Veteran of Faith (Twenty-fifth Sunday after Pentecost)

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After a difficult and divisive election season, I actually think it’s a good thing that Veteran’s Day comes along this weekend.  It’s good, because Americans of all political beliefs appreciate the sacrifice and courage of those who have served and protected us.  It’s good because remembering veterans reminds us that our veterans, also, are people of many political beliefs who have come together for the good of the country, even when they personally may have voted against the leadership. And it’s good because veterans remind us that our country is more than our politics. They’re people who always had each others’ backs even when they may have disagreed politically, and who stayed focused on the mission.

It’s good to remember all of those things, because remembering them can help us heal and work together.  But I’m often a little uncomfortable with the way we do “remembering” in our country, even of our veterans.  While it’s good that we remember, sometimes our way of “remembering” means:

• We think only about the past and not the present – that is, we think about the sacrifice of somebody who did something which seems long ago and far away, instead of appreciating that sacrifice and service as connected to this present moment…

• We get a day off and do some fun stuff – but remembering in that way really is more about a day off for us instead of celebrating others …

• Deep down in our hearts we think, “thank God somebody was willing to sacrifice and serve, so that I don’t have to”, instead of considering what my responsibility should be for having received a great gift…

But that’s not really what “remembering” is supposed to be about.  And that’s also 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, and are doing so still now; 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 ; she stayed focused on the mission to which God called her …

• 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 for us? How will we live into that meaning and purpose whether times are good or bad? Too often, when we talk about veterans, we talk about high ideals of faith and sacrifice without actually considering what’s worthy of sacrifice and service 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 question for us, too, is “how do we stay focused each day on the mission to which God calls us”…?  

• 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?  The bishop who ordained me use to ask the pastors, “what’s worth using yourself up on?”  It’s a good question, and sometimes, as with veterans, the answer to that question sometimes becomes clearer in moments of difficulty and strife…  (as it was for veterans in times of battle, or this widow in a time of financial crisis…)

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, and calling us to be about, right here and right now.

Amen.