LB, Proper 27, A Sermon by The Reverend Alice Marcrum

November 08, 2009

In today’s readings we are given examples of giving all to the Lord. In the reading today from Ruth in the Old Testament we read what is actually the end of Ruth’s story. Ruth was one of Naomi’s two daughter-in-laws who had lived in Naomi’s household until Naomi’s husband and sons had all died. When this happened, Naomi released her daughter-in-laws to go back to their homes to remarry. The first daughter-in-law, Orpah, did just that, but Ruth refused to leave Naomi, who was a Jew, living in Moab, a foreign country, which was actually Ruth’s home land. In fact, Ruth went so far as to make this solemn vow to Naomi, "Don't force me to leave you; don't make me go home. Where you go, I go; and where you live, I'll live. Your people are my people, your God is my god; where you die, I'll die, and that's where I'll be buried, so help me God—not even death itself is going to come between us!" (The Message)

Ruth could have easily followed the expected example of her sister-in-law. No one would have thought ill towards her. Instead, Ruth does the very opposite of what is expected of her. She makes a promise to her mother-in-law that she will never leave Naomi, no matter what becomes of them. Not only is Ruth’s promise with Naomi, but Ruth also gives up forever the religion in which she was nourished and taught to embrace Naomi’s. These are both major decisions on Ruth’s part. In essence, Ruth is devoting her life and soul to Naomi and Naomi’s god. Ruth is a beautiful example of what giving one’s all to another means.

In our reading for today, we are shown Ruth’s reward for her complete devotion and loyalty to Naomi and Naomi’s god. Boaz, one of Naomi’s relatives, who just happens to be rich and single, becomes Ruth’s husband. Ruth and Boaz are blessed with a son named Obed, who is King David’s grandfather and of Jesus of Nazareth’s ancestral bloodline.  As for Naomi, Ruth keeps her promise to her mother-in-law  by making Naomi Obed’s nurse, which means that she not only gets to have the joy of helping to raise Obed, but Naomi remains in Ruth’s household for the rest of her life.

Because of Ruth’s solemn vow to Naomi, both are blessed by the Lord. By giving up her traditions and country to follow her mother-in-law into what was for Ruth a strange new land, Ruth opened the hand of the Lord to pour out His blessings upon both Ruth and Naomi. The mother-in-law, who had lost everything, is given back more than she could possibly even imagine. As for Boaz, he too was blessed through Ruth’s promises; not only did he get a devoted bride, he also is one of Jesus’ ancestors.

In today’s gospel reading from Mark, we read the story about what has become known as ‘The Widow’s Mite”.  The story begins with Jesus teaching in the Temple in Jerusalem on the hypocrisy of people who make an outward showing of their devotion towards the Lord by publically saying long prayers, but in their personal lives they are full of corruption to the point of taking for themselves what little the poor have.  Reading from Peterson’s translation, The Message, Mark writes, “He continued teaching. Watch out for the religion scholars. They love to walk around in academic gowns, preening in the radiance of public flattery, basking in prominent positions, sitting at the head table at every church function. And all the time they are exploiting the weak and helpless. The longer their prayers, the worse they get. But they'll pay for it in the end."

Jesus uses the religious scholars of his time known as scribes, as an example of what not to do. For Jesus, what is important in a person’s life is not what other folks think about them, but where their heart is. In other words, to the world a certain person may seem very important, but in God’s eyes they are at the bottom of His List. This is because a person’s true character is revealed when no one else, but the Lord is watching. In other words, what a person does in public may just be the very opposite of how they behave in private.  It is the private life of a person that matters to the Lord, because that is when our true character is shown.

To help His disciples understand His teaching better, Jesus sits down to watch the people giving their offerings of money to the Lord at the Temple. The wealthy make a public show of pouring their many coins into the treasury box. The people are impressed with these seemingly generous gifts. Then a poor widow steps up to the box and drops in two small coins only worth a penny in today’s dollars. You can almost hear a groan coming from the crowd over this small offering. Yet, it is the widow’s gift that impresses Jesus, not the bags full of coins poured into the treasure box by the wealthy.

Jesus turns to His disciples and tells them, "The truth is that this poor widow gave more to the collection than all the others put together. All the others gave what they'll never miss; she gave extravagantly what she couldn't afford—she gave her all." The poor widow is probably one of the women whose home has been taken away by one of the religious hypocrites of whom Jesus was teaching against. Now this poor widow gives to the Lord her last penny. It is all she has left in this world. Unless a miracle happens through the generosity of someone else, this widow will soon die of hunger and exposure to the elements. The two meager mites looked upon in disdain by the crowd could have bought her one last small piece of food. Instead of keeping it for her self, she gives it to God. The widow’s gift is priceless. In these few words she gave her all, Jesus sums up what He Himself will give on the cross.