Mark 12:38-44
He continued teaching. “Watch out for the religion scholars and leaders. They love to walk around in academic gowns and long robes, preening in the radiance of public flattery, basking in prominent positions, sitting at the head table at every church function. All the time they are exploiting the weak and helpless. The longer their prayers, the worse they are; but it will catch them in the end.”
Sitting across from the offering box, Jesus was observing how the crowd tossed money in for the collection. Many of the rich were making large contributions. Then he observed one poor widow who came up and put in two small coins—a measly two cents. Jesus called his disciples over and said, “The truth is that this poor widow gave more to the collection than all the others put together. All the others gave what they’ll never miss; she gave extravagantly what she couldn’t afford—she gave her all.”
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Picture with me the temple scene: scribes and priests in festive and very expensive vestments, wealthy merchants, and prominent members of the community, all the pomp, the splendour, the rites and rituals. The pleats of their robes were neatly folded and the tassels were in their proper place. They wanted to look impressive as they paraded through the outer courtyards into the court of Israel. They continuously checked the ornate bags in which they carried their temple offerings to make sure that they had the proper coins and that the amount was sufficient for persons of their rank and standing.
At the same time, and very much in contrast to this scene, we see a little old widow getting ready for worship. She had been bargaining and scraping all week to have something for the temple. After all, she couldn't approach the house of God empty-handed. At the moment, she lived to give her offering to God. She wanted to tell God, "I'm thankful I still have you."
In spite of the insignificance of her temple tithe--two pennies--,Jesus lifts this woman up as an example: "Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For all of them have contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had". Jesus is not romanticizing poverty. There is nothing sacred about being hungry, cold, homeless, or powerless. The presence of the poor illustrates the need for church and its mission. But sometimes people who live near the edge of existence see things more clearly than those of us who have plenty. They see without impairment what is essential.
Today is Remembrance Day, a day set aside for us to remember those who gave everything they had - right to their very lives - to prevent world-wide disaster. The people who served in the First and Second World Wars are veterans, heroes, in the flesh. I might even go so far as to include those young men who went off to Viet Nam, and those who have gone to Afghanistan, or Bosnia.
On Friday, I attended the Remembrance Day assembly at Humber Elementary, and learned about young Corporal Brian Pinksen, who was all of 20 when he lost his life to injuries received in Kandahar. It reminded me of the young men I saw sitting in the chapel on the Tan Son Nhut Airbase in Viet Nam - from my perspective even in 1972 - they were barely old enough to shave - and compared them with the smart-aleck military commanders I met, who spoke about the local Vietnamese as “gooks”, and strutted around with their chests covered in medals, who stayed behind the scenes while the young ones went into battle. I thought about the young men who went home in body bags - and I thought about those unsung heroes, the doctors and nurses of the Mobile surgical hospital at the front who gave everything, but are forgotten.
I need to say, I am not now, nor have I ever been, a supporter of war. In the First and Second World Wars there were serious threats, and there is a part of me which says those wars were justified. I can’t be persuaded that all wars are justified - and every time I see a photo of a young person lost in war, I become emotional. I can’t say that the violence between Israel and Palestine is justified; I can’t really say the violence in Afghanistan is justified.
The problem I have is that there are so many other heroes, and part of me gets angry around Remembrance Day because of the people who are not remembered.. When Norio and I left Viet Nam, there were three other families who were good friends - all were Vietnamese men who had western wives. One was married to an Australian, one to a New Zealander, and one to an American. The wives and children were able to leave the country just before everything closed down in 1975. The men had to stay. We never found out if they were able to leave until years later when we were able to reconnect again.- and they would have had to pay large amounts of money to get away. They struggled within their country - a couple of them were highly placed in the government - and as our friend Duyet in Australia said “I was director of postal services in Viet Nam, now I lick stamps at the local post office.”
In the course of the war in Viet Nam, some 60,000 soldiers died. Over two million Vietnamese died. Estimates at the end of the war in 1975 were that 500,000 children were born with birth defects attributed to the widespread use of Agent Orange as a defoliant. Except that Agent Orange doesn’t break down, either in the environment or in the body. Once it’s there, it’s there.
You might remember a photo during the war in Viet Nam, of a little girl running naked down a road, with other children, when her village was hit by napalm. Phan Thi Kim Phuc survived the attack, but remembers running down the road crying “too hot, too hot”, as her back was burned by the napalm. She is a graduate of the University of Havana in Cuba, and is now a UNESCO world ambassador. She is one of those flesh-and-blood heroes, for me - someone who lived through such incredible times and is not afraid to speak out against war and violence. That’s here, of course. Kim Phuc now lives just outside Toronto.
There were those who chose not to leave at the end in 1975. They made the decision that even after the North Vietnamese took over, their expertise would be needed. Tailors, farmers, medical personnel, religious leaders - made a conscious choice to remain, to help their country rebuild. There to me they are the flesh and blood saints of the world - the ones who go on after the fighting is over.
My day job in Viet Nam, besides having two small children, was as office administrator for the YMCA Refugee Services. One of our projects was a co-operative village. Many of the refugees were farmers who had been pretty well napalmed off their land; they had to begin again, building homes in the jungle and finding a way to make a living. With the help of the YMCA, they were able to do that - build homes, and begin cooperative community projects. They raised pigs for food, but also for sale in the market. When the animals were sold, all the money went back into the community pot for the good of everyone. They grew crops, to feed themselves and sell in the market - and once again the proceeds went into the community pot. The director of the YMCA Services, Yukio Miyazaki, is in my mind one of those living flesh and blood saints who needs to be remembered on this day - because he was willing to give everything he had to make a positive difference in the lives of those people who had no way to get away, and no other way to survive.
In 2001, a movie called “Kandahar” was released. The story was written by an Afghani-Canadian journalist, Nilofer Pazira; it chronicles the story of a journalist living in Canada who returns to Afghanistan to save her suicidal sister. Some of it is her own story, and she returned to Afghanistan at great risk to herself, as she was the star of the movie as well, and had to go back into the burqa to be able to move around. In this movie we see the lives of Afghani women, and men, who are willing to fight back against oppression by any means possible. There is one scene where a group of women are walking together - and every singe one of them is wearing the most brightly-coloured burqa possible - every colour of the rainbow. No black burqas for these women - they are the flash and blood saints who find ways to survive even under the Taliban.
So where am I going with this?
Remembrance Day is important. There is no question that it is. But if we do not learn the lessons of war, or if we end up glorifying ourselves or our military, or acts of war, we lose. And I am afraid that if we do not continue to remind others of the deep and long-lasting effects of war, the world loses. As I sat listening and watching at the school on Friday, I could not help but think of the many people who are always left behind, who have nothing left to give but maybe two pennies and some commitment. These are the flesh and blood saints, the silent heroes, who should also be remembered at this time - those people who have suffered because of the actions of others, yet who continue to give whatever they can because it’s important.
Sources:
1. Nothing Left To Give? A sermon by Rev. Frank Schaefer
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