Trading places
This week is on Mark 12:41-44:
If the church were to walk by while Jesus was having this conversation with his disciples, they'd probably think "That guy is judging rich people. Why does he hate them for being successful? Maybe he's just jealous or a communist." In reality, it's another spin on "Blessed are the poor." He's talking about a blessing that's only available to people who give all they have, and that's easier for those who don't have much.
In our modern society, we look at results in terms of numbers. If you feed a hundred people, you're pretty good, much better than someone who only feeds one or two people. But Jesus looks at proportions. If you go hungry in order to give someone else your dinner, you're better than the guy who gives a hundred people each a bag of rice and a box of canned goods and then goes home to eat a big pile of steaks in his mansion. But how can feeding one person be better than feeding a hundred?
The poor guy who went hungry when he gave his sandwich to his hungry friend experienced a small taste of Jesus' life. He took on his friend's suffering by being hungry in his place so that his friend could be happy and fed. Just as Jesus took on our sins for us and paid for them, he took on his friend's hunger for him. He gave his only beloved sandwich so that his friend could have lunch and an afternoon free of hunger.
Even if the rich guy were to fast while feeding the poor, it wouldn't be the same thing. The poor guy's choices said "I am not as important as the guy who wants my sandwich." The fasting rich guy's choice would be "I am important for feeding these people and I am important for making myself fast in solidarity with them." Jesus poured himself out as a sacrifice for us. It's not the same as just going without, and it's not the same as just blessing us. He paid with his life, trading places with us. It wasn't charity and it wasn't an act. It was selfless love.
It's rare that we're in a place to experience that. Which do you think would be easier to do, cash in your ten million dollar estate, sell your assets, and then hand your last pair of nice shoes to a homeless guy? Or being poor already, just hand your sandwich to the guy who looks hungry? The path to sacrifice for a poor person is much shorter, and it's more likely we'll end up there on a whim than it is when we're surfing on a thick raft of wealth.
The rich people that threw in a lot of money did good things. Jesus wasn't condemning them for being rich or for being generous. He was pointing out that the poor widow was his kind of people, that she "got it." The rich people were a blessing to their community and were to be admired for what they gave, but the poor widow was imitating Jesus without even knowing it. She suffered so that others could live. If you were counting a treasury full of righteousness, like what Jesus describes us having in heaven, the widow dumped a truckload in by her actions, more than the rich guys did.
We can look at this in our own lives. Does being poor make us stingy? Does being rich make us proud of our philanthropy even though we stop before it affects our comfort? Do we seek out situations where we might have to put others before ourselves or do we avoid them? Do we serve others as servants or as lords in search of their own glory? It's not difficult to do good things in Christ's name, but how often do we get a chance to experience a taste of the cross?
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.”
If the church were to walk by while Jesus was having this conversation with his disciples, they'd probably think "That guy is judging rich people. Why does he hate them for being successful? Maybe he's just jealous or a communist." In reality, it's another spin on "Blessed are the poor." He's talking about a blessing that's only available to people who give all they have, and that's easier for those who don't have much.
In our modern society, we look at results in terms of numbers. If you feed a hundred people, you're pretty good, much better than someone who only feeds one or two people. But Jesus looks at proportions. If you go hungry in order to give someone else your dinner, you're better than the guy who gives a hundred people each a bag of rice and a box of canned goods and then goes home to eat a big pile of steaks in his mansion. But how can feeding one person be better than feeding a hundred?
The poor guy who went hungry when he gave his sandwich to his hungry friend experienced a small taste of Jesus' life. He took on his friend's suffering by being hungry in his place so that his friend could be happy and fed. Just as Jesus took on our sins for us and paid for them, he took on his friend's hunger for him. He gave his only beloved sandwich so that his friend could have lunch and an afternoon free of hunger.
Even if the rich guy were to fast while feeding the poor, it wouldn't be the same thing. The poor guy's choices said "I am not as important as the guy who wants my sandwich." The fasting rich guy's choice would be "I am important for feeding these people and I am important for making myself fast in solidarity with them." Jesus poured himself out as a sacrifice for us. It's not the same as just going without, and it's not the same as just blessing us. He paid with his life, trading places with us. It wasn't charity and it wasn't an act. It was selfless love.
It's rare that we're in a place to experience that. Which do you think would be easier to do, cash in your ten million dollar estate, sell your assets, and then hand your last pair of nice shoes to a homeless guy? Or being poor already, just hand your sandwich to the guy who looks hungry? The path to sacrifice for a poor person is much shorter, and it's more likely we'll end up there on a whim than it is when we're surfing on a thick raft of wealth.
The rich people that threw in a lot of money did good things. Jesus wasn't condemning them for being rich or for being generous. He was pointing out that the poor widow was his kind of people, that she "got it." The rich people were a blessing to their community and were to be admired for what they gave, but the poor widow was imitating Jesus without even knowing it. She suffered so that others could live. If you were counting a treasury full of righteousness, like what Jesus describes us having in heaven, the widow dumped a truckload in by her actions, more than the rich guys did.
We can look at this in our own lives. Does being poor make us stingy? Does being rich make us proud of our philanthropy even though we stop before it affects our comfort? Do we seek out situations where we might have to put others before ourselves or do we avoid them? Do we serve others as servants or as lords in search of their own glory? It's not difficult to do good things in Christ's name, but how often do we get a chance to experience a taste of the cross?
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