A Sermon for the Sunday closest to November 9
The Rev. Patricia A. Gillespie
1 Kings 17:8-16
Hebrews 9 24-28
Mark 12:38-44
Psalm 146
This is "Good Widow Sunday." These widows in the Book of Kings and the Gospel according to Mark are not like the widows I know – not today's temporary widows during deer season, not even those gracious and gracefull elderly women we all know. But rather the starving, yes dying, mother of a young child Picture children of an African famine, or Korean orphanages. Stick-like limbs, swollen bellies. It's not a pretty picture.
Most women owned nothing. Most women were entirely dependent on their fathers, husbands, or sons; without a man they were worthless. Being a widow was the lowest place in society (excepting only the orphans) To survive, a woman needed a man; even a crazy old prophet like Elijah might do.
Today it's different -- at least here in the U.S. I had one of those T-shirts that said: "A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle."
Women can be independent and I'm proud of it. I don't need a man to have my own home, to feed my children, or even to buy me a computer. I can get a job (thank you) and be financially independent. Although in our country, as in the world, it is still true that far more women than men live in poverty, today many women can pay their own way.
We're just as good as the guys: Women, even widows, can be well dressed. Women are greeted with respect in the marketplace. We are rich enough to give large sums to charity. We can have the best seats in the churches and the places of honor at banquets.
And so when Jesus meets us in the temple, he says "Beware of the scribes and the independent women" Jesus doesn't seem pleased with those successful independent types. He seems rather partial to the poor widow.
But I don't want to be like the widow! Is Jesus telling us to give everything, so we have nothing on which to live? What do we really need "to live on" ?
Do the scribes "need" long robes and even longer prayers? Do they "need" the respect and attention of the community? Do the widows "need" that last handful of flour or those last couple of coins?
We seem to be pretty good at telling others what they need. I look in the mirror and it seems like I "need" my fierce independence.
What do you need? Which hand will you choose? -- the almighty dollar or the empty hand? Which hand would Jesus take?
How can anyone "take" a hand that is already full? Just what is it that we grab for? What is it that we need "to live on"? What do we depend on?
Look at the Money ($10 bill with picture of treasury): Here it is, the U.S. Treasury saying, "In God we trust."
Trust: We heard something about that in today's psalm.
Put not your trust in rulers, nor any child of the earth
for there is no help in them...
Happy are they ... whose hope is in the LORD their God
There is no help for us in children of the earth. It's kind of like that fish relying on a bicycle to get what it needs.
Where do we put our trust? Should worshipers trust the rich temple officials or the bishops? Should vestries put their trust in money in the bank? Should women, in Scripture or here & now, trust men?
Can we put our trust in someone whose hands are full? Can we trust them for "handouts"?
Is the widow with the two coins putting her trust in a corrupt temple system? Is the widow of Zarephath putting her trust in Elijah? When you give to the church, are you putting your trust there? When you marry or give of yourself in a friendship or to your children, is that where you put your trust?
Look at our scripture readings today. Who is it that can be "trusted" to give? God doesn't send Elijah to the rich folks to be fed. God trusts a dying widow to feed him. It's the folks with empty hands -or at least those who are not desperately clinging to something- these are the ones who give the most. These are the ones who are Godlike -- who, like Jesus, give of themselves.
When we look at the widow's mite story as a stewardship text -- either as saying that the rich folks should --like the widow-- give everything or as Jesus' objection to the temple system that "devours widow's homes" so the widow should be keeping her money, I think we're asking the wrong question.
This is not about who needs the money most. It is about trust. As long as we are thinking about who needs the money most, we are putting our trust in the money.
But we are being told to trust in God, as the Psalm reminds us: the LORD cares for the stranger; he sustains the orphan and widow.
In these stories, the widows are in God's place: trusting God and then being trusted by God to do God's work. They give of themselves, as God does, and God empowers their giving. As God said to Elijah, "I have commanded a widow to feed you." And Elijah says to her, "Do not be afraid."
It's hard not to be afraid when we know that "children of the earth" - temples, churches, prophets & priests, men & women - are not perfect: all are ultimately untrustworthy. They are something we need like a fish needs a bicycle.
Yet we are not only "children of the earth" we are also children of God. We are given gifts to share and hands to touch. Perhaps we all - people and churches too - should be marked like the money, with the reminder printed across our foreheads. "In God we trust."
Do not be afraid. When we trust in God we can stop clinging to false security and with empty hands reach out and touch - reach out and find what we really need to live.
Which hand will you take?