38 And in his teaching he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces 39 and have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, 40 who devour widows’ houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”
41 And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. 42 And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. 43 And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. 44 For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”
— Mark 12:38-44, ESV

When our country was founded in the 18th century, the Christian faith was very much a public and private matter.  The founding fathers, even those who were not devout Christians, all agreed that the Christian faith and the Judeo-Christian ethic of the Bible should serve as the moral conscience of the new republic.  

Moreover, church attendance and public professions of faith could be counted in large numbers, especially on the heels of the Great Awakening led by Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield.  Such public displays of Christianity resulted in personal and private piety as well.  The sexual sins that plague us today were almost unheard of, crime rates were exceedingly low, and on this spiritual soil the nation grew and prospered.  

Less than a century later, the USA became deeply divided on matters of public and private faith, North and South.  The North believed Christianity to be a private matter only, society should be secularized, and Christians should keep their faith in churches and prayer closets.  The revered President, Abraham Lincoln, actually mocked Christianity, disbelieved the Bible, and considered church a waste of time.  

The Old South was perhaps the last bastion of a thoroughly Christian culture, albeit with the glaring cataract of slavery in its eye.  Yet even with this blind spot, most slave owners sought to influence their slaves to become Christians and established Sunday Schools and churches for them.  And no, this in no way makes slavery or segregation acceptable.  My point is that in the antebellum era, North found faith only a private affair, while South proudly promoted the gospel in pubic and private.

Fast forward and we are all Northerners now.  After all, they won the war.  We have a big, secular government.  Faith is pushed back and often punished.  Many Democrats are militant against faith, many Republicans are hypocritical with their faith, and America in general is becoming a country of less and less true, biblical, gospel faith.

One of the most haunting things Jesus ever said is the rhetorical question posed in Luke 18:8.  Speaking of His second coming, Jesus said, “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”  If he does, will it be public or private?

Public faith requires no private faith.

I suspect when Jesus comes again there will be plenty of faith on display.  Much will be public but little will be pure.  Politicians will still be using faith to woo voters, even though their true god is power.  Televangelists will still be parading faith like peacocks to gain followers, even though their true god is money.  Empty churches will line communities as monuments to an outward faith, empty on the inside.

The “scribes” put superficial faith on public display.  A scribe in Jesus’ day was an corrupt combination of scheming lawyer, inept politician, and unscrupulous religions leader.  Most of them were Pharisees.  Pretending to be pious worshippers of the true and living God, they used their country’s favorable view of religion to gain favor for themselves, hold power over people, and extort money from the most vulnerable.

Jesus used a most wretched example in His condemnation.  They would gain the trust of a widow in need of legal or religious advice, and wind up owning her home.  They were con men.  They became rich men.  They were faith men, at least publicly, in the synagogue, at the feasts, often leading in long, articulate, poetic prayers.  

Public faith can fool people, but it never fools God.  The scribes did not realize they had been debating with God for three years, in the person and work of Jesus Christ.  But Jesus, being God, knew their outward piety was a cover for inward depravity.  They had no true faith.

Public faith can grasp power for a season, but it will eventually let go.  Scribes and Pharisees did not fare too well after Jesus’ death and resurrection.  Our Lord’s constant condemnation of them in the Gospels revealed a rotten faith which bore no fruit.  

Public faith misses Jesus in this life and will be condemned by Jesus in the afterlife.  Hell will be worse for some than for others, apparently.  Hypocrites and hucksters may have it the worst.  “They will receive the greater condemnation,” Jesus said.  

So watch out, you pseudo-christian politicians.  Watch out, you televangelists and prosperity gospel preachers.  Watch out, you nominal Christians, inactive church members, and all others who profess a public faith in Jesus Christ, but have no private, inward, bedrock belief in the word of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Private faith always shines in public.

This segue in Mark’s brief but beautiful Gospel is to contrast utter hypocrites with fully devoted followers.  He could have inserted a brief narrative of one of the Apostles at work, but he did not.  He could have transitioned to one of the many wise sayings of Jesus, a true Teacher above the false teachers, but he passed.  Instead, he put forth a glimpse of a woman who was virtually invisible to everyone on earth, except the One who created it.

“A poor widow” is her only description.  She is helpless, faceless, nameless to the hypocritical scribes and Pharisees.  None of Jesus’ true disciples even know who she is.  Even the Christ keeps her identity confidential.  

Jesus singled her out for an aspect of true faith which is normally quite private, “putting money into the offering box.”  This is a private thing in our day.  We keep it as discreet as possible.  I remember having to correct some inexperienced camerapersons in a previous church who were following the Deacons up and down the aisles during the offering.  Gasp!  

But did you know such privacy is more or less a latter day invention based on a loose interpretation of Matthew 6:3, which deals with helping the poor, not giving to the church?  Did you know in previous generations, many churches posted in the Sunday bulletin what each member gave the previous Sunday?  I wonder how such public notices would impact private giving today?  Don’t worry, I’m comfortable with our current policy and I’m not out to change it.

My point is what this devout woman did in private was very public to God, and God made it known to others.  That’s right, Jesus peeked!  Afterward, the Lord explained to His disciples what made this woman’s private faith so worthy of public attention.

Private faith puts God first and gives God all.  This woman’s giving was inspired by her living.  True, private faith is a determination to be totally devoted to the Lord, and then showing it in many public ways.  A careful study of the demands of Christ in the New Testament reveals no less for anyone who would consider themself a Christian.  

Private faith provides for the public worship of God and the proclamation of the gospel.  Her synagogue may not have been the best in town, nor were there priests presiding over temple rituals all circumspect men of God, but she gave anyway, constantly, totally.  She understood there was no Plan B.  In the same way, New Testament Christians must support New Testament churches, with all their imperfections, so the perfect word of God and gospel of Jesus Christ may reach a new generation.  

Private faith will one day be publicly rewarded by God.  Most Christians fear the word of God in Romans 14:10 and 2 Corinthians 5:10, which tells us we will all stand before “the judgment seat” of God.  This is literally the bema seat, a place of condemnation for criminals to be sure, but also the place of reward for the conquerors.  And by grace through faith in Christ, a true, private and public Christians “are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (ref. Romans 8:37).

One day all true believers will know this poor widow’s name.  We will have fellowship with her in Heaven for time ad infinitum.  We’ll meet a lot of other stellar saints like her as well.  

Your private faith is not known to many.  No one sees you in prayer, Bible study, or giving just that right word of encouragement to someone who needed it the most.  They don’t see you slipping a few bucks to a truly needy person.  They don’t realize how you forgive your knucklehead Pastor for saying dumb things sometimes, yet you give and keep faith with Christ’s church anyway.  No one on earth or in the church may seem to notice.

But Jesus peeks.  One day He will tell all.  There will be not a word about your sin, for this is all washed away.  He will speak about your private faith, which accomplished more public good than you know.  He will speak of the influence you had and used to lead others to our Lord.  He will exalt the humble, then we will humbly give Him all the glory.  

Glory be to God!  And glory be to all of His children whose faith is private and public!  Amen!