Homily
By The Rev. Marcia McRae
St.
John’s Episcopal Church, Bainbridge, GA
8
Nov. 2015 Proper 27 Year B:
Ruth 3:1-5, 4:13-17; Psalm 127; Hebrews 9:24-28; Mark 12:38-44
Did
everyone receive a penny
when
you came in today?
What
can you get for a penny?
A reduction to your dental bill!
But
more of that later!
We
see the haves & the have-nots in our scriptures today. We see
God's loving grace to all people. We see in action:
God loves you. No
exceptions. All are welcome!
We
see God's loving grace in action in our Gospel & in the Book of
Ruth, the
story of this foreigner who becomes an ancestor of Jesus. Ruth's
story opens with Naomi, her husband & their 2 sons leaving their
home in Bethlehem during a famine to go to Moab, a foreign country
where Ruth lives & where Naomi's husband & sons die.1
This story is one of active loyalty.
Active
loyalty, the fidelity in the lives of Ruth, Naomi & Boaz, as
the Jewish Study Bible notes,”2
– goes beyond law & duty. We see
fidelity when Ruth, the outsider, commits herself to her
mother-in-law & becomes part of Naomi's people who worship God3.
It
is fitting that Ruth & Boaz's son is named Obed, which means
“worshipper”.4
We
see loyalty beyond law & duty in our Gospel. Jesus'
people-watching skills give him examples for the lessons he teaches
in the Temple. Today he tells us clearly: appearances can be
deceiving. How the well-to-do look & the actions of the crowd
pouring loads of money into the collection plate appear righteous.
The poor widow puts in 2 puny coins: Jesus says her gift is the most
generous.
How
much difference in your life could that penny you received make? How
much difference could a penny you see on the ground make if you pick
it up?
What kind of reminder could it be for your
spiritual growth in
God's love?
- Maybe it will remind you: In God we trust.
- Maybe it can remind you that, in Jesus' eyes, you are important no matter how little you may have.5
- Maybe it can remind you that Jesus sees what's in our hearts when we do what we do.
Jesus
sees what's in your heart when you do what you do.6
Perhaps
the penny will remind you to pray & give God thanks.
That's
what picking a penny off the ground 45 years ago did for Otha Anders
of Louisiana,7
whose
story is in a recent edition of USA Today.
The
73-year-old former in-school suspension supervisor gives us an
example of the ideal commitment & fidelity we hear in our
scriptures – fidelity that goes beyond duty.
In
October, Anders turned his penny collection into the bank because
homeowner's insurance no longer covers the value of his 500,000-plus
pennies that filled 15 five-gallon plastic water jugs. [This
is a 1-gallon jug. His were 5 times as large & 15 times as many!]
The $5,136.14 worth of pennies will help pay a recent dental bill.
Anders
says: "I became convinced that spotting a lost or dropped penny
was an additional God-given incentive reminding me to always be
thankful...There have been days where I failed to pray & more
often than not, a lost or dropped penny would show up to remind me."
Anders
knows a penny's value is greater than its monetary worth.
Collecting
pennies, he says, gave him: “the inner satisfaction that God &
I acquired this collection."
What
are you acquiring with God's help?
What puny gift, what small grace
have you overlooked?
Notice: Jesus sees differently. Instead of
seeing the poor widow as an outcast, a problem to attack or to
ignore, Jesus sees vast human worth.
Jesus sees with God's Love.
The
poor widow gives all she has. Her action, as
one commentator says,
is like Jesus' self-giving – the pouring out of his love, his life
for us8,
dying for us on the hard wood of the cross, forgiving us as he dies
so that we may have eternal life – the joy of full life in right
relationship with God & each other.
How
do we live in Jesus' self-giving love when times get stressful?
How
do we exercise stewardship of our time &
care of ourselves &
each other?
How do we see like Jesus sees?
God's
love sees how you offer what you offer of your money, time, &
skills.
Jesus doesn’t compare what you give to what another person
gives.
The Holy Spirit will guide you in
your stewardship of love.
At
the heart of the matter,
what
matters is
what's
in your heart.9
Bibliography
Benoit,
The Rev. Arlette. “Penny for Your Thoughts, Proper 27(B) – 2015”.
Accessed: 5 Nov. 2015.
http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/stw/2015/10/19/penny-for-your-thoughts-proper-27b-2015/
Harper’s
Bible Commentary.
General Ed.: James. L. Mays. San Francisco: Harper & Row
Publishers, 1988.
Harper’s
Bible Dictionary.
General Ed.: Paul J. Achtemeier. San Francisco: Harper & Row
Publishers, 1971.
Holy
Bible with the Apocrypha.
New Revised Standard Version. New York: Oxford University Press.
1989.
Jewish
Study Bible: Jewish Publication Society TANAKH Translation.
New York: Oxford University Press. 2004.
“Man
cashes in pennies he's been saving for 45 years”.
http://www.usatoday./story/news/nation-now/2015/10/28/man-cashes-pennies-hes-been-saving-45-years/74727160/
Accessed: 2 Nov. 2015.
Wines,
Alphonetta. “Commentary on Ruth 3:1-5; 4:13-17”.
http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2617
Accessed: 7 Nov. 2015. Note: Author is Pastor, Bible Scholar, and
Theologian, Dido
United Methodist Church, Fort Worth, TX. She quotes from Kristen
Nielsen, “Other Writings (Ruth, Song of Songs, Esther, Daniel)”
in The
Hebrew Bible Today: An Introduction to Critical Issues.”
Eds: Steven L. McKenzie, M. Patrick Graham. Louisville: Westminster
John Knox Press, 1998.
1
Jewish Study Bible.
P. 1578.
2
Ibid.
3
Wines,
Alphonetta.
http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2617.
Accessed: 7 Nov. 2015.
4
Harper’s
Bible Dictionary.
P. 717.
5
“What's
in Your Heart?” http://www.sermons4kids.com/
Accessed: 3 Nov. 2015.
6
Ibid
7
“Man
cashes in pennies he's been saving for 45 years” Accessed: 2 Nov.
2015.
8
Benoit, The Rev.
Arlette. “Penny for Your Thoughts, Proper 27(B) – 2015”.
Accessed: 5 Nov. 2015.
http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/stw/2015/10/19/penny-for-your-thoughts-proper-27b-2015/
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