Loving God, we so easily slip into fear in this world, even as you continue to call us to love and to trust in you.  By the power of your Holy Spirit, set us free for lives of service in your name; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

    A young boy stood at the back of the church studying a plaque on the wall that listed many names.  As the pastor walked by, the boy asked him why all of those names were listed and who the people were.  The pastor explained that the plaque was there to help them to remember those who had died in the service.  The boy thought about this for a moment and then asked in a trembling voice, “Which one - the 9 o’clock or the 11?”

    While you may well have heard this before, it’s a joke that exposes some striking similarities in vocabulary between the church and the military.  We speak about Christian service and we also speak about military service.  We speak about people who sacrifice their lives for their country, and we speak about Jesus, who sacrificed himself for the sins of the world (Heb. 9:26).  We speak about body armour, and we read in the Scriptures about “the whole armour of God” (Eph. 6:11).  There are hymns that use militaristic images, and there are passages that talk about being soldiers of Christ (2 Tim. 2).

    At the same time, there are many Christians who are pacifists – who put far more emphasis on the passages that talk about beating your swords into ploughshares and turning the other cheek.  Some even refuse any form of military service, because it goes against their beliefs.  However, if we are to believe John Longhurst, writing in yesterday’s Winnipeg Free Press, even a pacifist can wear a poppy, and remember, and pray that nobody will ever need to experience the horrors of war again.

    I remember some time within the past year or two seeing a commercial that was inviting people to consider serving in the Canadian Armed Forces.  One of the phrases that was used in this commercial was “fight fear.”  While that may perhaps be part of what the military does, our Christian faith actually has a great deal more to say about what it takes to cast out fear.

    Above all, casting out fear has to do with our relationship with God.  When we trust God for all that is needed – when we love God with all our heart and mind and strength – when we recognize that God is the only one with power over life and death – then we have no need to live in fear.  Ultimately, regardless of our military might or lack thereof, our lives are in God’s hands.

    Today, I’d like to invite you to focus for a few moments on the people in today’s Scripture readings who do trust God for all that is needed.  They are not afraid of losing all that they have, for they have practically nothing to lose.  This has set them free to live by faith and to be generous.  They remind me of other people I have met who are poor and generous and happy.  Oddly enough, as we think about Remembrance Day, both of them are widows.

    The widow in the reading from 1 Kings is down to her last meal.  She is about to prepare the last of her food for herself and her son, and figures that after that, they will die.  However, then Elijah shows up with a pretty demanding request, as well as a promise from the God of Israel.  She is to prepare a little cake of bread for Elijah first, and then she can make something for herself and her son – even though she knows that she doesn’t have enough ingredients to do this.  However, the promise from the God of Israel – which is significant because this widow is outside of Israel – is that “the jar of meal will not be emptied and the jug of oil will not fail until the day that the Lord sends rain on the earth” (1 Ki. 17:14).  (Remember this was in the middle of a drought.)

    The widow does as Elijah asks and discovers that God does, indeed, provide.  She, and her son, and Elijah eat for many days from that same jar of meal and jug of oil – all because she was not afraid to give the last of what she had to a stranger in need.

    The other widow in today’s readings – the widow in the gospel – also is not afraid to give the very last penny that she has.  We could probably have quite the debate about whether she was wise or not to give her last penny to the temple treasury.  After all, the temple was a huge complex that took huge sums of money in order to run it.  Some might say that her offering would make no difference, and others might say that perhaps those coins might have bought her some small morsel of food.  However, are those objections based on faith or on fear?

    I think that Jesus points out this widow to his disciples, at least partially because she is demonstrating a right relationship with God.  She knows that she doesn’t have enough to live on.  She knows that a couple of copper coins won’t buy very much (if anything at all).  However, she also knows that her hope is in God, and she is willing to put her whole self into that relationship.  Where God is concerned, it is a small thing to give all that she has, for she knows that her life and all that she has belongs to God anyways.

    However, for those who have an abundance of possessions and lots to live on, it is that much harder to be in a right relationship with God.  It also seems to become that much easier to live in fear.  We hang on to things because we’re afraid that we might need them sometime, or we somehow feel more secure with lots of stuff around.  The more nice things that we have, the more we are afraid that they will get stolen or damaged.  We’re afraid that we won’t have enough.  We’re afraid that we may not get our fair share.  We’re afraid that if we give too much away, we’ll be left without enough for ourselves.

    When we are in a right relationship with God through Jesus Christ, we know that God is the one who gives us all things and who provides what is needed to those who love and serve God.  When we are in a right relationship with God we are set free to be generous, for we give as an expression of trust that God will continue to provide.  When we are in a right relationship with God we are set free, not only to give of our resources, but to give our whole selves in service to God and to others.

    We remember today those who have given themselves for others and for their country, and some for God as well.  At the same time, we are challenged once again to put God above all else – even above nation and race and religion.  When Jesus offered himself in a life of service to others and as a sacrifice for sin, it was not just for his own people or his own country.  It was for all people – including us!

    Let us then give thanks for all those who serve others, for all those who work to bring peace, and for all those who seek to make this world a better place.  At the same time, let us give thanks for Jesus Christ, who has set us free to live in relationship with God, trusting that God will continue to provide all that is needed for those who love him.  Amen.

Lectionary 32 (B) / Remembrance Day                    Mark 12:38-44
November 11, 2012                            1 Kings 17:8-16
St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church                        Hebrews 9:24-28
Pastor Lynne Hutchison

© 2012 Lynne Hutchison  All Rights Reserved