Jude

 

God’s grace, peace and mercy be with you. My sermon title is Hey, Jude: Person, Letter, Passage. My focus is our second reading. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, the psalmist wrote, “I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’”  Now that our feet are within your gates, we rejoice to hear your Word. As we listen, may your Spirit enlighten our minds and move our hearts to love deeply as Jesus loved. This we pray to you, Most Holy Trinity. Amen.

When people hear the name Jude, they may think of Jude Law, the actor who portrays Watson in Robert Downey’s Sherlock Holmes movies. Others think of the Memphis hospital founded by Danny Thomas. Most hear a Beatles’ song in their heads and start humming the melody.

“Hey Jude” is a song written by Paul McCartney of the Beatles. It was released in August 1968, and was more than seven minutes long. At the time it was the longest single to top the British charts, and spent nine weeks at number one in the United States, the longest for any Beatles single and the longest run at the top of the US charts. The single sold eight million copies. But did you know that the title prompted some to consider McCartney an anti-Semite? That John Lennon thought it was an affirmation of his relationship with Yoko Ono? Or that the ballad evolved from “Hey Jules”, a song McCartney wrote to comfort John Lennon's son, Julian, during his parents' divorce?

I am not here to preach about Beatles’ songs, but rather to address The Letter of Jude in three parts – the person, the letter and the passage. First, the person.

There is some confusion regarding the true identity of Jude. He is not an outstanding figure like Peter, Paul, Timothy or Titus. Rather, he is an obscure apostle. Jude is not Judas Iscariot, the betrayer of Jesus. Yet, both Jude and Judas are Greek variants of Judah, a name common among Jews at the time. Aside from Judas Iscariot, the New Testament mentions Jude or Judas six times in four different contexts: Jude, the son of James, one of the Twelve Apostles[1]; Judas, not Judas Iscariot, but apparently an apostle mentioned in John’s Gospel[2]; the brother of Jesus identified by those who questioned the Lord’s authority[3]; and, finally, the writer of the Epistle of Jude, who identifies himself as “the brother of James.”[4]

Scholars are divided on whether Jude the apostle was also Jude the brother of Jesus, the traditional author of the Epistle. Generally, Catholics believe the two Judes are the same person, while Protestants generally do not. Of course, there is more regarding Jude’s lore and legend, but suffice it to say that Jude was a real person, and the Epistle – the Word of God – is attributed to him. And so, we move from Person to Letter.

Unlike many of Paul’s letters, because this letter lacks hard evidence of the author’s identity, we can only surmise the author. Jude calls himself the brother of James, who is one of the brothers of the Lord[5], and a leader in the early church. Although, as I already stated, there is an apostle of the same name[6], this Jude refers himself outside that group. One hypothesis is that after his brother, James, was executed in 62 A.D., Jude followed his example and warned Jewish Christians against new threats to their faith.

We know from the letter’s style that the author was a man trained as a scribe who wrote with considerable sophistication. As a Jewish Christian with blood ties to James and Jesus, he saw himself as an orthodox guardian of tradition. He also assumed that his readers were familiar with all his cited sources, canonical and noncanonical alike.

As the greeting of the letter indicates, his original readers were Jewish Christians who personally knew James. We find similarities in Paul’s greeting to the Romans and the Letter of James, where both identify themselves as servants of Christ.[7] Additionally, the greeting offers us a glimpse into Jewish Christianity, not Greek Christianity of Philippi, Corinth or Thessalonica.

Following the greeting, Jude reminded his readers that their salvation was at stake because ungodly outsiders crept into the Church and perverted the grace of God into sensuality, denying their only Lord and Master, Jesus Christ.[8] In other words, syncretism – perverting Law and Gospel by blending it with other teachings – was occurring, and that was as much of a danger in the early Church as it was when Walther and Pieper were the first Synod Presidents, and as it is today.

