“I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others.”  If we were reading this passage on April 1st, we might think Jesus was playing an April Fool’s Day joke on us.  Two little coins, worth less than a penny, more valuable than all the other offerings?  That would be like saying a couple of dimes are worth more than all the other contributions we receive on one of our holiest days, like Christmas or Easter.  That’s crazy!  If you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you!I always wondered about that expression, about the bridge for sale, and it turns out, it comes to us because of a con man in New York City by the name of George C. Parker.  He earned his living selling landmarks he did not own, such as Madison Square Garden, the Statue of Liberty, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  This was his career from the 1880’s until 1928, when he was sentenced to life in prison because he had swindled so many people.  George Parker would target immigrants arriving at Ellis Island with money to invest in their new country and take advantage of their naivete and optimism.  He was best known for convincing people to buy the Brooklyn Bridge, which of course was not his to sell.  “If you believe that, I have bridge to sell you!” has become part of a lexicon, a way to describe someone who is gullible. But Jesus is not asking us to be gullible, nor is he trying to prey on the vulnerable when he says, “This poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others.”  This is a shocking statement, and it has sometimes been misinterpreted to try to guilt already generous people to give even more.  But Jesus wants this teaching to be used to dignify people, not exploit people!  So let’s set the scene and see what this passage has to teach us today.In the temple courts was an area with several offering boxes.  They were shaped like trumpets with a wide bell and narrow neck.  Since there was no paper money at that time, if you were paying attention, you could tell who the big givers were.  Big coins, big noise.  Little coins, little noise.  Remember, this is Passover week, and Jerusalem was crowded.  If we look back just a few verses in Mark, we can see that Jesus just got done criticizing some of the Temple big wigs for drawing attention to themselves, for making a show of their piety, including long, loud prayers to impress the crowds.  It’s safe to say they wanted everyone to hear how big their offerings were, too.But Jesus isn’t impressed by their offerings, because Jesus does not use the same valuation system as everyone else.  We assign value to monetary contributions based on what they can do—big gifts can do big things.  But Jesus assigned valued based on what the contributions represent.  Not how much the gift will buy, but how much heart went into giving it.  Gifts from people who are “all in” are worth way more to God than gifts from people whose hearts are divided.  Gifs from people who are in synch with God are worth more than gifts from people who are out of synch with God.That is why we are, 2,000 years later, still talking about the widow’s gift.  Mark tells us her gift was worth less than a penny.   The temple treasury staff no doubt spent a lot of time counting money during Passover week—this was their biggest offering time of the year!  The widow’s couple of coins could have even been dismissed as a nuisance.  But to Jesus, her gift was worth more than all the others because she gave all she had to live on.  She gave her whole life, her whole livelihood, to God.Not that her life was considered worth much in Jesus’ day.  Women were not allowed to inherit wealth from their husbands or parents.  Only men could inherit.  That meant widows were beholden to their brothers or sons for financial support, and if they had no brothers or sons, they had to rely on the priests to manage their affairs, which they did not always do in a fair way.  Although there are many scriptural mandates to care for the widows and treat them with special respect, we know they were often seen as an economic drag.  They were not valued.  Their worth was not recognized by the society around them.So it’s not a stretch to say that the widow and Jesus had a lot in common.  Jesus was the Son of God!  But his worth was not recognized by many around him.   To the religious elite, he was an indigent rabbi from the hick town of Nazareth, a nuisance and a troublemaker.  Instead of being honored, he was seen as a drag, or worse.  Yet he too would offer everything he had.  All he had to live on.  His whole life.  And it would be a sacrifice worth more than all the others.  Dying on a cross was not only horribly painful, it was also incredibly shameful and undignified.  Yet Jesus willingly lays down his life in this way, to restore dignity and worth to all of humanity.Recently I came across a children’s story called “The Clown of God.”  I’s an old French legend, and I thought it would be good to use on Holy Humor Sunday, which many churches celebrate either the Sunday after Easter, or during Lent.  We’ve decided to postpone our Holy Humor Sunday until the summer, but I wanted to share this story today, using children’s book author Tomie DePaola’s illustrations.The main character of the story is Giovanni, who was a homeless orphan who worked out an arrangement with the local produce merchant.  Every day Giovanni would juggle fruits and vegetables, which drew people to the produce stand, and in exchange, the merchant would give Giovanni a bowl of hot soup.  This was working out well until one day, a troupe of travelling players came to town.  Giovanni fell in love with the play and begged to become part of the troupe.  