November 7, 2021- Mark 12:38-44
Mark 12:38-44
Persevering in Love
Lectionary 32B – All Saints Sunday – November 7, 2021
First Lutheran Church – Winnipeg, MB
“We are never not in communion with the saints, and they with us.”
Today we are remembering and giving thanks for the saints.
The saints are not – and were not – perfect.
But perfection is not what makes a saint.
One of the things that does make a saint, maybe, is perseverance.
The saints trusted the grace of God and so persevered through the peaks and valleys of life.
They remained faithful, through their valleys – and through yours.
The saints are those who persevere in loving imperfectly an imperfect world.
Take a look at the widow in today’s Gospel story.
Jesus notes, first, that the scribes are responsible for “devouring” widow’s houses.
What does he mean by that?
When women lost their husbands in Jesus’ day and had no other males in their family,
they relied on the trusted scribes to administer their estates.
But this was a system ripe for exploitation.
The scribes, as Jesus says, often took more than was their due,
leaving already vulnerable widows even more vulnerable.
The scribes were one class of functionaries among the Temple authorities.
By this point, Jesus has entered Jerusalem, criticised the Temple authorities and has
symbolically “cleansed” the Temple.
Now, still thinking about the widows devoured by the scribes,
he sits outside the Temple treasury and watches people put in their offerings.
He sees wealthy people putting in great sums – but as a percentage of their wealth it is not that much.
Then he watches very carefully as a poor widow comes along and put in two small coins.
In fact, these are leptons, the smallest coin available, worth about 128th of a daily wage.
But it is all she has – it is everything.
It is all she has left, presumably because she has been extorted by the aforementioned scribes.
Our translation says it is “everything she had to live on,” which is probably true.
But literally it says she “put in her whole life.”
The widow held nothing back.
Perhaps you might think the widow incredibly foolish,
for giving everything to an institution that was clearly exploiting her.
But I don’t think Jesus does.
Jesus likes to observe, and think.
And as he observes and thinks, I think above all what he thinks is, “I completely identify with this widow.”
I am about to give my life to an imperfect world – a world that will reject me.
I am about to give my life to imperfect people – people who will reject me.
I am about to give my love to people who will reject it.
But I’m going to do it anyway.
Because love is never wasted.
And something good will come.
That, my friends, is trust in the grace of God.
The trust that no act of love is ever, ever wasted.
The widow may die soon after this for lack of provision, right.
Jesus will most certainly die within four days of this scene.
Yet, the widow trusts that her perseverance in giving will not be wasted.
Jesus trusts that his perseverance in giving will not be wasted.
The saints we remember today trusted that perseverance in loving will not be wasted.
The truth is that we never love anything that is perfect.
The widow loved the Temple – but it was not perfect.
And Jesus loved people who were far from perfect.
They hoped their love would make the things and people they loved lovelier.
That is the hope of a saint:
the hope that perseverance in loving will make things and people lovelier.
You and I are not perfect – but the saints in our lives loved us anyway.
Maybe not perfectly, but they loved us.
And I’m sure we are better for it.
Some of the saints we remember today loved this church;
it is not perfect, but they loved it and gave it their lives anyway.
They loved through the peaks and valleys of life, and that is saintly.
Like the widow, there were things that devour them, but they loved anyway.
For the things that devour are not stronger than the things of love.
And there are things that devour us.
But we will not let that stop us from loving.
Grief devours us, but we will not let it stop us from loving.
This pandemic consumes us – but we will not let it stop us from loving.
Racism ravages us – but we will not let it stop us from loving.
The saints just keep on loving this whole world and every person in it.
The saints we remember and give thanks for today are signs of hope –
that is why we light candles always on this day.
They are signs of hope that love is stronger than what devours – love is stronger than death.
They are part of our communion – and will always be, and that is a comforting thought.
For we are never not in communion with the saints, and they with us.
So let us give thanks.
The saints are our example and our hope.
They persevered in loving imperfectly an imperfect world and imperfect people.
But with the widow and with Jesus they knew no act of love is ever wasted.
Amen
Pastor Michael Kurtz
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