Sunday, November 11, 2018 ~ Pentecost 25

Dr. John Tamilio III, Pastor

 Sermon: “Total Dependence”

Gospel Lesson: Mark 12:38-44

© 2018, Dr. Tamilio

I think that many preachers often miss the point of today’s Gospel lesson, or at least they short change it (no pun intended).  They stand in their pulpits and say, “The widow did more than tithe.  She gave 100%.  She gave everything she had, so certainly you, the members of this church, can give much more than you do.”  There may be some truth to that, but is that really what this passage is about?

Others get up and say, “Jesus makes it clear.  She gave out of her poverty far more than anyone else gave out their wealth.”  There is a great deal of truth to this as well, but again: is this what this passage is all about?

At the heart of it all, this passage is about trust.  First, this woman is a widow.  She is among the most vulnerable in society.  I am not saying that women need men to protect them, but they certainly did in first century Palestine.  This is why Jesus often talks about us taking up the cause of widows and orphans.  It was easy for them to be abused or exploited.  That is still the case in many parts of the world today.  For this woman to give everything she had to the Temple treasury meant that she was fully relying on God to care of her, to provide for her every need.  That is a huge act of faith.

As is so often the case, Scripture becomes a mirror — not so much showing us how we are, but, rather, how we should be.  We, too, need to rely on God more than we typically do.

There are several other passages that support this idea: Jesus telling the rich man to sell all his possessions, give the money to the poor, and follow him; Jesus telling us to pick up the cross and follow him.  In the first example, the rich man walks away distraught because he had many possessions.  Whether you consider yourself rich or not, you probably rely on your possessions a great deal: the equity in your home, your retirement account, that Roth IRA.  In the second example, we must ask ourselves if we are really willing to take up the cross and follow where Jesus leads.  What does that even mean?  According to David Barnhart, Jesus is calling “his followers to do the kinds of swordless, nonviolent things that would lead to martyrdom.”[1]  That is a tough pill to swallow!  Are we willing to go that far?

The widow was.  By giving all that she had to live on, she was putting her faith in God; she was trusting that God would fulfill her every need.  How trusting are we to do the same?  Please do not leave here today thinking that I am suggesting that you do something rash — that I am coaxing you to give away all of your possessions and simply trust that God will provide.  That would not make you a responsible steward of the gifts you’ve been given.  (That said, if you want to give all of your wealth to the church, we will gladly accept it!)

In all seriousness, though, do we rely on God as much as we should or could?

For a while, Church Sunday School and Youth Programs, as well as Vacation Bible Schools and Christian Publishers, were promoting an acronym: FROG.  FROG stands for FOREVER RELY ON GOD.  The idea is that at a young age, Christian education is teaching our children that they can always count on the God made known in Jesus.

There is a lesson there for us adults as well.  If you think about it, we rely on other things much more…like…our cell phones![2]  According to the Pew Research Center, 90% of Americans own a phone:

• 67% of cell owners find themselves checking their phone for messages, alerts, or calls — even when they don’t notice their phone ringing or vibrating.
• 44% of cell owners have slept with their phone next to their bed because they wanted to make sure they didn’t miss any calls, text messages, or other updates during the night.
• 29% of cell owners describe their cell phone as “something they can’t imagine living without.”

Recent statistics also show that 70% of cell phone owners and 86% of smart phone owners have used their phones in one or more of the following ways in the past 30 days:

• Coordinate a meeting or get-together — 41%
• Solve an unexpected problem that they or someone else had encountered — 35%
• Decide whether to visit a business, such as a restaurant — 30%
• Find information to help settle an argument they were having — 27%
• Look up a score of a sporting event — 23%
• Get up-to-the-minute traffic or public transit information to find the fastest way to get somewhere — 20%
• Get help in an emergency situation — 19%

All this cell phone use equates to the average person checking their phone 150 times per day, this according to Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield, and Byers’s annual Internet Trends report.

A recent social media buzz point (author unknown) asked this probing question: “What if we began to treat our Bibles the way we treat our cell phones?”

• What if we carried it with us everywhere we went?
• What if we turned back to get it if we forgot it?
• What if we checked it for messages throughout the day?
• What if we used it in case of an emergency?
• What if we spent an hour or more using it each day?

What if we consulted our Bibles as often as we consult our smart phones?  Do we rely on technology more than we rely on God?  Maybe.

Interestingly enough, I posted the following question on Facebook the other day: “For those interested in being part of a sermon: How do you rely on God?  Do you rely on God?  Is there a degree to which you rely on God?”  I received only three responses.  Three.  One from a Christian who said, “I rely on God most of the time.  I don’t rely on him enough when I’m going through a trial.  That’s the time I especially need to rely on him.”  The other two went in a different direction — one friend basically said that his life is much easier now that he doesn’t rely on God.  And we wonder why people aren’t flocking to church like they used to.  If you don’t need to rely on God, then you certainly don’t need to go to his house.

Maybe this is where we need to go with our evangelism efforts.  We need to show people that God sustains our lives even though we do not necessarily notice it.  God is always present with us.  We cannot survive without God.  If we can get people to see and feel this in the deepest recesses of their being, our walls would burst.

It begins with you.  Show others.  Tell them how God has made a difference in your lives.  Make it concrete.  Share your story.  Give your two copper coins.  In return, you will receive blessings beyond compare.  Amen.

[1] David Barnhart, “What It Means to Take Up Your Cross,” from Ministry Matters, October 2, 2015.  Available online at ministrymatters.com/preach/entry/6353/what-it-means-to-take-up-your-cross.

[2] The following illustration is from illustrationexchange.com/illustrations?category=450