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Proper 27

November 11:

Ordinary Time, Proper 27
Epiphany, Spartanburg
Since I last saw you, we have certainly traveled a long ways as a people. One thing I know of that has been huge in our family is that we have passed from the place where Mary Pat was anxious about my being away from the house long enough to come to Spartanburg and be with you – that was June – up until the present day when she is able to be with me as I come to celebrate with you. Oh, the wonders of what God is doing in our midst.
As a nation we have traveled to the end of the midterms. I said in our morning prayer on Wednesday that I was grateful to have the whole campaigning experience be over even though I knew that the next campaign was beginning already that morning.
When I was in my 20’s, the experience of having one generation in conflict with another seemed inconvenient but bearable. On the downward slide to the age of 70 I am weary of the pervasive rhetoric that pushes us apart, that encourages our divisions, and that imagines our journey together as a people to be one of combat and facing down enemies.

Ruth

In our first reading from scripture this morning we hear short excerpts from the dramatic conclusion of the book of Ruth. The book is very short and easy to read because the narrative is vivid and relatively easy to follow. The conclusion which we hear today presents the context of the narrative as it places the forebears of the people of Israel and of David in particular. Ruth it turns out is the great grandmother of David.
It will be a breathtaking journey, the journey of the people of Israel, the descendants of David. They will become a nation, although never a great nation. In their geographic location at the eastern sure of the Mediterranean Sea, The nation of Israel and then the nation of Judah were positioned to see all the great empires of the world fighting for dominance. Fast forward 2500 years and the story is pretty much the same. And one might say get all began with Ruth and her mother in law Naomi.

The beginning of the book of Ruth reveals to us what is perhaps the older and original meaning of the story. Ruth is a foreigner living in the land of Israel. She was an undocumented immigrant and God chose her from among all the women of the world at that time to be the great grandmother of his chosen and anointed king David. It turns out God loves immigrants.

Widow’s Mite

Our gospel passage this morning adds another striking layer to the picture of what and who God has special favor for. I remember hearing this passage read in church on a Sunday morning when I was still a young child. I suppose it was Sunday school teachers who made a point of addressing their little children by teaching them that God favors the widows mite – which is to say – the small sum but huge percentage that the poor person – the widow in this case – is able to give.
Jesus in this story is not impressed by those who put themselves forward as the most important, the most favored, the richest, those who strut about in their importance. Beware of them he says.
We regularly come home in the evenings and watch the evening news together. Sometimes its later than the news hour and we are watching a recording of the earlier program. And very often the closing story of the news is about someone in a seemingly obscure place or unheralded position, someone who has made a huge difference in the life of their neighbors and even in the well-being of people far beyond themselves.

• Oklahoma mom offers to be stand-in parent at gay weddings: After hearing from LGBTQ couples whose parents did not support them on their wedding day, 54-year-old Sara Cunningham offered to step in as “mom.”
• Lava evacuee volunteers to save others’ homes: Heath Dalton lost his home in Leilani Estates and is now spending most of his time rescuing pets and putting out fires to save other peoples property.
• Powerful Image Captures War Zone Photographer Rescuing Child: Abd Alkader Habak told NBC News he was photographing Syrians being evacuated aboard buses on the outskirts of the city of Aleppo Saturday when the huge bomb hit. Habak, a photographer and anti-government activist, said he came across children lying on the ground after he picked himself up. … What happened next was captured by a fellow photographer and shared widely online, with the harrowing images becoming yet another window into Syria’s brutal six-year civil war. Habak said he picked up the child who appeared to still be breathing and ran to seek shelter.
• Inspiring America: At Maine Restaurant, Paying Your Bill Means Paying it Forward. Laura Benedict is using her small town restaurant, Red Barn, to raise millions of dollars for her community, things like helping to send a group of veterans to the WWII memorial in Washington DC or raising $ to help a 6th grader suffering from a debilitating, uncurable, nerve disease.

Each is a story of an ordinary person, someone like you or me, acting in an extraordinary way to make a difference, to share God’s love.
The stories go on and on.

The Gospel View

What is the Gospel view of all this? What mighty works is God unfolding right here in our midst? What world shattering news does God have for us today – for me? For you? That’s what I take the word “Gospel” to mean. " World shattering news."
Normally it is very difficult to see the big picture when all around us what we see is just us. Just the few of us. And our best days are behind us.
When the next generations tell the stories of the grandparents, the great grandparents, what will they remember? When I talk to my students at Winthrop I sometimes have reason to ask them if they have known any of their great grandparents. Usually here in South Carolina about 20-30 percent of the class has. And some of their great grandparents are still alive.
The reason I talk about it with them is that the great-grandparent generation – the same as Ruth in our first reading – is the length at which the stories get told orally. Unless they are written down, or repeated from generation to generation, they won’t be remembered.
You at Epiphany, Spartanburg, have been powerful witnesses over the years of God’s work in our midst. I urge you to find ways to tell your story. I saw a story in The State the other day (you probably read it). Remember and tell your story. ¹ No matter how small it may seem, I promise you – God promises you in the Gospel, Jesus promises you – God has been mightily at work here.

Closing

I take heart that God loves the little people like Ruth, like that widow Jesus was looking at who “out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.” I take heart that in the long history of God’s relationship with his chosen people God has consistently chosen to use the unlikely and obscure person to bring about his purposes. It was true then. It’s true now. Thanks be to God.

Appendix

lectionary

• that he might destroy the works of the devil and make us children of God
• Last week: Ruth 1 … Where you go, I will go; Where you lodge, I will lodge;
• Heb 9
• Widow’s mite

-beware of the scribes

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1. https://www.thestate.com/living/religion/article216294255.html ↩︎