24th
Weekend after Pentecost – November 7 & 8, 2015 – Mark 12
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +
Mark
12 is the chapter where Jesus goes and gets Himself killed. He's not
crucified til later, but this is where He gets Himself killed. In
Mark 11, Palm Sunday happens, and Jesus cleanses the temple, and the
Chief Priests challenge Jesus, and He backs them down. Jesus has
upset the high and mighty in the temple - so be it. But it's in
Chapter 12 where Jesus really makes waves amongst the wrong people.
He annoys the Pharisees when they test Him about taxes - the whole
"render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's" passage.
That tweaked the rich Pharisees. Then the Sadducees, another party
comes up - and Jesus smacks them down - "Is this not the
reason you are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the
power of God?"
Then come the scribes, and they test Him - what's the great
commandment - Love God, love your neighbor - that's the sum of the
Law. And everyone famous and powerful in Jerusalem is embarrassed,
and frustrated, and annoyed with Jesus. Then, to top it off, we get
today's text. The teaching that will make them want to kill Jesus.
"And
in His teaching He said, 'Beware of the scribes, who like to walk
around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplace 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." Oi.
Now folks, we are going to take our time and walk through this,
indeed, we will hear what warning this text brings for us as well,
and it's going to be an insightful, intense one. So, bear with me,
and let's hear the stern Law of God. What Jesus says here at first
seems utterly surprising, because when Jesus is attacking the
Scribes, He is attacking the folks who know the Scriptures, the
Bible, better than anyone. Is that whom you would expect Jesus to
level an attack against? I mean, these are the good, bible
believing, indeed bible quoting folks of the day. If anyone should
be safe, it should be them, right? But here's the thing - it does no
good if you know the Bible but simply use it as a stick to beat
others with and prop yourself up.
Listen
again. What do these scribes, these learned folks do? What is the
result of their studies? They like to "walk
around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplace."
What does that mean? They are show off and braggarts. They want to
be praised for how wonderful, how knowledgeable they are. Everywhere
they go they let everyone know how much they know - and they expect
you to fawn over them. Indeed, when they head to the synagogue, they
take the best seats. They expect the places of honor at feasts -
people ought to be just so glad they came. And they do all this,
funded by widows. And indeed they even, "for
a pretense make long prayers."
On and on they will blather, even in prayers. Show offs even
praying. They sound like horrible people - right? Actually, they
were highly respected Jews of the day. And everyone knew how highly
respected they were, especially the scribes themselves -- and yet,
they were under condemnation, great condemnation - for they had
missed the point of those Scriptures, for instead of glorifying God
and His salvation, they sought to glorify themselves, to receive
great renown here.
So what does this mean, how does this apply to us? Let
me try to update the language - "Beware of the good Christian
people (be they pastors or professors and pewsitters), who smile and
drive around with the fish symbol bumper sticker on their car on
their way to their volunteering, who sit up straight in Church and
bible study, who look to be the best of the best in the Church here
on earth." That's the warning that Jesus levels today, that's
what it would sound like to us. It ought to sound strange, backwards,
counter intuitive. But Jesus does address a danger that we all should
ponder - the danger is that all our "religiosity" is just
for show.
Now, neither Jesus nor I are saying that you shouldn't
study the Scriptures - indeed, get thee to bible study. This isn't
saying don't sit in Church and pay attention, nor is it saying never
advertise your faith. The question is this - why? Why do these
things? Is it to be seen, to be praised by men? To have the ladies
of the congregation think you are just the bee's knees? To show the
world that even while they might be lousy evil people, at least you
are going to be a good Christian, you've got your life sorted out,
your ducks in a row! Then you've missed the point and are standing
under, remain under condemnation, great condemnation.
