God has this thing about widows.
Maybe God has favorites.
But then God has this thing about all sorts of people, orphans, the homeless, the sojourner, the hungry, the lost, the sick, the suffering, just about anyone who is vulnerable or in need.
But today we hear about widows.
Come this spring my Grandfather will have passed away thirty years ago and my Grandmother to this day has never remarried. And her older sister Frances lost her husband while she had young children and she never remarried either. For most of my life they come to mind when I hear of or think about widows.
Whether it is the widow of Zeraphath who feeds the prophet Elijah, or Ruth and Naomi in today’s Old Testament lesson who are both widows, or in the Gospel lesson today with the warning about the scribes devouring widow’s houses or the widow placing her last coins in the offering at the Temple, I see these two ladies.
However, “vulnerable” and “in need” are not the words that come to mind when I think of my grandmother and great aunt. The words that come to mind are “in charge” and “in charge”.
If a scribe ever tried to devour either of their houses, people would still be talking about that poor old scribe who should have known better.
However, I digress.
In the New Testament there are stories of a sort of order of ministry made up of widows. There were the apostles, the deacons, the widows, then everybody else. The book of Acts speaks of widows running these houses that cared for the poor. And in Paul’s letters he speaks of widows who have positions of standing in the early church.
Then in the giving of the Law in Exodus we are commanded, “You shall not abuse any widow or orphan. If you do abuse them, when they cry out to me, I will surely heed their cry; my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives will become widows and your children orphans.”
The story of Ruth is a story of forsakenness turned around into blessing. Ruth is a widow, her mother in law, Naomi, is a widow as well. Ruth is not Hebrew, Naomi is. They return to Naomi’s home town and Ruth marries her husband’s cousin and they have a child who is the grandfather of King David and an ancestor of Joseph the father of Jesus.
Ruth is King David’s great grandmother.
It is a story of the commitment of Ruth and Naomi to care for one another, it is a story of irony that King David’s great grandmother isn’t a Hebrew, it is a story of transformation as a foreigner who has lost everything becomes the ancestor of a royal heritage.
The Gospel lesson carries a similar transformation with the familiar warning not to abuse widows, or anybody who is vulnerable, like the Scribes do, and then the widow becomes no longer the hapless victim but the example of God’s grace that we are all to follow. The widow who gave her all echoes the God who gives all, that God’s people may be saved, and the Messiah who gives all on the cross.
God doesn’t give out leftovers, or second best. God gives everything.
We see the widow moving from the hapless victim that dwells under God’s protection to becoming the living example of the very power of God. This is the story of the Gospel. What was once thought of as grief, as abandonment and weakness is transformed into the revelation of God’s kingdom.
We are to walk away from these scripture lessons with a heightened level of curiosity and skepticism. It is in weakness, in vulnerability and in need that God is known.
It is the cross that is the glory of God, it is in darkness, in despair, in no hope, that God is present in a way that is so powerful that the dead live, the blind see, the lame walk.
Find the pain in the world. That is where we will meet God and that is where we will find the witness of the resurrection.
It is very simple.
We also walk away with a warning.
Do we take advantage of the weakness and need of others?
Do we give our all to God?
Or do we just give what happens to be leftover like the scribes?
What if our lives became stories of transformation? What if wherever we went, where ever Grace Church touches the rest of the world, what if something happened?
What if our faith lifted up the lives of others?
We hear so much about religion being used to push others down and to control people.
What if we carried a different kind of faith? A faith that really is grace, really is gift, and all who are touched by it are lifted up to become servants and healers and lovers, and givers and gracious hosts.
What if these scripture lessons really did mean what they said?
What if we became part of this good news to the world? This radical hospitality of God?
These two widows stuck together and walked into town. Who would ever have guessed that because of them we would be right here speaking about a grace that transforms our lives?