Making a Fortune in Copper
A sermon by Brent J. Eelman
Abington Presbyterian Church
November 12, 2006

Mark 12: 38-44
As he taught, he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets! They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”
He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. Then he called his disciples and said to them, “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, all she had to live on.” *

In 1982, the government of the United States faced an interesting dillema. The cost of the copper that went into a penny cost more than a penny! The copper in a 1982 penny is currently worth 1.45 cents. You can imagine the schemes that people developed. All one had to do was hoard a couple hundred tons of pennies, melt them down and you could realize a very tidy profit on your investment. You could make a fortune in copper. The U.S. Mint responded to this situation in 1982 by issuing a new penny that was made out of zinc and was copper coated. So much for making a fortune in copper.

Let us not belittle the poor copper penny. It is the most popular of all coins. There are more pennies minted each year than all the other coins combined. Every now and then we hear the threats regarding doing away with it but the durable penny has withstood all challenges and its value does not diminish. In fact a real copper penny is worth more than a penny. Let us not disparage the penny. We can talk about adding our "two cents", and most of us do, but even our two cents may be worth more than that!

The story of the widow and the two copper coins is where the expression "my two cents" comes from. We all know the story of the widow’s mite and we know how preachers interpret it. Jesus was watching the people place their gifts in the temple offering and he was commenting on what people were giving. Today we might complain that Jesus was being a bit nosey and impertinent, (but people complained a lot about Jesus back then also!). Jesus held the widows gift of two pennies as the most important one. We know what ministers will say about this text. The woman gave all that she had and she is held up as one who embodies sacrificial giving. Literally she gave away her fortune in copper.

But there is another way that we might look at this text. It is not just about giving money. No, it fits into the bulk of Jesus' teachings about values. Jesus had a way of literally turning things upside down. He said, "the last shall be first." "the greatest will be the servant". One of the centers of Jesus’ ministry is the value that he placed on things that others thought were insignificant: things like pennies. It was in the small, the insignificant, the seemingly unimportant, the rejects, the poor, the outcasts that Jesus found his examples. These were the people and things that Jesus valued. The story of the widow and the tow copper coins is a challenge to our values. It challenges us to look at the small things, the seemingly insignificant and the ignored, and to value them. This applies to people, to ideas, and to events.

This applies to people. A number of years ago, when my daughter was 6 or 7 years old, I preached a sermon on Jesus encounter with his disciples when they were trying to get the children out of his way. We all remember the words of Jesus, “let the children come to me and don’t forbid them.” I felt pretty smug about my message that Sunday and was enjoying the coffee hour where the give and take on the sermon continued. My small daughter came in and wanted to ask me something and I said that we would talk about it when I got home. Boy was I in for an encounter. I faced the wrath of a seven year old who actually listened to the sermon. “You know Dad, you really are a hypocrite. You preach about how important children are and then you “shush” me off, just like the disciples.” People are valuable. Little people are valuable, and as much as I hate to admit it, my daughter was absolutely right. Today we will baptize a child at 10:45. In that ritual, I will say that this child belongs to God... God values children and challenges us to do the same. We need to include them in our midst. But it also goes to the other end of the spectrum. Twice a year our staff goes over to Rydal park for a reception. One of the things that I have learned over the years is the value of people who are elderly. We put horses out to pasture when they have outlived their usefulness, but our elders continue to have something to contribute. We may think that it is but two copper coins, but in truth it is the wisdom of the ages. (Our elders also have wonderful senses of humor!) The story of the woman and the two copper coins is a reminder of the value of all people, young and old.

One of the things that strikes me as I read the Bible is the seemingly insignificant and often nameless people who make all the difference. It is the young slave girl who steers the general Naaman to Elijah. It is the nameless shepherds who witness the birth of Jesus. Every now and then I think that my life is not worth two cents, and then I remember how Jesus valued those two pennies…. And how he values me.

Ideas are also valuable. We joke and say, “Let me offer my two cents.” One of the most painful experiences occurs when someone dismisses an idea that we have. “That’s stupid” we might say when we are younger. We get a little more sophisticated when we get older. We shake our head in ascent and then quickly change the subject. Jesus valued the ideas and the dreams that others thought were “dumb”. He spent time with people who were outcasts, and listened to them. He shared his thoughts and dreams with a Samaritan woman who was married five times. He spent time with tax collectors, and people of ill repute. These were the people to whom he listened and with whom he shared. They were the foundation of his followers.

One of the things that I have discovered is that communities, (and it includes churches) that are alive and exciting, dynamic and growing, are ones that value ideas, no matter how new or how insignificant. Communities that do not have this free flow of ideas and dreams soon becomes mired in the “same old, same old.” There is a fortune in the simple ideas and dreams that are in the hearts of God’s people and we need to value the ideas, the dreams, the hopes and thoughts of others.

III

Small events are important. Next week we will announce the results of the capital campaign in our worship service. We are all hoping that it will be a large number. But in the midst of all the excitement, all the big numbers we have been throwing around, I have been genuinely touched by the small and seemingly insignificant events of the last two months. The posters of children and the dreams and hopes that they shared have touched my heart and renewed a hope that has a way of overcoming the cynicism of age. They made me feel good. On Sunday, I saw the church built out of pennies. Next Sunday our youth will share their vision of the importance of pennies. In a way, they challenge us to live out this sermon. There is a fortune in copper.

Jesus knows that we are human. He knows that we are impressed with the big things in life. The big crowds, the big house, the big gift, the large fortune and the big event…. The story of the woman with the two copper coins is a reminder that there is value, important value, in the small and the seemingly insignificant. There is a fortune to be made in copper. This is the good news. Amen.

*The New Revised Standard Version Bible, (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers) 1989.

Abington Presbyterian Church, Abington, Pennsylvania, www.apcusa.org

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