There
is great wisdom in the Scriptures. There is wondrous advice for how
to live one's life, how to conduct ones' self. It won't lead you
wrong. There's fantastic moral teaching. But the point, the goal
isn't to improve you and make a better person than those schlubs out
there - it isn't to elevate you and make you great. It isn't to
teach you how to be lauded and praised by adoring fans. The Law of
God does this: it teaches you that you are to love God, that you are
to love your neighbor - to be focused on them. If you are thinking
about how you are "good", or how you are "better"
- you're not looking at God, you aren't looking at your neighbor and
their needs in order to show them love. If you are comparing
yourself to your neighbor you have violated the law, for that is not
showing them love. Of course, for us in this life, the great purpose
of the Law is to teach, to show us, to make us know this truth: you
are and will always remain in this life, a sinner. And even if you
are the best of all the other sinners running around, you remain
simply that, a sinner. And all your pride and arrogance gets you no
where.
And
with this teaching still echoing, Jesus goes, and He starts to watch
people. "And He sat down opposite the
treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box.
Many rich people put in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in
two small copper coins, which make a penny. And He called His
disciples to Him and said to them, '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.'"
Whom does Christ praise? The rich, the powerful? The successes?
The best of the best? No. The widow most folks wouldn't even take a
second glance at. Not the ones making a show of how wonderful they
are, how generous they are, dare I say what great Christians they
are. No - the gal who simply out of love for the neighbor gives...
and doesn't spare a second thought to what she's going to get back.
In fact, she's not going to get anything back. She had next to
nothing; now she's got nothing. So be it. She loves God; she loves
her neighbor, she knows that God will have mercy upon her.
So often the widow's mites, as I grew up calling those
coins, will get used to be a finger waging moralism tale --
especially as we hear this towards the end of the year; the
traditional time for Stewardship drives! "See what a great
percentage she gave, don't you think you could give more, maybe
increase your tithe?" I suppose that's partially right - I
mean, go be generous. You've been richly blessed - go give out of
the abundance that you have received. But it misses the bigger point
the context of the passage has established. Jesus has been talking
about folks who crave honor and respect and earthly glory, who want
to be acknowledged for all that they do. Those who are the good
people and want you to know it. You know what you good, successful
folks? All you've done, all the greatest contributions you've made -
not even worth the two measly cents that widow tossed in. All your
efforts, and some old bitty comes along and with nary a second
thought tops all you have done.
Do you see how this gets Jesus killed? Anyone feeling
really happy with this text? It doesn't let us be smug, it doesn't
let us pat ourselves on the back. Points out that we want stupid,
vain glory. Takes the silly dreams of earthly power and fame that we
have, even "fame" in the Church, even fame with a pious
coat of "Christian" paint on it, and says that they are
rubbish. Says that the best of us are still actually lousy. Takes
the greatest things we do and says that they are worth less than two
measly cents. Is it any surprise that the rich and powerful folks
wanted Him dead? It's a blow to the ego, isn't it?
Jesus
didn't come to be liked. He came to fulfill the Law. He came to
show love to God and show love to you - and He did that by getting
Himself killed. This is our Hebrews' lesson - "But
as it is, He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put
away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And just as it is appointed
for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having
been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second
time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting
for Him."
Jesus comes to go to the Cross, to suffer and die, because we are
sinners who need it. How big of sinners are we? We can take even
the things of God, Church, the bible, and twist them with our pride
and ego to where we want to use them to praise ourselves. And so He
comes. And He puts away sin. Your sin. It is put away. Done away
with. Gone. Forgiven. That's the truth. It doesn't remain. This
is the wonder, the true glory shown forth in the Scriptures. Jesus
comes to save you, save you from sin, save you from yourself. The
great wonder of the Scriptures is not the teaching about what you are
to do yet fail in, but the teaching that Christ Jesus Himself does
all, gives all, suffers all for you. You are Baptized into Christ -
so you are judged not on what you have done, not on what people see
or don't see, not what they think or don't think. You are judged on
the basis of what Christ Jesus has done for you - and He has washed
you in His blood, clothed you in the robes of His own righteousness,
declared you forgiven, called you His brother, His sister - a co-heir
of eternal life - and He shall even call you forth to everlasting
life.
Don't bother playing the holier-than-thou game. It
doesn't benefit you anything - indeed, it can only distract you from
Christ Jesus and the true Holiness that He pours upon you freely. He
has done it all for you. All that is left for us is to enjoy the
blessings He freely gives and wait for His return in which He will
save us, all thanks be to God! In the Name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit +
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