Most likely, those who “crept in unnoticed” were travelling missionaries. Think of it this way: If someone came to this church and knew the routine, he could present himself for communion as a church member. From there, he could finagle his way into a teaching position, and then present distorted views of the Law and Gospel. As a former Roman Catholic priest, the reason it was so difficult for me to join the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod as an ordained pastor is that the men charged with admitting candidates to ministry purposely made it so. They want to ensure that they are admitting someone who will be faithful to the teachings. Otherwise, you see from Jude the mess that occurs when you do not create a system that admits and rejects. As one Scripture scholar wrote, those who crept in denied the Lord Jesus (v. 4) by refusing to live under his rule. Although the opponents did not see themselves as rejecting Christianity, Jude describes their way of life as denying the order established by the Lord.[9]

From this point in the letter, against these opponents of Christ, Jude presents the evidence of his case, and then prosecutes and condemns these false teachers, while warning Christians so that they do not follow them.

In verses 17-19, we read: “You must remember … the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They said to you, ‘In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.’ It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit.”

This quote is from the Book of Enoch, which is outside the canon, and although all Jude’s readers may not have been familiar with it, they were familiar with the apostles. Jude was making the point that scoffers ignore all the law. Proverbs 9:7-8 reads, “Correct a scoffer and you attract contempt, rebuke a wicked man and you attract dishonor. Do not rebuke the scoffer, he will hate you. Rebuke the wise man and he will love you.” Scoffers create divisions, and these particular scoffers were not Christians, as they claimed, but rather greedy, worldly, spirit-less, divisive persons. They were not interested in building the body of Christ, the Kingdom of God. They were not interested in discipleship, servant leadership, unanimity, cooperation or reaching across the proverbial aisle. They were interested in their own muddled version of Law and Gospel, and not a clear distilled Biblical teaching. They were divisive scoffers.

In essence, Jude said, “They are divisive scoffers, and you are true believers.” And that brings me to our third point, Passage. Take a moment to find verses 20-25 in your program or pew Bible.

Note how Jude contrasted the behavior of the scoffers to that of true believers. By encouraging Christians to build up the community, he offered the model for community life – the Three Persons of the Holy Trinity. By promoting holiness, Jude sought to combat the scoffers’ false teaching. And finally, he encouraged Christians to practice mercy rather than hate. He closed his letter by reminding them that only God’s grace can keep us from stumbling. For that alone, he offered all glory, majesty and praise to our Lord, Savior, Master and Redeemer, Jesus Christ the Son of God. In short, each individual member of the community is to be Christ for one another.

So, there you have it – Jude the Person, the Letter and the Passage. For some, this thumbnail sketch could suffice, but my curious mind does not allow me to rest here. There is more to cover, but time does not allow me to discuss in detail Jude’s personality or educational background – how he wrote with such sophistication and employed words and phrases found nowhere else in the Bible. I cannot delve into the sociological milieu of his time – the understanding of a community 2000 years ago in a world thousands of miles from here where Greeks and Jews intersected. I cannot distinguish Jewish and Greek Christians quite so easily as sugar and salt. There is, however, something that I cannot overlook and that is a question: How is Jude applicable to life today?

The late Bible scholar, Raymond Brown wrote, “Today most would not appreciate or find germane [Jude’s] argumentation from Israelite tradition about the angels who sinned with women, [or] Michael’s battle over the body of Moses … We owe Jude reverence as a book of Sacred Scripture, but its applicability to ordinary life remains a formidable difficulty.”[10] So, how is Jude applicable to life today?

I asked a number of people, “What are the most urgent issues facing congregations today?” I received a number of responses including lack of time for prayer, worship and Bible study, materialism, divisiveness, human sexuality, devaluing God’s word, rejecting Biblical truths, conforming to the current culture, liberal colleges that turn high school graduates into atheists, and parents who place more importance on their children’s weekend sports activities than God’s Church. One gentleman wrote, “Realizing that eternal life can only be obtained by believing in Jesus Christ.” A friend offered his gut response: people looking for ways to live the Gospel and stay faithful to Jesus each and every day.

