Sam Bush, “Absolute Power: A Sermon for Election Week”

A warm welcome to all of you. I really mean it. Considering this past week’s election, I know that some of you are elated and some are devastated. Some are in between and some of you are thrilled that UVA’s football team won last night and thinking about the Washington Commanders game this afternoon (you are the happiest of the lot, I’d say). However you are doing, my hope is that you will find a real sense of peace and comfort at Christ Church this morning.

Jesus knew very well how tumultuous  a given week could be. Our gospel passage takes place during Holy Week, days after Jesus had entered Jerusalem like a celebrated hero. By Friday he’ll be hanging on a Cross. At this point Jesus knows he has nothing to lose. He goes toe to toe with the religious leaders of that time - the Pharisees, the Sadducees and the scribes - and pulls no punches. “Watch out for the scribes!” Jesus says. “They like to walk around in long robes and to be greeted with respect and to have the best seats in the synagogue.” I don’t know about you, but, considering what I’m wearing and where I’m sitting, I feel a little hot under the well, um, collar.

Scribes, you see, would stand by the temple’s collection chests and watch as everyone would publicly make their offerings. It was not unlike buying a small drip coffee and being watched over the counter as you’re asked to tip either 15, 20 or 75%. People always give more if they’re being watched. It says “Many rich people put in large sums.” The scribes would approach the biggest donors and then offer to be their personal pastors in exchange for access to the donor’s finances (which is a really interesting model that we’re looking into for pledge season). It seemed like a fair trade: the big givers thought they had earned their righteousness and the scribes lived lavishly. Everybody wins, right? Of course not. For someone to win, someone has to lose. In those times, husbands would appoint a scribe (who was a Jewish legal expert) to be an executor of his widow’s estate after he died and scribes would exploit these women into poverty which is why Jesus says the scribes, “devour widow’s houses.”

“Don’t trust those scribes any more than you can throw them!” he says. Their long prayers are a dog and pony show! They’re a walking advertisement and you’re the product.” You know how commercials will disguise themselves as a sweet story to get past your defenses? You’re on the couch, crying your eyes out for some family whose dog is sick and then you hear a jingle for Pet Insurance. David Foster Wallace once said, “An ad that pretends to be art is like somebody who smiles warmly at you only because he wants something from you.” We’re all susceptible to it because we want something too. We want to feel good about ourselves. We want to do good, but also look good doing it. If conventional wisdom says “You get what you give,” we will give in order to get.

After his rant against the scribes, Jesus and his disciples do a little people watching. They watch the crowd as they put money into the treasury. This woman approaches. Jesus says, “Hey, look at her. Do you see that woman?” While big-whig benefactors are dropping in loads of bronze and silver coins and being applauded by the scribes, a poor widow comes along and drops in two small copper coins which were worth a penny and leaves. Now, I don’t need to convince you about the worthlessness of pennies. Did you know it costs three cents to make one penny? A recent study estimated that there are 240 billion discarded pennies around our country because they’re an inconvenient currency. Three days ago I saw a penny on the street and chose not to pick it up! There’s no power in a penny! Likewise, if you were looking for power in those days, a poor widow would be the last place to look. A woman with no resources or security? Chances are, nobody even noticed her come and go, but Jesus says, “That’s my biggest donor. That’s my star player.”

The world that you and I know runs on power and wealth. It’s a top-down approach to life. If we just get the right people in power we’ll be able to make a difference. The more you have, the better off you are. That is not God’s economy. There’s a cartoon where a man asks Jesus who his favorite singer is, expecting a celebrity like Taylor Swift or Justin Bieber and Jesus says, “One of my favorites is a woman from a small village in northern Thailand. Sings her heart out all day long while farming.” The man replies, “Oh, so no one anyone’s heard of,” to which Jesus says, “She won’t be touring the arena circuit anytime soon, Carl, but she’s famous where I come from.” God’s power is culled not from the top but from the bottom and from weakness. God’s power is inefficient and seemingly ineffective.

Most of us think that giving is a way of getting power, but generosity is only satisfying as an expression of losing control rather than a means to obtain more. This widow knows something most of us don’t. None of us have anything that was not given to us from above. did not give as a means to an end. It’s not like she was on a reality show where some well-dressed couple comes out to hand her a check for ten million dollars after this. The reason Jesus celebrates her is because she knows who is in control. We may grip our wallets and pinch our pennies because we’re afraid that our safety net isn’t big enough, but this woman knows that she is only safe in the hands of God. “I’ve got nothing,” she says. “You might as well take that. Everything I have is yours. Everything I am is yours. So you may as well take everything.” Where are you yearning for more power? In your marriage or your love life, with your children, with your parents, at the office? You want real power? Give it all away.

In 1859, there was a famous French tightrope walker named Charles Blondin. He announced that he was going to walk across a wire over Niagara Falls and 10,000 people showed up. The stunt brought in so much money that he and his manager Harry Colcord set up a residency with stunts every week, carrying a sack on his head or bicycling across. One week he put a stove in a wheelbarrow, walked out on the wire, cooked an omelet and ate it (the French are so cocky with cuisine. For his grand finale, he announced that he would carry a man on his back. So he and Harry offered $1,000 to recruit someone. When a line of men showed up, he took them to the brink and walked out on the wire and came back and asked, “Do you believe without a doubt that I could carry you across?” and all of them said, “Absolutely, without a doubt.” And then he asked, “Will you let me carry you across?” and everyone says, “Absolutely not.” No one comes forward!

Blondin eventually turns to his manager Harry and says, “It’s gotta be you.” Harry is terrified but consents. When they’re out on the wire, every time Blondin would sway, Harry would try to counterbalance. They were going to fall when Blondin yelled, “Harry! Till I clear this place you must become part of me, mind, body and soul. If I sway, you must rest in me completely and sway completely with me. Do not attempt to do any balancing yourself. If you do, we shall both go down to our death.” Those who try to save their lives will lose them. Those who lose their lives will save them. To live, Harry had to surrender his power completely to the one who carried him on his shoulders. It brings to mind Isaiah’s prophecy, “For a child is born to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Prince of Peace.” We see that the widow, inspiring as she is, is but a reflection of Jesus who gave us everything he had, all he had to live on, his very self. Like the widow, he was devoured. The reason why there is nothing to fear is because he took the fall on our behalf, plunging into the depths of sin and death so that we might live.

Whatever you have been given in this life, put it all down on Jesus. He’s the only surefire bet for you to have real security, real joy and life to the full. But you won’t actually experience that unless you put it all down on him. If that’s too much to ask, and it almost always is, know that Jesus, who had all the power of heaven and earth and put it all down for you.

Amen.