The Rev. Virginia W. Nagel
Ephphatha Parish of the Deaf
Episcopal Diocese of Central NY
Today's readings bring us face to face with a big challenge, one that many people would prefer not to have to face. But it is one of the challenges that are an integral part of Christianity. The challenge that we are being given, again, today, is the same challenge that faced Mary, the mother of Jesus, and her husband, Joseph. It is the same challenge that faced every one of the apostles, and that faces every person who comes to be baptized. And it's the same challenge that faced Jesus himself.
The challenge is very simple. The first lesson is about the prophet Elijah, and the Lord God directed him to visit a widow in an area outside of Israel. When Elijah got there and met the widow, he asked for a drink of water. Then he added, "Please bring me some bread, too." And the lady replied that she had no bread, only a small bowl of flour and a little olive oil in a bottle, and that she intended to use this last food that she had, to make some bread for herself and her son; after that, they would starve, because she had nothing else, and, since she was a widow, she had no husband to earn money to support her and the child. At that time, and in that place, women could not work outside the home to earn for themselves.
Elijah's answer was one that might strike us as hard-hearted or selfish at first. He said that she should go make a small loaf of bread for him, and then make up the rest of the flour and oil into bread for herself and her son. That sounds terribly selfish, doesn't it? God's prophet put his own need first, before allowing her to fulfill the needs of herself and her son!
But then Elijah added a promise that came straight from God, through Elijah, to the lady. He promised that the bowl of flour would never be empty, and the bottle of oil would never be used up. God would see to it that they always had enough to live on.
In other words, God, speaking through Elijah, asked for all that she had, and when she gave all that she had, God kept giving her more! Obviously her gift was pleasing to God.
The reading from the letter to the Hebrews tells us that we are saved and made right with God, or "justified," because Jesus gave all that he had...himself. He allowed himself to be sacrificed on the Cross for our salvation and for the forgiveness of our sins. He gave himself, his life, his power, his dignity, because death on the cross was seen as a shameful and disgraceful death. He gave his self-respect. He gave his blood, which poured out when the soldier thrust the lance into his side. We know that this gift of self was pleasing to God, because it is the way we are forgiven, brought back into a good relationship with God, and admitted to the great joy and privilege of being part of God's family, living forever with him.
The Gospel lesson shows us how Jesus taught two different views of this idea of "giving all we are and have" to his disciples. First, Jesus warned them against copying the ways of the Pharisees. The Pharisees liked to be thought to be holy and wise. They liked to have people think that they, the Pharisees, perfectly obeyed all of God's commands....that they gave all of their time, attention, thought and energy, in fact, the whole of their life, to pleasing God. But the truth is that they didn't. In public, they acted the part of perfect religious people who obeyed every law in the book. In private, they were very different, and their obedience of the law was more to get pride and respect for themselves than to please God. Then, Jesus contrasted their behavior with that of a poor woman, another widow. She came to give an offering of money to God. It is interesting to know that the Temple treasury at that time had several large offering boxes, and they did not have a slot in the top like the ones we know. Instead, they had a horn or trumpet of metal set into the top of the box. If you dropped in a large heavy coin, it would hit the metal horn and produce some musical notes as it bounced off the walls of the horn on its way into the box. If you dropped in a tiny coin, no noise came out. Some of the Pharisees, and others, liked to drop in big coins, so that everyone would hear the noise and turn to see who was making a big gift to God. But, of course, the poor widow did not have a big coin to toss in; her two tiny coins were all the money she had, and when she had given them, she would have nothing to eat or live on until someone else gave her a charity gift. Jesus made it very clear to the disciples that God valued the widow's two tiny coins, that made no sound, much more than the big, heavy gold and silver pieces that rang pleasant musical notes as they dropped through the horns on the way down to the money boxes. He said that her gift was more valuable because she had given all that she had, while the others had given something they would hardly miss, and gave it mostly to get applause and respect from people, not to please God.
These stories are not just stories from long ago and far away. People who tithe, here in America and now, in the twenty-first century, tell us that they never go without; God does somehow take care of their needs, and they always seem to have enough even when they give sacrifically to the Lord. People who give much time and work to the Lord say the same thing; somehow, they never get tired, and can always find a way to help one more person or solve one more problem for God's people. The fact is that even today, in this modern world, people who are willing to give all they can to God are usually happier than folks who hang onto what they have, for their own use. People who put God first in their lives, and in their budgets, tell us that they do not go without because they put God first and give to God before spending on themselves. It is the old principle of the "first-fruits" from the Old Testament: give the first of your harvest, the first of your paycheck, to God, and you will still have enough to feed your family and pay your bills. Put prayer first in your life, and you will be surprised how much more you are able to get done that day.
And what about those people I mentioned who faced and accepted the challenge? Mary, when she received the message of the angel, handed over her body and her life to God. Having a baby involves the whole of the mother's body, and once the baby is born, the mother's life centers around that child. Joseph, when he obeyed the dream God sent him, accepted the same thing, that his life would be one of looking after and raising God's son. The disciples left their homes and their jobs and their families to follow Jesus, learn from him, and to tell the world about him. People through all the ages, not just clergy, monks and nuns, but housewives, doctors, lawyers, soldiers, factory workers and many others, have turned their lives over to God and made him the most important thing in their lives....and been happy with the results, even though some folks looked at them and laughed at them.
I would like to share with you the morning offering that the Jesuits make each morning. Many other Christians have made this prayer of offering, their own, too. Perhaps you would like to make it yours also....but even if you don't feel you can meet the challenge of praying it every morning, I do ask that you at least think about it:
Take, oh Lord, my whole self, my mind, my heart and my body, all that I am, and all that I have, to use today as You wish. If I have your love and your grace, dear Lord, I need nothing more in this life or in the life to come. Amen.
