My Two Cents

Mark 12.38-44

Introduction 

“Let me give you my two cents.” You’ve heard that expression before. It’s kind of self-deprecating. It’s like saying, “let me give you my opinion, but that opinion is only worth two cents.” Sometimes it is used to soften a hard statement. For example, “If I can offer my two cents, that sweater isn’t doing you any favors.” There’s some debate about from where the phrase is derived but it’s almost certainly this text here in Mark 12. 

As we move through the Gospel of Mark we’ve seen that Jesus is the King who is going to the cross. Since chapter 11 we have been looking at the last week of Jesus’ life. This morning we are still in Tuesday of that very first Holy Week and it is here that Christ does his last public teaching. Mark gives us a sharp contrast in this pericope. He contrasts the scribes with a poor widow.

And while on the surface this section seems to be primarily about money, it’s about much more than that. You see, Jesus is actually teaching about success and sacrifice. He’s teaching about the gospel and how citizens of the Kingdom of Christ are to carry themselves and how they are to care for others. Jesus takes what appears to be success, even godliness and exposes that it is actually selfishness. He then takes what appears to be failure or even foolishness and reveals that it is actually godliness.

It’s as easy to confuse those two in 2021 America as it was in 1st century Palestine. It’s not difficult to look at prosperity, power, popularity, or philanthropy and equate it with success, righteousness, or even the blessing of God. It’s almost natural to look at poverty as a sign of failure, foolishness, or even the judgment of God. But Jesus doesn’t allow us rest in that simplicity. His commentary on the scribes and the widow reveals once again that his kingdom is not of this world. 

A Widow’s Sacrifice

The first thing we must notice is that in verse 38 Mark writes, and in his teaching he said. Jesus is still teaching. The eternal Son of God who took on flesh and dwelt among us spent the majority of his ministry teaching. The miracles, healings, and exorcisms of Christ often get more press, but Jesus spent a significant amount of time teaching and preaching. When he ascended he left his Apostles to preach and teach. We must never underestimate the ministry of the Word. The preaching of the Word, Bible teaching in classes and small groups, even one-on-one discipleship is where the Spirit loves to change lives. May we always value the ministry of the Word at Christ Community Church!

 This is what Jesus was teaching:

“Beware of 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. They will receive the greater condemnation” (vv. 38-40).

In his last public teaching in Mark’s Gospel Jesus Christ warns against the scribes. The scribes were experts in the Law. They were the biblical PhDs of Israel. They would walk around in long white robes, which would distinguish them from everyone else. As they walked through the marketplace the people would stand out of reverence, much like when the President of the United States walks into a room. During services in the synagogues they would sit in the front of the congregation near the box that contained torah. The scribes would sit at the front table of religious feast like the wedding party does at modern wedding receptions.

Jesus says they devour the houses of widows. Scribes were legally barred from taking a salary so they had to raise support. Often they would prey on vulnerable widows. I had a professor in college who told a story about an elderly couple he knew. The husband came down with terminal cancer. A local health and wealth preacher told the couple that if they invested a substantial amount of money in his ministry the man would be healed. They invested but the man died. The preacher then told the widow that if she had had more faith her husband would have been healed. The scribes would abuse vulnerable widows in the same way, preying on their fear.

The scribes make long prayers for a pretense. They are not sincere when they pray. In a sense they prayed with one eye open watching how impressed everyone was with their intelligence and piety. The scribes appeared to be successful and godly but in fact they were hypocrites who peddled religion to build their own brand. Their judgment will be great.

This warning was originally for the first century hearers and readers under the influence of the scribes. But there is implication for us today. This is a somber warning for all believers and church leaders, in particular. Do not use Christianity to build your brand. Do not use the gospel to look impressive to others. Whether you’re preaching, teaching a class, leading in singing, facilitating a small group, or praying, if your motive is to impress other people you are acting like a scribe. Guard your heart against seeking the approval of man. God’s approval is what matters.

Jesus makes this point by contrasting the scribes with a poor widow. I love the literary intentionality of Mark. He makes the contrast crystal clear. In verse 40 he says that the scribes devour widows’ houses and in verse 42 he introduces a poor widow.

Jesus sits down in the temple watching people put their money in the offering box. The temple had an area called the court of women. Gentiles were not allowed in there. Jewish men and women were allowed. It is the furthest into the temple that Jewish women were permitted. In the court of the women there were 13 trumpet-shaped offering boxes. This is where the people gave their tithe and their free will offerings.

Jesus observes many rich people putting in large sums. Then a poor widow shows up. You know, the kind of poor widow who would be invisible to all of the important rich people in the temple. But she wasn’t invisible to Jesus. Because Jesus notices her, Christians for 2,000 years have remembered this poor widow. We don’t know any of the individual rich people giving their large sums, but we know this poor widow. 

And she walks up to the offering box and puts in two small copper coins. The coins were called λεπτὰ. It was the smallest coin in circulation. The U.S. government has debated for some time whether or not to remove the penny from circulation. It is so small that there is basically nothing you can buy for a penny. This coin was similar. It was worth less than 1/100 of a denarius, which was a day’s wage. This coin was worth about six minutes of labor.

