In the Name of God:  Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Well, well, well . . . today’s Gospel story is such a familiar and simple one, you wouldn’t think that it’d give me any trouble at all, would you?  But it did.  This story of the widow and her mites caused me all sorts of trouble.  I practically finished one sermon before I realized that I didn’t really believe what I’d written, and had to throw out the whole thing.

I probably should have written a simple stewardship sermon and been done with it.  Something along the lines of, you’re not giving enough until it HURTS!  That widow gave everything she had to the church.  Certainly, YOU can give more!  Now PLEDGE!  But, that doesn’t really sound like me, does it?  No.  So instead of writing that sermon I started READING THINGS, like I usually do . . . and I got myself all tied into knots.

I started to find all sorts of meanings in the scribes and their long robes and their seats of honor.  I got sidetracked by the insignificance of widows and their perilous position in ancient society.  I began to doubt that Jesus REALLY admired the widow giving all that she had to the temple . . . because he’d already said that the religious leaders steal widows’ houses, and in the first verse after today’s story he begins talking about the temple itself being destroyed.  Oh my, I was all over the place.

But then I remembered part of the conversation that some of us had here last Thursday evening.  We were hearing from some folks about their work with addicts and people in prison, and we were talking about the tremendous challenges these people face when trying to get their lives in order.

We heard about a program being conducted in some prisons called “People Empowering People” (PEP).  This is a program that builds upon the individuals’ life experiences and strengths and helps them to improve their communication and problem solving skills, and to establish and deepen relationships.  It seems to be quite an effective program.  It seems to help isolated people CONNECT . . . with themselves and with each other.

One of the people who leads PEP sessions commented that the prisoners she works with need to be SEEN . . . not treated as numbers or statistics, or simply ignored.  And she went on to comment that everyone needs to be SEEN . . . as the unique individuals we are.

It was this statement that I finally remembered after I had thrown out my first sermon and had been struggling for a while with what I might say to you about today’s Gospel story.  We all need to be SEEN.

Of course, the scribes in today’s story EXPECT to be seen, to be noticed, to be honored and respected.  They’re religious leaders, after all.  They wear their long robes to signify their importance and prosperity.  They expect to be given the best seats in the synagogues, and the places of honor at banquets . . . and they are not disappointed.  They receive the respect and attention of those around them.  And I expect that they’re very gratified by this.

The widow in today’s story, on the other hand, like most widows of the time, is invisible.  Without a husband, she has no place in society.  And, if she doesn’t have a grown son, she may have no source of income, support, or protection.  If she is young enough, and lucky enough, she might be able to return to her family and live with them as a kind of “hanger-on” . . . but even then, her existence would be tenuous.

Certainly, in today’s story, in what sounds like a parade of people making contributions to the temple, a widow – and her tiny offering – would be completely ignored . . . not seen at all.  I wonder if she’d given up hope of ever being seen.  How sad, if she had. . . .

We ALL want to be seen . . . to be noticed . . . in some way or other.  Even the shyest and most reclusive of us desire some kind of attention.  It seems to be human nature.  And in one way or another – with varying degrees of skill and success – we all try to get that attention.

Sometimes, when I’m walking down the street, or shopping at the mall, and I see someone who, in my opinion, is looking particularly bizarre – wearing some truly outlandish outfit – I sometimes think to myself, “Before walking out the door this morning, that person looked in the mirror and said, ‘Mmmmmm, I look GOOD.’”  And I marvel at them!  Certainly, this person has gotten my attention . . . but perhaps not in the way desired.

It’s a truism that appearances can be deceiving.  But even though we all know this, we still pay a lot of attention to appearances.  For example, how we look, what we wear is a statement of who we are.  And we react on rather deep levels to others’ appearances.  We all know about the power of sex appeal . . . don’t we often ascribe positive traits to handsome men and beautiful women? . . . unless, of course, we do the opposite and assume that anyone who’s very beautiful must also be very stupid.  We notice who looks rich and who looks poor.  We notice who looks smart and who does not.  Whatever our point of view, we take appearances seriously and think about them in rather complicated ways.

Because we know that, just as we form opinions about others based on what we see, so too, others form opinions about US based on what THEY see.  At least to some degree, the appearance we try to present is not just to please ourselves, but to affect how others think of us.  Many of us try to look like the way we want to BE . . . and like the way we want others to think of us as being.

And sometimes we do this with God, too.  Don’t we – at least sometimes – put on an appearance for God?  It can be a hopeful undertaking . . . as in, “Maybe if I LOOK holy and ACT holy, I’ll start to BECOME more holy.”  Who knows, maybe it’ll even begin to work.  But still . . . initially an effort is being made to APPEAR to be something . . . to appear to be something for God.  Rather like the scribes in today’s Gospel story.  I imagine that some of them were actually rather good people . . . if not particularly holy, perhaps at least trying to be. 

The reminder in today’s Gospel story is that whatever appearance we give to the world, and whatever the world decides about us based on our appearance, GOD sees through it all.  God sees into the heart of the matter . . . into OUR hearts . . . and perceives the truth about us . . . whatever that truth may be.  In today’s story, Jesus sees that some of the rich people giving enormous sums to the temple are not nearly as admirable as they might appear, because they have so much they won’t even notice the lack of what they’re giving away.  The widow, on the other hand, even though she has so very little, gives away that very little trusting in the care of God.  Perhaps she knew that GOD would see her, even if no one else did.

For some of us, the reminder that God truly sees behind appearances into our very hearts may be somewhat frightening . . . an impetus for repentance and conversion . . . but for others of us, it may be a great reassurance.  God knows the truth . . . whatever that truth is . . . about each of us.  God SEES us . . . no matter how we attempt to fool others . . . or to fool OURSELVES.  God sees us.  AND – never forget this part of the Good News – God forgives us when we repent of our faults . . . because God LOVES us, always.

AND I believe that God also asks something of us . . . we Christians.  I believe that God asks us to try to look upon the world with the eyes of Christ.  As followers of Jesus, I think we’re asked to try to SEE each other . . . and not just our friends or other people like us . . . but to try to SEE those whom the world ignores . . . to see them truly as the children of God that they are, as our brothers and sisters in Christ. 

This does NOT mean that we are to accept error and sin.  But it DOES mean that we must not let preconceived notions and prejudices blind us to the truth . . . to the truth that even those who offend us or frighten us are children of God.  And maybe . . . just maybe . . . if we can begin to see those who the world has stopped seeing with the eyes of Christ, they will begin to see themselves in that light, too.  The promise of forgiveness to those who repent is as universal as the promise of God’s love.

Yup, that widow and her mites gave me a lot of trouble this week.  It’s difficult to see things as they ARE.  But through the grace of God, I pray that we may all be given the eyes of Christ.

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