Three Widows

Robert E. Hall
Tarrytown United Methodist Church

November 8, 2009

Text: Ruth 3:1-5, 4:13-17 and Mark 12: 38-44

There are four widows in scripture stories today: Naomi, widow of Elimilech and his wife Naomi; Orpah, the widow of Naomi’s son, Chilion; and Ruth, the widow of her other son, Mahlon. And, centuries later, the nameless widow whom Jesus watched as she put two copper coins in the offering.

During the time of Judges, when the people of God were united in a loose confederation of the twelve tribes, Naomi and Elimilech had emigrated from Bethlehem to Moab. They were Jews. Their sons married women of Moab, outsiders to the covenant. When the sons died, Naomi, Orpah and Ruth were desolate. In this patriarchal society, women without husbands were defenseless unless some other man provided for them.

They experienced compounded grief and anxiety about their future well-being. They were at risk.

Naomi packs up to go back home to Bethlehem where, she had heard, there was ample food. She tells her daughters-in-law to stay in Moab, return to their own mothers; perhaps the Lord will deal kindly with them by providing a place in their husband’s house.

With tears, they both insist that they want to go with her to Bethlehem. Orpah finally relents and stays in Moab, but Ruth clings to her mother-in-law. But there is a deep bond with Naomi. “Entreat me not to leave you, or to turn from following you. For where you go, I will go, where you lodge I will lodge; your people shall be my people and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. I solemnly declare before the Lord that nothing but death will part me from you!” When Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more.”

It was a great risk for Ruth to go with Naomi. Would she be accepted there, by her husband’s relatives? There were no guarantees that the male relatives will take her in and provide for her. Naomi’s security was far from assured.

Ruth’s love for her husband’s mother is the stuff of legend. Their loving kindness and loyalty toward each other draws us into the story. And in her love for Ruth, there is the intimation of a faith being born. Perhaps the God of Naomi and Chilion was already active in her life. She would not go back to the gods of her own family. She had a new family and a new destiny.

The rest of the story? They arrive in Jewish territory. There is fine upstanding relative of Naomi by the name of Boaz. Under Jewish law, he would have been obliged to inherit the land to which Naomi’s husband would have-----and the right to marry the widow. But would things work out? Would the Lord provide?

Yes, but not out of the blue! (See James Newsome, Texts for Preaching, Year B, pages 577-578)

Naomi is a woman of action! She tells Ruth, “Go and glean in Boaz’s fields: pick up grain that is left after the harvest (a kind of charity for the destitute.)” Naomi instructs Ruth what to do to get his attention and to win his heart.

After several heart-stopping twists in the story (another, closer relative had rights to the land and to the widow) Boaz takes a shine to her. They marry, and Ruth has a son. And it is only in the last verses that we discover why this beautiful story has a larger meaning! Ruth’s son, Obed, becomes the father of Jesse, who is the father of David (of sling shot and harp-playing fame) who becomes the king, who leads Israel to victory over its enemies----the quintessential monarch.

And forty-four generations later, Jesus is born to Joseph (in David’s line) and Mary, in the city of David, a place known as Bethlehem. Jesus is a descendent of David.

Out of Ruth’s devotion and Naomi’s perseverance and cleverness, out of their love for each other, God has wrought Israel’s future. Was all this fore-ordained? Were they being pulled along like puppets? No, they made decisions and God worked with their decisions.

And the fourth widow’s story is told by Mark.

Jesus, born in Bethlehem, grew up and, in his last teaching session before his dark prediction of the destruction of the temple and then his last supper, betrayal, arrest, torture and execution-----in this last seminar, Jesus is sitting with his closest friends and watching goings-on in the temple precincts. He sees well-to-do people putting large sums on the temple treasury.

The treasury kept the temple and its workers afloat. Yes, it was a system which was abused (as the previous comment about the scribes stealing widows houses from them tells us! They apparently sponged off poor widows to get enough for themselves to live.) Faithful, observant Jews, who were waiting for Messiah, gave to the temple, which was the location, as was believed, of God’s holy presence with his people.

Then Jesus sees a widow (known by her poverty and her dress) put in two copper coins, which made a penny, the lowest denominator of coin available. Jesus says, “Others put in what they had to spare of their riches; she, poor as she is, put in all she had.”

We do not know more about this nameless woman. Was she destitute? Did she live on the charity of others? Did she have sons who were taking care of her? Uncles? We do not know. All we know is that she gave extravagantly, considering her circumstance. (If all she had was two coins, she could have put in one!)

In this story, “Jesus exalts quiet, matter of course and total giving, which does not make a big fuss about the deed…..[He calls attention to the act of ] “letting go of every security….[trusting] completely in God’s mercy,” God’s provision for her future. (Eduard Schweitzer, The Gospel of Mark)

Jesus has taught the disciples that the power of sacrificial love will accomplish God’s will, that this is his calling---and theirs. These disciples and those who first told the story, which got put into this gospel, would have understood: the widow’s trust in God as they face the future, a future with suffering and risk, will get them through. Nothing less than complete commitment will do.

Three widows trust God and do what they believe to be right. None of the three were powerful; they were not of noble birth. But, as the apostle Paul says to the Corinthians, “God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong. God chose what is low in the world to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.” (First Corinthians 1: 26-31) These women were faithful, and not passively. They acted.

How does God “act?” In retrospect, we can see God’s hand in the big events of history. “His truth is marching on!” we sing as we call to mind the Civil War. But more often, God works through the hunches, the planning, the risks that ordinary people take every day. These three widows’ faith inspires us.

Thank God for the three widows, whose stories we still tell. These stories remind us that God works through our human choices and commitments----even when we may not be aware that this is happening.