Proper 27B (Pentecost 25 2024)

Text: The accounts of the widows in the Old Testament and Gospel Readings

Today’s readings give another good example of the general rule that, if you want to find examples of genuine faith, where do you look in the scriptures? To the women in scripture. And we have two fantastic examples today.

We have the example of the widow of Zarephath. Think about what the prophet Elijah asked of her. There’s a famine going on. There had been no rain for months. Asking anyone for food was no small request. In fact, even asking her for water was a chore. She would have to lower her jug far further into the well to provide him with a drink.

We might also add, by the way, that her God, Baal, was supposed to be the god of fertility and crops and rain…. And yet the god of the Israelites had stopped the rain, both in Israel and there in Zarephath. Which also reminds us that this is a Gentile city. There’s no reason to think that this woman would care at all about feeding Elijah, a prophet of a foreign God she did not know, let alone believe in. She did not believe in Him and she certainly didn’t know His prophet, Elijah.

PLUS, this is a widow. Widows in their day did not have an easy time providing for themselves, even when times were good. And this one was no exception. She was preparing a last meal for herself and her son before they resigned themselves to starving to death. This is the woman from whom Elijah asks both water and food. And yet she does it. She gives him water, which isn’t easy, but is simple enough, *and* she bakes bread for him first. It made no sense. She didn’t “do the math” and find some hidden logic, some hidden reason why it was the right thing to do. The Word of God that Elijah spoke to her gave her the gift of faith and she trusted the promise God had given her, through Elijah. And she found that God is always faithful to His promises.

Then we have the widow in the temple. Her story is far less dramatic. There is no special request made of her. She isn’t facing one challenge on top of the next on top of the next like the widow of Zarephath was. This was simply an offering given by one of God’s people— who, by the way, gave everything she had, as little as it was. I strongly suspect that she was shocked when she got to heaven and found out that anyone saw her and her offering that day (let alone that she and it would be remembered still today!). And yet the Son of God, standing there in the temple, sees the faith that she shows through her offering. And He praises it.

These are amazing examples of faith. But we miss something if we only look to their examples. If we focus solely on these women and their example, we would miss the God who was faithful to His promise to the widow of Zarephath, for example, sustaining her by means of a pretty amazing miracle during the rest of that time of famine.

That’s the whole point of studying scripture, isn’t it? The people, themselves, are not necessarily important. But, through them, you see who God is. And what kind of God do you see here? The God who rejoices in the humble; whose power is made perfect— is ‘completed’— in weakness; who “27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God” (1 Corinthians 1:27–29).

I don’t know why it struck me so much more this time around than any other time I’ve looked at this passage, but the biggest question that caught my attention as I was preparing to talk to you about it is this one: Why didn’t God simply tell Elijah to prepare his own lunch, so to speak? This is a prophet of God with the power to hold back the rain for years. Not long after this, Elijah raised the woman’s son from the dead. During the contest with the prophets of Baal, Elijah called down fire from heaven onto the altar he had prepared— then he did the same thing to the soldiers that King Ahaz sent to arrest him. But he could not make himself lunch.

These women are amazing examples to us of faith. At the same time, ultimately, the point is not the faithfulness of these widows. The point is the faithfulness of God. The point is the faithfulness of Jesus Christ.

He reigns because He first served. He warned agains the religious leaders, who “38…who like to walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces 39and have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, 40who devour widows' houses and for a pretense make long prayers…” (Mark 12:38-40).

You want to talk about a seat of honor. There is no greater seat of honor than the one He possessed by His very nature— the throne in heaven from which He ruled over all creation, over all that is seen, and over all that is unseen. He was rightly praised and worshipped by angels and archangels and all the host of heaven.

Unlike the religious leaders, He gave up that seat of honor in heaven to not only become one of us, but to give everything for us. It wasn’t long after this conversation in the temple that He would allow Himself to be devoured by the religious leaders. He did not endure it because He was powerless. He submitted to it willingly for your sake. The faithfulness of the Son of God even took Him to the cross to bear the sins of all people. And it is because He made Himself last that He was exalted to the right hand of the Father.

