As Jesus notices the well to do scribes and a poor widow woman, he will point out in sharp relief the contrast between them, and as he does, he will teach us what it means to be a model of ego and excess, and what it means to be a model of humble sacrifice.

The scribes were the teachers of the law, they were religious lawyers who taught the law of Moses along with other doctrines of the faith. To their credit, they believed the law of Moses was important enough to maintain. To their detriment they sometimes acted as if the letter of the law was more important than the spirit of the living God the law led people to know.

But that is not the problem Jesus has with these particular scribes. He points them out because they seem more caught up in their appearance than in their ministries. "Watch them", he says. They are more concerned with projecting an image than with protecting the law and faith of Moses. I know a few folks like these scribes, they would rather look good than feel good. They look spectacular to those who see them, but have not yet learned that clothes and prominence wear out and fade. Today’s hot young actor is tomorrow’s has been. What’s up today may be down tomorrow. Some prominent politicians will be looking for other work Wednesday morning.

The scribes love to be seen. They are caught up in power and prestige of their position. I read somewhere that they loved wearing their long robes, which was a sign as they went about in the daytime that they were not likely engaged in any hard, manual labor. That would have required jeans and a work-shirt instead of the latest Armani robe.

Watch them, they love hearing people call out their names, give them the best seats in the synagogue and the best tables and restaurants. Watch them. They are the people who speak the right words, but do not always do the right things. Watch them, look not at how well they dress, not at where they sit, or what people call them. Watch how they act. Look at how they use their power to affect the lives of others.

They are especially harsh in their dealings with the most vulnerable in the society. They would take the homes of widows, leaving the most vulnerable without even the most basic shelter. They left the women, and their children, who had little protection if they were with out a husband, son, brother, or other male relative to provide for them. Later on, Paul will say that there are people who understand the form of religion, but not the power of it. The scribes looked good, they prayed long and well, but they utterly disregarded that part of the law that called them to protect widows and orphans.

Watch them, Jesus says. They will get their condemnation from God, the one who judges us all will judge them in due time.

Look at them Jesus says. He wants his disciples and us to understand that it is what we bring to what we do that matters. If we come with a sense of service, God be praised. If we come with a sense of entitlement, we may do well, but we may also fade when the attention is no longer on us.

Watch Jesus says. Then to demonstrate what he means, Jesus turns his attention to a lesson in stewardship. It seems that after several wealthy members of the Temple have made their generous offerings, Jesus notices a woman who has emerged from the crowd, to make her offering. We know her offering was made sacrificially. We know that she is a widow; perhaps she is one of the ones whose home was taken by the scribes.

She is the one today whose sole income is from her monthly social security check. She may be one of the people the BREAD organization talks about in our effort to encourage the city to devote one half of the twenty million dollar housing trust fund to the poor who need better housing. We have gathered information that tells us that 35,000 low income households spend more than half of their monthly income on rent. 59,000 households can’t afford safe, decent, and affordable housing. 82.4% of them are renters, and so are vulnerable to gentrification, increased rates, and the whims of unscrupulous landlords.

She is the person who might really be the one who has to choose between food and medicine, or rent and clothing. Perhaps she sacrificed a meal, a night’s lodging, deprived her self to give to temple. She is the woman we heard about a few weeks ago who though poor in material things, nevertheless wanted her children to see her contributing to the ministries of the church. In the midst of all the money being given, she walks up and puts in two copper coins equal to a penny. Today in a congregation where individuals give thousands of dollars weekly, she put in $5.00.

Jesus makes this point. While some made their offering out of what’s left over, after the bills are paid, (excellent), money is put away in savings, in the stock market, on the NASDAQ (terrific); the sorority and fraternity dues are paid, (good), leisure activities are budgeted. That is all fine. What’s left over is fine, there is enough for me to be generous with the church. That’s all right too. God bless you.

