Readings:
Ruth 3.1-5, 4.3-17; Ps 127; Heb 9.23-28; Mark 12.38-44
May I speak in the name of God, always creating redeeming and sanctifying. Amen.
Please be comfortable.
What comes to mind when one speaks of a widow?
Savvy?
Young?
Courageous?
So faithful that they entrust the whole of their life to God?
There are many stories of widows in the bible and they are often epic!
There is Tamar in Genesis 38 who, after being widowed twice to Judah’s unfaithful sons, takes matters into her own hands when Judah refuses to take care of her. Her method was extremely dangerous and almost resulted in her death. She gives birth to twins by Judah and is taken into his household to raise the boys in safety. One of those boys, Perez, is one of David’s ancestors.
What about the widow of Zarapheth in 1 Kings 17. This was the alternate reading for today. This woman is interrupted in her plans for a hopeless last meal for herself and her son. She was going to use the last of her meal and the last of her oil to bake a small cake each to eat and then wait for death.
This is when Elijah appears in her story. He asks for that loaf to be made for him first as God has promised that the meal in her jar and the oil in her jug will not run out until the drought is over. So, this unnamed woman, the mother of a dependant son, gave her whole life as she courageously put the whole of her life into God’s hands. A God who keeps the promises God has made.
How about Naomi and Ruth? Again, these women are not advanced in years! We are told at the beginning of the story that Naomi does not expect to ever have another child, but by the end of the story she is Obed’s nurse. Both these women put their whole lives into God’s hands. Naomi returns home after the deaths of her husband and both her sons. Their story opens with this great tragedy and Ruth, instead of going home to her family, vows herself to Naomi. “You people are my people. Your God is my God.”
The Moabites are Israel’s enemies, even though they share the same heritage through Lot, Abraham’s nephew. Ruth is an outsider, and she has followed her mother-in-law to a place that is potentially extremely dangerous for her. So much so, that Boaz has to order his men not to touch her.
And this Moabitess is loyal and courageous, carrying out Naomi’s plan that on a night of celebration Ruth will catch Boaz in a good mood and ask for his protection by marrying her. Which he does, as we have heard, and the elders at the gate praise the union saying, “through the children that the Lord will give you by this young woman, may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah” (4.12).
Tamar became an ancestor to David through Perez.
Ruth, the Moabitess wholly welcomed and who became a daughter of Israel, became King David’s great-grandmother through her son to Boaz, Obed.
So let’s take these images of Tamar, the widow of Zarapheth, Naomi, and Ruth and overlay it onto the story from the gospel. “Jesus sat down opposite the treasury and watched the crowd putting money in the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny” (vs. 41-42).
(See the image above for the type of coin it was.)
Jesus tells his disciples that, “All of them have contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on” (v. 44). The Greek says: “her whole life.”
She gave her whole life. All $5.72 of it. Roughly what those coins are worth in Australia today.[1] Like the widow of Zarapheth, like Tamar, like Ruth, the widow in Mark’s gospel gives her whole life to God in complete trust. But in the verses preceding there is something important to note: Jesus is criticising the Scribes, saying, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and be greeted with respect… and to have the best seats in the synagogue and places of honour at banquets. They devour widow’s houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayer. They will receive the greater condemnation” (vs. 39-40).
And then Mark recounts this scene in the temple which illustrates all that Jesus just said: the showy-ness of the giving compared with the very little that the widow gave. Is she one whose house was “devoured” by the Scribes?
One commentary said that they may have “been exploiting widows through transactions involving their houses, personal property, and land. The Old Testament consistently expresses God’s displeasure with those who neglect or oppress.”[2] Has the unnamed woman been made poor following the death of her husband through the greedy acts of some who were scribes? Her faith is juxtaposed with the actions of the scribes.
For me, this week’s readings lead us to two conclusions. Firstly, we are called to reattend to the fact that our faith in God is transformational. Faith that allows us to use the law to oppress others is not alive. Not only that, but when we know better, our responsibility is greater. We must live into that responsibility.
Secondly, living into our faith always comes at a cost. Be it moving to another land to begin a new life; taking potentially dangerous action to reclaim your dignity; or giving your whole life like the widow of Zarapheth and the poor widow at the treasury.
Let us be like the widows in the bible! Faithful and courageous!
Amen.
[1] We are told those coins are worth 1/64 of a denarius. A denarius is the daily wage of a labourer. The Fair Work Ombudsman has stated that as of 1 July 2024, the minimum weekly wage is $915.90. Based on a five day work week, one day’s share of that is $183.18. Divided by 64 = $2.86. The widow had two coins, making the worth of her contribution $5.72.
https://www.fairwork.gov.au/pay-and-wages/minimum-wages
[2] Bryant, R. A. in Feasting on the Word: Year B, Vol 4. p. 700.
Image attribution: Widow's Mite - Ancient Roman Bronze Coin from IronRodArt - Royce Bair ("Star Shooter"). Used with permission under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) license.