Since today is Veterans' Day and tomorrow will be the
federal holiday, I would like us to pray together for those who have served and
those who are serving our country.
Please turn to page 839 of the prayerbook:
O Judge of the nations, we remember before you with
grateful hearts the men and women of our country who in the day of decision
ventured much for the liberties we now enjoy.
Grant that we may not rest until all the people of this land share the
benefits of true freedom and gladly accept its disciplines. This we ask in the Name of Jesus Christ our
Lord. Amen.
In this prayer there is a short phrase that not only applies
to those who have served our country, but also to those people in our scripture
readings today. That phrase, “in the day
of decision ventured much,” may well apply at times in our own lives as well.
The heroic tone, of course, comes from the idea that at a
certain moment a choice is made that will change that follows, and this choice
involves risk—possibly great risk. The
biblical stories we heard today tell us—and such times in our own lives also
tell us—of an additional factor we must consider: the content of the choice and the nature of
the consequences. When we speak of
heroism or a heroic choice, we imply that the content of the choice and the
effect of the action that follows support a virtuous cause.
There can be controversy over what virtuous heroic action is
and what it is not. When I think of this
question, the image that comes to mind is Bishop George Packard, clad in his
magenta cassock, climbing over a chain link fence to support the Occupy Wall
Street movement. That chain link fence
closed off some property owned by Trinity Church - Wall Street, and the bishop
was arrested for trespassing. Trinity
had allowed the protestors to use their facilities—bathrooms, in particular—but
this particular piece of property the Wardens and Vestry had declared
off-limits for some apparently valid legal reason. Needless to say, some viewed the bishop's
action as heroic; others saw it as outrageous.
And Bishop Packard chose to take this very public stance, when he might
have been as effective, or more effective, working behind the scenes to
pressure on Trinity’s Vestry to change its decision. On the day of his decision he did venture
much, but was he right to act as he did?
That same question could be asked of the choice made in the
story of Elijah and the widow of Zarephath from I Kings and story of the widow
in the temple from Mark's gospel. To look
below the surface meaning of each story will lead us into a better
understanding of what a “day of decision” might mean for us.
Elijah decided to follow what he understood to be God's
directive to approach a widow of Zarephath, a commercial capital of Phoenecia,
to feed him. The widow bravely decided,
after some reluctance, to feed Elijah.
Their decisions were based on trust—Elijah trusting God and the widow
trusting Elijah prophetic assurance that by feeding him she would not lack food
for herself and her son. But the most
unexpected decision preceding both their decisions was God's decision to choose
a “destitute, foreign, Baal-worshiping widow” to provide food for God's
prophet, Elijah.
God's “day of decision”
became a day of overturning expectations. Elijah had been on the run from King
Ahab after predicting famine and drought due to the people's worshiping the
fertility god, Baal. As he sought sustenance under these adverse conditions, he
must have thought it odd that God should send him to such an outsider.
And as an “outsider,” the widow must have
found Elijah’s request odd, too. Why
would such a prophet come to her? “As
the Lord your God lives . . .,” said the widow—indicating that Elijah's
God wasn't hers. So, as unlikely as it
appears, these two decided to risk—to venture much— and found a sustaining
alliance based on trust—a trust in a God who provided in a very unlikely way—a
trust that overcame the differences between them.
The widow in the gospel today made a decision to give away
all she had to live on. She appears to venture much in making this gift. How odd that a poor widow would give anything
to support Temple worship! Jesus
made the point that the important religious officials were hypocrites who
talked about following the Law, but who seemed to forget how the Law expected
those who had plenty to care for the vulnerable who lacked what they need. Why
would the widow part with all she had to live on—indeed venturing much—in hope
that an unjust system led by hypocrites might aid her?
We can only make sense of her sacrifice if we see it in the
context of Jesus' choosing to sacrifice his life. Jesus allowed the evil of an unjust system
led by hypocrites to arrest and execute him.
In the Garden of Gethsemane he experienced a time of decision and chose
to venture much, trusting that his sacrifice would be redeemed by God, the
Father. Jesus' showed his love for
us—human beings who often act in unjust and hypocritical ways, who sin and are
unworthy of his love. He trusted—without
knowing the outcome for certain—that he should venture much out of his
steadfast love for us.
That brave, though foolish, poor widow provides an even more
radical model for sacrifice of the widow of Zarapheth. She provides the same sort of model for us as
Jesus did. To give without reserve in a way that we believe God is calling us
to give.
What circumstances in your own life have you been called to
give—to decide to venture much—to give fully of yourself? Perhaps caring for your children or grandchildren,
perhaps caring for an ill relative, perhaps loving someone close to you who
struggles to recover from an addiction— and you can name other situations. Sometimes these situations just seem to
descend into your life and threaten to overwhelm you. But when you choose not to retreat from them,
but to give whatever strength and trust you can muster, you are making a
decision to venture much—and God, perhaps in very unexpected ways, will bless
your choice.
Quote about the widow of
Zarepheth came from “New Proclamation, Year B 2012, Easter through Christ the
King," p. 224.
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