Sermon by Pr. Sharai Jacob on the First Sunday in Advent + Saturday, November 9, 2024
This week, many of us are experiencing fear. Many of us are searching for hope. Maybe some of us have lost hope? This week I was reminded of the ways America’s capitalism reaches everything in this country - money runs our lives, our governments, our health care, our care for the environment, our homes, our communities, our churches. And as much as Americans try to get away from capitalism’s greed, it’s almost programmed into our thinking.
Many of us must actively fight the idea that a person’s wealth, education, and high social status affect their “goodness.” And a person’s poverty, unstructured education, and low social status define their “badness.” In our Gospel reading today, Jesus directly speaks to this issue – He praises the woman who gave all she had, even though it was just a penny. Jesus also denounces the Scribes in their high social and economic position - they are well educated, but lack care for the people they consider “less than.”
If we look at the whole chapter of Mark 12, Jesus makes shocking statement after shocking statement. He shakes the foundations of the oppressive social hierarchy - he speaks truth to power. He even finds a scribe who is close to the truth, and commends them for it. He is radical in his teaching and fearless.
I found this text calling me - and all of you - to that same radical, fearless proclamation of the Truth. And just thinking about what it looks like to follow Jesus on that radical path, made me feel so tired. This week I’ve heard from one person after the next how powerless, how enraged, how terrified and hopeless they feel. It is important to feel those feelings of disappointment, fear, rage, maybe even hatred. When we hold them in, or push them down, they don’t go away. They find a home in our bodies and rot there.
When times of hopelessness arise, just like the summer when George Floyd was murdered, or the week when the genocide in Palestine became a prominent news story, I turn to my mentors, my elders, and my ancestors in search of practical wisdom. I turn to God and my community, to express my rage and anger in prayer. To be held in love, and to find a way to cope.
This week, as I did those things, I read our gospel text again and heard a second call that Jesus has for us. The call to be like the woman who gave all she had. What made her stand out wasn’t that she had no money. It didn’t really have anything to do with money.
The rich people put in large amounts of money, but what the widow did meant more to her than money. Her action was rooted in her complete trust in God. It’s a tough ask to rely completely on God, and I’m sure her hands shook and tears rolled as she dropped all she had into the offering box. It’s a tough ask because some of us have experienced real pain and suffering - we know that God doesn’t simply fix the world for us, and we know the cost of the justice work we are called to. It’s a tough ask because, like many people experiencing oppression today, she couldn’t fix what was broken on her own. She is surrounded by lies from scribes and a culture that tells her she is worthless, she is held back from supporting herself or providing for her loved ones, she is pushed to the margins of society. God was all the hope she had because God is the one who reminds her of the truth. She is whole and loved and enough. She is capable and worthy. She belongs to God’s kindom with or without her penny in the offering box.
When there are things that we cannot control ahead of us, and there is radical, fearless work to be done. Our work cannot come from an empty cup, and this week, we may not be able to fill our own cups alone. We are bracing ourselves for more lies, half-truths, and twisted “facts.” The call to be like the widow here is more like advice. More like a roadmap: how to fill your cup; how to be ready for the work to come.
The same hope that the widow relied on, the same hope that has carried the oppressed for hundreds of years, it’s the same hope that Jesus offers each of us today. That God’s Grace is constant, that God’s presence in our communities is constant, and that the freedom we were given through Jesus is unshaken. The wisdom my ancestors gifted to me and now to you is this: we have overcome together before - and God was there with us. You and your communities are already overcoming now - and God is here with you. Allow Jesus to remind us of the truth. We belong to a kingdom - a family outside of any government’s control. We hold each other up, and in every season, we can find hope in God’s constant presence.