In our gospel reading for today, Jesus talks about two things that impress the church growth consultant class – our charismatic leaders, and our large donors. But unfortunately for us, these things do NOT impress Jesus. This is because the behaviours of our leaders and our donors are too often based, not on the desire to expand the kingdom of God, but solely on APPEARANCES, on the desire to look good to others. What ACTUALLY impresses Jesus - and what Jesus came to earth to change – is the state of our FAITH...
One of the advantages of working with a fixed cycle of gospel readings like our Revised Common Lectionary, is that you can't just run away from and ignore the readings you don't like. Basically, today's gospel reading is a preacher's nightmare! Your only hope as a pastor is that this upcoming week is not your performance review, OR the big stewardship meeting, because Jesus puts a damper on all of it – everything “churchy” - everything we hope to impress people with, is in Jesus' sights today...
He starts with those in leadership. While the PEOPLE might be impressed that their leaders in the church are so pious they can pray spontaneously in public for twenty straight minutes, JESUS says to the leaders, “get down off your pedestal, and GET REAL. If your chasing after worldly approval damages the FAITH of those in your congregation, you are in big trouble!”
And then Jesus moves on to finances. While the people might be impressed by those who take ten minutes to finish dumping all their shekels in the collection plate, Jesus says that the widow's TWO COPPER COINS mean more to him, and he wonders out loud how a disciple like her could have felt compelled to put them in the plate in the first place, when its all she has to live on.
So what is it about the “churchy” stuff that impresses us? Why is it that I'm guilty of everything in Jesus' checklist: long robes – check; greeted with respect – check; best seat in the church – check, although maybe not the best seat in the church according to Lutherans; consume the donations of fixed-income widows – check, say extremely long-winded prayers – check. To which the members of church council replied, “AMEN, brother! You got that right....” What's so good about being up on the pastoral pedestal? What's so good about seeing your name, or at least the size of donation that everyone knows is yours, at the top of the donor list in the annual report, back when we used to do that? What's so good about having the biggest and most beautiful stained glass windows in town? It gives the APPEARANCE to those who are watching, of being in a tight relationship with God. And while we can fool most of the people, most of the time; and we can even fool ourselves some of the time; at NO time will these “churchy” things fool Jesus Christ. He sees the hearts of all, he knows PRECISELY what the nature of our relationship with God is like, and for those intent on faking people out, Jesus promises, “they will receive the greater condemnation.”
Jesus knows about the temptation to hide behind things “churchy”, and Jesus brings his disciples away from that kind of self-deception. By simply following in his footsteps, Jesus invites his disciples to have real faith in God the Father, like the relationship Jesus himself has, which goes beyond mere appearances. Jesus frees his disciples from the demands of false piety for the sake of appearances – no more long but emotionally distant prayers, no more posturing behind religious knowledge, no more plastered-on Sunday smile when in reality, the pain of life is intense. Disciples are free to live...live in real life before their Father in heaven.
And while Jesus sees through the gifts given for public relations, Jesus also sees the hearts of those that are usually unseen – like the devoted heart of the poor widow. Jesus frees his disciples from the demands of human-compelled giving, and frees those who cannot give from the shame and guilt that's attached. Disciples are free to give...however their Father in heaven calls them to.
Jesus frees us, because he wants us to share in the relationship he has with God the Father. And that's why, as it says in the reading from Hebrews, he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to remove sin by the sacrifice of himself. He takes away the condemnation we deserve in our times of chasing after appearances, and replaces it with the true relationship with God that we could never have on our own. Jesus leads us as his disciples, and gives us HIS true heart through Word and Holy Spirit, so that we too can be genuine with our heavenly Father. We can confess to God our doubts, our fears, even our sins – knowing that this confession is more pleasing than any posturing for his kingdom. And we are encouraged by God that no matter how small our contributions seem, or how feeble our witness comes across, it is our true loyalty and our true love that matter most to him.
Gracious God, we want our hearts to be true to you. Through your Holy Spirit, help us to be genuine in our faith, and willing to do the unseen but important work of your kingdom, in Jesus name, amen.