A Heart for God

The late nineteenth century author, Lewis Carol, (author of Alice in Wonderland) begins his famous poem, Jabberwocky, with these famous words,

 

’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

      Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:

All mimsy were the borogoves,

      And the mome raths outgrabe.

 

“Beware the Jabberwock, my son!

      The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!

Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun

      The frumious Bandersnatch!”

 

Lewis’ words are, of course, are sheer playful nonsense.

 

I think there is a chance that someone today might hear Jesus warning, “Beware of the scribes" (Mark 12:38) in a similar manner. After all, have you ever met a living real life Scribe? Certainly, no one uses that title in the Church.

It might be good to note that at the time of Jesus most people were completely uneducated and illiterate. The Scribes were experts in the law, or religious leaders who used their skill at being able to read the Jewish Scriptures to teach others about the faith. Some of them were lay people, often from the Pharisees, but most were part of the Priestly class or the Levites who served in the Temple in Jerusalem.

While we may not have scribes today, we do have religious leaders who help others to learn about their faith. Today lay catechists, deacons, priests and bishops fill this role. Performing this task in the Church is a very important and honorable task, as it was in Jesus day. In last Sunday’s Gospel reading, Jesus compliments a scribe for being “close to the kingdom of God.”

While being a catechist or teacher of the faith is a very good thing, at times the people who fill this role can destroy the good effects of their teaching by lacking what today we might call authenticity. The personal failings of such individuals are denounced by Jesus.

Jesus says that the scribes “like to go around in long robes and accept greetings in the marketplaces” (Mk 12:38). Jesus notes that they also liked “the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts” (Mk 12:39). In other words, they like to show off and to display their wealth to others through their elaborate robes and to have others treat them as better than everyone else.

The most common type of outer garment in Palestine was a “cloak” consisting of a rectangular piece of fabric of varying size that was draped around the body. Wealthy people, on the other hand, would wear a long flowing robe that signified their wealth. In the Old Testament, such long flowing robes might be worn by the high priest or a king, and so by association wealthy people would wear these robes to display their importance.

Ironically, when God established the tribes of Priest and Levites to serve the Jewish people, he did not allow these tribes to have any land of their own. They were to live off donations from others.

At the time of Jesus, scribes were forbidden to receive payment for teaching; they depended on private donations for their living. Subsidizing a scribe was an act of Jewish piety. While scribes should be honored and respected for their office, it is hard to imagine how they would become so wealthy that they could afford expensive robes. Jesus is pointing out that their hearts are in the wrong place.

This behavior is hypocritical, and Jesus says so in Matthew's Gospel. Jesus warns, ““But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you shut the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither enter yourselves, nor allow those who would enter to go in” (Mt 23:13). Hypocrisy damages people's faith and in many cases even causes them to reject the faith.

Does hypocrisy affect religious leaders today? A recent survey of Millennials who don’t go to church reveals their complaint that Christians are judgmental, hypocritical and insensitive to others. While their perceptions may not be entirely accurate, we definitely have some work to do. The number one thing our Millennials and Gen Z youth are searching for is “authenticity.”

Hypocrisy is very bad, but Jesus points out even worse behavior by the scribes. He says they “devour the houses of widows and, as a pretext, recite lengthy prayers” (Mk 12:40). Jesus uses the word “devour” metaphorically to denote an unethical appropriation of the property of widows. 

Moses instructed the people; “You shall not pervert the justice due to the sojourner or to the fatherless, or take a widow’s garment in pledge” (Dt 24:17). In the ancient world, widows were among the most vulnerable members of society. Many of the Old Testament prophets repeatedly condemned the exploitation of widows (Isa 10:1–2; Jer 7:6; Ezek 22:7).

“Devouring the houses of widows” could mean fleecing their estates by charging excessive legal fees or sponging off their hospitality. There is extremely unholy irony in this accusation. Like the Priest and Levites, the widow and the orphan were to be protected and cared for by the Jewish people because of their vulnerability.

Finally, in order to cover up for their fraudulent activity, the scribes made an empty show of piety, by reciting lengthy prayers. Empty ritual cannot camouflage a lack of authenticity and hypocrisy.

The final scene of our Gospel reading shows us the counterpoint to this bad behavior. While sitting in the Temple, Jesus observes wealthy people putting large sums of money into the Temple treasury.

Finally, he observes a “poor widow” who contributes “two small coins worth a few cents” (Mk 12:42). The word used for the coins is a lepton. The copper lepton was the smallest Greek coin denomination, so small in fact, that it took two of them to equal a quadrans, or the smallest denomination of Roman coins.

Jesus says, “Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury. For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood” (Mk 12:43–44).

Clearly, it is not the amount given that matters, but the heart. This poor widow was able to trust that God would take care of her. She contributed everything she had. She was completely humble and detached from earthly things. Her heart was open to God. Out of her poverty, she was not trusting in ritual, or prestige, or good reputation, but in a profound relationship with her creator. Jesus was pleased with her and recognized the gift of her heart.

Like the scribe in last Sunday’s Gospel, the poor widow understood how to love God with her whole heart. Perhaps each one of us needs to examine our hearts today and to ask him:

What am I doing merely for the sake of appearances?

Am I too attached to things of this world?

Am I truly seeking to love God with my whole heart?

Am I willing to give him everything, and yet to trust that he will take care of me and lead me to happiness?

 

Mark 12:38–44      THIRTY-SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME: YEAR B