Accumulation, Letting Go

MARK 12:38-44

In this season of Thanksgiving, our gospel narrator invites us into the temple, not to worship, nor to pray, but to join the disciples as they sit with Jesus and observe the religious leaders of their day. Jesus draws our attention to the motivation behind how they dress, their choice of prestigious seats in the synagogues and at banquets, how they like to be addressed, and how they pray. As our spiritual director he warns us: stay away from persons such as these, because their underlying motive is "for the sake of appearance": all they do is in order to look good. They are dependent on the praise and attention of others for their sense of well-being and self worth. And they are proud.

This insatiable appetite for expensive clothes and the best seats in the house is costly. Jesus goes on to tell us who foots the bill: the widows. They are robbed of a place to live. The scribes in their greed "devour widows' houses," even as they say long prayers before feasting off the real estate and livelihood of the powerless and poor (v. 40).

We also like to look good, and the value system of our society demands that we accumulate a certain amount in order to be "in." Our economy's strength and security depends on our spending enough on the day after Thanksgiving and during the Christmas season we are told! Mark Lancaster, executive director of Ministry of Money, asks, "Have you ever sat down and asked yourself, `How much do I really need?' Better yet, have you ever let yourself go down into the very depths of your own heart and hear God ask you that same question?" Mark mentions being stunned when reading a JC Penney ad: "On a colorful tri-fold brochure, resting comfortably above pictures of new shoes, a new sweater, book bags, towels and a brilliantly decorated shirt, were written these words: `Say YES to more of everything.' At the same time in our own nation 40% of all poor families live on incomes under 50% of the poverty level" (Ministry of Money, Issue #124, June 2000). Our insatiable appetite for "more of everything" costs. Like the widows of Jesus' day, the poor and the powerless among us pay the bill today.

Even as we continue to ponder Jesus' warning, he draws our attention to a woman as she enters the temple. She is poor and is a widow. This woman may have lost her place to live because of the selfish economic structures held in place by those who want to be known and seen among the rich and the beautiful. She moves towards the treasury, along side other, wealthier persons, scribes included. The sound of their coins has a certain heavy ring as they toss in large sums of money "out of their abundance." All she had was two copper coins, worth a penny. We can barely hear the tiny clink as she drops these two half-cents in. She is not looking for attention, nor living on the empty edge of outward appearance. Jesus helps us see her as he sees: "this poor widow put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury…she out of her poverty…has put in everything she had, all she had to live on" (Mk 12:43-44).

The invitation of the gospel writer during this festive season is to sit with Jesus and to see as he sees. Like the angel who comes to Joseph in a dream and uncovers fear as the motive behind his plans to divorce Mary (Mt 1:20), so Jesus uncovers our motives, those habits of the heart which propel us into believing that we need to "Say Yes to more of everything." The invitation is to care for the poor, to release our hold on things, on money, and to discover our worth in the gaze of God's love for the poor and powerless.

Wendy J. Miller

Eastern Mennonite Seminary, Harrisonburg, VA