1 Kings
17: 8-16; Mark 12: 38-44
The
prophet Elijah was hiding from Jezebel. He had bested the prophets of Baal in a
fire-making contest, and now she wanted to kill him. In response, Elijah asked
God for a drought to fall on the land, and it did.
For over
three years, there was no rain. With no rain, the crops failed, and everyone
was hungry. With no rain, the rivers dried up, and there was little water. While
life is hard for wealthy people, they can afford to dig deeper wells and import
food. Life is a real challenge, however, for poor people, and especially poor
widows.
Even so, God sends Elijah to a poor widow so she
can feed him. He finds the widow begging at the gate with no success. She
gathers some wood so she can cook one last meal for herself and her son. She
has just a little flour and some olive oil left, one last batch of pita bread
and that’s the end. After this, she assumes they will die of hunger in a short
time. She probably hasn’t been feeding herself, anyway, in order to give her
son as much food as possible.
When Elijah approaches the woman, he asks her for
some bread. She notices he is as hungry and thirsty as she is, and she gets him
a drink of water from the well. Then she shares the sad news that she has
almost nothing left, nothing worth sharing. Since hospitality is a prime value
of the ancient world, she is sad that she can’t offer him anything.
Elijah responds with a promise. Give me a little
bread first, and then feed your son and yourself. If you do this, the flour jar
will never be empty and there will always be oil in the jug until the day God
sends rain on the earth. The woman did give Elijah a little bread, and they
never ran out of food.
So, what would it feel like to be this widow? She
has no family to care for her and her son. The fields have been gleaned and
gleaned and gleaned again. There is nothing. The people in town have little
enough for their own families, and can no longer share with this widow.
Those who have gone hungry, really hungry, know
that they feed the children first, and themselves last. They do whatever it
takes to get food for their children. How does it feel to know there is
absolutely nothing left?
And yet this woman agrees to give Elijah a small
portion of what she has left. She does not believe in his God – she has her own
gods. Yet, she hopes that he tells her the truth, and feeds him as he asks. She
gives of herself in faith and hope.
A few hundred years later, Jesus and his disciples
are in Jerusalem. It is only days before his death and he is teaching the
disciples everything he can, while he has time.
It is likely that most if not all of the disciples
have never been to Jerusalem before. They have not seen buildings like the
temple, with its enormous blocks of stone. But, instead of allowing the disciples
to gawk at the buildings, the way modern tourists gawk at urban skyscrapers, he
encourages them to see the people.
Notice the scribes over there, he says. They like
to walk around in their long robes and be seen by everyone, so they can feel
important. They are so self-important, they want the best seats in the
synagogues and places of honor at banquets. They are so full of themselves,
they take advantage of widows, using their inability to pay inheritance taxes
to steal their houses and make themselves richer. They pray long prayers out
loud so others will think they are pious. But, when they face God, they will be
judged more harshly for the way they treat poor folks.
Do you see the way the scribes and other wealthy
people make a big show of putting in large offerings? The gift they give is
generous, but it is given for the wrong reason. The gift is intended to make
people notice the size of the gift. Surely the gift they give does not hurt
them.
Notice in contrast that widow. Watch what she
does. Do you see that she put in her last two pennies? Why does she do that?
She gives so generously because she loves God and wants to give what she can in
thanksgiving for what God has given her.
Her motives for giving shows a true relationship
with God, and she trusts that she will be taken care of. She gives of herself
to God.
I think I have told you before about Rasma, but she
comes to mind with these biblical women, so I will tell some of her story
again.
Rasma and her sister Lydia, with Lydia’s son Jan,
left Latvia in 1939, on the last ship out before the Russians invaded her
country. They came to America and made a life for themselves. Jan was mugged in
Latvia and suffered a brain injury, so he was always dependent on Lydia to care
for him. Rasma did whatever she could to put a roof over their heads and food
on their table.
In Latvia she had been a ballerina, and so for
many years she taught ballet at the local YWCA. She also rode the school bus,
traveling hours a day keeping company with the kids on their way to the
equivalent of CREST school.
Rasma baked almost daily, and gave away most of
what she baked. Neighbors gave her what they could spare – a basket of apples,
a pound of bacon, a bag of flour or sugar. She brought baked apple slices on
cookie dough to choir rehearsal, and raisin bread (stollen) for special Sunday
mornings. Frequently she made cheese sticks to the delight of my sons. I also
remember hearing that she left her baking mess for Lydia to clean up, and that
Lydia was not so happy about that. J
Rasma and Lydia used the envelope system to make
sure they paid all their bills. I was on one of the teams of offering counters,
so I knew how many different people gave. I knew that Rasma put two dollars in
an envelope for church every week. If she needed to miss a Sunday, or borrow
from Peter to pay Paul one week, the next week there would be two envelopes of
two dollars in the offering.
Like the other women whose stories we hear this
week, Rasma gave of herself in thanksgiving to God, and out of a desire to help
other people.
This week, as we begin our fall stewardship drive
at Hope, consider how you give of yourself. Think about your reasons for
giving, of your dollars, and of your time, and your skills and talents. Do you
give of your life?
Please pray with me. Generous God, you give us so
much. Teach us to appreciate what we have, and to give in ways that mean something
to us. Amen
No comments:
Post a Comment