Jesus is Watching
It’s been quite a week for this country of ours that we so love.
As New England Synod Bishop Nathan Pipho said in a video message on Wednesday morning, after we knew the official results of the presidential election – the reality is that many millions of people are feeling joyful, hopeful and optimistic by the pending change in leadership while many millions of people are feeling betrayed, confused, worried; and, I might, add – afraid.
Elections have consequences – for our lives and the lives of people that we love; for the lives of all the people with whom we share this great land, regardless of how they voted in this most recent election; and, indeed, for the lives of all people throughout the world. Time will tell how beneficial or how dire those consequences turn out to be.
In the meantime, please know this – I am available to meet with anyone who wants to talk about the consequences this election will have on their life. I am hear to listen to what you have to say; to hear your point of view; to walk with you through these challenging and uncertain days; to love you as the person God has created you to be; to stand with you in the name of Jesus.
Let me be clear, though, in confessing this – for me – a white, privileged, upper middle class, cis gender – that is, my gender identity matches the sex I was assigned at birth – elder of European descent – it is not likely that many of the changes that the new administration has promised to make will directly impact me.
And that’s not the point, anyway.
Though I may not, individually, be affected by the changes that are to come, it is likely that people I know and love, with whom I share community, will be affected in very troubling ways. And it is likely that people I do not know yet still love, people with whom I share a common humanity in this world, people whom God created and Jesus loves, will be affected in profound and disturbing ways.
We may ask ourselves – as people of faith – as followers of Jesus – how are we to respond in this time of change?
Now is the time for us to stand strong; to stand firm in our love for God and to show that love (for God) in and through our love for our neighbors, especially the neighbors living on the margins of our shared society, who’s wellbeing and, indeed, who’s very lives are threatened by policy changes that may come from the new administration.
Let’s turn our attention to this morning’s gospel story – the story of the widow placing her 2 small coins into the temple treasury.
For many of us, this is a familiar story. Often, especially at this time of the year when people in congregations are being asked to commit some portion of their financial resources as a gift to the work of God’s church, this story is used as an example of generous giving – for the widow “put in (the temple treasury) everything she had…”
That’s one way of looking at it – from an individual point of view. That’s the way we look at much of life most of the time. We focus on the individual response and expect each individual to carry their own weight – to make their own way in the world – on their own, by themselves. We fail to consider the broader, systemic forces – the context in which we live together as community – that impact an individual response.
Jesus teaches a different way of living…the way of living in community; centered in love for God and for all people; supporting people in need with our love and presence.
Consider the broader context of the story of this widow who gives everything she had to the temple treasury.
The story takes place in the temple in Jerusalem during the period of time that we now call Holy Week. Only days earlier, Jesus had entered the city riding on a colt, surrounded by people welcoming him with shouts of Hosanna – save us! In another four days, Jesus will be arrested, tortured, and crucified by the Roman Empire. He will give everything he has…for the wellbeing and life of all God’s people.
Jesus spends the time in between those days – of celebration and of death – in the temple, the holy place where God has promised to meet God’s people. Jesus spends the time arguing with the religious authorities – the Pharisees and Sadducees and scribes – over what is most important in the the kin-dom of God. For Jesus – it’s not the long robes or greetings of respect – or places to sit in honor or long prayers. It’s not even the temple itself that is most important. Even the temple will soon be destroyed.
On this day, Jesus is sitting in the temple, watching, as the crowd is putting their money in the temple treasury. The treasury held the vast wealth of the temple – the offerings of money and goods that people brought to sustain the work of the temple.
Jesus is watching…as the rich people put in large sums of money…
Jesus is watching…as the widow puts in her two small coins, barely worth anything…coins that she needs more than the temple need…
Jesus is watching as the widow puts in “…everything she had, all she had to live on.” The widow gives her whole life for the sake of God’s work done through the temple.
Jesus is watching…and notices there is something wrong with this picture.
According to Jewish law, God’s people are commanded to care for people on the margins of society – the alien, the widow, and the orphan. Yet, here, the rich people ignore the poor widow, who gives everything she has to the temple and then leaves, alone, by herself, with nothing left, except, perhaps, her faith in God to provide for all her needs.
Jesus is watching…and speaking out… and calling out the religious authorities, reminding them that what is most important in the kin-dom of God is how we love and care for each other.
Speaking out against the authorities is what leads Jesus to the cross….and to the tomb…and, 3 days later, to the resurrection and the promise of new and everlasting life.
The good news for today is that Jesus gives his whole life for the sake of all God’s people.
Jesus is still watching…watching us today…to see how we will respond to God’s promise of new and everlasting life…to see how we will live out Jesus’ call to love and care for each other, especially people on the margins, even when it means speaking out against the authorities.
As people of God gathered in this place known as Holy Trinity, you have a sense of how to do that; you know how to do that; how to love Jesus for the sake of the world. One of the top priorities for this community of faith, as identified in the recent Congregation Assessment Tool (the CAT) is to develop ministries that work toward healing those broken by life circumstances.
That is what Holy Trinity is doing on November 20th, the national Transgender Day of Remembrance. Once again Holy Trinity will hold a community service to remember and honor transgender people who have been murdered during this past year because they have claimed their God-given identity; once again Holy Trinity will celebrate and affirm the courage of transgender, nonbinary, and gender creative individuals to live as their true selves.
I hope you can be at the Transgender Day of Remembrance and Celebration, to stand in solidarity and love with our siblings, in this challenging and uncertain time.
I hope you can be there, as an act of faith and as a witness to God’s love for all people.
And, if you can’t be there, I hope you will pray for those who gather at this service; as together we give our whole lives for the sake of all God’s people.