Games People Play

The Rev. Joseph Winston

November 12, 2006

Sermon

Grace and peace are gifts for you from God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.1
Before the age of electronics, children created their own games. A stick, a few
children, and a ball soon became an intense game of baseball that lasted until it
was too dark to see the ball. You did not need to have bases. “That tree over there
will be first, the hill will be second, third is that shrub, and home is this bare spot.”
You played bare handed because no one had any gloves. It did not matter to you
that players had to come and go. When you heard, “Johnny, get home right now
and do your chores!” the game continued. What was important to everyone was
having fun. Likewise, a ball and your friends turned into the sport of football.
“You be full-time quarter back. Teams have four tries to score. The goal is behind
that plant. Let’s flip for the first possession. First one to twenty-one wins.”
1
Romans 1:7, 1 Corinthians 1:3, 2 Corinthians 1:2, Galatians 1:3, Ephesians 1:2, Philippians
1:2, 2 Thessalonians 1:2, Philemon 1:3

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 And if it was only you and your friends, you could still find something to do.
Not so many years ago, a girl and her friends would get together and play house.
“You be the mommy, I’ll be baby sister, and you can be my big sister.” This same
game of house could go on for days and at any time you could pick it up right were
you left off. Boys would meet outside for their games. “Tom, you go get Matt and
we can play tag. I’ll be it.” Just like the girls, these contests of tag could go on and
on.
And if the day was rainy or if you had to be polite and socialize with the
other sex, the game of telephone was a popular pastime. Playing telephone is
straightforward. One person whispers a secret to another, “She will be home by
nine.” This person then attempts to pass the same message to the next in line, “She
will be there in no time.” This same act is repeated again and again until everyone
has a chance to hear and repeat the secret. The last one tells everyone what they
heard, “Shelby’s innocent.”
Games like telephone are important to us because they teach us the importance
of direct discourse. In other words, if the first person had shouted, “She will be
home by nine!” everyone would have heard the same message. The problem (and
the fun part of telephone) occurs when we uncritically pass on what we thought
we heard.
Regrettably, today’s Gospel Lesson from Mark contains a nearly perfect exam-
ple of how we Christians play telephone. Many of us have heard over our lifetimes
that the widow in the temple models for us a perfect example of how a person
should give. We have been told over and over again that we all should strive to be

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like her and to give our last two cents to the church.
The truth of the matter is that these ideas of copying the widow in her offering
are nothing more than people mishearing the whispers of a game of telephone.2
One person thought they heard someone say that God desires sacrifice. This in-
correct message has then been passed from one person to another. The reason why
this mistaken message has been repeated through the generations is that Christians
are not listening directly to what God is telling us. We need to go back to the Bible
and listen carefully what God clearly tells everyone. The facts found in the Bible
tell us that we are not to emulate the widow and we should not ask anyone to give
their life’s savings to the church.
This tragic game of telephone began in earnest during the lifetime of the
prophet Hosea who wrote about God’s love for unfaithful people. Sometime be-
tween 750 and 721 BC, Hosea gives us these immortal words from God, “For
I desire mercy and not sacrifice” (Hosea 6:6 KJV). God pleas for love because
God’s children have forgotten everything that they ever knew about their relation-
ship with God. The people of Israel think they can get away with murder. God
sends Hosea with the message, “I am not blind, deaf, and dumb. I know what you
are doing. Repent and live.”
This statement of God’s mercy is nothing more than an accurate summary of
God’s relationship with humanity that started with creation. In Genesis, we hear
how God allowed Adam and Eve to live after their sin instead of destroying them
2
Addison G. Wright’s 1982 paper, The Widow’s Mite: Praise or Lament? – A Matter of Context
was one of the first critical looks at this text.

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(Genesis 2:17; 3:16-19.). Later on in the same book, God agreed to Abraham’s
bargain for the evil inhabitants of Sodom (Genesis 18:22-32.). Unfortunately for
the people of Sodom, God could not find ten righteous people in the city. Then in
the Exodus account, rather than destroying Israel for creating the golden calf, God
listened to Moses (Exodus 32:11-14.).
In last week’s Gospel Lesson, we heard the wise scribe’s summary of the Law.
He told Jesus that loving God and neighbor was “much more important than all
whole burnt offerings and sacrifices” (Mark 12:33 NRSV). In this encapsulation
of the Law, the scribe first follows Jesus’ lead in saying that we must love God and
our fellow human. Next, the scribe incorporates this great tradition of God desiring
mercy and not sacrifice. Jesus completely agrees with the scribe’s assessment.
This one scribe has not corrupted the message that had been given to him.
Given this brief background on how God wants us to live, now can concern
ourselves with today’s Gospel Lesson. Jesus first warns us about those reprehen-
sible people who eat up the estates of the less fortunate (Mark 12:38-40a). He
then informs us that this behavior has condemned these unscrupulous individuals
(Mark 12:40b).
What happens next is that Jesus provides us with one specific example of how
the powerful take advantage of the poor.
Women in this time needed men to look after all their financial needs. By def-
inition, a widow required some man to perform this work for her. The natural
choice for this job would be some distinguished man that she could trust. This
need by women for someone who can look after their best interests creates a mar-

