Monday, November 9, 2015

Selfie

Selfie


            I am not going to lie.  The gospel lesson that we are presented with today strikes me as one of the most challenging that I have faced in quite some time.  I wanted to figure out how to make today’s lesson translate into a feel good sermon.  After all, the love of God is supposed to make you feel good, right? 
As a parent, I know that the way I express my love for Mary Katherine doesn’t always make her feel good.  Sometimes it makes her angry, sometimes it brings her to tears, and sometimes it brings her to throw things.  I hope you don't end up throwing something at me this morning!  At the end of the day I know that sometimes love is painful especially when love comes in the form of an admonishment or even a punishment. 
In today’s lesson, Jesus and his disciples watch as the people of the synagogue come forward to make their donation to the Temple.  Before they make it to the treasury, Jesus warns the disciples about the scribes who walk around flaunting the fact that they are important with their long robes and overt piety.  Jesus basically tells the disciples that looks can be deceiving.    
Jesus tells the disciples to beware because the scribes’ appearance have the power to distract them from the sad truth that the same system that the scribes benefit from is a system that ultimately takes advantage of the poor widow.  The system takes advantage of the most vulnerable.  In other words, the disciples should not be impressed by the scribes’ donation of large sums of money because that money only goes to keep the status quo of the community, a community where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. 
One might think that because the poor widow is taken advantage of through this system then she would have nothing to do with it.  However, a poor widow comes forward and makes her offering.  Jesus says, “the widow has put in more than all those contributing to the treasury.”  Jesus goes on to say, “all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.” 
One might conclude that the poor widow is ignorant to the fact that she is giving to the same system that oppresses her.  However, the widow seems to have a faith in something more than earthly systems. But even then, one must wonder why she still gives?
At this point in the sermon, it would be easy to track how throughout history in all places and times the Church and the government have been responsible for creating systems where the poor are taken advantage of.  I could also talk about how some churches and governments have done a better job than others when it comes to providing equal opportunity for all—even the widow.  But we all know there isn’t a perfect earthly system out there. 
But I am not going to preach that sermon.  Not only do I think that kind of sermon would offer little fruit, but I also believe that is not the sermon Jesus wants me to preach.  I say this because that is not the sermon that Jesus preached either.
Instead, the sermon that Jesus’ is preaching today is a sermon that focuses on individual piety, on how your spiritual practices affect your relationship with God.  The most obvious contrast here is the fact that the scribes practice their piety openly while the poor widow’s piety goes unnoticed until Jesus points her out to the disciples.  In other words, Jesus is calling the disciples to look past outward appearances.  Jesus is telling us that what is on the inside is what matters.
Cultural experts are saying that we live in a “selfie” world.  For those of you who don’t know what a “selfie” is, it is when someone takes a picture of themselves usually with a Smart Phone.  And not only is the picture taken of themselves, the picture is then posted on social media for all their friends and even strangers to see.  Something called “selfie sticks” have even been invented and these sticks allow you to extend your arm to include more people in the “selfie.”  
    
(A "selfie" with Mary Katherine)

Now, I am not necessarily condemning the practice of taking “selfies.”  Rather, I want to highlight this practice as a symptom of a culture that is growing more engrossed with itself.  I want to highlight a culture that is growing more obsessed with one’s image.  I also want to note that this isn’t some new reality.  Humanity has always been obsessed with image but technology has given us the opportunity to take this perversion of self to a higher level. 
More to the point, we live in a world where outward appearances are paramount.  We live in a world where we are pressured to make sure we look our best on the outside no matter how screwed up we are on the inside.  Generally speaking, we live in the same world as the one where the scribes walked around with long flowing robes.
I don’t know about you, but I know what it is like to live in this world.  I know what it is like to make myself look like I have it put together on the outside when in reality I am screwed up on the inside.  I wonder if you know what that is like.  If you do, then I imagine you know how exhausting it is. 
The good news is that God has put people in my life who are more like the poor widow.  And some who are like the poor widow worship with us today.  I want to say thank you for your presence.  I want to say thank you for your faithfulness.  Above all, you remind me that Jesus is in our midst. 
The best news of all is that Jesus himself is saving us from this “selfie” world.  The one who became poor, the one who became vulnerable to the point of death came to make us rich.  He did not come to make us rich in this world.  Instead, he came to make us rich toward God.
Jesus is shattering the fallacy that existed in first century Palestine and the fallacy that still exists today that says that you have found favor with God if you are rich and powerful and if you are poor and lowly then that must mean God’s judgment is upon you.  But Jesus is saying something else.
Jesus says, “blessed are the poor.”  Jesus says this because the poor don’t have a “selfie” worth taking in our world.  In our world, the poor widow doesn’t make the top 100 list of most beautiful people.  In our world, the poor widow doesn’t even know what a “selfie stick” is.  And quite frankly, for the poor widow, a “selfie” doesn’t matter. 
While we can only speculate as to how the poor widow became a poor widow, the point is that the poor widow has found trust in something greater than herself.  The poor widow has been pushed to the point of desperation.  She has no other choice but to trust in God.
I wonder if you have ever been pushed to this point.  I know that you don’t have to be a poor widow to be pushed to the point of desperation.  I know in my life I have stared down the reality that all the stuff that I have to create my image could be taken away with the snap of a finger and what then?
I know that imagining this reality and living this reality is two very different things.  I don’t know what it is like to be a poor widow.  Whether or not you are the poor widow, God is calling all of us to live in a world where our image doesn’t depend on external appearances. 
Sooner or later we won’t have a choice.  In the gospel passage for next week, we will hear about how Jesus predicts the destruction of this corrupt Temple—not one stone will be left unturned.  The life of God in Christ will destroy the kingdoms of this world that take advantage of the poor and vulnerable.  The life of God in Christ will destroy the illusion that our identity depends on external appearances that our identity depends on a “selfie.”
As a people who believe in death and resurrection, the destruction of this Temple is good news.  The destruction of these kingdoms will pave the way for a world where the poor widow is the model of our faith.  The destruction of these kingdoms will push us to the point where the only image worth living for is the image of God in Christ.  Ultimately, this new kingdom will call us away from a world that hoists up selfie sticks into a world where the only thing that matters is living a life devoted to the one true King who came not to be served by to serve.
And the good news is that we don’t have to wait to live in this world.  The reign of Christ the King is now.  The kingdom of God is inaugurated in Christ.  And that same kingdom was made known to us in our baptism when we were set free from the old life of sin by God’s new life of grace, a grace found through the one who became poor so that we all might become rich toward God.
May you find the same grace that the poor widow found, the grace to trust that the giving of your money, your time, your talent, your entire being to the life of God in Christ is what will set you free from your obsession with yourself and your appearance.  May you have the grace to find your true identity in the image of Christ, in the image of the one who in his poverty gave all his riches for the life of the world.  Amen. 






  

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