This poor widow puts in two of these essentially worthless coins. Then Jesus calls his disciples to himself. Don’t gloss over that. That means the disciples weren’t all around and Jesus makes it a point to call them together and draw attention to this widow. And then he says:

“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” (vv. 43b-44).

This widow is commended by Jesus Christ because she gave all she had. The wealthy were giving out of their abundance. They may have given large amounts, but it didn’t affect their life. This widow gave all that she had. I love how it says that she gave two coins. That means she only had two. She could have given just one and that would have been 50% of her portfolio, but she gave both. She put in all that she had to live on.

This is normally the part of the sermon where I’m supposed to preface the commendation of the widow with all of the biblical texts about being responsible with your money. I’m supposed to tell you that Jesus doesn’t want you to give all of your money away. But that can be another sermon for another time. Right now we need to feel the weight of this text. Jesus doesn’t say that she was irresponsible or foolish with her money. He doesn’t pontificate about how she could have saved better and used her money for good in other ways. He commends her for giving out of her poverty.

The initial application for us is that we must not give out of our abundance. We must give to the point where it hurts. We should be a people who have our standard of living compromised by how much we’re giving to the church. For some of us that is ten percent. For some it means giving much more than ten percent. But if your giving doesn’t affect the way you want to live then you have to ask yourself what you love more, Jesus or your money? Do you give our of joy and trust in God, or do you give out of your abundance, so long as it doesn’t intrude upon your standard of living?

The King’s Sacrifice

How can we give like that? What on earth can give us the motivation to give until it hurts? The answer is the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are led by a king who gave everything for us. The final phrase of this pericope in Greek literally reads, “She threw down her whole life.” 2nd Corinthians 8.9 says, 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 by his poverty might become rich. 

The eternal Son of God left the riches of heaven, was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He lived without sin earning perfect righteousness. He died in the place of sinners on a Roman cross. He was buried and on the third day he rose again. Jesus took on the poverty of the creature so that we might be reconciled with our creator. And if you will repent of your sin and trust in Christ alone, your sins will be forgiven and you will be saved. You will be adopted into the family of God and all of God’s heavenly riches will be yours. 

This has nothing to do with how much money you will make or save. It has everything to do with eternal life in the new world with King Jesus. The gospel does not teach that those who believe will be rich and healthy and those who reject will be poor and sick. That is called the health and wealth gospel and it is satanic heresy. History is filled with wealthy righteous and wealthy unrighteous, poor righteous and poor unrighteous. The riches of the gospel are the forgiveness of sins and an eternal relationship with your creator and redeemer. It is eternal life in the new creation where everything sad is untrue.

The gospel tells us that those who were spiritually bankrupt are now adopted into the family of our heavenly Father. The righteous life and substitutionary death of Christ are credited to us by faith. Jesus exchanges our sinful rebellion with his sinless obedience. If you will acknowledge your sin, repent, and believe that Jesus Christ is your only hope in life and death you will be saved. Please do not settle for playing in the mud when you can experience the holiday by the sea. Do not settle for the best this world has to offer. Jesus is better. Look to the cross. Look to the empty tomb.  

Our Sacrifice

When you take Christ by faith you are adopted into the Father’s family and the Holy Spirit empowers you to live a sacrificial life. Kingdom sacrifice isn’t about how much you give; it’s about how much you have left. We all have time, treasure, and talents with which we’ve been gifted. If we don’t give of all three until it hurts then we are more like scribes than this commendable widow.

Time

God has gifted all of us with time. We all have differing amounts of free time. Some of you are young and single or retired or empty nesters and you have more time than moms with young children. But no one has no time to sacrifice. We all use our free time for that which we value most. If you have no time at all to serve the church, or other people then you have to ask yourself, what do I value most? What do I love most? Is it Christ? Is it the church?

Treasure

God has gifted each of us with treasure. We have all been blessed with varying amounts of money. Some of you are older and are living on a fixed income. Some of you have been blessed with well paying jobs. Regardless of the amount, we should all give until we feel it. Maybe that’s $10 a week for you. Maybe that’s $2,000 a week. No one has no money to give. We all spend money on that which we care about. If you’re not giving to the church at all, you must ask yourself, what do I love? Do I love Jesus? Do I love his church?

Talents

God has gifted each of us with talents. Some have financial minds. Some know how to tear a car apart and put it back together again. Some are musically gifted. Some love teaching children. Some of you are culinary geniuses and others are tech wizards. I have a doctorate in preaching. That means there’s about a million other things I cannot do. We all use our gifts and talents for the things we care about. If you are not serving at all in the church it’s fair to ask yourself, what do I care about? Do I care about Jesus? Do I care about the church?

Romans 12.1 says, I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. How are you using your time, treasures, and talents to be a living sacrifice and offering worship to God? May we be a people who trust in the sacrifice of Christ and live sacrificial lives!

Conclusion

The sacrifice of Jesus Christ creates self-sacrificial people. We are members of a kingdom whose symbol is a cross. We follow a king who was crucified. We dine at a table every week where we reenact the breaking of his body and the shedding of his blood. Look to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and then you too will become a living sacrifice to God. Jesus became poor so that we might be spiritually rich. Like the widow in the temple, give Jesus your two cents.