Listen

As he was teaching, he said, “Watch out for the legal experts. They like to walk around in long robes. They want to be greeted with honor in the markets. They long for places of honor in the synagogues and at banquets. They are the ones who cheat widows out of their homes, and to show off they say long prayers. They will be judged most harshly.”

Mark 12:38-40

Think

In today’s scripture, Jesus and his disciples are observing something that many of us may have also seen before – church show-offs. You may know them as the person who gave a large and public monetary donation to the church, or the one who wants to be sure they were counted “present” on the Sunday School roster so that another year of Perfect Attendance may be added to their resume. Whether or not they “walk the walk” outside of church is sometimes up for debate, as Jesus so clearly tells us when describing the “legal experts” who take from the vulnerable during the rest of the week.

Elsewhere in the gospels, Jesus tells us that it is better to take the lowest seat at the table and be invited to a higher one than to take the best seat and be asked to move when a more important person arrives. This is the example we should follow – being humble and genuine in our faith. Church is no place for show-offs, only seekers of God’s kingdom.

Ann Wells

Pray

God, help me to be aware of the ways I might be showing off instead of genuinely worshiping you. May I remember always to “do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly” with you. (Micah 6:8) Amen.

Go

If you cannot give your thousands,
You can give the widow’s mite;
What you truly give for Jesus
Will be precious in His sight.

Daniel March in “Hark, the Voice of Jesus Calling” (1868)