A sermon for November 10, 2024, at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church – Buffalo, NY .
| Sermon Video |
| ⏵ 8:30am worship |
| ⏵ 10:30am worship |
| Sermon Text |
| ⏵ John 11:32-44 |
| ⏵ Mark 12:38-44 |
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen!
Are you familiar with the biblical story of Cain and Able? Cain and Able were brothers and children of Adam and Eve. Cain, in his jealousy, murdered his brother Able. In Genesis 4, God asked Cain, “’Where is your brother Abel?’ He said, ‘I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?’” (Gen 4:9).
Over time, this question of whether I am my brother’s keeper has been asked rhetorically with the assumption that the answer is “No … you’re NOT your brother’s keeper.” People assume that we are NOT responsible for guarding, protecting, and looking after our siblings – or anyone else for that matter.
But, when you consider this question in context of the whole Bible … story after story, teaching after teaching … these lead us to the conclusion that, actually, “Yes … we ARE responsible to and for each other.” Isn’t that what community is? Isn’t that what being part of the body of Christ is?
Today, the stories of two unnamed widows in our readings really get our attention.
God told Elijah to go to the town of Zarephath to meet a widow who would feed him. At first, this was not a joyful meeting. When Elijah arrived, she was gathering sticks to make a fire so she could feed her and her young son one last time. She was convinced that she and her son would soon die of starvation. She wasn’t being dramatic … there was literally no more food.
Do you hear any sense of hope? Joy? Future? Possibility? No. This is a parent who is beyond fear. She is to the point of resignation and despair. And yet, both the widow and Elijah trusted and took action. Elijah went – without provisions – to a place where he knew there was famine, and then told the widow to give him water and food. The widow shared food even though she had nothing. She was being Elijah’s keeper, but who was hers? Who was watching out for, responsible for, protecting and caring for her?
We heard about another poor widow in the reading from St. Mark. The contrast is stark. The religious leaders were living their best life: long robes, respect, best seats in the synagogue, places of honor at banquets. Jesus was also in the synagogue where he could see the religious leaders in their fine clothes and the treasury putting offerings into large jars. These jars were narrow at the top and larger at the base. When wealthy people put their offerings into these jars, the coins made a lot of noise that got the attention of the people gathered there.
By contrast, the two small copper coins this widow put into the jars wouldn’t have taken long for her to give and they wouldn’t have caused a clatter, so her offering could go unnoticed … except Jesus noticed. He noticed that she “put in everything she had, all she had to live on.” If she was giving all that she had to live on, there was no more. Like the widow of Zarephath, this widow was probably feeling resignation and despair … hopelessness. At the same time, there was profound trust.
These scriptures have been interpreted to help us to see how brave and faithful these widows are – and rightly so. But we should also see that God’s law put protections in place to care for widows who, because they were women, didn’t have the same access as men for income, housing, and employment. They were vulnerable. Something in their community failed them.
The message this morning is not only about the faith of these two widows. It is also about the strength, importance, and value of community – a community of faith that enables us to trust in times that it doesn’t make sense to trust … times of resignation and fear and despair … a community of faith that helps us to see that there is always hope. This is a message that is as powerful and necessary today as it was thousands of years ago.
Even when we are in challenging times of despair and resignation when we see no options, our faith calls us to trust God anyway – not always to know what the end result or the answer is, but still to trust. Our faith calls us not away from community, but into community where we love, care for, and support each other.
This week following the November 2024 elections has been extremely challenging for many people regardless of who you voted for. There are reasons some people are relieved and happy. There are reasons others are not happy. There are reasons women, people of color, and people in the LGBTQ+ community are afraid. In fact, the Trevor Project reported a nearly 200% increase in crisis calls from LGBTQ+ youth.
Our faith calls us to remember that we are not only community when we agree. We are not only the body of Christ when we agree. We are not only called to love our neighbors when we agree. The power and strength of the body of Christ, and the power and the strength of neighborliness are perhaps most evident when we don’t agree.
This community of faith is “about loving a hurting people and showing them a way to believe not only in themselves but also in something more than themselves.” It is about being a light in times of darkness. At times, we all need the strength of this community. We need each other.
Whether related to the election or to other circumstances in your life, you may be experiencing resignation, hopelessness, or despair right now; you may have people around you who are; or you may experience these at some point in your life.
As a community of faith, we are called to listen to and love one another as we seek to understand rather than to be understood.
Notice this week what you are feeling and experiencing and also where your neighbor might differ from you. What are their reasons? Listen to them. Really listen. As we listen, we love, care for, protect … and we are keepers for our neighbor … even as they are keepers for us.
In the name of Jesus. Amen!
For Holy Trinity’s perspective on a “wide welcome”, see our Welcome Statement.
Consider the Bible and its teaching on our responsibility to and for our neighbor: Love your neighbor as yourself, love your enemies, the Parable of the Good Samaritan, teachings on forgiveness and hospitality, words of the Old Testament prophets, instructions throughout the Bible to care for and protect the poor, the book of Ruth, and to care for “the widow, the orphan, and the resident alien in our midst.” In fact, there are 13 references in the Bible where widows, orphans, and resident aliens are grouped together!
Epicurious Lutheran 