Pentecost 24 L32 B

1 Kings 17:8-16; Psalm 146; Hebrews 9:24-28; Mark 12:38-44

If you’ve ever heard someone talk about the widow’s mite…this is where it comes from.

And the traditional telling is all about how even though this faithful widow gives what looks like a small amount, she is actually giving more than everyone else because it’s all of what she has left.

I think this telling of the story is true…but it’s really only part of the story…and the section of the Gospel of Mark that we’ve heard today is helpful because it connects what Jesus is saying about the generosity of the widow with what he said right before he points her out to the disciples. Because it’s related. Just before Jesus highlights the actions of the widow, he points out the actions of the Scribes. He’s warning the disciples about those who are religious leaders, who wear long robes, who say long prayers, who sit in the best seat in worship, and oh no: Jesus is warning the disciples about me!

But it’s not that Jesus is against the Scribes in principle, as if he has a problem with authority…Jesus is against what the religious leaders of the day are doing. And what they are doing is using their position for their own honor, and in the process diminishing others. Jesus even says that they are devouring widow’s homes in their pursuit of honor. That’s pretty low.

Jesus is criticizing them for using religion for their own gain and as a result, not caring for those neighbors whom God has called us all to care for. Jesus even models this in the way that he shifts the focus from the scribes to the widow. The person that no one was paying any attention to…and Jesus says, “look at her. Put yourself in her shoes. Consider the sacrifice she has made.”

And this is really the ultimate indictment against the scribes: that while they are using the religious system to grow their honor, they’ve done it by taking what little this vulnerable person had left.

Now, I hope this won’t come across as defensive, but while I do think this text should be carefully considered by all pastors and bishops and council presidents and religious leaders of our day, I also think it should be carefully considered by all people that would call themselves Christians. There is a reason that Jesus tells his disciples to ‘beware the scribes.’ It isn’t just to look out for them, it’s so they don’t start acting like them.

It may not be news, but I think it’s so important to remind ourselves what people outside the church think about people inside it. When they are asked why they stay away, very often they say it’s because Christians are judgmental and hypocritical. That they point out others mistakes while ignoring their own. That they are close-minded. That they are unwelcoming to those who don’t look, think, or act like them.

And while every time I hear that, a piece of me thinks, no! it’s not true of all of us, I also have to know that if Jesus were in the conversation, he would agree with the outsider.

Because in many ways, modern Christians have used their religion as a way of criticizing others, as a way of judging others, as a way of putting others down or telling them what to do…in other words, whether we like it or not, a lot of people out there have felt that Christians have taken more away from them, than have added to them. There are a lot of people who feel that Christianity has harmed them more than it has helped them.

And chances are if they do, it’s because of actions like those of the scribes. And…actions like those of us, when we have, intentionally or unintentionally said or did something that used our faith to cut someone down instead of lifting them up.

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There’s another story about a widow that comes from the Old Testament…we also read it today, from 1 Kings.

In this story, Elijah, a prophet of God, is called to go outside the fold, into a foreign land to stay with a widow there. You can tell that Elijah is a pretty faithful guy because essentially God is telling him to go somewhere he doesn’t belong so he can depend on a widow, who by their definition was not dependable, and who didn’t even believe in the same God, and Elijah said, “Ok”, and went.

And in those days, also, there was disagreement on religious matters, just as there is today, but then it was couched in terms of ‘my god’ vs. ‘your god.’ Who’s bigger and better? So Elijah goes into the land of ‘someone else’s god’ and finds a widow there who is struggling, doing her best through a terrible drought and famine, but at her wit’s end.

And Elijah shows up and asks her for help. For water and for food. Which seems like a strange thing to do if you were trying to prove that your god was better than her god. She can help him with a little water, but she tells him she has just finished collecting the last bit of food available to her which she planned to make for herself and her son as their final meal before starving. (Which — by the way — is a kind of amazing faith that she works to prepare this meal, even knowing that there won’t be another — she never gives up.)

Maybe Elijah recognizes the faith of this widow, this outsider who didn’t know God by name, but who struggled til the end. Because, then, Elijah shares something of his faith. And he tells her, “do not be afraid.” Do not be afraid because the God he worships is not a God of scarcity, but of abundance. Not of diminishing people, but of lifting people up. And she goes to the jar of food and it miraculously has enough, and she goes again and it has enough, and then enough, again and again. Elijah gave her hope in God. It looked like abundance. It looked like life.

This is our message, our mission. This is what Jesus wants his disciples to hear: that living in the Kingdom of God does not mean being superior to others but caring for others, especially those different than us. It means remembering that God meets us wherever it is that our jar runs out: when we run out of faith, when we run out of patience, when we run out of hope…and that God is there.

It’s about building our neighbors up, sharing hope with those who need some. Instead of finding fault in others, it’s about looking for that jar of life that is never empty. And, together, it’s about being the body of Christ that provides abundant life for all.

Like the disciples, we are called to beware any time our religion gets in the way of the Gospel message.

And like Elijah, we are called to go out among folks who are struggling, and with them, to find abundant life.