When I stopped looking for responses, I heard this exchange between a radio host and an author who wrote about living the Beatitudes daily. The author spoke of how he met a young man who had converted to the faith. The author asked this young man what he had converted from. Without skipping a beat and with a huge smile on his face, he responded, “Unhappiness. …. I left a lot of unhappiness and found something greater.” Surprised because he thought the young man was going to name a particular denomination or belief, he instead went to the heart of the matter. Knowing the young man, the author said that his sufferings and heartaches could have led him to choose anger, resentment and self-pity. But in spite of all these darker possibilities, which so many people choose in our world today, this person chose to convert to happiness. He saw the choice between light and dark, life and death, happiness and misery, and he chose – without question – to be happy. In our lives, we have to make our own choice. Will it be an unending and frustrating search for the pleasures and highs of life? Or will we break free from the malaise of incomplete joys and passing pleasures?[11]

If Jude has anything to offer congregations today, it reminds us that remaining steadfast to our faith is the key to happiness. Presented with the Law that convicts me of my sin and keeps me from sinning more grievously, and the Gospel, which frees me from my sin because of the Person of Jesus Christ – who suffered, died on the Cross and rose from the dead – and His teaching of repentance, forgiveness, loving-kindness, mercy, charity, generosity, thanksgiving and prayer, I am a blessed, happy person. Law and Gospel, Word and Sacrament, love of God and service to neighbor is all I really need to be happy or to convert from unhappiness, anger, resentment, self-pity and the unending, frustrating search for life’s pleasures – and God has provided all of that for me.

Friends, as you go about your life today, present someone with the choice to embrace the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Present someone with the choice to be happy, for when you do, the peace of God that surpasses all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

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[1] Luke 6:16 and Acts 1:13.

[2] John 14:22.

[3] Matthew 13:55, Mark 6:3.

[4] Jude 1:1.

[5] Matthew 13:55.

[6] Lk 6:16; Acts 1:13; Jn 14:22.

[7] See Romans 1:1 and James 1:1.

[8] Jude 3-4.

[9] Pheme Perkins, First and Second Peter, James, Jude, Louisville: John Knox Press, 1995. p. 148.

[10] Raymond E. Brown, An Introduction to the New Testament, New York: Doubleday, 1997. pp. 759-760.

[11] Jeffrey Kirby, Kingdom of Happiness: Living the Beatitudes in Everyday Life, Charlotte, NC: St. Benedict Press, 2017.

HALLGRIMSKIRKJA

 

Earlier this month, my wife and I toured Iceland. We got to see the Northern Lights, volcano fields, a whale museum and a horse farm. We went into a cave that stretched for miles and soaked in a spa that was heated by hot springs from the earth. My highlight of the trip was a visit to this church. It is called Hallgrímskirkja.

This is a Lutheran Church and is located in the middle of the capital of Iceland, Reykjavík. The people of Iceland started building the church in 1945. It was finally completed in October 1986. That’s 41 years! I mention this because in our Gospel today (Mark 13:1-13), Jesus’ disciples were marveling about the Temple. One said, “Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!” And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”

It's hard to imagine the destruction of a temple or a church the size of this one in Iceland. It’s 244 feet high, and seats over 1,200 people. But buildings taller than that have been destroyed.

Now, if you go to Iceland, go up to the bell tower because you can see for miles. But as magnificent as any church building is, what is even more important is Jesus Christ.

As a congregation, we can worship anywhere. We don’t have to go to Jerusalem or any other city. We can worship in a church building or in a park. All we need is God’s Word, Christ’s Body and Blood, for the forgiveness of our sins and the promise of everlasting life. With that, let us pray.

Heavenly Father, from whom all fatherhood in heaven and earth is named: Bless these and all children. Give their fathers and mothers the spirit of wisdom and love, so that the homes in which they grow up may be to them an image of Your Kingdom, and the care of their parents a likeness of Your love. We pray in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

 

When, What, Witness

 

God’s grace, peace and mercy be with you. My sermon title is WWW, and my focus is our Gospel (Mark 13:1-13). Let us pray. Heavenly Father, the psalmist wrote, “I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’” Now that our feet are within your gates, we rejoice to hear your Word. As we listen, may your Spirit enlighten our minds and move our hearts to love deeply as Jesus loved. This we pray to you, Most Holy Trinity. Amen.

