“…she, out of her poverty has put in
everything she had, all she had to live on.” (Mark 12:44b)
So you have to ask: What was that dame thinking..?! Here she is, the poor widow
of this week’s Gospel in the Revised Common Lectionary, who has only a few
measly coins on which to survive—and she goes and gives them to the temple!
Stupid broad! Does she want to starve to death..?
This totally defies logic, don’t you
think? I mean, the temple was the Social Security Department of its day. Those
rich dudes who were donating great sums in this story (Mark 12:38-44) should’ve
been supporting this old gal and not asking anything from her in return. Isn’t
that right? Can I get an “Amen!” for social welfare?
But yet this woman, who may have begged
the very coins she contributed, felt the need to give her part to the treasury.
Was she just plain foolish with money? Or superstitious? Or maybe she was a
person of enormous faith in the goodness of God, and her heart was touched with
charity and pity and hope.
I like that last suggestion the best.
There’s another widow story in this week’s
lectionary: the story of the widow of Zeraphath and the prophet Elijah (1 Kings
17:8-16). This poor soul and her son are flat-ass broke and down to their last
few scraps of food. The whole area is suffering from famine and the welfare
checks just aren’t coming in any more. Then, along comes this weird holy guy—a
stranger from another country—who begs for a meal. The widow tells him that she
has only enough for herself and her boy. They’re going to have one last good
feast before they die of starvation.
But weird old Elijah keeps begging for
food. It seems that God has told him that He (that would be God) commanded this widow to feed
Elijah’s sorry self. (Prior to this, God had commanded ravens to deliver bread
and meat to the prophet. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I’d want to
eat any meat delivered to me from a carrion bird!) Of course, what God commands
and what we actually do are often two
very distinct things. Nevertheless, this poor widowed mom sets a plate out for
Elijah. I guess her devotion to charity and faith in God overcame her fear of
privation.
The Bible does not say that the widow
immediately hit the lottery. It does say, however, that her daily needs
continued to be met from that point on. That’s because God provides. All the
time.
My little parish here in Northeast Philly
is struggling with finances like just about every other mainstream congregation
in America. It’s kind of spooky to watch other Lutheran churches in the city go
down like Custer at the Big Horn and wonder if we’re going to be next. But the
more I think about it, the problem is not about money. It’s all about faith.
You see, we 21st Century
American Christians have to start by believing that our faith in Christ has
something to offer this hurting planet. Something like love, charity, hope, and
a transcendent spirituality which is worth our effort to preserve it. We have
to believe that Jesus has called us to be his ambassadors. If we don’t, why
would we bother putting our pitiful coins in the temple treasury? But if we do
believe, we can do acts of generosity with love and joy and anticipation.
We also have to believe that our acts of
generosity—and faith without action
is dead, remember?—will not leave us destitute. We have to have the faith which
tells us to love the work of the Gospel more than we fear privation.
There aren’t a lot of wealthy scribes in
my parish or eccentric prophets, either. There are, however, a whole bunch of
widows. And their faithfulness speaks to me again and again of their unshakable
trust in the mercy of God and their titanium-solid faith that the Word of God
can bring charity, healing, reconciliation, and true joy to all who embrace it.
God bless the faithful widows. May we all
learn from their example. Thanks for reading, my friend.
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