When it comes right down to it, there are themes which run through scripture that leave us feeling rather uncomfortable. They challenge us to take risks and give up control in ways which seem rather foolish. In fact, they are foolish, at least when measured by the standards of our culture. The passage from Mark’s Gospel which we read this morning is a prime example. Jesus and his disciples sit across from the Temple Treasury in Jerusalem and watch people making their contributions. As they watched, they would have seen wealthy community leaders, such as the scribes, making large contributions and doing so in ways which called attention to their importance. And then along comes someone who really catches Jesus’ attention. Most people would not have even noticed her. She was a poor widow. In the society of Jesus’ day, she would have occupied one of the bottom rungs of the social ladder. Indeed, it is such widows who have fallen victim to the abuses of the scribes which Jesus condemns just a few verses earlier in this same passage. And now, along comes this widow, and in the very face of such abuse, makes her contribution. No one would have thought badly of her if she had not given anything. And she was not financially able to give much. The two copper coins which she gave were the smallest currency in circulation. To say that she gave two pennies probably overstates the financial value of her gift. But it understates the true value of her action. She caught Jesus’ attention not because of the size of her gift, but because of what it represented. She stands in contrast to the abusive scribes. She stands as a model for faithful living. She provided Jesus with an opportunity to raise the challenge of sacrificial living.

Please note that he does not praise her for being poor. There is no particular virtue in having no money. There is also no particular virtue in having lots of money. Jesus’ point is not about income, but rather about what we choose to do with what we have. The poor widow chose to give away everything she had. And Jesus commends her for it. As I said, there are themes in scripture which seem rather foolish. But in their foolishness such themes point us toward the possibility of rich and meaningful living in surprising and unexpected ways, if we dare to risk being so foolish.

Such an approach to life requires that we expand our horizons beyond our own resources. Sacrificial living as Jesus commends it cannot be achieved solely through our own efforts. It is not something which can be accomplished simply by relying on we can manage and control. It is not practical. It is not sensible. It isn’t always even safe. The prudent thing for the widow to have done would have been to save the last of her money. There was a very real possibility that without it she could die. But she chose instead to trust in something beyond herself, beyond her own ability to control. She chose to trust in the eternal goodness of God’s ultimate protection. And that, I believe, is the virtue to which Jesus is pointing when he lifts her up as an example.

It is also this virtue to which the psalmist points in the portion of Psalm 127 that we read this morning. If our lives and our efforts are not undergirded by a basic trust in God, then we missing out on an important sense of meaning and purpose. Indeed, without such trust, we can easily slip into the trap of believing that the world centers around what we can accomplish through pure grit and determination.

But we were not created to be self-reliant. At the very heart of our being we are relational creatures, intended to form and rely on connections with both God and the other human beings with whom we share this planet. And those relationship are most fully and richly experienced when we dare to give ourselves away, trusting that God will indeed be faithful.

It is important to remember that there is a difference between being foolish and being foolhardy. Making rash and dangerous choices for no particular reason is not being faithful. But a willingness to risk moving beyond a concern merely for our own welfare holds the potential of being very faithful foolishness. We need not necessarily give away all our possessions in order to prove our faithfulness, but an unwillingness to do so may be worth examining. There is a saying which states, “We possess that which we can give away, and that which we cannot give away possesses us.”

So sacrificial living is about trusting God enough to give ourselves away for the benefit of others. The world may think us foolish for such behavior. We may even think ourselves foolish. But ultimately such foolishness leaves us open to experience deep and transforming relationships with God and with our fellow human beings. And in the end we will come to realize that such trust in God is never misplaced. As Jesus put it, “For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it.” (Luke 9:24) May we begin learning to trust God enough to risk living in such foolish ways.