Widow Sunday and the Corporate Church

Sermon for 32nd Sunday of the Year, cycle B, November 8-9, 1997

by Most Rev. Dr. Robert M. Bowman, Presiding Bishop, United Catholic Church

1 Kings 17: 10-16

Psalm 146: 7-10

Hebrews 9: 24-28

Mark 12: 38-44

Well, this is "widow Sunday." The Old Testament reading from first Kings tells how Elijah the prophet made what seems like an unreasonable request of a widow trying to keep herself and her son alive. He asked her to make him a little cake with the last of her flour and oil, all that stood between her and starvation. When she hesitated, Elijah promised her a miracle, and when she complied with his request, Elijah delivered. The three of them ate for a year, and the jar of flour never went empty, nor the jug of oil run dry.

That’s a pretty good trick. But the real miracle was the faith of the widow, who trusted the word of the Lord as presented to her by Elijah.

Then in the gospel reading from Mark, another widow makes a similar sacrifice, acting out her faith in God by giving her last coins to the temple treasury. But, according to Jesus, the scribes who live off those coins (and quite well, he tells us) don’t come through the way Elijah did. The widow in the gospel (and others like her) is left to fend for herself. The scribes who devour the savings of widows will be severely punished, says Jesus.

So what are we to make of this reading, usually known as "the widow’s mite."? What lesson do we draw from it? What do you think the lesson is? Anybody?

Well, we know how it is often used. It is used by pastors to get more money out of their congregations. "Jesus didn’t think much of the contributions of the well-off, even though they made sizable donations, because they were only giving what they didn’t need anyway. Be more like the widow. Give till it hurts!"

Haven’t you heard that before? I sure have. And there’s some truth to it. God will reward those who give generously to meet the needs of others or to promote God’s work. The problem is that this story isn’t really about the widow. It’s about the scribes who take her money.

You see, in Jesus’ day, the temple had become a racket. It provided a way for the scribes, pharisees, and various temple officials to live quite luxuriously without having to do any work. How much of what was put in that collection box actually went to help the needy or to otherwise promote God’s work? The answer is, "very little indeed." The temple officials "devoured the savings of widows" and gave little to God in return. That’s why Jesus says they "will receive the severest sentence."

So how does this apply to the church? Well, after the church crawled out of the catacombs and became institutionalized by Constantine, it started happening to us too. The ministers started doing less ministering and more taking. Yes, the middle ages saw magnificent cathedrals built to the glory and honor of God and for the edification of all the people. But they also saw clergy living like princes off the profits of indulgences sold to the poor.

And what about our age? Parish priests live in houses big enough for a family of nine, with boats tied up at their docks. They take weeks off each year to jet off to Ireland, Australia, and wherever. They spend four days a week on the golf course and every evening drunk. Are they any better than the scribes Jesus told us to be on our guard against? Even those who do not molest altar boys?

And the bishops? You see them once every couple of years at confirmation time (if you’re lucky). The rest of the time, they’re huddled with their high-priced lawyers trying to figure how to hang on to the hundreds of millions they have squirreled away, rather than have some of it go back to the people they have abused over the years.

Today’s gospel is not about the widow. It’s about the corporate church. Now let’s be perfectly clear. Not all churches, pastors, and bishops are like that. Christ United Methodist Church, in whose sanctuary we celebrate this Mass, has a total annual budget of about $66,000. After all the expenses are paid, it leaves very little for the minister, Pastor Chris. Some of you were at our home Mass when Father Drew Wales concelebrated with me. His parish gives him less than five thousand dollars a year. The only way such pastors survive is through the financial support of their working wives. And not all Catholic priests spend all their time on the golf course. Some I know spend long, hard hours serving people’s needs, doing the work of God. They are available day and night to those who need them. Unfortunately, all too often, pastors like that are leaving the priesthood, unable to deal with the corruption all around them.

And many Roman Catholic bishops are living saints. They are not "company men." Bishop Gumbleton of Detroit, Bishop Sullivan of Richmond, Bishop Weakland of Milwaukee, Bishop Matthieson of Amarillo, Bishop Hunthausen of Seattle. Like Archbishop Oscar Romero of San Salvador, they put God’s work and God’s people ahead of their comfort, their safety, their career advancement. And because of that, they are shelved, replaced, forced to retire, or assassinated.

But God is in his heaven. He sees the widow put her mite in the box. And he sees what happens to it after that.

Once in a while, we even remember to take up a collection here. So I owe you an accounting of where that money goes. I’ve spent maybe five thousand dollars on supplies and equipment, vestments, that sort of thing. I don’t expect the church to ever repay me, so I’ll just consider those my personal expenses. I drive the car two to three hundred miles a week on church business, visiting the sick, going all the way up to Sharpes to visit the imprisoned, and coming here. Again, I don’t expect the church to pay for that. But there are some things the church should be paying for. We ought to be paying Christ United Methodist Church for the use of their building, and we’re not. The other thing is outreach. Advertising in the Yellow Pages has been the most effective way of letting people know we exist. But it costs over six hundred dollars a year. That is something I think the church should be paying for. Unfortunately, our total collections since we started this parish one year ago add up to $137. That’s not enough to cover the cost of printing our bulletins, let alone the phone bill. Deacon Maggie and I get no salary. We don’t want any salary from the church. But we won’t be with you forever. Some day you may want a young priest to be your pastor. If you’re lucky, he or she will have a spouse for financial support. But you can’t count on that. It is right that you pay your pastor a subsistence salary. As long as we are here, you don’t have to worry about that. But neither can we continue to subsidize the church out of our retirement. This parish has to grow and grow quickly, or it will die. A church is not the preacher or the musician. It is the parish family, the congregation. If we’re not going to have that, we will suspend our Saturday Masses here, and Maggie and I will go back to quietly saying Mass in our home.

It is up to you (and of course, to those who didn’t come today). I believe we are offering a ministry needed by hundreds of people in this area. We are offering the sacraments to those who have been denied them. We are offering acceptance to those who have been rejected. We are offering God’s love to those who feel unloved. We are offering a church home to the church’s homeless.

I’m not asking you to give money until it hurts, like the widow. This parish can survive on ten dollars a week per family. What we need is more people. I am asking you for two things — regular attendance, and bringing others. Without that, John XXIII parish will cease to exist. Let us pray.

Lord, let us know your will for this ministry and for each of us. Enable us each to see your will for our lives, and then give us the strength to do it. Help us give our time, our talent, and our treasure to your work. Lead on, Lord, and we will follow. Amen.

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