Sermon and Video for the 25th Sunday after Pentecost
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2024 Pentecost 25
Mark 12:38-44
Yesterday morning, I received a phone call from a member of one of my former congregations. Bob wanted to let Marie and me know that his dear wife Carol died at 1:30 Saturday morning. In the course of our conversation, Bob reminded me that he and Carol have been married for 69 years. He said it was going to be quite a change. He did not relish living alone. He does not want to be a widower. They were quite a team. A blessing and support to one another. I am blessed to have known both of them as well as I do.
I share this with you because in our lectionary readings today, we meet two widows. Now, the Bible does talk about widows and widowers. The death of a wife or a husband does bring about a sudden change in one’s life. The change can be crushing and debilitating. The household is not the same. God is concerned that both widow and widowers are looked after by family, neighbors, and the Church. However, in the cultures in which the Biblical story emanates from, the impact on a widow may be more severe than on a widower.
One of the reasons is that women, by and large, could not own property or own and operate a business. So, a woman who is suddenly without a husband, may find herself in significant economic and financial peril. The economic and financial security concerns are mitigated considerably if she has a son, and better yet, several sons, all with wives that are reasonable, and the family gets along. But, when the family is not cooperative, or when the son also dies. Oh, things can become desperate quickly! Widowhood is one of the most vulnerable positions possible in those societies. Lacking the protective care of husbands, in the Scriptures, they are grouped together with the orphans, poor, and resident aliens. God commands the Church that those who are most vulnerable are looked after. That their basic needs are met, and, that they are protected from oppressors and swindlers. For example, we heard Jesus’ harsh condemnation of disingenuous, thieving, scribes “who devour widows houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”
One of the delights of reading Scripture from beginning to end is to observe how God uses the least likely, and the most vulnerable, to accomplish His purposes. One would think that all of our profound spiritual insights and lessons would come from those who are the designated public leaders: The Scribes, Pharisees, Priests and Tribal leaders. They do have worthy contributions. For example, where would the slaves of Egypt be without Moses to lead them out? And, where would Israel be, and where would we be, without the Law that God gave to Moses?
But, then, there are the lessons that the most vulnerable and the least likely have to teach us. They teach us by their words and their actions.
If you get on the Internet and do a search of how many times widows appear in the Bible, you will learn that they are mentioned some 81 times in the Old and New Testaments. Sometimes, when these widows appear in the Bible, it is an indicator that a miracle is about to happen. Take for example, the widow of Nain in Luke 7. She is wailing as she accompanies her son’s body to the cemetery. This is her only son. Her grief is compounded by the uncertainty of her immediate future. Jesus comes along. He is moved with compassion. He touches the bier. He commands him to rise. The man does. He is alive. Jesus gives the son back to his mother. It is a miracle. Life is renewed twice in that miracle. In addition, Jesus is declared a prophet, one to be listened to and watched.
In the reading from first Kings, we meet the widow of Zarephath. She and her son are within days of death. She is gathering sticks to make her last fire for her last meal because this is the end. No more flour, no more oil, no more money, no more supplies. This is it. She encounters a man walking down the lane who is himself not in the best shape and she must decide what to do with his request.
When we are faced with a severe shortage, what do we do? Well, what did you do about paper and cleaning products and food and whatnot in 2020? Isn’t our tendency to gather and not share? Especially with a stranger? A perfectly reasonable response from the widow to Elijah would have been, “I’m tired of being lied to, life is looking really short now, stop taking the Lord’s name in vain, and leave.” Instead, she discerned that his word was true, that it was, despite all odds, a Word from the Lord, and she fed Elijah first, then her son and herself.
A miracle occurred there. Food kept appearing each day. Give us this day our daily bread, we pray. But, the miracle occurred because she responded to the Lord’s Word with faith. Don’t know how, but here we go. She was obedient to God.
St. Mark tells us about the widow who has nothing for tomorrow or the day after that, yet, follows through with her faith. She, who is most vulnerable, living day by day, is giving her savings into the treasury for the work of God. She is moved by faith. She is living with faith that God will provide. Give us this day our daily bread, Jesus taught us.
Who of us that give out of our abundance would not have gently suggested to our this widow, keep your money for tomorrow, you might need it, I will put in extra for you? If not that, who of us would not, at least, think, please don’t do that! Yet, despite all odds, all evidence to the contrary, the poor widow forgoes any feeble attempt at security and gives her money for God’s use and glory.
How can they do that? How can these widows have faith like this? How can we?
The reason they step forward in faith is because their eye is firmly fixed on the Lord. These two amazing teachers of the faith show us what Hebrews 11:1 looks like: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” They cannot see the God in which their faith is firmly fixed, nor can they see the future, but they are none-the-less convinced, and they live with hope.
The gift that we received from the Lord God is the fuller revelation that these two women did not have. We have Jesus of Nazareth, born of the virgin Mary, who has died on a cross for us. We have the assurance of the Scriptures. We have the assurance of the witnesses of Jesus’ birth, his ministry, his death on the cross, and his resurrection. We have the assurance of the Holy Spirit that created faith within us when we first heard the Word of God. Some of us as infants when we were baptized, some of us later in life.
We also have the assurance of the Letter to the Hebrews. Throughout his sermon, we are encouraged to hold fast to the confession of faith that the Holy Spirit has brought us into. We confess that Jesus is the Christ, he is my Lord, He has died for me. The blood of Jesus is spilled for me so that I may receive His forgiveness. He who is perfect in every way, spilled his human blood on the cross, for my sake and for yours, so that we can know whose we are. We belong to our heavenly Father now, wholly and completely, because of Jesus’ perfect sacrifice upon the cross. There is only one sacrifice because he is the only one who is sacrificed that has never and will never sin. His sacrifice takes away the effect of our sins. On account of Him, we are at peace with God, and Jesus calls us friend and brother. Jesus makes our faith possible.
Can we live with faith like our teachers, the widows? We already are. When we are called to lean more deeply into our faith, we will, because Jesus prays for us, the blood of his sacrifice cleanses us, the doubt that Satan springs upon us is pushed away, the fear of death that hovers near us is nudged aside. We belong to the Lord. He is our hope and our future. The widows have taught us this.
Hear the benediction from Hebrews 13. “Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, 21 equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us] that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.”
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