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Introduction:
Whenever I am doing well at regular Bible reading, I am
always impressed at how easily I may completely miss a major
aspect of a passage because I had not truly read it in context.
For instance, I have read and even preached from Mark
12:41-44 multiple times. Of course, those lessons have
always been in the context of our contribution. However, in our
recent reading plan, I have finally seen that there is a slightly
larger context to these verses than just the giving. Have you ever
noticed that this story about the generous widow is right on the
heels of Jesus rebuking the scribes for devouring widow’s
houses? I guess I had just always missed that. I can’t believe
this was mere coincidence for Mark as he wrote this gospel. While
the story of the widow and her copper coins does teach us some
great things about giving, the greater purpose of this story is to
provide a contrast between the scribes and the widows whose houses
they devour. Let us take a look at this passage with new eyes and
ask ourselves which we more want to be like—the scribes or the
widow. Discussion: I.
Me-centered vs. God-centered A.
When the scribes walked around in long robes, they were
saying, “Look at me.” When they expected greetings in the
market place, they were saying, “Talk to me.” When they
searched out the chief seats at a banquet, they were saying,
“Honor me.” When they were offering long prayers, they were
saying, “Listen to me.” Do you see the trend here? Me, me, me,
me, me. The scribes were me-centered. Their religion was all about
themselves. Their apparent spirituality was all about themselves. B.
The widow, on the other hand, was God centered. Instead of
thinking about herself, she was thinking about the Lord’s house.
Notice the extent of her giving. The text says that even out of
her poverty, she gave all she had to live on. She was taking what
little she had for rent and dinner, if you will, and giving it the
work of the Lord. Who was she thinking about? Who was she centered
on? C.
We need to be like this widow. Not that we need to give
over every penny we earn to the church. Rather, that we need to be
God centered. Jesus said the greatest command of all is to the
love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, strength and mind
(Mark
12:30). We are to seek first His kingdom and righteousness
(Matthew
6:33). We must be God centered in every aspect of our
lives, not just what we do here when we come together. II.
Selfish vs. Selfless A.
Because the scribes were so me-centered, they were also
selfish. They were so selfish, they even devoured widows’
houses. Who knows but maybe the very widow in our story had only
two copper coins to live on because she had been oppressed by a
scribe. I’m not sure we fully appreciate how bad this sin was to
the Jews. Sure, we think it is bad to mistreat helpless, little
old ladies. But according to the Old Covenant that was one of the
worst, dirtiest, rottenest sins people could commit. According to Exodus
22:22, the Jews were not allowed to mistreat widows. In Deuteronomy
27:19, God pronounced a curse on anyone who was unjust to
widows. In Isaiah
10:1-3, God lists how awful the people are and why He is
going to punish them. Included on the list is despoiling widows.
In Jeremiah
7:6, God said oppressing the widows was one of the reasons
Israel was being judged. Further, it was linked with shedding
innocent blood and going after other gods. In Job
22:9, when Eliphaz wanted to express how bad Job must have
been to cause all his suffering, he figured Job must have sent
away widows empty. And when Job was talking about his own
situation in Job
31:16, 22, he said God should let his shoulder blade fall
from his socket and let his arm be broken from its socket.
Devouring widows’ houses was the pinnacle of sin for these Jews.
It was the epitome of selfishness and evil. This selfishness was
made manifest by their greed. That was the scribes. B.
The widow, on the other hand, because she was God-centered,
was selfless. Instead of drawing from everyone else to herself,
she was giving of herself. She sacrificed of herself. She gave all
she had to live on into the temple treasury. We may not recognize
how impressive that is. According to Deuteronomy
14:28-29, the widows were supposed to be supported by the
tithes the people offered. I don’t believe this temple treasury
is the same as the tithe. But what I am impressed with is here was
a woman that all the people around her had been commanded to take
care of her. However, instead of demanding that care and becoming
selfish. She is taking what she has and giving it to the work of
the Lord. Think of the contrast. The scribes would devour
widows’ houses in order to line their own pockets, while this
widow emptied her pockets to build the Lord’s house. C.
We must be selfless. As Philippians
2:3-4 demonstrates, we must view others as more important.
We must view their problems as more pressing. Their needs as more
necessary. This is true in reference to any of our resources,
whether we are talking about time, ability or money. However, we
especially see this taught regarding our money. According to I
Timothy 6:17-19, those who have money and material goods
are supposed to share, not take more from others. Further, Hebrews
13:16 says we must share what we have with others. That
sharing is the kind of sacrifice with which God is pleased.
Instead of selfishness manifested in greed, we need to have
selflessness manifested in generous sacrifice. III.
Outwardly focused vs. Inwardly focused A.
The scribes were focused on the outside. They were focused
on how they looked to others. They were not focused on what was
really happening to them on the inside. They wore long robes
because it made them appear more spiritual. They said long prayers
because it made them sound more spiritual. They wanted greetings
and chief seats because that demonstrated they had a good
reputation and they looked good to others. On the inside, they
were clearly rotten and evil. As we have already pointed out, they
were filled with selfishness and greed. We all know how Jesus
viewed the scribes based on Matthew
23:25-28. They were like cups washed on the outside but
not the inside. They were like tombs and sepulchers that were
washed white on the outside, but the inside was full of dead
men’s bones. B.
The widow on the other hand was not for show. Think about
this; who would ever drop only one cent in the treasury box as a
means to attract attention to themselves about how wonderfully
spiritual they were? I can imagine that she was quite embarrassed.
It wouldn’t surprise me a bit if she tried to hide and cover up
what she was doing. But she had the right heart and that was what
caused her to offer the right sacrifice. C.
We need to focus on the inside. According to Matthew
15:7-9, God doesn’t want lip service. He wants heart
devotion. Further, if we want to be cleansed, we have to guard our
hearts for from it flow the springs of life according to Proverbs
4:23. Back in Matthew
15:10-20, Jesus demonstrated that what is in the heart is
what comes out in the actions and that is what defiles us. We need
to work on our heart. If there is anything in our heart that is
bad, we need to get that out in the open instead of letting it
fester there. We need to worry less about our reputations and more
about our righteousness. We need to worry less about our
homeliness and more about our holiness. We need to worry less
about our how we appear and more about what we are. Get the heart
cleansed and the rest will follow. Conclusion: No doubt there is a final contrast—the personal consequences. The scribes were rebuked by Jesus. The widow was honored. As we put the characteristics of the scribes behind us and pursue those of the widow, the Lord will bless and honor us. That may not be quite as apparent in this life. When we are done acting like the widow, we may still be penniless like the widow. But that honor will come when we stand before the judgment seat of God and He says, “Welcome good and faithful servant, enter the rest of your Lord.”
Glory
to God in the church by Christ Jesus
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