Before WWW stood for World Wide Web, it also stood for Wild Wild West, With Warm Wishes, What Women Want and dozens of other phrases. I am not going to discuss any of those, although I must admit that The Wild Wild West was one of my favorite TV shows. Reading our passage for today, I am struck by how many W words there are – what, wonderful, when, wars, witness, whatever, who and will. Other versions of this passage include watch and worry. With a nod to the letter W – one of the newest letters in the alphabet – I move on to my three points: When, What (sign) and Witness.

First, When. As Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the Temple he and his disciples had just left, the four original disciples asked a two-part question: “When will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?”[1] This launched the longest teaching section in Mark’s Gospel. The second longest is found in chapter four. That teaching was addressed to the crowds; and this one to his disciples. While the two-part question is about to be answered, we should know that these two questions are different. The first deals with time and the second with end-time (eschatology).

We should also place the questions within their proper context. Notice that they were asked after Jesus left the Temple for the last time. When Jesus entered Jerusalem, he went into the Temple, looked around at everything, and because it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.[2]

The next day, he “entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons.”[3] He left the Temple again.

Then the next time he entered, the chief priests, scribes and elders confronted him and challenged his authority. His response is directed against this group as well as the Pharisees and Sadducees. After he completed teaching and observing, he left the Temple for the final time, and one of his disciples marveled at the Temple stones and building.

Now, if you have been to Jerusalem, no doubt you went to the Western Wall or the Wailing Wall, which is all that remains of the Temple. You also know that this disciple (in our passage) was not exaggerating. The Temple Jesus knew was not the one built by Solomon, but the second one built in 516 B.C. It was later renovated by Herod beginning around 20 B.C. and was still in progress at the end of Jesus’ life.[4] The outer buildings were completed in eight years, and the Temple campus covered one-sixth of the city.

The façade of white marble was adorned with dazzling gold. The retaining walls rested on blocks of limestone so huge that archeologists cannot explain how they were moved into place. These limestone blocks were 40’ long and weighed over 500 tons. In comparison, the largest stone of the pyramids weighs 11 tons. The Temple looked permanent and indestructible, striking awe in any onlooker.[5]

The other thing about the Temple is that Jesus loved it. What Jew would not? He venerated the Temple by going up to it for Jewish feasts of pilgrimage. With zeal, he loved God’s dwelling place among men. So, when he told them to take a good look, he did not speak glibly because the time was approaching when these buildings in all their magnificence would come tumbling down. As to the first question his disciples asked, Jesus did not answer it. Yet, he was in line with the prophets who also announced the Temple’s destruction.[6]

That brings me to my second point and the disciples’ second question: “What will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?” Whereas the first part of the question was an historical one, the second was an eschatological one. Asking about the end times and the final fulfillment of all these things, Jesus warned against false signs lest the disciples be misled. His answer can be divided into four parts: 1) don’t be misled; 2) great signs; 3) fulfillment; and again, 4) don’t be misled. For Jesus and the disciples with him, the events mentioned in verses 5-13, were in their future. For Mark and his community, much of what Jesus referenced was in the past.

Jesus began by warning his disciples not to be deceived by those who would come in his name. Many would be deceived by imposters related to Jesus in some way, but not associated with the Apostles.

Jesus then warned not to be alarmed about wars and rumors of wars. Wars, earthquakes and famines would happen, but they did not indicate the end. Christians in Mark’s community could look back and see that these things had been happening all along. They were not meaningless, but represented the beginning of labor pains, that is, new life. In short, God’s kingdom would come with a new age, but not without pain.

Jesus then warned them about persecutions. Kings, governors, judges and religious leaders would harass, beat and imprison Christians. Again, this was not the end because they must first proclaim the Gospel to all nations. Because he reassured his disciples that the Holy Spirit would speak through them, Jesus told them to put away their Xanax and not to worry or be anxious. When the time arrived for them to witness, the Holy Spirit would be right there.

