Mark 12:38-40]

Large donations are wonderful.  They’re welcome.  But they don’t buy anybody a place in God’s heart.  They aren’t needed for that.  God loves even the greediest miser on the planet.  What God does not love, though, is the greed and what it does to others.  No amount can compensate or take the place of genuine human concern for one another.  Watch out if you catch yourself devouring widows’ houses.  A real gift to God is the priceless gift of honesty and integrity.

            That is how this happened:

“He sat down opposite the treasury and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. Then he called his disciples and said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.’” [Mark 12:41-44]

There’s something wrong there, too.  Religious institutions should encourage the sort of generosity the widow showed, but guard against its abuse.  However, the entire religious institution that Jesus confronted was set up in such a way that it could lead someone living in poverty to feel that she had to use her last coins to be part of the community of faith, that she had literally to buy into the kingdom of God.

            Let me drop back a little bit here to point out what would have been obvious to those who heard Jesus comment on what he saw.  Maintaining the Temple and the sacrifices offered there was considered so important that about forty years later, when the Romans were besieging Jerusalem and the people inside were starving, the priests continued to offer all of the traditional sacrifices and the meat offering and grain offering were still burnt on the altar.  The water supply was in danger, but they continued to pour out the wine offerings on the ground.  And when the Romans captured the fortress that overlooked the Temple courtyard they fired arrows down on the priests and Levites but they continued on with worship as the scripture directed even as the building went up in flames.  The sort of devotion that could do that was of a piece with the widow’s giving.  She gave everything she had to live on, just as the others would later give their lives. 

            Like them, Jesus’ followers do share the belief that faith does call us to lay everything on the line sometimes.  There are even rare cases where people are called to lay down their lives.  There have been riots in Pakistan this past week over the acquittal on appeal of a Christian woman who had been convicted of blaspheming against Muhammed.  The Pakistani Supreme Court didn’t say she hadn’t done it, just that there had been insufficient evidence.  Even her lawyer has had to leave the country. 

            Christian discipleship for anyone involves wholeheartedness in every part of life.  We are to love God with our heart and mind and soul and strength and our neighbors as ourselves.  I cannot find a loophole in that, although I admit that in the case of certain neighbors I have tried to find some sort of exception. 

We are to be wholehearted about the use of our wealth, too.  That means, though, that we have to do it wisely, like any other aspect of ministry, and never unscrupulously.  It is wrong to take the means of livelihood from anybody in need.  Jesus was definite about those who

“devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers.”

Beware when someone announces that if you give $5 to their ministry, that God will send you $10.  (Hint: if that’s how things work, why aren’t they sending you $5, trusting God to send them $10?) 

Back to the Bible, here.  Those others making contributions to the Temple’s treasury could have afforded to make a contribution on the widow’s behalf.  We talk about “tithes and offerings”, which means using the figure of a tenth of one’s income as a good indication of serious participation, but the offerings, which are any amount beyond that, ought to consider the help that someone else would provide if only they could.  Even better, they could have tried to figure out what kept her in poverty, even if they discovered they themselves were part of the problem. 

Maybe, too, it behooved them (and behooves us) to find ways to invite participation in the life of faith that do an end run around financial considerations.  When someone doesn’t have a lot of pocket change to spare, but still wants to contribute meaningfully, that desire to share should still be honored.  We do those who are under financial constraints a disservice when we identify money as the one and only way to participate meaningfully in life.  It’s the world that says you have to have good clothes to go to church, or have a formal education before you have any insight into life, or look like a supermodel before being loved.  It’s the world that says that, not Jesus.

For that matter, we fool ourselves if we think everything we need can even be bought.  Consider the gifts of the young people who don’t yet have jobs and cannot contribute financially, or students who need to put away what they make for next semester’s tuition.  We make a big mistake when we don’t see all that they could do with their skills in the arts and construction and communication or with the high levels of imagination and compassion that are just looking for a good way to become focused. 

            It seems to me that we as a people anymore are far shorter on time than on money.  People are so incredibly busy that when it gets to be the end of the day, they are exhausted.  I have heard people say that there are times when they get so tired that the second they try to pray, they nod off.  What if someone checked in with them occasionally, someone who is a step or two outside the rat race, and offered to take some of their concerns to the Lord on their behalf?  I’m not saying that you can have someone do it all for you, but maybe another believer can help.  Or what if somebody has the gift of being a good listener?  In a world where everyone always has something to say, a few moments with someone who does not talk all the time, or who could even just sit quietly with people for a few minutes from time to time – that’s a real gift.

            Jesus said that

“people will come from east and west, from north and south, and will eat in the kingdom of God.  Indeed, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.” [Luke 13:29-30]

I sort of like Curtis Mayfield’s take on that:

“People, get ready                               There ain't no room
There's a train a-coming                      For the hopeless sinner
You don't need no baggage                Who would hurt all mankind
You just get on board                         Just to save his own

All you need is faith                           Have pity on those
To hear the diesels humming              Whose chances grow thinner
Don't need no ticket                           'Cause there's no hiding place
You just thank the Lord                     From the kingdom's throne

People, get ready                                So people, get ready
For the train to Jordan                        For the train a-comin'
Picking up passengers                         You don't need no baggage
From coast to coast                             You just get on board

Faith is the key                                    All you need is faith
Open the doors and board them         To hear the diesels humming
There's room for all                             Don't need no ticket
Amongst the loved the most               You just thank the Lord.”[2]

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[1] Charles Merrill Smith, How to Become a Bishop without Being Religious (Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, 1965), 50-51.

[2] Curtis Mayfield, “People, Get Ready”, 1965.