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ket for those individuals who would like to fill it.
It seems that the design of the temple treasury accentuated the sound of the
money dropping. The clinking of the coins provided a form of advertising for
the rich and shamed the poor into giving more. The sound of coins settling in
the temple’s treasury told you who had money. This along with the clothes, the
actions, and the seating arrangement served a single purpose: telling you who was
well to do.
Even today, you want a successful person watching out for your affairs. All
of these actions by the influential are nothing more than blatant attempts to keep
existing customers and to find new business. The rich are giving money away to
make money.
If the widows would not trust them with their money, the scribes still had one
last ace in the hole. They could warp the Bible to their needs. As in any church, a
portion of the money from the collection would go into the leaders’ pockets. If the
scribes could increase the offerings, they then could increase their income. This
devious action could be achieved by using readings from the Bible, which seem
to tell people to give everything to God.
Today’s Old Testament Lesson provides us with a perfect example. It would
be easy, but wrong, for us to say the following. “The widow who gave everything
to God was given everything she needed to survive.” A close reading of this text
brings out one important point that this summary conveniently misses. Two times
the narrator informs us that Elijah has a Word from the L ORD for this one specific
widow (1 Kings 17:9, 14). This miracle describe in the text was from God for this

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one widow, her son, and Elijah. Expanding this promise to any other widow is
playing a game of telephone.
The widow who follows the scribes in the temple has fallen for their stories
hook, line, and sinker. She has paid her advisers for their services. Instead of being
careful with her money, they have devoured up all of her money in service fees.
They have left her with only two cents. Now she is placing these pennies into the
offering box because these same powerful people have falsely told her that God
will provide for all widows.
Next, Jesus summaries for the disciples what happened. They, like us, do not
remember what Jesus said nine verses previously. The rich only threw in a por-
tion of their estate while the widow gave everything that she had. She made this
offering because she had been lied to.
The reason why we are not to copy the widow in her action is that God has
repeatably told us that He wants our love and not our sacrifices. This is exactly
what Jesus told us last week. Giving everything to God so that God might take
care of us is an act of offering that God does not require.
If we hear something else, we are listening to people who have been playing
the game of telephone. They have corrupted, “For I desire mercy and not sacrifice.”
into “I desire sacrifice of everything you have.”
It is easy enough to find sin in today’s lesson. We have the rich who eat up
the assets of the poor and the religious leaders who corrupt God’s Word. In the
Old Testament, God’s judgment for these men is very harsh. Any man who causes
any widow pain or suffering will be killed (Exodus 22:19-21.). The guilt for the

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mistreatment of a widow does not stop with the one man who hurt her. Every male
member of society is responsible for her care (Deuteronomy 24:17-18.).
The question for us today is, “Do we allow the same things to happen to the
less fortunate members of society?” and if we do, then “What is our punishment?”
I think that if we are honest with ourselves, we can find “legal” ways that people
devour the households of the poor. Pawn shops, work day loans, and lease to
own are three examples of business all charge effective interest rates that quickly
swallow the poor.
The cure in Hosea’s time is the same as in today’s: repent. God wants us to
change our behavior.
In God’s world, the Good News is that the more fortunate people take care of
those who have less. When we live as God wants us, God is given glory in two
different ways. The most visible manner is our work that attempts to eliminate the
often huge difference between the haves and the have nots. The often hidden glory
are the prayers that are given to God by those who give the resources and those
who receive them.3
The reality is that at one time or another, we all take advantage of the poor.
Jesus has forgiven us of this sin like He does with everyone of our other sins.
Because of this gift, we have been judged as being worthy of living eternally with
God.
The best way to tell everyone of this amazing present from God is not to
3
This approach was first identified by Paul in his letters. Remembering The Poor: The History
of Paul’s Collection for Jerusalem by Dieter Georgi is one of the few studies of Paul’s collection
for the poor in Jerusalem.

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whisper to your neighbor, “God saves you.” They might think that you are playing
a game of telephone and repeat to their neighbor either “I save you.” or “You save
yourself.” Instead the way that God wants us to share this Word of salvation is to
shout it out loud, “God saves you!”
Today is our yearly congregational meeting where we will vote on our annual
budget and hand out a time and talent sheet for every one to fill out. The challenge
for each of us individually and for us as a congregation is to balance out God’s
command. All of us, at all times, and at all places are to completely love God and
everyone else. This is God’s most basic desire. The tension in this greatest law is
that we have to give everything away while not sacrificing.
“The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, keep your hearts and
minds through Christ Jesus.”4

4
Philippians 4:7.