“THE TALES OF THE TWO WIDOWS”
Scripture
Lessons
Hebrews
9:24-28
Mark
12:38-44
The story is told of Mrs. Bixby, a humble mother who gave so
much for her country. Five of her sons joined the Union Army at the appeal of
the President to preserve the union. All five died in battle. When word of that
huge sacrifice came to the White House, Abraham Lincoln penned a letter to this
mother. He wrote, “I pray that our heavenly Father may relieve the anguish of
your bereavement and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost,
and the solemn pride which must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice
upon the altar of freedom.”
Today’s text
deals with sacrifice but a sacrifice of another kind, a widow style of
sacrifice. In the first reading, God uses the widow of Zarephath to feed Elijah
the prophet during a time of famine. In the gospel reading, Jesus notices a
widow who gave all she had to God in the offering plate. I will be pairing the
two texts and weave them together.
By way of background, the widow of Zarephath
and the widow of the temple are both extreme cases.
The first was preparing her last meal during a time of famine when God’s
prophet stepped into her situation. And to make matter worse, the prophet asked
for the little food supply she had. Elijah’s asking may come across as an
insult to a widow in crisis. Her reaction says it all, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of
meal in a jar, and a little oil in a jug; I am now gathering a couple of sticks,
so that I may go home and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it,
and die.” Simply put, just one meal separates them from dying of hunger.
Before that desperate situation, the prophet did two things.
First, he calmed her fear saying, “Do
not be afraid; go and do as you have said; but first make me a little cake of
it and bring it to me, and afterwards,
make something for herself and her son. Second, the prophet spoke God’s
Word of assurance to her, “For thus says
the Lord: The jar of meal will not be emptied and the jug of oil will not fail
until the day that the Lord sends rain on the earth.”
Verse 15 says that “she
went and did as Elijah said, so that she as well as her household ate for many
days.” I do believe that this widow acted without any hesitation because
she heard God’s promise spoken through the prophet. Once the prophet said, “For thus says the Lord,” that’s all
that she needed to hang on to.
The widow of Zarephath is teaching us about trusting God in
desperate situation and literally obeying what God says. Notice that God uses
the little oil and the little meal to feed them through the famine. God uses
something that is already there not something outside the reach of this widow.
By giving the first cake to the prophet, the widow is offering her very life to
God. And out of that offering, God provided more food; therefore, more life. Jesus
knows this widow very well for he quoted her in Luke 4:26. This also reminds us
of Jesus’ teaching, “Do not be anxious
about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor your body,
what you shall put on…your heavenly Father knows that you need them all” (Mathew
The widow in this story was not aware of her important role
in the hidden plan of God. She did not know that her little oil and her little
meal would feed God’s prophet who will anoint the next king of
The widow in the temple was not aware of Christ noticing her
small offering. She did not know that by offering all she had, she foreshadowed
Christ’s giving all he had on the cross. Christ gave his own life for sinners
like you and me. The widow of Zarephath gave it all!
The widow of the temple gave it all! Jesus Christ gave it all on the cross! You
are worth that much in God’s sight. The question is have responded to Jesus’
sacrifice for you and trusted him with your own life?
When we were discussing the offering of the widow in the
temple, we could not help but asked how she would live on after she gave away
all she had. That question haunted me for a whole week. Then, the insight
dawned on me toward the end of the week. She honored God with all she had and
Jesus noticed her precious gift. When Jesus noticed her offering, God’s
blessing was upon her.
We are not told how this widow is going to make it in life.
No. But one thing is certain: she fully trusts God to provide for her needs in
the future as God took care of her in the past. This widow loves God so much
that nobody could talk her out of giving to the church. Mother Teresa put it
this way: “It is not how much we do, but
how much love we put in the doing. It is not how much we give, but how much
love we put in the giving.”
Sometimes people feel uncomfortable when we talk about
offering money or talent or time in the church. Why? Because we have tendency
to forget that everything we have is a gift from God: our health, our family,
our life, our relationships, our income, our homes, etc…Everything is a gift
from God and the greatest gift of all is eternal life in Jesus Christ. In his
infinite love for you, God sacrificed his only begotten Son on the cross of
I grew up in the church and I have been around church folks
all my life and I have noticed that people who trust and love God share one
thing in common: all of them are generous givers of their time, their money,
and their talents. They are generous givers because first and foremost, they
are thankful receivers of God’s gift in Jesus Christ. Be thankful receiver and
generous giver. Amen!
First
Lutheran,
Pastor
Jean Rabary
PS.
Comments on the widow: She has held
nothing in her devotion to God.