Proper 27 | Ordinary Time 32, Cycle B
1 Kings 17:8-16 and Psalm 146 both, though in different ways, describe how the Lord God provides what is needed by the poor and oppressed, and most of all for the widow and the fatherless. Mark 12:39-40 is a warning against the scribes who are said to act as if they are very religious, while secretly they are taking possession of the houses of poor widows whom they evict. Mark 12:41-44 has Jesus acclaim a poor widow who puts her last two small copper coins into the temple treasury, trusting that God will provide for her, that God will give everything that she needs to her just as she has given everything to God. In Hebrews 9:24-28 the argument of this document continues that Jesus as the Christ has made the once-for-all sacrifice of himself to overcome sin and announces that Jesus as the Risen Christ will appear again in order to save those who are waiting for him. These texts bring us one more step closer, therefore, to the end of the Church Year.
1 Kings 17:8-16
This story is most of all an expression of faith that the Lord God provides what is necessary, even for the most needy person that one can imagine, a poor widow with a dependent child during an extended famine. Elijah, the “man of God,” is a rather passive figure in the story. The widow is a hero of faith, because she believes the “man of God” when he tells her that the Lord, the God of Israel, will continue to supply grain and oil until the famine is ended.
We, who live in a much less precarious situation than that of the poor widow, should certainly believe, as she did, that God will provide also for us. Therefore, we should share our resources with others who are in need and trust in God, just as the widows do in both the 1 Kings 17:8-17 and in the Mark 12:41-44 accounts.
Psalm 146
This joyful “Halleluia” psalm considered also last week amply illustrates that praise of God is our most appropriate response to God. The psalmist praises the Lord God as the faithful in Israel perceive God, as the Creator of heaven and earth and the Provider of everything that is needed by those who remain faithful to their covenant with the Lord.
With the wisdom gained from experiences during a lifetime of faith in the Lord, the psalmist urges all who will listen not to trust human rulers, who all too often support their friends who are greedy and oppressive rather than provide help for the oppressed. Such rulers soon die. The psalmist calls upon all people to praise the Lord who will live forever. The older we become the more we appreciate the wisdom expressed in this psalm.
Hebrews 9:24-28
This text is packed full of Christian faith in the significance of Jesus’ life and death. The writer summarizes a vast amount of theological reflection by followers of Jesus over the value to be found in Jesus’ painful crucifixion by the oppressive Roman occupational forces. Then the writer gives this theological reflection a new twist in this document by depicting Jesus as the great high priest entering the holy place once and for all to offer his own blood as the totally efficacious sacrifice for sin. In this depiction of the death of Jesus we see Jesus totally in control of the situation, even more than in the depiction of Jesus as in control of the situation within the Fourth Gospel. The text of Hebrews 9:24-28 concludes with the statement that Jesus as the Risen Christ will appear again, not to die this time but to provide salvation for those who are eagerly waiting for him.
Mark 12:38-44
If one of the primary criteria for an event to be newsworthy is that it be unusual, the event here of the poor widow giving her last two small copper coins to the Lord in this Mark 12:41-44 account certainly qualifies. Total commitment to God is unusual and newsworthy. The issue here is not how much could be accomplished for herself or for others with her small offering or whether her decision was a rational or an irrational act. The issue here is the significance of her trust in God. Her offering of everything that she had to God is comparable to the total commitment of the poor widow in the 1 Kings 17:8-16 account and even in some respects to the total commitment of Jesus as the Christ in the Hebrews 9:24-28 account used with this text.
Can such a commitment be expected also of us? Can we ourselves model such a commitment to God, and can we then urge others to make such a commitment to God?
Ruth 3:1-5; 4:13-17
In these two excerpts from the story of Ruth we see the “hidden hand” of God at work in the success of the bold actions of Ruth as directed and guided by her mother-in-law Naomi. Whatever the methods, the result was good. Naomi has a son “born” to her!
Psalm 127
The son “born” to Naomi through her daughter-in-law Ruth and the good man Boaz became the foundation of the “house” of David. It was to be a house built by the Lord God of Israel. According to Psalm 127, unless the Lord God builds a house, it cannot be constructed; if we try to build it ourselves, it will crumble.
