Hidden Legacies

Mark 12:38–44 NIV

As he taught, Jesus said, “Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely.” Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”

Status is one of those words that we use to describe a condition. If you are looking to buy a used car, you always want to inquire about the car’s status; you want to know what condition it is in—what works, what needs repair, what work has been done, how does it handle? These are all ways we might refer to the status of an older vehicle. We also use status to describe projects or processes. If you are waiting on a report back on a medical test or procedure, you might call and ask about the status of the report; you want to know where things are at in the process. If you are part of a big project at work with many individual pieces coming from various departments, you might be looking for frequent status reports to know how the project is coming along. Many of us know what it means to post a message or photo on Facebook. Back in the earlier days of Facebook it wasn’t called posting. It was called a status update. It was a simple reference to what a person was up to—what you’re doing.

But more correctly, when we refer to people and status, what we really reference is their standing and position. When we talk about a person’s job status in a company, we generally mean the person’s job position at the company. A person’s status in the armed forces is a reference to their officer ranking—we want to know their position in the chain of command. Most often we associate personal status with a position or standing within a group.

This makes sense. We talk about people with very little influence or notoriety as having low social status. And those with a great deal of power and influence are in a standing of high social status. Status is one of those ways we use as a society to measure people against one another and put them in an order of importance and influence and prestige.

Status Update

This last story we are looking at in our stewardship series is a story Jesus tells about status. It is about position and standing among people. And this is a story Jesus uses to point out the ways our generosity gets tangled up with ideas about personal status.

There are actually two scenes taking place in what we read today; and they are connected. The first is a short teaching by Jesus on the intentional display of status by those who enjoy positions of high standing. And the second is a scene at the place in the temple where the temple offerings are received.

long flowing robes and seats of honor = status symbols

In the teaching of Jesus, he comes down pretty harshly on those who make a show of their position. He talks about the long flowing robes of the teachers of the law, and the places of honor they would sit. Status symbols. That’s what we call this. These are status symbols. These are the means that these people would use to communicate their status update to everyone else around them.

Flowing robes and seats of honor are not the likely status symbols used today, but we certainly have trophy cases in our time that make a show of our status for everyone else to see. Maybe that’s the reason why I only wear my Michigan State Spartan socks after a win. But after an agonizing defeat, those socks tend to stay tucked away in the drawer. During the time I studied at seminary there was a transition happening to more and more electronic resources. About three quarters of my theological library is on the hard drive of my computer, not in print copy books. But most churches still have pastors’ offices set up with walls of bookshelves. No joke, I had a few colleagues who went out and found stacks of donated or cheap used book from retiring pastors—not because they had any intention of ever reading them—but because they just needed something to display. The status of high academia was entirely a show. It’s not that we techno-pastors lack the theological training or haven’t done the reading. We just didn’t have a way to show it off for everyone else to see. The status symbols of our high education were no longer an item of prominent display.

status symbols say look at me, look how important I am

I understand that not everyone here shares a pastor’s obsession with stuffed bookshelves and framed diplomas. But we all have our trophy cases, don’t we? We all have displays of status that only exist as showpieces. Sometimes I wonder if the only reason that Harley Davidson bikes have straight tailpipes is so that everyone within a square mile knows I’ve got a Harley; they can hear it. When it comes right down to it, we all have a place in our lives where we strive to display something that says look at me; look how important I am. What is your trophy case? What do your status symbols look like?

what are my status symbols?

No one can escape this question. Every one of us no matter what our age has the urge to gravitate to status symbols. This is not a question about comparing and pointing fingers at others. This is a question about looking in the mirror. Before Jesus moves on to the next story, and before we can move on to consider this week’s topic of generosity, we first have to be completely honest before God about the ways we have sought out our own status. We will get the most out of today’s lesson of generosity if we first come to admit and confess that we all have our own displays that strive to say look at me; look how important I am.

desire to be known, to be loved, to be adored

Now then, before we turn the corner and get to story of generosity Jesus tells next, can we first acknowledge how important that statement is to every single one of us? There is a yearning built inside every single one of us that desires to be known, to be loved, to be adored. God created humans to be in perfect relationship with him—with God. We have been made by God for the purpose of being known, of being loved, of being adored. We were made by God to receive these things perfectly within a relationship with our creator. We should not feel guilty as though we are sinning whenever we feel the desire which says look at me; look how important I am.

But you see where I am going with this. In our broken and sinful world in which our perfect relationship to our creator has been damaged, we start looking for our fulfilment in places other than God. We all start to look around in places other than God for ways to be known, to be loved, to be adored. It is not that the desire itself is wrong. What is wrong is our attempt to fulfill that desire in places other than God.

