MARK 12:41-13:6

41 And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums.

42 And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny.

43 And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “

[13:1] And as he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!”

[2] And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”

[3] And as he sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately,

[4] “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?”

[5] And Jesus began to say to them, “See that no one leads you astray.

[6] Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray.

Did you hear about the Thanksgiving dinner where the young woman invited her fiancé so he could meet her parents for the first time? After the meal was over the father invited the young man into the study.   “So,” the father said, “what do you do?”   The young man proudly announced, “I’m a Biblical scholar.” “  “That’s very admirable,” the father said, “but how are you going to support my daughter?”   The young man thought about it for a moment and then said, “Don’t worry sir.  God will provide for us.”   “Maybe so,” the father said, “but how are going to buy my daughter the engagement ring that she deserves?”   “I’m not worried,” the young man said. “God will provide for us.”  “What about a home to live in?”  Against the young man said, “God will provide for us.”  “And children?  How will you support your children?”  Again the young man said, “God will provide for us.” After the conversation was over the father walked into the kitchen where the anxious mother was waiting. “So,” she asked.  “How did it go?”  “Well,” the father said, “He has no job and no plans and he thinks I’m God!”

It’s safe to say the father wasn’t impressed with his daughter’s fiancé.  Different things impress different people.  What impresses you these days?  When was the last time you saw something and you said to yourself, “Wow!  That’s pretty amazing!”

Mark Zuckerburg, was only 20 years old when he started Facebook.  It made him the world’s youngest self-made billionaire and today he’s worth $9.4 billion. That’s pretty impressive. The Great Wall of China is 13,000 miles long and at one point 1.8 million people were working on it. That’s pretty impressive.  A high school football player scores four touchdowns in the Thanksgiving Day game.  Sports fans will tell you that an accomplishment like that is pretty impressive.

So what impresses you these days?  When they got to Jerusalem the disciples were impressed when they saw the Temple.  It’s easy to understand why they were impressed.  The Temple was a magnificent structure.    The smallest stones weighed between 4,000 and 6,000 lb. and many of them weighed more than 100,000 lb.  The Temple was so big that a quarter of a million people could staind in its courtyards. 

So, it’s easy to see why the disciples turned to Jesus and said, “Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!”  

The disciples might have been a little starry eyed that day but Jesus wasn’t impressed at all.  Jesus says to them, “Do you see these great buildings?” The day will come when “There will not be left…one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”

Jesus wasn’t impressed with the Temple that day and he wasn’t impressed by what he saw going on inside the Temple.  We’re told that the Pharisees and scribes and rich people in long flowing robes were putting large sums of money into the offering box. Jesus wasn’t impressed, however, until he was that poor widow put her two copper coins in the offering box.   When Jesus saw that he turned to the disciples and said, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box.  For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

When you look at what happened that day you see that the disciples and Jesus were in two very different places.   The disciples were impressed with the Temple.  Jesus was impressed with the widow’s faith.  The disciples were impressed with the rich people in their long flowing robes.  Jesus was impressed with the widow’s humble generosity.  Simply put the disciples were impressed by the material things they saw that day.

Things aren’t all that different today.  Today we live in a society that wants you to be impressed by the material things in life….the clothes that people wear, the houses they live in and cars they drive.   If you want to know why just look at what’s going to happen a few hours after the Thanksgiving dinner is over.  As soon as the clocks strike midnight the stores are going to open for Black Friday and some store owners are complaining because they can’t open on Thanksgiving Day itself. Even so countless people will still line up in the cold and dark so they can get one of those super saver deals.  They’ll stamped into the stores to get the latest X Box or a 98” 3-D TV.   Black Friday is an  extravaganza that provides a seamless transition from stuffing yourself with turkey to stuffing the stocking for Christmas.

And where does it get you?  One man summed it up the day after Thanksgiving when he said, “Christmas is coming and I’m already 90 days ahead on my calories and 90 days behind on my bills.”

Maybe it’s my imagination but people who are impressed with material things also seem to be more likely to grumble than be grateful. The perfect example of that can be seen by looking at what happened several years ago on the Oprah Winfrey Show.   Oprah celebrated the beginning of her 19^th season by giving away new cars to everyone in the audience that day.  People were jumping up and down and screaming. Then there was pandemonium when they got to the parking lot and saw 276 cars decorated with giant red bows.  The gratitude, however, quickly wore off.  It wore off when the IRS came knocking on their doors and told everyone that they had to pay taxes on their $28,000 gifts.   So some of the people who received the cars complained and said that Oprah should have also given them money to cover the taxes on their gift.

Jesus wasn’t impressed by material things. “Do you see these great buildings?” The day will come when “There will not be left…one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”

Jesus knew that the Temple wasn’t going to last forever just like that X Box won’t last forever.  Just like that 98” 3-D TV won’t last forever. Just like those shiny new cars won’t last forever.    As you get ready for Thanksgiving the question to ask yourself is simple.  What really impresses you these days? Is it the material things in life or the spiritual things?  The Temple is gone but guess what?  That widow’s faith is still with us today.  That widow’s generosity is still inspiring people 2000 years later.  Ten years from now you won’t remember who gave you what this Christmas but you will remember the heart to heart conversation that you had with your sister.  You will remember the of laughter that you shared with your children.  You will remember the friends and strangers who were there for you when you were down and out.  You will remember the grace filled moments that you shared with each another.

In the book, Stories From The Heart there’s a story about a teacher who asked her first graders to get ready for Thanksgiving by drawing a picture of something they were thank for.  Now the inner city school was in a run down neighborhood.  So  teacher knew that most of the children came from families that were really poor.  Even so the children drew pictures of turkeys on the kitchen table.  They drew pictures of their parents and their homes.   The teacher was surprised though by the picture that Douglas drew.  It showed a simple childishly drawn hand.   The children were intrigued by the picture.  One of them said, “it must be the hand of God that brings us food.”  Another one said, “it must be a farmer’s hand because he grows the turkeys.”  A little while later the teacher went over to Douglas and asked him,  “Whose and is it?” The scruffy forlorn child looked up and softly said, “It’s your hand, teacher.”  At that moment the teacher recalled that frequently during recess she would take Douglas by the hand and lead him out to the playground.   She often did that with the children but it meant everything to Douglas.  The teacher looked at Douglas with a new understanding of what true thanksgiving is all about.  She thought to herself, it’s not about “the material things that are given to us, but…the chance, in whatever small way, to give to others.”

(Stories from the Heart, Multnomah Books: Sisters, Oregon, 1996 p. 52)

Jesus wasn’t impressed with the Temple that day.  He wasn’t impressed with the people in their long flowing robes.  What really impressed him was that poor widow who put her two copper coins in the offering box.  Do you ever wonder if he’s impressed with you and the way you’re living your life?  When the focus is on the spiritual things in life he will.  In fact he may be so impressed that when the time comes you’ll hear him say, “Well done good and faithful servant.  Enter into the joy of your Master.”  Amen.

Rev. Dr. Richard A. Hughes

November 18, 2012 – Thanksgiving Sunday