The widows: lessons in trust and dignity Proper 27 Yr B Nov 8, 21015

+Fred was a 62 year-old mentally ill and developmentally disabled man who was my client when I was a very young psycho-therapist working in a community mental health agency that offered reduced fees for clients. Fred’s fee was 10 cents…a dime. Each and every week, Fred would get off the bus, walk into the center, and proudly pay his fee. Several months after he began counseling, the County Mental Health Department decided that anyone with a fee below $5 would no longer have one, because the cost associated with processing those small fees was greater than the income generated through the fees. From the perspective of the bean-counters, this was a kind and prudent move—“Look you now don’t have to pay ANYTHING.” But instead of it being viewed as a gift, Fred was despondent. It was important to him that he PAID for the counseling. Not having a fee took away his dignity by reducing the value of what he could contribute to the world around him.
There’s a lot to be said for convenience and being fiscally prudent, but at the end of the day, there is nothing as important as respecting the dignity of another human being. For it is in and through dignity that we most fully emulate Jesus, the one who offered dignity to the most surprising of characters.
Widows in the time of Jesus and before were not offered much dignity. Or, actually, any. The widow in 1st century Palestine was so far an outcast no one NO ONE noticed them. Except, of course, Jesus. That Jesus, he was always looking where no one else could see, he was always seeing where no one else would ever look. He noticed the “poor widow” from Mark’s gospel story today and he was somewhat awed by her demonstration of dignity as she gave “everything she had, even what she needed to live on” to the temple.
For generations preachers have used this Gospel as a stewardship campaign mantra….”look at how this woman gives out of her abject poverty, how much more can we all give out of our comparative abundance?”
And sure, that is one perspective, but this week, while living with this Gospel something seemingly small but incredibly profound (at least to me) popped out. Mark writes,
‘Many rich people were throwing in lots of money. One poor widow came forward and put in two small copper coins worth a penny.”
The so-called “rich people” were throwing in lots of money
The widow came forward and “put in” two coins.
Throwing vs. putting.
Tossing vs. placing
With nary a thought vs. intentionality
To me the “rich people” are just tossing in money without thought or notice.
The poor widow, on the other hand, is giving her last two coins—how can that be done without thought? How can that be done without careful deliberation and consideration? The widow put all she had into the temple coffers.
The widow was “all in.”
She gave all that she had, all that she was to God.
It’s not about how much one gives—and I’m talking about so much more than money here---rather it’s about from where one gives.
The widow gave from a position of absolute trust. She should have held onto those last two coins to see if she could eek out enough food to keep herself going. She should have held onto what she had for it was so little. She should have held on, right?
But instead, she LET GO. She gave it all over. We don’t know what happened to her. Perhaps she returned to her home and starved to death. Perhaps she panhandled, perhaps someone took pity on her and gave her enough to make it through another day—we don’t know. All we know is that she gave all that had and all that she was in dignity and faith.
Of course today we don’t have just one story about a widow we have two…
In our reading from Kings, we hear about the widow in Zarephath…she and her son are down to their very last food…a bit of flour and a touch of oil with which she will make two cakes of bread, after which, she tells Elijah, she and her son will die. But Elijah, either because he is the most entitled prophet of all time or because he had incredible faith, tells her not to worry, but to go make him a loaf of bread and then…later on…she can make food for her family. He assures her—The Lord says, the flour and oil will last until the drought is over and food will again be plentiful---and somehow, someway, she BELIEVES him. She trusts God enough to believe that all will be well.
So let’s review, we have the widow at the temple giving everything she had, even what she needed to live on, away. And then the widow of Zarephath giving all that she had to live on away because some crazy prophet told her not to worry, it would be ok.
The voice of God comes to us through the voices of these women today: against all human logic, against all survival of the fittest instincts, these women have a profoundly simple lesson for each and every one of us:
When we give to God through Jesus Christ all that we are and all that we have, amazing, miraculous, astounding things happen. Flour last for days, the Savior of the World notices your faithful intent and most important of all, we learn that trust in God is not something we work up to, trust in God is something we work out from.
And when we do that, as demonstrated by the widows of our readings today, when we put our trust in God, with grace and dignity and intent, all will be well.
So my friends, as our parishes step into a new era, may each and every one of us throw our shoulders back, hold our heads high and in the company of the widow of Zarapheth, the poor widow of the temple and my old friend Fred face the future with dignity, hope and full trust in the God who creates, redeems and sustains us, come what may. Amen.