Their witnessing would not be without the loss of intimate relationships with family members. Hatred from brother, sister, parent or child because of their relationship with Jesus would lead to salvation for those who endure. They should consider even this a great missionary opportunity to witness to Jesus and the Gospel. Well, if that teaching doesn’t get you all fired up to knock on doors and stand on street corners, I don’t know what will.

Where does that leave us? I mean, we know that the Apostles and the Church witnessed to the world after Pentecost. It seemed to Jesus’ disciples that they were indeed living in the end times. I mean, if you were convinced that we had only six months to a year to live, would you spend your time and energy trying to save the planet or save souls? Balancing your portfolio or your work-family life or witnessing to the Gospel? Catching up on current events or confessing Christ? In short, these questions lead me to my third point, Witness.

A witness is one who has wit or personal knowledge of some event, person or thing and can speak about it. Witness is a literal translation of the Greek word martys or martyr, which came to be known as Christians who in former times were put to death because they would not renounce their beliefs.[7] We find the word witness used hundreds of times throughout the Bible, sometimes prefaced by faithful and at other times false.

We can read volumes on those who were witnesses to Christ and the Christian faith, and their stories inspire us. These days, we read of individuals who label themselves or others as martyrs because they wish to die for a radical Islamic faith after killing innocent people minding their own business or because they take a knee for a personal or political cause long after their football career is over. They are not martyrs or witnesses.

If you want to read the accounts of 20^th century Christian martyrs, I would suggest two books. By Their Blood: Christian Martyrs from the Twentieth Century and Beyond by James and Marti Hefley, and The Catholic Martyrs of the Twentieth Century: A Comprehensive World History by Robert Royal. Both books point out something unknown to a great many Christians today – that there were more martyrs in the 20^th century than any other century in history.

If you want to read how and where Christians are witnessing to Christ’s Gospel, you can find plenty of information on the website for Open Doors USA.[8] It is dedicated to the idea that every Christian belongs to one Church and one Family, and for more than 60 years, has worked toward a simple goal: strengthening Christians, wherever they are threatened for their faith in Jesus. The biggest threats are found in North Korea, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sudan and Somalia where governments are dictatorships or unstable.

What if I don’t have the wherewithal to witness to the point of losing my life or job, my friends or family members, how then can I witness to Christ’s Gospel in my remote corner of the world? Countless opportunities abound. I suggest you start by asking the Lord to make it clear for you by saying, “Here I am, Lord. What do you want me to do for you and the world today?”

Some people are called to directly proclaim the word of God as evangelists or teachers. First Peter urges us, “Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope.”[9] You can boldly and courageously witness to the faith in this way or informally as a friend, neighbor or coworker, which moves hearts more than you might imagine.

Others can witness through prayer. I tell people who are unable to leave their family home or nursing home that they are not expected to minister to others through their works, but they are not excused from prayer. When all human methods fail to change a situation, prayer is most powerful. Write a list of people or causes and include them in your prayers. Ask God to open individuals’ hearts and receive His good and gracious will.

Others witness through their suffering. How many of us know Christians suffering not only from sickness or disease, but also poverty, loneliness, loss of belongings, their homes or a loved one? In their loss, their grief, they witness by offering their suffering to God. In the words of St. Paul, “I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh, I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the church.”[10]

However it is that you witness, it must always come from a deep compassion for the suffering of the world and born out of a personal experience of the love of God and a living relationship with Jesus. Otherwise, it will be nothing other than propaganda.

Now, why do I ask for a witness? To answer my own question: I turn to an article entitled The End of Religion. In it the author wrote, “Speculation about the end of religion itself has been with us for a long time and lingers unabated. Yet, if there is reason to worry about the health of religion today, there is clear evidence that spirituality, however defined, as a driving force within and among individuals, is alive and thriving. The quest for meaning is ever-present and reveals an underlying hunger for authentic spirituality that satisfies the deepest human yearning.”[11]

If people hunger for authentic spirituality that satisfies the deepest human yearning, am I resting in the presence of God enough to witness to that authentic spirituality myself? Is my experience of the love of God and a living relationship with the Risen Jesus deep enough to satisfy the deepest human yearning others have? Personally, I ask myself those questions all the time when it comes to satisfying your spiritual desires.

