{"id":1784,"date":"2012-11-09T22:28:23","date_gmt":"2012-11-09T22:28:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/onscripture\/?p=1784"},"modified":"2012-11-15T20:09:37","modified_gmt":"2012-11-15T20:09:37","slug":"the-value-of-chump-change-mark-1238-44","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/onscripture\/2012\/11\/the-value-of-chump-change-mark-1238-44\/","title":{"rendered":"The Value of Chump Change: Mark 12:38-44"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

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By Greg Carey<\/a> <\/p>\n

Is poverty what it used to be? Or has poverty grown so shameful that we dare not speak its name? So determined are we keep poverty out of view, we erase the presence of the poor from Jesus\u2019 teachings. The widow we encounter in Mark 12:38-44 provides a case study in poverty and oppression. Unable to confront poverty, we have turned her into something safer \u2013 an example of generosity.<\/p>\n

The election has just passed. As I\u2019m writing this, I don\u2019t know who will win. I do know this: neither presidential candidate could work up the courage to address poverty as a serious issue, at least not directly. If Democrats typically look out for the poor, you wouldn\u2019t know it from President Obama: Mitt Romney mentioned the poor more often than did the President, if only to remind voters that the economy is struggling. For his part, Obama avoided the \u201cp-word,\u201d even if he discussed policies that could remedy the poverty problem. Some of our political leaders do include the poor in their policy work, but they face an uphill struggle.<\/p>\n

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The Progressive Budget: A Duty to the Poor<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Also referred to as \u201cThe People\u2019s Budget,\u201d or \u201cThe Budget 4 All,\u201d the U. S. House of Representatives Progressive Caucus budget would balance the nation\u2019s budget in 10 years, mostly through defense cuts and tax increases on the wealthiest Americans.<\/em><\/p>\n

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My grandparents remembered how things were when they came of age: \u201cSure, we were poor. Everybody was poor,\u201d they used to say. In the 1930s and 40s cash on hand was rare, and luxuries few. Lots of kids picked cotton at summer\u2019s end to supplement the family income. \u201cBut,\u201d they said, \u201cwe always had enough to eat.\u201d Like most of their neighbors, they owned their own land, grew their own vegetables, and raised animals for their meat and eggs.<\/p>\n

My grandparents remembered the honorable poverty of days long past. In our day ordinary people so fear poverty that we avoid the subject altogether. Millions of us make more than enough money to get by, but we also know that we\u2019re just one layoff, one medical crisis, one accident away from joining the ranks of the poor. If we lose our good jobs and wind up seeking entry-level or wage employment, many of us will find it impossible to keep paying those mortgages. Poverty lurks for all of us, and half of all Americans will face poverty before we turn sixty-five.
\nThose of us who cling to our middle-class status are more likely to go to church than are the truly poor, so we allow ourselves to imagine poor people as being somehow different from ourselves. As a result, we need help recognizing poverty\u2019s presence. Congregations might view the new Sojourners documentary called \u201cThe Line\u201d that recounts the stories of poor people in our midst. And a brilliant book by Chris Hedges and Joe Sacco introduces us to ordinary people who inhabit the \u201csacrifice zones\u201d created by our economy.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the deal: Jesus didn\u2019t allow his listeners to forget about the poor. At one level, it was impossible to do so. Nearly everyone in the ancient world lived in poverty, often dire poverty. Jesus\u2019 world included a very few wildly wealthy people, a few people finding ways to make money and accumulate wealth, lots of people scratching a living off the land, and lots of people living on the margins of the economy. Jesus, the Gospels tell us, moved among the poor. He told stories (we call them parables) about rich landowners and their poor and enslaved laborers. He warned the rich that they faced God\u2019s judgment, while he demonstrated compassion by feeding the masses who followed him out into the wilderness.<\/p>\n

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Our determination to turn our eyes from poverty leads to perverted interpretation. In Mark 12:38-44 Jesus calls attention to a poor widow. She contributes two copper coins to the temple treasury, \u201cher whole livelihood\u201d according to the Greek, and Jesus judges her contribution as greater than the large sums contributed by the rich.<\/p>\n

When church budget time rolls around, countless preachers call their congregations to emulate this poor widow by increasing their annual giving. Heck, we\u2019ll even help you: many churches now take donations online or by direct deposit.<\/p>\n

The poor widow indeed exemplifies sacrificial giving, but only a perverted imagination can turn her story into a general example. Mark\u2019s Gospel goes out of its way to make clear that she is just as much a victim as a hero.<\/p>\n

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The most important hint lies in the context Mark provides. The poor widow\u2019s story dos not stand alone. Instead, it follows Jesus\u2019 condemnation of the scribes who run the very temple to which she contributes. \u201cWatch out for the scribes,\u201d Jesus says. They\u2019re all about themselves and their status. But Jesus goes on: \u201cThey devour widows\u2019 houses.\u201d Having said this, Jesus immediately calls attention to one of those widows who have nothing left. Many preachers read only the widow\u2019s story without Jesus\u2019 condemnation of the scribes. The two stories belong together, the one story telling us how to read the other.<\/p>\n

A second clue also involves the passage\u2019s context. The widow places her two coins into the temple treasury, but immediately after her appearance, Mark tells us that Jesus\u2019 disciples express wonder at the glorious temple. Having prophesied the temple\u2019s destruction Jesus then sits \u201copposite the temple\u201d (13:1-3). So Jesus does not commend the temple! Indeed, Jesus has just observed the temple donations, the widow\u2019s included, from \u201copposite the treasury\u201d (12:41). Mark is a careful writer, repeating key phrases as commentary on events as they occur. Jesus does not recommend donating to the temple, for he regards its leaders as corrupt and exploitative.<\/p>\n

Finally, we might ask ourselves a simple question. Does Jesus seem like the kind of teacher who wants poor people, especially vulnerable widows, to give away their very last resources? Do we seriously imagine Jesus as rejoicing when a widow\u2019s generosity deprives her of \u201cher whole livelihood\u201d? I hardly think so.<\/p>\n

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The widow\u2019s generosity places the reality of poverty before our eyes. It reminds us that the poor do not represent parasites who drain society of its resources. This story reminds us that we live in an economy that siphons its resources upward and leaves the vulnerable to face destitution on their own \u2013 and we inhabit churches that ignore the process. Whether our institutions and religious leaders recognize it or not, we have lots to learn from the poor and the vulnerable. If we would just look.<\/p>\n

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By Greg Carey Is poverty what it used to be? Or has poverty grown so shameful that we dare not speak its name? So determined are we keep poverty out of view, we erase the presence of the poor from Jesus\u2019 teachings. 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