Pay attention. Notice.

You may know that this week, Trinity officially kicked off its season of stewardship, and the Gospel passage today is one that is usually placed in our lectionary because this is stewardship season for most churches. The story we receive of the poor widow putting in all she has, her two coins, in the face of the wealthier people who don’t give in the same way, has inspired many a sermon that encourages us to be like the widow, give all of ourselves, our whole life, to God. How admirable, how self sacrificial, how faithful, how trusting of her…We should be like her.

And while that is a solid take, and not incorrect, there is something else happening here.

In the mid 1980s, scholars took perhaps a second look at what exactly Jesus is saying here in this story of the widow. He doesn’t ever praise her the way we have traditionally come to hear her praised in sermons. Additionally, the beginning of this passage has him critiquing the Temple system: he names that leaders like to be seen in positions of power and authority, say long-winded prayers for the sake of appearances, and consume or devour the resources of those who have little. And as he invites the disciples to simply sit down across from the treasury and observe—he points out that richer people have not put in much, but she has put in everything. The two coins that would likely allow her to be fed, to literally keep her life, are exploited by the temple system that would not do with her offering what is right. Jesus laments this, both her actions and those of her deceivers. He draws the attention of his disciples not only to the gift she has offered, but also to the complicated and even damaged system to which she gifts all she has.

We here in America are not unfamiliar with damaged systems—of government, of capitalism, of partisanship that has revealed incredible divides in our communities in recent history. This damage is particularly challenging to hide in the midst of an election season, and in the fallout of said election. I will venture a guess that there were a variety of different choices in this room made in this election. And while our call as Christians is to work to see beyond our differences, to uphold one another's belovedness and dignity as children of God, there are times when this work feels particularly challenging.

As your pastor, what I do hope, is that we can all be like the disciples who sit beside Jesus in this story today. To pay attention. To notice when the damaged systems or institutions of the world we follow and even worship are demanding less of those who have more, and asking everything of those who have little. To pay attention and notice when veterans, whose sacrifice we mark tomorrow, don’t have appropriate health care, mental health support, or employment support to actually honor how much of themselves they have given. Pay attention and notice when an election result has empowered middle school boys to walk through halls at schools calling out “your body, my choice” to their female classmates. Pay attention when your queer friends name that they feel unsafe. Pay attention when your voice or vote doesn’t seem to count. Pay attention and notice when the FBI has to investigate racist anonymous mass texts, telling black Americans to report to plantations to pick cotton. Pay attention and notice when small businesses are overwhelmed by large cooperations that treat workers unfairly. Pay attention and notice when a pro-life stance applies only to one facet of our life together, and not to things like the death penalty, gun-control, or support of life through affordable housing, food, gas, healthcare, and all the things it takes for us to live, not just survive. Pay attention when our environment, God’s creation, is being sacrificed for profit. Pay attention. Notice.

You may notice that Jesus doesn’t ask the disciples to stand up and take action for the widow. So much so that an easy and common way that we read this text is to only lift up the self-sacrifice of this marginalized woman and not see it as any kind of call to response. I find that the ways we are each called to respond to the injustice we see in the world, varries greatly because we are all created differently, by a God who deeply loves our diversity of gifts and talents. As we saw last week with the incredible array of saints and loved ones whom we remembered for All Saints’ Day, God makes space for the multitude of ways that our gifts work in the world, and does not expect us all to suddenly become outspoken social justice warriors. But what God does call us to, in the same way Jesus called his disciples who differed in identity and beliefs and understanding, is to open our eyes to the injustice of the world. Allow it to move us. Allow it to break our hearts open. Pay attention. Notice.

The part of this story that we don’t hear in the lectionary text this week—that we will hear next week—is that as the group leaves the Temple, as they leave the widow and the treasury and the religious leaders, one of the disciples comments on the size of stones that make up this building. Jesus promptly responds that this building, these stones will be upended. This thing, this structure, both physical, systemic, and metaphorical, that the widow has put her world, her very life into, will be upended, completely leveled, destroyed. So too for the damaged systems and powers of our world. The sin of greed, racism, misogyny, hatred, fear—all will be demolished in time. Jesus is calling us to pay attention so that we might be aware of the humans tied up in these damaged systems—those that feel they have to parade and power over to be worthy, those who are expected to put all they have into a system that does nothing to liberate them, those who stand on the sidelines and see the injustice but not allow this awareness to break them open to the struggles of others.

And as we approach our own season of stewardship—I would ask of us a similar question: If we feel called to give or to pledge, how does that pledge—of our talent, or our time, or our treasure—tell the story of how we are paying attention to the hurt and need for healing that exist in this world? How does the desire to give back to God, through the ministry and community of Trinity, allow us to recognize where the systems of the world (perhaps including the church) are failing and further dividing the children of God? How can our resources be put to the work of noticing the struggles of our neighbor, naming our own struggles, and used for transformative healing and reconciliation? Used for the reminder to all who are are seeking that there is another way?

Perhaps unsurprisingly, our house, my son Mac in particular, has very much been in a Mr. Rogers phase. I am reminded of his quote where he says: “When I was a boy, I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” Jesus is inviting us to not only look for the helpers, as a sense of hope, but to pay attention and notice those who need help, need support, need community, need liberation, as a sense of our own purpose and calling, our commitment to God and one another. Pay attention and notice. Amen.