1 Kings 17:8-16

Psalm 146

Hebrews 9:24-28

MARK 12:38-44

23^rd Sunday after Pentecost

November 12, 2006

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

“I am gathering a couple of sticks, that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.”

Each time that I read these words, I am haunted. I cannot imagine what it must be like to be in a position to know that my child and I are about to die of starvation, and that I can do nothing about it.

This idea was brought home to me one evening when I was visiting my nephew and his wife and their twins who were a little over a month old. They were both crying their heads off because they wanted to be fed. Their crying went on for only a couple of minutes as their wants were quickly met. But as he held one of them and tried to comfort her as she waited, my nephew commented to me “How heartbreaking it must be to watch your child crying like this because they are hungry and not be able to do anything about it because there is no food to give them.”

The prophet Elijah walks into this kind of a situation in today’s lesson. After pronouncing judgment on Israel and its King for their apostasy in worshipping and obeying another God, Elijah says that there will be neither rain nor dew until, at God’s command, he speaks the word; Elijah then flees from Israel and Ahab. First he flees to a creek in the wilderness where he is fed by ravens. Now at God’s command, Elijah flees to a widow in a town on the coast of Tyre and Sidon. Here the drama that we have read today is played out.

It is a drama of human desperation and God’s promise. For God, the stakes are the apostasy and unfaithfulness of God’s people and God’s plan to bring God’s salvation to the world through them. For both Elijah and the widow, the stakes are life and death. If the widow says no to Elijah when he asks her for a little bread, he will go hungry and could starve. For the widow, if she says yes, she and her son could starve. God promises the widow, if you have faith and risk, I will keep you. We might out of mercy be willing to give away our own last meal, but would we be willing to sacrifice the last meal of our child for a stranger? Even at the promise of God?

In the first part of today’s Gospel, Jesus condemns those religious leaders of his time and all times who use their position for self-aggrandizement, prestige and power. He also condemns those same religious leaders who use their positions and power to build up their own fortunes, through perfectly legal means, at the expense of widows, the weak and defenseless of society. They proclaim themselves as the religious and moral leaders of society while promoting injustice.

In the second part of the Gospel, Jesus observes many wealthy persons putting generous gifts into the Temple’s treasury. When a widow puts in two copper coins, he calls his disciples to him and says: “this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For they all contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything that she had, her whole living.”

Jesus turns on its head our usual standards of judging the value of a gift by its size. All of the world’s ways of recognizing and honoring giving are cast away. The smallest is recognized above the others because it is the gift of all.

This is Jesus’ last public teaching in Mark. Next come some teachings and predictions to his disciples as he leaves the Temple. Then comes the Passion.

From here we move through the Liturgical Year to Christ the King. In the Gospel, Jesus moves to the giving of his all. He moves to a kingship not of power and wealth and military conquest but of servanthood and weakness that is the power of God.

Each day of the year, more children throughout the world die from starvation than the number of people who were killed in the attacks of September 11, 2001. Yet much of the world seems hardly to notice.

They do not die because there is not enough food. Enough food is produced throughout the world to give every person three nutritious meals a day. But the meals of millions would have to change for this to happen. The criteria by which we decide would also have to change. Do they die because they are God’s children or because we have not noticed and acted?

Women, and particularly widows, are still among the most vulnerable persons in most societies. The children of single mothers are the most vulnerable children. Many relief agencies such as Oxfam and Church World Service (for which the CROP Walk is held) have found that one of the best ways to prevent starvation and increase the wellbeing of people is to educate women and to empower them, especially economically. Are we afraid to have others made whole for fear that we will be lessened?

The Victorians and Hollywood have given us a vivid picture that says that one of the main reasons for Rome’s fall was its loose sexual morality. In fact, Rome was a fairly puritanical society. Of far greater importance were that a third of the residents of the Roman Empire were slaves, 90% of its residents lived in poverty while 10% of its residents lived in great luxury.

There is a good reason why the book of Exodus was one of the most feared books in the ante-bellum south, the “Christian” nation of the Confederacy (it called itself “Christian” in its constitution) and in the post-Civil War U.S. Exodus tells the story of a God who set slaves free and empowered people.

Recently I gave a retreat for a group of men (not from this parish). They were well educated, religious and committed men. I would personally judge them as among the finer men I have met. During one of our discussions, I noted that we seemed to have great imagination and creativity in terms of technology, whether it be computers, games, arms, etc., but that I did not see equal creativity and imagination when it came to poverty, disease or genocide. For the most part, their response was one of puzzlement.

So what shall we do with all of this? We cannot save the world. Nor does God call us to do so. God has already given God’s only Son to do that.

I cannot stand up here and give you a “Christian” prescription for how things should be done. I do not have the wisdom, and I do not know of anyone who does.

The story of Elijah and the widow tells us that we all have an important role. Each role may and probably will be different. It does not matter. We are all called to be faithful, to trust God, to give and to risk—whether we are the great prophet Elijah or a nameless widow. We are called to give and use what we have been given. We all are important. All of our gifts are sacred.

We are not called to serve for great gain, power or prestige. We are called to serve that God’s will may be done and God’s people may be made whole.

We are to be aware of the world around us. Our lives and our choices in so many things affect the lives of others. Again, we are not called to save the world, but our choices; our imaginations and our witness can and do make a difference. May God give us the grace to see and respond.

God has given us imagination and intelligence. May we use them for God’s creation and for God’s people. May we in humility engage in lively and loving discussion to increase our understanding.

Serving at Elijah’s Promise helps to keep hunger away for another night. A night sleeping and keeping watch with the homeless protects and ministers to another child of God. The disciple who takes time to listen to and care for another gives a cup in Christ’s name. I could name hundreds of ways that we serve in this parish. If I had the imagination, I could name hundreds of ways that God is calling us to serve. May God give us the grace to listen.

But it takes great love, faith, courage, humility and joy. It also means not just focusing on ourselves. Only when we are deeply grounded in God through prayer and discipline can we do these things. Only in God are we able to serve for wholeness and not for ourselves.

May God feed us. May God fill us and remake us. May we be open to God.

Amen.

The Rev. William Breedlove

St. Barnabas Episcopal Church

Monmouth Junction, NJ3