Friends, you and I are sent by the church and by Christ to witness the Gospel. We have been anointed with the fragrance of Christ. The ingredients of this fragrance are joy, simplicity, humility, gentleness, purity, confidence, mercy, peace and hope.[12] Because God has anointed us with His divine perfume, you and I witness the Gospel simply by living our lives as Christians. And because of this, other people should find us more attractive. Hopefully they find us other worldly, and recognize that we are like angels of God, messengers of God. Remember, God does not have a plan for you; God has a plan for your neighbor, and you are part of that bigger plan by loving him, and bringing the Gospel to him or her.

Friends, we’re entering the most stressful and frenzied period of the year. Like others, we can be stressed and frenzied about the holidays. Let’s observe the holidays as authentic witnesses of the Christian life by first resting daily in the Lord. Rest in God’s Word and in the presence of the Holy Spirit. Reflect on God’s presence in your life when running errands or walking into a cold wind, when you’re completing a project or preparing dinner, when you’re all together as family or when you’re all alone, and when you do, may the peace of God that surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

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[1] Mark 13:4.

[2] Mark 11:11.

[3] Mark 11:15.

[4] Eugene LaVerdiere, The Beginning of the Gospel: Introducing the Gospel According to Mark. Collegeville MN: The Liturgical Press (1999), p. 196.

[5] Mary Healy, The Gospel of Mark. Grand Rapids MI: Baker Academic (2008), p. 258.

[6] See Micah 3:11-12; Jeremiah 26:1-6, 18-19.

[7] See the words witness and martyr in https://www.etymonline.com.

[8] https://www.opendoorsusa.org/

[9] 1 Peter 3:15.

[10] Colossians 1:24.

[11] Richard Boileau, “The End of Religion: New Explorations in Spiritual Practice with Aelred Graham,” The Way, 60/4 (October 2021), 7–21.

[12] Jacques Philippe, “Our Witness of Hope: Bringing the Gospel to a Fragile World,” The Word Among Us, (September 2001), 10-15.

Discipleship and Stewardship

 

God’s grace, peace and mercy be with you. My sermon today is entitled Discipleship and Stewardship, and my focus is our Gospel (Mark 12:38-44). Let us pray. Heavenly Father, the psalmist wrote, “I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’” Now that our feet are standing within your gates, we rejoice to hear your Word. As we listen, may your Spirit enlighten our minds and move our hearts to love deeply as Jesus loved. This we pray to you, Most Holy Trinity. Amen.

Discipleship. Discipleship means being a disciple, student or follower of Jesus, for He is our master teacher. It is more than learning his teaching because a disciple must apply it to his or her own life, and live what He taught. You are either a disciple or you are not. There is no middle way. That said, what do we learn from Jesus in our passage today?

There are two passages in our Gospel that Mark linked together on the grounds of the reversal of status which they display: in vv. 38-40 the ostentatious scribes are the exploiters and the widows the victims, whereas in vv. 41-44 a poor widow is used to show up the ostentation of the wealthy. The theme of ostentation is the link.[1]

To set up our scenes, we keep in mind Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem and what he does when he arrives at the Temple. He cleanses it, and the chief priests and scribes seek a way to destroy him. Recall even earlier in Mark that people were amazed at Jesus’ teaching, and exclaimed that he teaches with authority and not like the scribes. (1:22) The scribes accused Jesus of blasphemy when he healed the paralytic (2:7), and later as being possessed by Satan (3:22). Immediately prior to today’s passage, a scribe asked Jesus what the greatest commandment is (12:28-34); and with the exception of this one, all the scribes we meet in Mark are critics of Jesus.

Here, Jesus’ denunciation of the scribes is stronger than that of the Pharisees or even Herod; and it is not because of what they intend to do to him. Jesus’ critique of the scribes is because they are ostentatious, exploitative and hypocritical. This passage is polemical, but nonetheless, it is based on what Jesus saw.

