 By Rev. Heather Blais
As I wrote in my letter to you on Friday, we knew going into this week that our national election would be one of great consequence. No matter who we elected, we would ultimately remain a nation divided. Some of us would be left feeling relieved and grateful. Others of us would be left feeling angered, grieved, and scared about the future of our democracy. Many of our neighbors have been feeling left unseen, unheard, and undervalued; carrying a deep worry about the economy and the direction our country is headed. Other neighbors have shared similar concerns, but as a result of the policies promised by our President-elect, are now deeply worried about international relations; the future of gender equality and reproductive rights; climate change; the safety and rights of the LGBTQI+ community; and of course, the deportation and separation of immigrant, migrant, and refugee families. Let me just say: No matter who each of us voted for this week, no matter how we have been feeling these past few days - I am so glad to see you here today. As the Church, our values are defined by the holy scriptures, particularly the Gospel. These values are often at odds with the values of the world. So we know something about living in the tension of division; the tension that comes from advocating for God’s dream. We know what it means to stand up to earthly rulers - of every political party and persuasion - and do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God. Which is why it matters so much that we gather today and every Sunday. Here we give all the joys and sorrows, all the anger and angst of our lives to God. We lay it all on God’s Table, knowing God can handle anything we send their way. In turn we need to receive the strength and courage that the Holy One offers us in the nourishment of worship, scripture, prayer, community, and sacrament. Because as the Church, we have important work to do - and the mission remains the same yesterday, today, and always. Irrelevant of any and all political candidates or parties, the Church’s work is clear. God demands that we stand with those on the margins. We see this most clearly in today’s scripture when we look to the widows. Widows were one of the most vulnerable populations in the ancient world. God’s law required that society ensure their care, yet so often they were neglected. More troubling still, unjust rulers and corrupt leaders maintained public policy and practices that made conditions exponentially worse for the poor. Widows were what we might think of as the poorest of the poor. In our reading from 1 Kings, we enter the story mid-stream. Israel had recently acquired a new leader - King Ahab. Right from the start, Ahab sets about misusing his power and authority. Worst of all, he abandoned his sacred duty to the God of Israel by worshiping and serving the Canaanite God Baal. The scripture says, “Ahab did more to vex the Lord, the God of Israel, than all the kings of Israel who preceded him”(1 Kings 16:33). God sent the prophet Elijah to inform Ahab, that due to his actions, God would bring about a drought that only Elijah’s word could end. Then God sent Elijah into hiding, providing him with food and water, until the water source ran dry. We pick up the story in our reading. God instructs Elijah to go to a foreign land, where a widow and orphan would provide for him. Elijah goes and discovers this widow and orphan have almost nothing. In fact, she was preparing to make a final meal, before what she could only assume would be their death from starvation. Society had all but forgotten this woman. Elijah tells her not to be afraid. He asks her to make a small meal for him, and then for herself and son. If she does so, the God of Israel will ensure her jar of flour and jug of oil should not run out, until God sends rain again. When the widow hears God’s promise of sustenance, she responds faithfully, doing as she has been asked, and God does indeed provide for them. The widow we encounter in Mark’s gospel is living many years later, but is also struggling to survive, and has been impacted by corrupt religious leadership. The text tells us that when the widow entered the temple to make her offering, she put in two lepta.**A lepta is the smallest Greek copper coin and is worth 1/128th of a single day’s pay.** An impossibly small amount. The scene comes moments after Jesus had told his followers to beware of the scribes - religious leaders in the temple - who ‘devour widows houses’. These scribes were financially exploiting vulnerable women, for their own glory. In reality, their role was to help ensure these widows were provided for, according to God’s law. Jesus was not lifting the widow up as a model of sacrificial giving, so that we might ask the poorest of the poor amongst us to give the very last of their resources. Instead Jesus is pointing out a corruption of God’s law, and in a way that would vex our Liberating God. Jesus is asking his disciples, and us, to see how easily it is to misuse power and authority, and the horrific impact it has on those already living on the margins. Those on the margins always are asked to pay the highest price, and that goes against everything the God of Love stands for. These two widows trust in God as their Liberator. In both instances, we see how the actions of Elijah and Jesus are meant to help us grasp the true impact of unjust leaders, rulers, politicians, and systems. These two know intimately that it is the work of God to liberate those being stomped on by the system. Womanist theologian Wil Gafney reflected on the role of the widow and wrote: “...God reveals her presence, power, and providence to whom she will. Often she chooses the most vulnerable, the outcast, and the overlooked to bear witness to her mercy and majesty. In these lessons, widows and their children are the primary concern of God in each lesson…God communicates through Elijah and Jesus that neither nationality nor ethnicity disqualify anyone from concern and caretaking. God’s love is for all peoples of earth and Jesus is the embodiment of that love; the scriptures have borne witness to that love across time.”*** Our psalm continues to tell us about the nature of our Liberating God, and because it is written without context, it can be heard clearly in our own time and place. The psalm tells us not to put all our trust in earthly rulers: “...for there is no help in them. When they breathe their last, they return to the earth, and in that day their thoughts perish” (Psalm 146:2-3). The psalmist reminds us that it is the Holy One alone who is our hope. It is God: “...who made heaven and earth, the seas, and all that is in them; whose promise abides for ever” (Psalm 146:4-5). The psalmist proclaims that it is our Liberating God who: gives justice to those who are oppressed, and food to those who are hungry; sets the prisoners free, and lifts up those who are bowed down; cares for the stranger, and sustains the orphan and widow. The psalmist also warns anyone listening: God will frustrate the hell out of the wicked. More importantly, the Holy One is not only offering liberation to the people of Israel, but rather is talking about everyone: people of every gender, every orientation, every age, every race, every nation. God stands with those on the margins, and so must we. It is the work of the Church to put our trust in our Liberating God, and be agents of change and love as the body of Christ. One of my favorite theologians, Walter Brueggemann wrote this week: “So it is with us! Like the ancient prophets, we are dispatched back to the good work entrusted to us. It is the work of peace-making. It is the work of truth-telling. It is the work of justice-doing. It is good work, but it requires our resolve to stay [at] it, even in the face of the forces to the contrary that are sure to prevail for a season. We are in it for the long run, even as the Holy One is in it for the very long haul, from everlasting to everlasting. We do not ease off because it is hard. We are back at it after the election.”**** In the week ahead, I invite you to double down in your prayer life. Pray for the nation, pray for the Church, and most of all, pray for God’s world. And to help prepare us for the work that lay ahead, I invite you to join me in renewing the promises of our baptism. These promises embody the values of the Church, the values that we live our life by. Let us reaffirm our faith, and promise once again to live faithfully. Amen. Lessons 1 Kings 17:8-16 Psalm 146 Hebrews 9:24-28 Mark 12:38-44 * 1 Kings 16:29-17:16 ** Gafney, Wilda C. A Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church: Year B, p. 236. *** Gafney, Wilda C. A Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church: Year W, p. 60. **** Walter Brueggemann, https://churchanew.org/brueggemann/beyond-a-fetal-position
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