I am liscensed to preach for the Diocese when no cleryperson is available. This was the situation at Christ Church last week, and here is, for what it is worth, what I said last Sunday.

22 Sun After Pentecost, Nov 9, 2003

1 Kings 7:8-16
Psalm 146
Hebrews 9:24-28
Mark 12:38-44

�� At the End of the Age �� [Heb. 9.26b]

Let us pray: Almighty and eternal God, so draw our hearts to you, so guide our minds, so fill our imaginations, so control our wills, that we may be totally yours, utterly dedicated to you, and then use us, we pray, as you will, and always to your glory and the welfare of your people; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

I am 57 years old. I have heard this Gospel many, many times. Since we have a three-year cycle of readings, which started in 1976, I have heard it at least 8 times in the lectionary. Of course, it was used before the current Book of Common Prayer. It is also sometimes used on �Stewardship Sunday,� and there were all the times before I became an Episcopalian.

I�ve heard wonderful sermons using this text, on such matters as the danger of pride and ambition, and the necessity of humility. That�s certainly a true and worthy theme.

I have heard preached, from this text, the theme of �doing justice.� This is also a true and worthy theme, and, in the Bible, widows are often used as a symbol of the need for justice.

Finally, I have heard sermons on the general theme of �give until it hurts.� In these sermons, we are exhorted that stewardship means �sacrifice,� giving all we have, or, at least, a tenth.

Well, there�s something to be said for this. It�s a good idea, I suppose, to tithe, if we can. Berta and I do try, some years with more success than others. It can be, I suppose, an indictment, if Berta and I spent tons of money on personal pleasure and little on God. Certainly, we as a Parish can�t do the things we want without internal support.

But I don�t think most people in this Parish do this kind of self-serving �hoo-hah.� If we were into long robes, tassels, ostentatiousness, good seats, or places of honor, we would need to find a different Parish than Christ Church.
I think most in this Parish are doing all they can to donate as much of their �time, talent, and treasure� as possible. I have rarely seen such a dedicated group. None of us need feel guilty, or that we need do more. If we can, we can, if we can�t, we can�t, but that�s not the point of the story.

What is the point? Where is the Good News in this Gospel?

The �give until it hurts people� are right about one thing � the story is about �sacrifice.� However, it isn�t about sacrifice in the sense of loss, or suffering, or even �taking up your Cross,� though I am sure we each have �crosses to bear.� I sure do.

Note, in the Gospel today, Christ doesn�t suggest we all do as did the widow, and give everything we have, leaving ourselves literally penniless. The praise for the widow comes not from her actions themselves, but for her attitude toward God.

Were it for her actions, we would have another prideful act as bad as those of the Scribes Jesus mocked, and we would have another example of �Justification by Works,� instead of �Justification by Faith.�

Jesus is talking about an interior attitude, an internal position of �sacrifice.� The word �sacrifice� comes from two Greek words which mean �to make holy� or �to make sacred.�

That�s what God wants of us � not to �give till it hurts,� but to do our best to follow the commandment of God, �Be ye Holy, as I, your God am Holy.� Today�s Collect asks God for help so we can �purify ourselves as He is pure.� The Hebrew and Christian Scriptures make it clear, without the proper interior attitude, sacrifices are useless.

Jesus� criticism of the Scribes was their actions were dedicated to honor themselves, instead of God. Jesus� criticism is they were not �sacrificing�, making themselves and what they did holy.

Jesus uses the widow as an example, not to say we should sell all and give it to the church, though some may be called to do this, as with the �rich, young ruler,� or Francis of Assisi, but to demonstrate her interior holiness, her sacrifice. She made what she did holy, and so should we.

That is what Christ did. He made his actions holy.

This is beautifully expressed in our passage from the Letter to the Hebrews. Christ enters into Heaven itself to sacrifice, to make things holy. Christ appears before God for us, to sacrifice, to make things holy. His action was so holy, such a sacrifice, it was only necessary it be done once. It was so holy, such a sacrifice, it removes sin.

And, despite the dire warnings of some, when Christ appears the second time, it won�t be to deal with sin. Jesus already did that with his initial sacrifice, his initial �making things holy.� Verse 28 is clear his second appearance is to �save those who are eagerly waiting for him.�

People tend to see Christ�s �Second Coming� as �the End of the Age.� This isn�t what the Letter to the Hebrews tells us. The second part of verse 26 is clear the �End of the Age� occurred with Christ�s salvific sacrifice,� which occurred �once and for all.�

The �End of the Age� isn�t a thing in the future, though we certainly expect Jesus will come again in Glory. The �End of the Age� has happened, and happened with the Death and Resurrection of Jesus. In that act, God sacrificed, and God made things holy. �Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us; therefore let us keep the feast.�

Now we are to go and do likewise, to sacrifice, to engage in holiness, in whatever manner works for each of us.

Will we be judged? Of course. The Epistle also deals with this.

But we won�t be judged only on how much �time, talent, and treasure� we gave to the Church, though that is certainly part, but on our interior attitude, on whether we tried our best to have an attitude of sacrifice, an attitude in which we try to be holy, we try to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love our neighbors as ourselves.

That is the �sacrifice� desired by God.

And that is Good News.

Let us pray: Direct us, O Lord, in all our doings, with your most gracious favor, and further us with your continual help; that, in all our works begun, continued, and ended in you, we may glorify your Holy Name, and finally, by your mercy, obtain everlasting life; through Christ our Lord. Amen.