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November 8, 2009
The Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost
Proper 27, Year B
Ruth 3:1-5; 4:13-17 or 1 Kings 17:8-16
Psalm 127 or Psalm 146
Hebrews 9:24-28
Mark 12:38-44
Click here for sermons from previous
weeks
The Rev. Virginia W. Nagel
Episcopal Diocese of Central NY (Retired)
We often do not stop to think about what a big difference culture makes in our
beliefs, our feelings and our understanding of things. Culture is also a big
factor in how we understand the Bible, because the culture of the middle East,
where Israel is located, is very different from the culture of the western
world, where we live. And time also makes a difference. Two thousand years can
make a big difference in how we understand a story or a Bible reading.
There's an old story told by a Catholic nun who was teaching first grade. She
had told the children the story about how Joseph had a dream warning him to take
his wife, Mary, and the baby Jesus, and go to Egypt, because King Herod was
planning to kill Jesus. King Herod was afraid that Jesus would grow up and try
to claim the throne, you see. Well, the good sister told the children the story,
and then asked them to draw a picture illustrating the story. Now you and I, who
know that the airplane is a twentieth-century invention, would never hand in a
picture like those first graders drew. But, they had been told that this event
is called "the flight into Egypt," and every one of them drew a picture
illustrating it from their childish perspective: Our Lady calling United
Airlines for reservations; Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus boarding a TWA plane; and
of course the big picture of an enormous plane with the Holy Family sitting on a
wing.
We have a similar problem with today's readings. Both the story of Ruth and the
story of the widow's mite are about widows. You and I have grown up knowing
about the Merry Widow waltz, and Carol Channing as the madcap Auntie Mame. We
know that a widow has lost her husband to death, but after all, people get over
that, and pick up the threads of their life again, don't they?
But it was not like that in Palestine at the time of Jesus, and, sad to say, in
most of the middle and far east, widows still have a very tough time of it
today. At that time, and in that place, and still in most of that area today,
women are simply nothing. A woman is always the property of a man, dependent on
that man for everything. The man may be her father or her husband or her elder
son, but the woman by herself has no rights and no legal standing. She probably
will not even be allowed to work or to go shopping by herself, but always with
the man along. Her testimony is not admissible to a court of law. She may not
manage her own property in most cases, although that is changing now in some
areas. And if she is a widow, she would have no income, since women were not
permitted to work outside the home then; in some countries, they can do so
today. She would be totally dependent on handouts from charitable neighbors or
relatives for basic food, clothing and shelter.
Ruth was a widow, and elected to stay with her mother-in-law, also a widow, when
Naomi, her mother-in-law, decided to return to Bethlehem, her home town. Today's
first reading is a condensation of the whole story of Ruth, which is a good one
to read at home. It's not long; you can read it in half an hour. The basic story
is that Naomi, as the elder widow, is trying to arrange a way for Ruth to be
able to get some food for them, and later to find a husband who will protect and
support her. So Naomi instructs Ruth how to behave in order to be noticed by one
of Naomi's wealthy kinsmen, Boaz. Eventually, Boaz does marry Ruth, and she
becomes the grandmother of King David later on. But, you see, Naomi, in her old
age, feels it is absolutely necessary to see that Ruth is safely settled in a
marriage, because Naomi knows that, once she dies, there will be no way for
Ruth, both a foreigner and a widow, to survive on her own. We have traditionally
ignored all this, and paid attention mostly to Ruth's love for and loyalty to
Naomi, but you see there is much more to the story than we would
realize....simply because we do not know or pay attention to the cultural
differences.
There are similar hidden meanings in the gospel story of the widow's mite. Jesus
and his disciples are in the temple, and there's a collection box standing near
them. The collection box has a large brass funnel or trumpet leading to the
opening. When you drop in money, it clinks against the brass...large coins make
more noise than tiny little ones like the two mites the widow dropped in. Jesus
commented on this, saying that she had given more than the wealthy folks who
dropped in a whole handful of silver or gold coins, which of course gained them
a lot of attention. The widow's mites, worth about one sixty-fourth of a cent
each in our terms, hardly made a sound...nobody noticed her contribution. But,
people did notice the larger donations of the wealthy, because of the louder
sounds they made when dropped into the box. Jesus said that the widow had given
more than the wealthy people, because she had given all she had...not just a bit
of surplus that she would never miss. as the wealthy did.
Jesus coupled this teaching with criticism of the scribes, the temple experts in
God's law. They knew the scriptures through and through, and part of their job
was to copy new scrolls when needed. Because of their thorough knowledge of the
scriptures, they were treated with much respect. They got the best seats in the
Temple, up near where the scrolls of the Law were kept, and where everyone could
see them. They wore fancy robes, a mark of their profession. They got invited to
dinners and banquets, and were treated with great deference. Jesus was pointing
out that God sees the heart, and values people who live by his Law, not people
who use the Law to make themselves look important. The widow gave everything she
had to the Lord. The scribes tossed in a silver or gold coin and would never
miss it. They wanted to make an impression on the public, and did not really
care about how their standing with the Lord was...only about how they looked to
others.
Usually, this gospel is preached with the emphasis on giving oneself wholly to
God...all we can afford, all our spare time, all our concern. We are told that
we are supposed to make God the center of our life, which is quite true, and
that we are to live for him, according to his Law, and serve others in his name.
All of this is true and admirable.
But...
One of our Scripture experts points out that there's more to the story than
meets the eye. Remember what I said about what a widow's life was like, back
then, in Palestine? Those two tiny mites, altogether worth about a penny and a
half for the two of them, were probably all she had to live on. How much food
could you buy with a penny and a half? What kind of living accommodations do you
think she could afford?
And, Jesus, said, she has given all that she has. She has given, therefore, a
greater percentage of her assets than the wealthy folks who give only what they
don't need, and still live very well indeed on the gifts of people who are
trying to find favor by their gifts and donations.
In another part of the gospel, not part of today's reading, Jesus scolds the
Pharisees for not supporting their aged parents properly. He says that the
Pharisees do not support their parents because they say that they have made a
promise or pledge to God and therefore they don't have enough money left to buy
food for their old parents. Jesus makes it pretty clear in that gospel that God
frowns on depriving the needy so that the Pharisees can give more to the Temple.
If we think about the story of the widow's mite against this background, it
seems pretty clear that we need to make helping the needy as much a part of our
gift to God as the actual money we pledge and contribute to the Lord's work.
This is made very clear when we remember that practically every chapter of the
Old Testament emphasizes God's concern for the widows, the orphans, the ill and
the foreigners...the people who could not support or care for themselves, and
who the Lord keeps reminding us are our responsibility, too.
It is, of course, just and right for us to be generous in our giving to
God...but we need to remember that the check we write for our pledge, or the
money we drop into the offering plate, is only part of our gift to God. The
money, time and work we give to the Red Cross, the Rescue Mission, the tutoring
program, he refugees, the work with young single mothers, is also part of our
gift to God, and we need to be very aware of that fact, as we head to the soup
kitchen or take a load of outgrown clothing to the collection center. We do not
honor God when we neglect the needs of those among us who cannot help
themselves.
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