And what is He doing right now? There at the right hand of the Father He is constantly praying— not long, pretentious prayers for everyone to hear— but constantly interceding for you before God the Father, that, through His Holy Spirit, He would sustain you in the faith and enable you to lead a holy life; that He would keep you within His Kingdom of Grace until you are gathered into His Kingdom of Glory; that He would break and hinder every evil plan and purpose of the devil, the world, and your sinful flesh which do not want you to be sustained in the faith or in holy living, which want desperately to deceive you away from God’s Kingdom; and yes, that He would also give you everything that you need to support this body and life. Even now, seated in the place of power and authority over everything in heaven and on earth, that is what your Lord is occupied with.

The God who showed such faithfulness to His impossible promise to the widow of Zarephath has made these unbelievable promises to you. And He is just as faithful now as He was then. And the God who was looking on as the the woman in the temple gave her two mites— and who marveled at her faith, calling it a precious thing, He is still looking on, praising even the smallest acts of faith that you perform.

That is one of the lessons of these readings, isn’t it? When you and I look at the health of the church, so to speak, what do you focus on? Who or what do you turn to first to know that the church will ‘succeed’ and ‘grow’? You usually start at the ‘top’, don’t you? Do you have the right pastor to make your congregation grow? Do you have good, solid Christian leaders with a clear vision and mission to guide us through good times and bad? Do you have a solid, dependable financial stream supporting all of the work that needs to be done? (How much money do we have in the savings account?)

Is Elijah the ‘hero’ so to speak, of the Old Testament Reading? Did He save that woman and her household? No. He relied upon her. Were they saved by her vast wealth and savings? No. They were saved by her faith in God’s Word to her.

According to Jesus, who is it that really made an important contribution to the Temple: the rich, making a show of their huge gifts, or the poor widow and her two copper coins? The widow.

We have certainly seen the opposite example often enough. More than a few congregations have turned to the next Elijah— great, charismatic men whom they perceived to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Those men would grow their church. They set up those men in places of honor in huge, beautiful new buildings, and gave them places of honor wherever they went. And how many of those men ended up devouring widows’ houses? How many of their long prayers proved to be an elaborate pretense? Their well-deserved condemnation could not come soon enough.

To our eyes, the great works that are done in the church are the works of the influential, the leaders, the great teachers. But that’s not who Jesus praises. (Perhaps this would be a good text for Pastors’ Appreciation Month!) He warns against the works of the religious leaders— their pastors— which are done for all to see and win praise for them from other people, even though they’re often at the expense of others. What catches God’s eye and is worthy of His praise is not the ‘great’ acts of ‘great’ leaders. No, beware of such men and their “good works,” Jesus tells them. Still today, what catches God’s eye and is worthy of His praise is not the accomplishments of pastors and church leaders, and not the huge offering given out of a small fraction of a person’s excess wealth. It is the simple, first fruits gift of faith.

What catches God’s eye and is worthy of His praise is the faithful women praying earnestly and faithfully for their husbands and their children and their families and their neighbors and their friends and their congregations….. There is no flowery, theological language to their prayers, but you’d better believe He rejoices at every word. You’d better believe He leaps at the chance to answer them in whatever way is best. (And you men get to pray like that, too, by the way….)

What catches God’s eye and is worthy of His praise is not the eloquent sermon from a pulpit on Sunday morning, but the Christian parents faithfully caring for their children and teaching them to know their savior.

What sustains Christ’s church is not a budget or a savings account. It is the Word of God. It is the blood-bought forgiveness of sins and eternal life that He gives freely to all from this altar.

God’s promises to you are seemingly more impossible than the promise that the widow’s oil and flour would not run out. He promises that, if you believe, you have the forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and salvation. And, as faithless as you are, He is always faithful to that promise. But, sanctified by God’s grace, He looks at your offerings and rejoices. He is listening for your quiet, humble prayers. “27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”” (1 Corinthians 1:27–31). Today we give thanks for these two widows and their example of faith. But, even more importantly, we are reminded to give thanks to the Lord for He is good and His steadfast love endures forever.