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I went online the other day and searched for the origins of the phrase “my two cents worth.” No one really knew. Several sites pointed here to Mark’s Gospel (and Luke’s) as the earliest reference to the phrase, but not likely the origin. Mark uses the widow’s “two cents worth” quite differently than what the phrase means to us. A person’s “two cents worth” for us is usually their opinion. We also use this phrase as a way to tone down our comments with a little humility or politeness. For example, it is better to say, “if you want my two cents worth, that dress doesn’t bring out your best features” than saying “If you’re going to wear that dress, you best not stand next to any couches because people will mistake your rump for an end table.” Another more rare use we have for the phrase is for indicating too much information. I say to you “a penny for your thoughts” and you in turn give me “two cents worth”. There are some who think the phrase most likely dates back to the early days of the British postal system when postage was two cents. If you wanted to send your thoughts to someone, you wrote a letter and put a two-cent stamp on it, thus valuing the worth of your thoughts at two cents.
My two cents worth on the matter is that we shouldn’t point to the actions of this widow as the source of the phrase. If we did, we would find that her “two cents worth” isn’t just an opinion. It’s rather a powerful indictment of the hypocrisy of institutionalized religion. The widow’s faithfulness cost her everything. Her two cents worth was literally all she had to live on and here she was giving it to the establishment because that’s what faithful people did when they came to the temple. Her meager gift which cost her everything was much greater than that of all the rich people who came and made a public display of their huge donations which were supposed to make them appear to be exceptionally faithful. Yet in comparison to widow, their extravagant gifts really cost them nothing.
And consider where the money went. The treasury money bought the long robes the scribes were wearing while they stood there giving long, meaningless, bereft of faith prayers on behalf of their wealthy patrons to honour them rather than God. The temple itself looked great due to these ostentatious donations. Even Jesus’ disciples are impressed. A well-kept temple and a well-dressed priesthood made Israel and Israel’s God look good before all the other gods of all those other nations, so they believed. But, what a waste of this widow’s last two cents.
When Jesus gave his two cents worth he pointedly noted how this widow and her two cents exposes the hypocrisy of the whole affair. The scribes in all their empty, obsequious impressiveness were nothing more than devourers of the household means of many a truly faithful widow. That offering box or treasury was there in keeping with Moses' command that the other eleven tribes of Israel support the tribe of Levi who were designated to be the priests and scribes. The Levites who were not given an allotment of land when the Israelites first conquered the Promised Land and were dispersed among the other tribes like parish priests. They were unable to support themselves. The other tribes were to support them. But, the Israelites were also supposed to support the widows and orphans and strangers in their midst. This widow really shouldn’t have been giving anything to the Scribes. They should have been taking from the treasury to provide for her. Yet, her two cents only went to make them look better while they apparently wouldn’t give her a dime. What a waste of her two cents worth!
Yet, here this widow was giving everything she had probably hoping that God would notice and in turn bless her. TV preachers and scam ministries are good at using that scam to manipulate people in times of financial desperation. Give to my ministry and God bless you a hundredfold. Well, God did notice her. Jesus noticed her. Her two cents worth would stand as the condemnation of that whole twisted system and be the reason for its destruction. It did happen as Jesus said that not a stone would be left on top of another. That judgement came to pass in 70 A.D. when the Romans destroyed the Temple.
And...whatever became of this nameless widow? We don’t know. We only know that she is just one of those insignificant characters who show up only once in the Gospels to reveal what true fidelity to God is. It is to give the totality of one’s life in faithfulness even if it appears by this world’s standards to be a waste of everything you have and are. This widow gave her last two cents to God (unfortunately it went to support a sham) and that was her two cents worth. In essence, she gave her whole life, her last little bit of security. She put it all into what she believed to be the hands of God. Just like Jesus did with his life when he took it to the cross. Faithfulness has to do with what we do with the “two cents worth” of the totality of our lives. The rich, like everyone of us, gave from their abundance and it really didn’t cost them anything. This impoverished widow gave everything she had.
I have to admit that I hear this widow’s “two cents worth” with fear and trembling. Quite frankly, being a minister I’m one the Scribes. I, like you, try to be faithful, but I pale in comparison to this widow. Oh, (and to pat myself on the back) there was a time many years ago when I was a university student that I put my last fifty dollars in the plate to help pay for my church’s parking lot. That was all I had until the next paycheck which was never enough to pay my bills. There was also the time years ago in my last church when the year end credit card balance equaled what Dana and I had contributed to my employer, the church I was serving, that year because “ministers are supposed to set an example in giving for their congregations” and that we did. That debt was in the thousands and it took a few years to get out from under it. Interestingly, my employer’s bottom line began its downward spiral after that year because we, one of the largest giving units, had to stop contributing. I feel rather strongly that ministers should not give financially to the congregations they serve. It’s a “company town” way of doing things. I give to PWS&D ministeries and some missionary friends currently serving in Jordan.
This Remembrance Day we should all be feeling like Scribes knowing that there are those who have given their lives or been maimed in body and spirit for us to have basic human freedoms. Do we honour the sacrifices they and their families have made? I look at our materialism and consumerism and the narcissism that plagues our culture and I don’t think "this" is what my grandfather suffered for in France and Germany as a machine gunner in World War II nor what so many of his friends died for. We pay a lot of attention to remember those who served in WWI and WWII, but let us not forget the Korean Conflict, the Balkans, Afghanistan, Iraq, and all the UN Peacekeeping missions. Let us not forget the psychological injury our soldiers endure – the PTSD, the moral injury. When the go to war they have to do and see horrible things which they find quite difficult to live with. Let us not forget the families who have lost and who struggle to love someone who’s come home quite different because of war and horribleness.
Let us not forgot and let us remember that remembering isn’t just a mental exercise. Remembering means getting involved, making some changes that give continuing worth to the lives that have been lost due to war. How can we live our lives differently in ways that are truly faithful and not just in appearance? This widow was the prime example of what it looks like to love God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind and all your strength and it truly showed in what she did with what little means of security she had. Can we find ways to do the same and love our neighbours as we love ourselves? I personally think we need to start thinking and moving this way or not a stone will be left on top of another. We need to truly start looking to the needs of our very neighbours. We need to start thinking “we” rather than “me”. Let’s not be afraid to waste our “two cents worth” on Jesus and his Kingdom because what we have in Christ is an invaluable “two cents worth” this world needs to hear. Amen.