Resistence to Power

Rev. Debbie Cato
Mark 12:38-44
Fairfield Community Church
November 10 2024 

Let us Pray:  Holy God,  thank you for this opportunity to worship you and come closer to you As we approach your Word, may we be ready to receive the message you intend for us today. Amen.

 

 

Resistance to Power

 

 

 

The Sunday after a volatile election is a difficult time for a preacher to

step into a pulpit. What does one preach about after such a momentous

national election?  What do I say when I know that some of you are

pleased with the election results, and some of you are devastated?  So

often we think that the pulpit is not a place for politics.  Yet, Jesus was

very political. He overturned tables in the temple when he saw how the

merchants were taking advantage of the vulnerable, he kicked the

money changers out of the temple because they were there to

personally profit, not worship God. He spoke out about the abuses he

saw in the religious leaders. Even though he was God, his whole life; his

whole ministry, was based on humble servanthood – a stark contrast to

the political and religious leaders or his day pr the political leaders of

today!

 

No matter who was going be elected the next president of the United

States, no matter which party was going to control Congress, one thing

was clear: we would have a lot of work to do. No matter what happened

on Tuesday, the division in this country is a huge issue. Honestly, I

think the only solution is to focus on Jesus, he will tell us how and

where to prioritize our work.

 

I’ve been preaching from the lectionary, which I think I told you is a

planned preaching of scripture that is broken down into 3 years.  If you

preach the lectionary, in 3 years you have preached all of scripture.  It

helps you from only using scripture that you like; that’s easier to preach

on a Sunday Morning.  This passage was the lectionary Gospel reading

for today.  God’s timing is always perfect.

 

We read two stories in this passage.  But don’t think they aren’t related!

The first story this morning is when Jesus condemns the scribes. It is

not merely a condemnation of hoity-toity scribes and the praise of a

generous widow. In this passage of Mark’s Gospel, Jesus is condemning

a Temple system built to benefit the powerful and prey on the most

vulnerable. The scribes of ancient Israel were educated officials, relied

on to handle the community’s legal, financial and political issues.

Eventually, they gained so much status and power that they even

became self-appointed interpreters of God’s Law.

 

Jesus warns that the scribes who walk around in long flowing robes,

being greeted with respect, and sitting in places of honor will face the

consequences of devouring widows while they say long prayers to keep

up their righteous appearances.  The “best seat” in the synagogue, to

which Jesus refers is the position of authoritative interpretation. The

power to say, “This is what God’s law means. This is how God’s law

is to be practiced.”   The power to promote personal agendas and build

political, economic, and religious systems that most benefit those

sitting in the “best seats.”  Benefit those who are already powerful. 

 

The widow is not powerful.  She is not important.  A widow had little to

no standing in Jesus’ time.  She had no way of earning a living.  Yet she

is pressed to contribute to the Temple treasury by a religious system that convinces her it is faithful to give “all that she had,” all she had to

live on.

 

The poor were encouraged to support the Temple and in doing so,

support the already wealthy and powerful scribes seated within it who

were already much, much wealthier than the poor.  Throughout

scripture, the wrath of God is most often directed against those who

preserve their own wealth and power at the expense of the orphan, the

widows, the resident alien, and the poor.   And yet here are the scribes,

self-appointed to interpret God’s laws and how they would personally

benefit.   In fact, the poor and vulnerable, like this widow, were

encouraged to give to the point of exhausting their resources, devouring

even the meager inheritances they hoped to pass to their children.

 

In an ancient temple, the giving was done when you first walked into

the temple.  The temple money offerings were typically collected by

placing coins into designated chests or "trumpets" located within the

Temple grounds, supposedly where people could discreetly contribute

to the temple.  The chests or trumpets were likely brass so if coins –

such as what the widow gives, they could be heard hitting the metal.  From where the scribes were seated, they could judge the size of the offering by the sound. (Something like this….)  Jesus condemns this system and those who support it, saying it “devours widows’ houses”

 

I have to confess that I have preached this text often, and when I have, I

have spiritualized Jesus praising the generosity of the faithful widow,

avoiding the clear political implications of this text. I’ve used it as a

passage to talk about tithing.  But, as I was studying in preparation for my sermon today, I began to see a link connecting the Temple’s treasury box and the ballot machine that accepts our votes. What kind of system do we support? What kind of government? What kind of people are we?  Who do we elect and empower to the “best seats”? Whose interests do they have in mind?