The scribes took pleasure in and desired social prominence. They loved perks. They loved to dress up in their festive robes – often reserved for celebrations – and walk around the marketplace. Picture someone wearing a tuxedo at Costco or Sam’s. To sit in the front seats of the synagogue meant they were facing the congregation in order to be seen. And because they loved to be flattered, Jesus warned his disciples against such behavior.

On the other hand, the vulnerability of widows is a recurrent theme in the Bible, and anyone who would defraud a widow is despicable. We must speculate how the scribes devoured widows’ homes. Some bilked them through excessive legal fees, mismanaging an estate as trustees, taking people’s homes as pledges for unpayable debts, or promoting the temple cult which ate up the sources of the pious poor. Overall, they exploited people’s hospitality and trust.[2]

Finally, their prayers were insincere. Before Jesus taught his disciples how to pray, he said, “When you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others.” (Mt 6:5) For all these reasons, Jesus stated that they would receive the greater condemnation. Their punishment would be more severe than that of Pilate and Herod, the Pharisees and Sadducees, the Romans and the pagans.

Mark then shifts from Jesus speaking polemical words against the scribes to watching people throw their donations into the collecting chests. The continual flow of the scene tells us that Jesus has not moved. He was in the Court of the Women. The treasury was near it. We know this because a woman walks by and throws her coins into the chest.

This woman was not the only person present, but Jesus singles her out as an object lesson. What she placed in the chest was the smallest denomination of currency. It was a copper coin worth less than one hundredth of a denarius. Her offering was known as a kodrantes in Greek or quadrans in Latin, and was worth about 1/64 of a denarius, a day's wage for a laborer. In our day, the minimum wage in Pennsylvania is $7.25/hour, or $58/day. Her contribution today would be about ninety cents.

So, when Jesus calls his disciples and begins with, “Truly, I say to you…,” he means, “Mark my words.” He commends the widow’s self-sacrificing generosity as an example for all God’s people, and turns upside down the human valuation of people.[3] What matters in God’s sight is not what a person has, but the devotion which causes her to give even at great personal cost, even if it is negligible in comparison with the enormous wealth of the temple. The gift does not matter so much to God as the giver.

Her spare change would never be missed, and lest you miss the point of this lesson, her behavior is contrasted not only to the rich men, but also to the rich young man. With that, let’s turn back to the brief conversation between Jesus and his disciples after the rich young man walked away in sorrow. (10:17ff) Jesus said, “Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” Peter began to say to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you.” Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

The rich young man failed to sell all that he had to give to the poor, and follow Jesus. This widow could have kept one of her coins, but voluntarily gave all that she had. Like the widow of Zarephath, she was without means for her next meal, but “the jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the Lord.” (1 Kg 17:16) While others dropped silver and gold coins, the widow’s two tiny copper coins resounded clearest in God’s ears.

Stewardship. Thirty-eight years ago, I had an experience that eventually led to my Master’s thesis at Christ the King Seminary. The title of that thesis was Responsible Christian Stewardship. If you receive the weekly email from the church office, it was attached. If you did not receive it, I will email it to you. It is worth reading, especially if you want to understand this part of my sermon.

There are a few ideas in it that I would like to highlight. Stewardship is the practice of controlling the affairs of a large household executed by a steward. Tithe was a practice of ancient civilizations in which one-tenth was collected to support public or religious purposes. First fruits are related to the first born, the one sacred to Yahweh through whom life flowed.

Prior to the Book of Deuteronomy, the is no direct evidence regarding the tithe. Abraham’s gift to the priest, Melchizedek, is not from his first fruits, but from the spoils of victory over Chedorlaomer. His gift is neither demanded nor explained; it is spontaneous, as was Jacob’s (Gen 28:22).

The tithe was meant to offer something to God who created and owns everything, even everything you possess. Eventually, the tithe became a way for society to care for widows, orphans, foreigners and priests. After the Babylonian Exile and the reform of Judaism, the tithing system was restored and reinforced.

