Veteran of Faith (Twenty Fifth Sunday after Pentecost)

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On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, the guns of World War I finally fell silent, and one of the most horrific carnages in human history came to an end.  This Sunday is the 100th anniversary of that day.

And in commemoration of that ending, and in memory of all those who gave their lives in that struggle, “Armistice Day” was born.  But then, there were more wars.  And more veterans to remember.  And so “Armistice Day” became “Veterans Day”, a day to remember all who served, and especially those veterans who gave everything they had – even their very lives – to defend us and our country.

But I’m often a little uncomfortable with the way we do “remembering” in our country.  While it’s good that we remember, often our way of “remembering” means:

  • We think only about the past and not the present – that is, we think about the sacrifice of somebody long ago and far away, but not really about the present value of what we have because of that sacrifice and what it really means for us now…
  • We take a day off and celebrate – but that day really is more about a day off of work for us and not about celebrating others …
  • Deep down in our hearts we think, “thank God somebody was willing to sacrifice, so that I don’t have to”; and too often, that really means “so that I don’t really have to do anything”…

But that’s not really what “remembering” is supposed to be about.  And that’s not why Jesus wanted us to remember the widow in today’s Gospel reading.  This widow is often a mis-remembered and misunderstood character in the Gospels.  Too often, we focus on the two little coins that were worth basically nothing, and we presume that the message is that any little thing we give to God is a good thing.

And while that’s not entirely wrong, the fact of the matter is the widow DIDN’T give a tiny, little thing.  She gave “everything she had.”  She gave it all.  She was a veteran of faith.

And Jesus lifts her up for comment and remembrance not because of the penny, but because, like all veterans who are worthy of being remembered, this widow:

  • Considered what had meaning and purpose in her life … (there were probably a lot of people who came to the Temple and contributed because it was part of tradition, or the culture or even just because it was the thing to do when you visited Jerusalem…; but the widow considered that what she was doing was part of her present, living relationship with God; it was about being literally invested in that relationship, just as veterans in our country literally invested themselves in freedom and service; those aren’t just words or ideas to “veterans”; they’re part of their present, living reality…
  • Cared enough to invest herself in the relationship with God … (what she gave wasn’t just her money; Jesus says she gave herself.  And that was what made her different from people who were just giving whatever extra they had; like any “veteran” she put herself into her gift …
  • Believed in spending herself on something bigger than herself … (because the widow was invested in her relationship with God – and indeed, with her relationship with the whole people of God – she realized that meaning and purpose only come from being invested in something bigger than yourself.  And like any “veteran”, she saw the value in an investment outside of herself…

And so as we remember the widow – this “veteran of faith” – Jesus is calling us to do more than acknowledge an historical figure or a particular act of faithfulness.  Instead, the kind of remembering Jesus calls us to is one in which we, too:

  • Consider what really has meaning and purpose in our lives – and what meaning and purpose does our relationship with God have for us?  What’s really “important” and what does that mean to us? Too often, as we do when we talk about veterans of our wars, we talk about high ideals of faith without actually considering what’s worthy of sacrifice in our own lives today…
  • Ask how we’ll invest ourselves in our relationship with God – instead of simply being glad that others have done things like taught us, and built buildings and even been willing to die for their faith; and the question for us is, “how do we invest ourselves into our relationship with God and with the people of God”?  It involves our money, but our money always follows our hearts and our values and the things we’ll spend our time on…
  • Open ourselves to spending ourselves on something bigger than ourselves – in the end, we all spend our money, our time and our energy on something.  What’s worth it?  Will it be just ourselves, or something bigger…?

Jesus lifted up the widow as an example to be remembered.  But in remembering this “veteran of faith”, Jesus calls each of us to examine what our own relationship with God really means to us each day.  Jesus calls us to invest ourselves in that relationship.  And most of all, Jesus calls us to see meaning and purpose in being invested in what God is doing among us right here and right now.

Amen.