Jesus sat down opposite the treasuryand observed how the crowd put money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums.A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents. Calling his disciples to himself, he said to them,"Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in morethan all the other contributors to the treasury. For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth,but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood."
Do you know what it means to “have some skin in the game”? It does NOT mean to just participate from a distance, like being an “arm-chair quarterback, sitting comfortably in your barcalounger drinking beer and eating pork rinds. Rather, having “skin in the game” means getting involved to the point that it hurts, to the point that it costs you something, to the point that you have to make a sacrifice. Let me illustrate what I mean by a well-known parable. One day on a farm, a chicken and a pig decided to prepare breakfast for Farmer John. The chicken said excitedly, “Let’s make a plate of ham and eggs for him!” But the pig protested, “Hey, wait a minute. That only requires a little involvement from you, but that demands a total commitment from me!” You see, the pig knows where pork rinds come from – they comes from having some “skin in the game”! Only those who make steep personal sacrifices truly have “skin in the game.”
In the gospel today, Jesus illustrates the same point in reference to being his follower, that is, you can’t be his disciple without some skin in the game. He closely watches people putting donations into the Temple treasury. When he notices what a poor widow does, Jesus makes this startling statement. He says, “Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury.” He goes on to explain how she did by saying, “For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood.” In other words, the wealthy are like the chicken in the parable, and merely get “involved,” and give from their “extra,” while the widow is like the pig, making a total commitment, putting some skin in the game, making a sacrifice that hurts. In praising her, Jesus implied that’s what he expects from all his followers. After all, that’s what he expected from himself. You can’t be a disciple without of Jesus some skin in the game.
I’m here this weekend to help St. Theresa Catholic school. But do you know why Catholics schools are closing one after another? It’s because we want to be like the chicken and just be moderately involved but not like the pig and make real sacrifices. And I’m not just talking about money here. Just think about this history: the reason Catholic schools thrived in the past is because prior to the sexual revolution of the 1960’s, Catholics had lots of children. That was the definition of “a good Catholic family.” Now the only good Catholic family is the Duggers in Springdale, and they’re not even Catholic! When you have that many children, it’s more likely that one or two will become a priest or a nun. In other words, your “skin in the game” is the skin of little Johnny or little Susie! And then when we have lots of nuns, they teach in our schools, and as a result we have virtually free education, because we didn’t have to pay the nuns very much. Just like we don’t pay priest very much today! Unfortunately with the sexual revolution we took our “skin out of the game” and we have fewer children and therefore fewer priests and nuns. But until that happens, the only way we can run Catholic schools is by paying tuition, or raising money like with the Roses from Heaven Campaign. We have to imitate the poor widow in the gospel, and not “give from our surplus wealth, but from our poverty, contributing all we have.” You see, the survival of Catholic schools is a kind of litmus test of our discipleship — whether we give our children or our checks — how much skin we have in the game.
My friends, may I give you several ways you can embrace sacrificial discipleship? First, this weekend I’m selling audios and books, hats and t-shirts to support St. Theresa School. Would you consider making a donation above the cost of the products? Put some skin in the game to save your Catholic school. Second, have another baby! That’s easy for a priest to says, isn’t it! But an old adage teaches, “every baby is born with a loaf of bread under its arm,” meaning God provides for those children. Third, go to a Cursillo weekend, or a Search retreat, or get involved in the Charismatic Renewal. People stay away from these events because they are chickens! They know such retreats require a deeper commitment, like the pig made. And fourth, give more generously to your church. My brother used to attend Mass in college and had this unusual habit. When it came time for the collection he opened his wallet and pulled out the largest denomination bill he had and put that in the collection plate. Maybe he took out all the 20’s, 50’s and 100’s before Mass, but in any case, he put more in the plate, because he wanted to have more skin in the game. If being a disciple is not costing you something, it’s not real discipleship.
On February 4, 1994, Mother Teresa gave an unforgettable speech at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C. In attendance were many dignitaries, including President Clinton and the First Lady. In that speech Mother Teresa echoed what Jesus said in the gospel, when she said, “It is very important for us to realize that love, to be true, has to hurt…This requires that I be willing to give until it hurts. Otherwise, there’s no true love in me…” We all know Mother Teresa was a genuine disciple because we know she had skin in the game, her whole life. My friends, Christian discipleship requires that we not be a chicken, but rather we must become a Razorback. As Coach Bielema says, “Woo, Pig!”
Praised be Jesus Christ!
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