That’s what status symbols do to us. I think it’s time for a status update. I think it’s time for us to honestly confess before God that we have all had times and places in life in which we have run after love and adoration apart from God. Today we need to realize once again that our status comes from Jesus Christ, and from him only. Your status is a child of God who is known by God, who is loved by God, who is adored by God. You have this status because of what Jesus has done on the cross for you and for me. The cross is the only status symbol I need. The cross of Jesus is the only true symbol of my status as one who is known and loved and adored by God. I need to confess before God that there have been times I have tried to replace the cross of Jesus with other status symbols; status symbols that—for whatever reason—I think will bring me the love and adoration I am seeking.

From One Legacy to Another

Follow me now to the place where Jesus sits down and observes the temple offerings. This is likely in the outer court of the women. This is the place where temple offerings would be received. This was not the place of sacrifices; these were gifts of money used to support the needs of the temple itself and the priests who worked there. It is probable that the teachers of the law who Jesus harshly criticizes gain at least part of their extravagant wealth through these temple offerings.

13 shofar chests - large bronze horn shaped trumpets

Mark just says that Jesus sat near the place where the offerings were put. Let me explain that scene. The temple contained thirteen shofar chests arranged in various places around the temple outer court. They were called shofar chests because they were made of bronze and shaped like a big trumpet. Not trumpets like musical instruments we have today, but ram’s horns that would be used as a trumpet. They called those ram’s horn trumpets a shofar. Picture something that maybe looks like a thanksgiving cornucopia. It was big enough that coins could be placed inside of it. There was no such thing as paper money back then. Coins made from pieces of precious metals were used as money.

Picture the scene here. Jesus is sitting in the place where people go by and toss coins of various amounts and size into these big bronze shofar receptacles. And it would make noise. For some people, this occasion of donating to the temple offering had become a status symbol. It was a visible and audible action which allowed people to say look at me; look how important I am.

poor widow puts in two coins worth only a few pennies

And then, among this scene in front of Jesus comes a poor widow who puts in what amounts to a few pennies. From among the clanking and clatter of the other twelve shofar chests around the court, this tiny clink of these pennies would hardly be heard or noticed at all. And what’s the value of two cents? This was a gift that seemingly went unnoticed, unheard, and unimportant.

But not to Jesus.

connection between generosity and status

This is the one he calls out above all the other acts of generosity. There is a lesson here that Jesus is making which Mark sees as perfectly illustrated by this example of the widow in the temple court. And listen here: it is not really a lesson about generosity; it is a lesson about status. But the two are connected.

So here’s the deal. If you and I are willing to do the hard work today of confronting our own status symbols and confessing that before God; if we are willing to admit that there are times in our lives in which we seek love and adoration apart from God as our source of status; if we are willing to confess that, then there is a monumental shift of legacy which follows.

Legacy is simply a word to describe what follows our example. Everyone leaves a legacy because everyone sets an example. It is never a question of whether or not we achieve some kind of legacy. It is only a question of what that legacy will be.

Jesus lifts today the example of a poor widow who barley drops anything of monetary value into the temple treasury. But Jesus holds her out as an example of generosity which achieves legendary status. Why? Because the status in which her generosity resides is not her own legacy. She recognizes that her status resides completely in the love and care of God; and her generosity flows freely from that love—and only from that love, because she has absolutely nothing else.

when my legacy remains hidden, then God’s legacy rises to the top

So, look at what happens here. This woman does not produce an act of generosity which promotes or elevates her own legacy. She hides it. Her legacy remains hidden. And what is the result? What is the effect of that hidden legacy? The result is that another legacy shines through. The legacy which rises to the top of this woman’s actions is an example that looks right past her hidden action and points directly to the LORD of her life. It is an example which directs all attention on what God supplies—that God himself is her status in life; God is her source of love. Her love is an extension of God’s love. Her caring concern is an extension of God’s caring concern. Her generosity is an extension of God’s generosity. Her legacy is hidden inside of God’s legacy. Do you see it?

I have a friend who is also a pastor. There was an individual within this church who lived a rather normal life in a rather small house. It had ordinary old appliances, nothing fancy at all—no custom granite countertops or vaulted ceilings. When an instance arose in this church in which there was a family that was suddenly faced with a time of need, this individual stepped up and provided a donation of several hundred dollars towards this benevolence need. And the act was periodically repeated over and over again. And every time it was entrusted as an envelope of cash given to the pastor to pass along anonymously to the family. It was never known to this family where these gifts kept coming from.

This is a legacy hidden inside of God’s legacy. Because the family would want to know, who do we thank for this gift? We want to express our gratitude. Well, I suppose in the absence of anyone willing to make themselves known, the only option is to thank God for this provision. Now that is an act of generosity which goes far beyond the value of money. That is an act of generosity which comes with an affirmation that your status is one who is loved and cared for by God. That’s a legacy.