In God we Trust

Cathedral Church of St. Paul

Burlington, Vermont

The Rev. Nancy E. Gossling

Theologian in Residence

1 Kings 17:8-16
Psalm 146
Mark 12:38-44

Let us pray: Lord show us your love and mercy; for we put our trust in you

Today, I want to talk about something very fundamental in our relationships. It is often taken for granted, until it is lost. It is often assumed, until it is broken. It is so important that we even put the words on our money. In God we trust.

            I think life is a process of giving ourselves away. Our bodies are like beautifully crafted vessels of water, jars of meal, and jugs of oil which have been filled with abundant gifts from our Creator. Throughout our lives, we offer the contents of these vessels, sometimes dramatically emptying them in intense moments of love; more often consciously controlling the speed of our flow. Unaware of the tiny cracks in our vessels, we leak.

            This process of life, of giving ourselves away, involves some choices on our parts. We decide to whom, and to what, and for what we are willing to give our time, talents, and money. We raise our voices and cast our votes, depending upon our passion for the people or the issue. Sacrificially, we offer ourselves, “This is my Body given for you.” And hopefully, we make last wills and testaments as our final gift.

In today’s passages from scripture, we hear about two widows making choices and sacrifices. One widow gives part of her last meal to a stranger; the other drops “everything she had” into the Temple treasury. There were no pledge cards in those days, only duties to be paid, laws to be obeyed, and certain expectations of everyone. The Temple was Israel’s religious and political center and the scribes and the chief priests were their leaders.

            Harper’s Study Bible says that the “status of widows in ancient Israelite society was precarious. They often had no means of economic support, and if they were not sustained by the king or by the religious community, they were quickly reduced to poverty and forced to become scavengers and beggars. Having no inheritance rights and often in want of life’s necessities, they were exposed to harsh treatment and exploitation.” (p. 547 and 1132) This kind of treatment was not limited to widows however; not unlike today, children, minorities, people with mental, physical, and emotional disabilities, immigrants, the poor, sick, weak, and lonely are all vulnerable people. Thank you for your involvement with STEPS, JUMP, Cathedral Square, migrant workers, refugee resettlement, and other Jubilee Ministries.

“Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have the best seats in the synagogues! They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers.” These scribes were the legal experts of the Temple, keeping and making sure that Jews obeyed their religious laws, and enjoying the benefits of their positions. Their long robes indicated that they were men of leisure and honor. Although they were expected to work for a living, people thought it was their duty to keep their rabbis in comfort. They also felt entitled to the financial support that they received from others, often at the expense of vulnerable people. Unfortunately, women and especially widows, were most likely to be exploited.

            The widow and her son were preparing to die when Elijah arrived. She had only a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a jug, and was gathering sticks so that she could prepare a final meal for them. Then Elijah arrived and basically said, “Give me your last supper.” Was this an example of a powerful person exploiting someone who was powerless, of a religious leader feeling entitled to her support, of a man who felt his needs and life were greater than hers? Or just used to getting what he wanted?

Understandably, this widow initially demurred, explaining to Elijah that she really had nothing to give him except some meal in a jar and a little oil; but Elijah insisted. “Give me this and go get that,” he said to her. “After you’ve made my cake, then you can make one for yourself and your son.” Now, I know neither the tone nor the intent of his words, and yet once again, I wondered, did he not care?  Was he making false promises in the face of his own need? To maintain his own exalted position? Did he value his life more than hers and her son?

Many years ago, our house was broken into, and the door was violently pried open, which reminds me of a favorite joke. “A burglar got into a house one night. Shining his flashlight on the floor in the dark, he heard a voice saying, “Jesus is watching you.” The burglar nervously looked around, shook his head, and kept on looking for valuables. He again heard, “Jesus is watching you.” This time he shone his light all over the room, where it finally rested on a parrot.”
            “The burglar asked, ‘Did you say that?’ The parrot admitted that he had, saying, ‘I’m just trying to warn you, that’s all.’ The burglar said, ‘Warn me, huh? Who are you? What’s your name?’  ‘Moses’, replied the parrot. ‘Well, what kind of stupid person names a parrot Moses?’ the burglar asked.  And the parrot replied, ‘I don’t know. I guess the same stupid person who named his Rottweiler, ‘Jesus.’”
            The gospel says that Jesus was watching people put money into the Treasury. And from what I know about the gospel of Mark, to the delight of the crowds, Jesus was watching the scribes and chief priests and making them nervous. In fact, upon arriving in Jerusalem, the first thing that Jesus did was to cleanse the Temple, accusing their leaders of exploiting the poor for their own self-serving ends, and making the Temple into a ‘den of robbers.’ Then, he publicly denounced the scribes and warned his disciples. From then on, the political and religious leaders kept looking for a way to kill Jesus.

Beware of these people, Jesus told his disciples, and then he pointed to the widow. “Look at what she has done.” Both widows gave freely and faithfully, indeed sacrificially. There was something almost reckless in their actions, perhaps because they thought that they were at the end of their lives and had nothing left to lose. Despite their vulnerability and fragility, they were being dutiful, displaying deep trust in God and trust in their religious community.

The psalmist reminds us that the nature of God is to feed the hungry, care for the stranger, sustain the orphan and widow, and frustrate the way of the wicked. In Christian Century, Brad Roth writes, “This widow puts her money where Israel’s mouth is, choosing to believe that the people will step up to the writ of the law and provide for those who have no allotment or inheritance. Whatever the abuses of the temple hierarchy, this is her sacrifice, freely given to God.”

In Meditations for Women who do Too Much, the author suggests that there is a direct correlation between trust and control. The less trust we have, the more we will try to control the people and events in our lives. The less trust we have in God, the more we will look to ourselves for self-sufficiency. The more we hunger and thirst for God, the less we will hunger and thirst for material things. Paradoxically, indeed counter-intuitively, the more we give, the more we get. The more we give, the more we grow. The more we give, the more we trust God to provide.

 There is a great deal of mistrust, harsh treatment, and entitlement in our country these days. Jesus walked the talk: This is my body given for you. Ever the teacher, he reminded his disciples that it is not about getting something but giving something. To obey God’s commandments, does not mean being legalistic, but being faithful to God and finding ways to be of service to others.

Our giving is not necessarily measured by the amount that we give, but rather by the spirit in which we give it. We can be grumpy or cheerful, giving from our poverty or abundance, fearful or faithful. Do not be afraid, Elijah said. For with God, the jar never empties; indeed it is often re-filled to overflowing. And despite the failings of our religious and political leaders, and ourselves, and the fluctuations in our bank accounts, ultimately it is in God that we trust.