 

In The Word before the Powers, Charles L. Campbell writes that the a

of preaching is a critical practice of nonviolent resistance, one that not

only links the biblical text to today’s moral and ethical challenges but

also shapes the life and practices of church communities. Campbell tell

the story of André Trocmé, the pastor of the Reformed congregation in

Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, the small village in southern France that

effectively sheltered over 5,000 Jews during World W.

 

As Campbell tells it, on the Sunday after France surrendered to Nazi

Germany, Trocmé stepped into his church’s pulpit to proclaim: “The

responsibility of Christians is to resist the violence that will be brought to bear on their consciences through the weapons of the spirit.” Through the “best seat” of authoritative interpretation to which he had been called, Trocmé preached, week after week, of Jesus’ nonviolent resistance against oppressive political powers and his care for the most vulnerable, keeping this vision alive during a politically treacherous time.[1]

 

Those coins the widow put in the treasury box represent more than money.  They represent faith and belief and how these must be lived out in our lives in  concrete acts and not solely by rituals that no longer

 

hold religious power or purpose.  Powerless rituals do not call forth deep acts of faith from us through our witness in the world.  Instead, these heartless rituals have become pro forma ceremonies marking questionable status and empty piety.  The coins represent a faith-filled offering found in presenting all of who we are and all we hope to become to God for service to the world.[2]

 

Together, these two sections in Mark’s gospel read as a lament for and

an indictment against any religious – or political system that results in a poor widow giving all she has so that the systems leaders may continue to live lives of wealth and comfort.  Be aware, the attack is not only on  Jewish- religious practice.  The attack is on any system that masks egotism and greed.  We should be as outraged as Jesus by any system that appropriates the property of the poor and the near-destitute in order to perpetuate the wealth of the elite.[3] 

 

Today, we know what message America’s electorate sent through the

polls. We know what vision for America the majority of voters have.

But we must ask this questions, “What vision do you believe Christ has

for our country?”[4]

 

What I can say as a pastor who has studied God’s word in depth, is that

Christ prioritizes the needs of society’s most vulnerable, and God

supports systems of political and economic justice. To our “best

seats” we should not elect politicians who build systems that most

benefit themselves. From our “best seats” we followers of Jesus Christ

 

must proclaim that change begins with us, how we treat each other,

how we work together to solve complex problems, how we treat the

widow, the stranger, the orphan—the most vulnerable. [5]

 

The way Jesus taught his small band of twelve disciples, he started a

groundswell of love and care for all God’s people — and particularly

those oppressed by unjust systems.

 

Yes, we have a lot of work to do. We also have a teacher we can trust

and a path that leads to our own and others’ liberating salvation.  The

choice is ours.  Amen.

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[1] Presbyterian Outlook Commentary.  Mark 12:38-44.  Teri McDowell-Ott.  https://pres-outlook.org/2024/10/twenty-fifth-sunday-after-pentecost-november-10-2024/
[2] Feasting on the Word.  Proper 17.  Mark 12:38-44.  Theological Perspective.  Emilie M. Townes..  P. 286
[3] Feasting on the Word.  Proper 17.  Mark 12:38-44.  Pastoral Perspective.  Rodger Y. Nishioka.  P. 286
[4] Presbyterian Outlook Commentary.  Mark 12:38-44.  Teri McDowell-Ott.  https://pres-outlook.org/2024/10/twenty-fifth-sunday-after-pentecost-november-10-2024/
[5] Presbyterian Outlook Commentary.  Mark 12:38-44.  Teri McDowell-Ott.  https://pres-outlook.org/2024/10/twenty-fifth-sunday-after-pentecost-november-10-2024/