They gave him a costume, showed him how to paint his face like a clown, and helped him hone his juggling skills. Giovanni became famous and eventually set off on his own.  He always ended his shows with a grand finale, juggling balls of many colors as if he were juggling a rainbow.  “And now for the Sun in the Heavens!” he would cry, as he picked up a shining golden ball and tossed it higher and higher.  It wowed the crowds every time!          One day Giovanni stopped for lunch on his way from one town to the next, when two Franciscan monks came down the road.  They asked Giovanni if he could spare some of his food for them.  Having grown up poor, Giovanni was more than happy to share.  As they ate, the two Little Brothers told Giovanni how they went from town to town, begging their food and spreading the joy of God.  They told Giovanni how their founder, Brother Francis, says that everything sings to the glory of God, even Giovanni’s juggling!          Giovanni found this hard to believe.  He told them he only juggles to make people laugh and applaud, not to please God.  “It’s the same thing,” the brothers said.  “If you give happiness to people, you give glory to God as well!”          “If you say so!” Giovanni said.  And with that, he was off to the next town.For years, Giovanni travelled and delighted people with his juggling.  But eventually, he grew old, and times became hard.  People no longer stopped to watch him.  Giovanni was sad, but he continued to juggle, until one day, he dropped the Sun in the Heavens, the bright golden ball, and the whole rainbow of balls came crashing down on him.  The people laughed—but not in delight.  They mocked him and threw vegetables and rocks at him.  Giovanni had to run for his life.Giovanni was devastated.  He decided to take off his clown face, put away his costume, and give up juggling forever.  Reduced to begging like he had as a child, Giovanni decided to return to his hometown of Sorrento.It was a cold winter night when he finally arrived.  He dragged himself to the monastery of the Little Brothers, the monks he had once shared his lunch with, and fell asleep inside.  Hours later, he was awakened by beautiful music.  The church was filled with candlelight, and people were singing, “Gloria” to celebrate the birth of Christ.  They made a long processional and carried beautiful gifts through the church, placing them in front of a statue of Mary and her Child.Giovanni was very curious, but he waited until everyone had left before moving closer to the statue to investigate.  The Child in Mary’s arms seemed so serious and sad, that Giovanni was inspired to do something to help.  He put on his old juggling costume and his clown face, and began to juggle for the Christ Child.  He did his whole routine, and ended of course with the rainbow of balls and the Sun in the Heavens.  While he was juggling, a monk came around to lock the church and was horrified to see Giovanni juggling for Jesus.  “A sacrilege!” he cried.But Giovanni was so intent on making the Christ Child happy, he did not notice the monk.  He kept on juggling, higher and higher, faster and faster, to try to make Jesus happy.  “For you, sweet Child, for you!”  Then suddenly, his old heart stopped, and Giovanni fell dead to the floor.  The monk and his superior came rushing in, and took pity on Giovanni.  May his soul rest in peace, they said.  But then they noticed something had changed.  The Christ Child no longer looked stern or sad.  He was smiling!  And in his hand, the Christ child held the golden Sun in the Heavens ball.As we’ve studied the gospel of Mark, we have been surprised more than once by things Jesus has said, including his comment about the widow’s mite.  “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others.”  The same was true for the Clown of God.  Everyone who came to church that night paraded around the sanctuary with a gift for the Christ Child, but none of the gifts made Jesus smile except the gift given by the juggler.  The juggler gave all he had, all he had to live on, it was the most heartfelt act of his life, and it pleased God very much.Even though we have been learning about God’s grace our whole lives, it is still hard to believe that God does not use the same valuation system we use.  But friends, this isn’t like the Brooklyn Bridge being for sale. This is not a con.  This is not a scam.  This is the way of God as shown repeatedly in the second half of Mark’s gospel.  Our key verse for today, Mark 9:35 is another one of Jesus’ hard to believe statements:  “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all, and servant of all.”  Jesus is not trying to coerce us into giving more, doing more, and suffering more.  Jesus lifts up the widow’s offering to dignify people who serve and give and suffer for his sake.    This has been a difficult pandemic year, and sometimes I get tired.  I know you get tired, too.  We can all use a Holy Humor Sunday!  But I hope you don’t mind waiting a bit for that, because I think this story is perfect for today.  I hope you will hear the hope and the affirmation and the thank you in this scripture passage.  When you give from the heart, when you do your best, when you help others, when you enjoy what you can in life, when you take time to be with God and to savor your blessings—everything sings of the glory of God!  We make God happy when we do our very best with what we have to work with, and allow the Holy Spirit room to do in and through us what we cannot do for ourselves. The widow’s offering is more than just an inspirational example.  It is an embodiment of God’s grace.  Grace is not just forgiveness for our sins.  It’s the dignifying of our humanity that values our earnest hearts above everything else.  I hope you will hear God’s voice of love speaking over you today.  Amen.