This brings us to today’s Gospel, which is the only place, other than instructing Peter to pay the Temple Tax, where Jesus refers to almsgiving. But, as I pointed out earlier, “The Widow’s Mite” cannot be separated from the condemnation of the scribes. That there is next to nothing taught by Jesus regarding the tithe, we should note that it gives way to a practice more important than tithing, and that is love. The commandment of love or to love is the cornerstone of the New Law and the new practice. Almsgiving, prayer and fasting are the Christian elements to loving God and neighbor taught by Jesus in the Sermon of the Mount (Mt 6).

Although we can only conjecture why Jesus did not teach much about tithing other than a couple of passages, my personal opinion is that there are other teachings that Jews took for granted because they practiced them so religiously that there was no need to speak of them. The Evangelists did not record Jesus’ teaching about abortion, however, that does not give a Jewish or Christian teacher a pass to promote abortion as morally acceptable. Likewise, Jesus did not teach a lot about tithing, but it’s more than covered in the Sermon on the Mount, the Dialogue with the Rich Young Man, and the Widow’s Mite under the teaching of love of God and neighbor.

St. Paul did write about stewardship. In 2^nd Corinthians 8-9, Paul appealed for a collection for the saints in Jerusalem. Remember that Paul’s primary activity was preaching the Gospel; the collection was secondary. His desire was to bring together the various Christian communities, and the collection was an expression of love of God and neighbor, even if they were in another country.

Christians in Macedonia exceeded Paul’s expectations because they gave in a way that was incompatible with their poverty. Their joyful attitude was an important factor in stewardship. Paul’s writings also show us that he never commanded Christians to give; rather, he appealed to them. Do not confuse this with prosperity theology, but one who gives cheerfully is gifted with God’s blessings.

On the other hand, one who does not thank God for graces received is morally and religiously corrupt (Rom 1:18ff.). Because Paul’s appeal flowed from his preaching of the Gospel, we see that he was motivated by the Gospel to bridge these communities into one, and this left an everlasting impact on the Church. That brings me to Stewardship.

Step back and look at the vast horizon that everything is God’s and nothing is ours. Those golf clubs that I gave to my son-in-law or grandson that he later sold are no longer mine, and even if they are, they will belong to someone else when I am dead. Nothing belongs to me, and everything to God. Yet, I am a steward of what belongs to God and is entrusted to me by God.

That includes more than my property and belongings. I am called to be a good steward of my spouse and family. They belong to God, and God has entrusted them to my care for the time being. I care for them not only by providing them with basic human needs – food, shelter and so on – but also the higher needs – the desire to advance their intellect and skills. As a parent or teacher, I encourage young people, especially children, to study, read, research, write and speak publicly.

As a pastor, I am called to provide you not only with what Scripture and Jesus teach, but also how you can apply it to your daily living. Do you spend more time in Wordle than you do in the Word? Set aside time for prayer and reading the Bible. Do you love God and neighbor by living the Ten Commandments? Do you understand them, the Creeds, the Lord’s Prayer and the Sacraments by reviewing the Small Catechism? Do you seek forgiveness from your spouse or neighbor? Do you enrich your marriage and family relationships by listening to loved ones without interrupting them? Do you teach personal and communal responsibility to young people?

As a member of this congregation, how do you practice stewardship? Do you serve as an elder, usher, greeter, acolyte or altar guild member? Do you pitch in when needed and without being asked? Do you speak highly of other church members to outsiders? Do you purchase goods for the food pantry when you shop? As a church council member, do you seek how to better communicate with the congregation? Do you plan and provide current written reports? And finally, do you use the Mite Boxes to support Lutheran missions?[4]

There are many areas where each of us can better steward God’s gifts that we should practice. Care for widows, orphans, forgotten or neglected elderly people and unborn persons. Join others who promote the right to life and security to our nation’s citizens. Seek the Truth that only Christ provides. Share the Good News of the Gospel with those who really need to hear that Christ freed them from eternal condemnation. Friends, God gave us Law and Gospel. As stewards, take time this week and share them with those who need them, and when you do may the peace of God which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

 

 

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[1] R. T. France, The Gospel of Mark: A Commentary on the Greek Text. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company (2002), p. 488.

[2] Ibid, p. 491.

[3] Ibid., p. 493.

[4] Mite Explanation and History. https://www.lwml.org/mites