Jesus says one group gives out of their abundance, from what could be spared. This woman has all she had. What do you learn from her? Don’t you realize that those two coins are worth more than all the rest? While on her way to the Temple, she could have listened to that voice that said to her, keep your money. It is so little it will make no difference at all. But she heard another voice, the same one that speaks to us. Luke 6.38 says, "Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back." What we offer in faith and integrity does make a difference.

Some of us can be generous out of our abundance. For others of us it may mean some of the widow’s sacrifice, and that will not always be easy. After all, we speak with admiration of parents who make sacrifices for their children, and adult children who make sacrifices for their parents. We speak admiringly of athletes who sacrifice their bodies for the team, and we are grateful for the men and women who put their lives on the line for us all.

But matters of our personal sacrifice are another thing all together. We balk at living sacrificially. Watch, Jesus says, living sacrificially is not about giving up anything, it is not about what we lose. To sacrifice is to take something and make it holy. Remember, we all serve the one who humbled himself all the way to the cross, where his earthly life was made holy, and who teaches us where to put our trust. All that we have, all that we offer, when given in a sacred understanding that we are offering the best of what we have to God, will be received.

I find it interesting that Jesus encounters both the scribes and the widow at the temple. It is at the worship place that the well scrubbed and well dressed scribes and the poor widow find themselves. That is a reminder to us that when we open our doors on Sunday morning, people of means and people of meager rations may come in and our call is to receive and offer what we can to both and to model for them what it means to be part of a community of faith.

The Psalm read for us this morning reminds us not to put our trust in princes, or any of the political class for our souls’ salvation. We may share the values of politicians, as we will demonstrate when we cast our votes on Tuesday. Remember when you vote on Tuesday, that we cannot mistake Presidents, or senators, or others for our spiritual leaders. Rather than princes and presidents, we put our trust in the God to whom we offer our praise and thanksgiving.

Praise is simply affirmation to God for what God has done in our lives. It is an expression of gratitude for deliverance, for perseverance, for hope, for joy for all that God has done for us. Sometimes that praise is expressed in exuberant, shouting, dancing, hand clapping worship. Other times it is expressed as by our own Praisemakers in lively and wonderful music. And it is often the case that praise is expressed in simple quiet meditation.

But praise is also lived out in our acts of faithfulness. Those acts help us to show what we value in the name of Jesus Christ. When with humility and a sense of sacrifice we put our trust in God, when we trust God like the widow, and offer all that we have to the worship and glory of God, trusting that it is enough, and we will be provided for, then we can praise God with our words and with our actions. We can get busy living our mission statement and from the gloriously different people that we are, we can join Christians everywhere as we celebrate, share, support and serve the people of God.

I shared with the Bible study group two weeks ago the words of St. Augustine who in the year 400 described the work of a pastor in words that describe the task of all of us who offer our lives in humble sacrifice to the world in the name of Jesus. As we go about our ministries, "disturbers are to be rebuked, the low spirited to be encouraged, the infirm to be supported, objectors confuted, the treacherous guarded against, the unskilled taught, the lazy aroused, the contentious restrained, the haughty repressed, litigants pacified, the poor relieved, the oppressed liberated, the good approved, the evil borne with, and all are to be loved."

When we do that we will know the blessings of God and the joy of justice making, which is the action that our praise produces within these walls and beyond. As we praise, God’s work is evident, and our task is to bear witness to what God is doing in us and through us. Watch and praise God for the divine sense of justice all around us. Day by day the hungry are being fed; prisoners are being released not because they are on parole, but because they have found true liberation. Eyes are opened and we see clearly what we need to do. Watch the way people are redeemed by God, and those bent and bowed down by life are lifted up. See the vulnerable are protected, strangers and widows receive the hospitality that is their due.

As we go about that work, we can with humble sacrifice know and rejoice that the only appearance we need to keep up is the reality of faithful service. I remember when I was in high school hearing people pray that God would make gentle our bruised world, and so we pray still. But let’s also pray that we would have the will to make sacred this world which God has given us to enjoy. Then we can praise and rejoice that "the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of God’s Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever. Hallelujah." Praise be to God. Amen.