"Keep the Change" - Mark 12:38-44 - November 12, 2000

A discussion was taking place in Farmer John’s barnyard between a pig and a chicken. The pig said, "I’ve noticed that Farmer John is walking around very depressed these days. The farm isn’t doing so well, and he seems very upset. Let’s think of some way we could cheer him up." "I know," said the chicken. "He loves to eat, so let’s fix him a great big breakfast! How does ham and eggs sound?" The pig pondered a moment and then said, "Well, the breakfast idea sounds good but the menu bothers me a bit." "Why is that?" the chicken asked. The pig responded, "That breakfast represents a single donation on your part, but of me it requires a personal sacrifice."

We laugh at this cute story but I believe it is profoundly symbolic of what happened that day in the temple. On the one hand, there were the wealthy folks, who put in large sums of money into the treasury. On the other was the poor widow, who put in everything she had.

By contrast what she gave was very little, an insignificant amount, (about like one vote in a national election in the state of Florida). The others gave huge amounts, but to them in was a drop in the bucket. Her gift was a real sacrifice, like the pig had to make for Farmer John’s breakfast.

Before Jesus calls attention to the widow giving her all, he tells his audience in the temple that they need to beware of the scribes who liked to use their position and power by getting all they could for themselves at the expense of everyone else. They in fact had a history of taking advantage of the poor widows of society. Jesus is obviously very unhappy with their greed and selfishness. He is looking for commitment and the poor widow is an exemplary model of faithful discipleship.

True commitment requires sacrifice. Its when a person goes the extra mile, above and beyond what normally is expected of them. Consider, for example, what happened in Lancaster County, PA, quite a number of years ago. There was a minister there who had no church and was frequently asked to supply sermons on Sunday mornings for pastors who were on vacation. Once Sunday, accompanied with his young son, he went to a small town to preach. On the way in he noticed a box with a sign that read, "For the Poor."

He was feeling generous so he put in a quarter. At the conclusion of the worship service on of the Church Deacons came up to him and thanked him for his sermon. "By the way," he said, "Its our custom to give the supply preacher the contents of the money from the poor box. He unlocked the box and the total was 25cents. The minister pocketed the money with a smile and walked out the door. As they were leaving his son said, "You would have gotten a lot more if you had put more in, right Dad?"

I believe we live in an age of "tokenism." For example, millions of people purchase a few lottery tickets each week, hoping to strike it rich. But, some will say, "Hey, if you only spend a few bucks, what’s the big deal?" Its definitely not going to hurt your weekly budget. Another example might be throwing a few coins in the Salvation Army kettle at Christmas time or sticking a few pennies in the Humane Society Dog on a restaurant counter.

But, if you are serious about winning the lottery you have to make a much larger investment, to improve your chances. Rarely does the single ticket buyer win. Its usually those who spend hundreds of dollars on a regular basis who are really committed to the game. And while our benevolent agencies depend on our small change to support them, they spend most of their energy going after the big bucks, grants, endowments and big benefactors. They too have learned that it takes a real commitment on the part of entire community to make a difference.

There’s that word again, "commitment." The word, "commit" means to consign, to commit one’s soul to God. And to make a commitment means to pledge, or to engage one’s self. For me, it means, "keep the change."

At first glance you might think that tokenism and telling someone to "keep the change" are the same thing. But, for me there is a distinct difference. Tokenism is when we give out of our abundance, mostly to satisfy our guilt. We rationalize that we have done our part and no one can say we aren’t benevolent. But, then how is that any different than those in the temple who gave a portion of their wealth?

To tell someone to "keep the change" is to give from the heart, not expecting anything in return. It is giving with gratitude and joy.

I have always believed in tipping. But, about a year ago, I was dining in a restaurant where my nephew was a waiter. We had a discussion about how little waiters and waitresses are paid. He said, "A real gift is when my customer tells me to keep the change and it adds up to 15-20%." I thought to myself, "Wow, that’s more than the 10% God asks us to give to the church. That is really significant, real generosity." My nephew went on to say that a gift of that magnitude is really rare. Most give much less. He also told me that one time a customer handed him a hundred dollar bill for a sixty dollar dinner and when he said, "keep the change," he was speechless. The man just smiled and said, "That’s okay son, I want you to have it."

There is a difference between tokenism and telling someone to "keep the change." When we give token gifts they are indirect, as we drop our change into a pot or some container. To give directly to another human being, because we want to give with no strings attached, will bring us immense joy. It is that sacrificial aspect of our gifts that mean so much. For when we give sacrificially, we are "committed" giving our soul, or engaging ourselves.

I would agree that sometimes the "big tipper" is only showing off. And as we can see in our story, the scribes liked to get a lot of attention. They enjoyed being in the limelight, flaunting their gifts.

The widow, however shunned the limelight. She quietly and unpretentiously placed her entire life’s savings into the temple treasury. Her gift didn’t have a major impact on the temple offerings for that budget year. Nevertheless, she became the role model, one who was normally unnoticed and who gave without any fanfare.

Her gift was a gift of grace, much like the unheralded father who never makes the newspapers but who takes the time to play with his kids. Or the teacher, who receives little reward other than being committed to his/her students, helping them to pursue their dreams and reach their goals. Or the countless thousands of others who are committed to helping others, expecting nothing in return, who give from the heart always making a personal sacrifice.

The widow made a tremendous sacrifice. She gave all that she had. Those two coins represented her entire estate, her only security, everything. Nothing less than total faith would see her through tomorrow. And while countless others have made similar commitments over the years and never receive praise or rewards, God still notices. And just as Jesus noticed her faithful commitment God will notice ours as well.

Dr. Keith Wagner, St. Paul’s United Church of Christ, Sidney, Ohio