Proof of a Prophet: the widow's son. Last week, I had the honor and privilege of
representing St. Bart's at a gathering of grant recipients from the San Francisco ...
Rev. Joyce Parry Moore Sermon 6/09/13 – Proper 5, 3rd Sunday after Pentecost St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church, Livermore, CA
Proof of a Prophet: the widow’s son Last week, I had the honor and privilege of representing St. Bart’s at a gathering of grant recipients from the San Francisco Foundation. Our Big Heart Wellness Center/ Noye’s Fludde is among 35 projects selected to receive funding from the FAITHs program at the Foundation. As I sat and listened to fellow grantees speak about their faith-based, social service projects, it was like witnessing miracle after miracle; like seeing life breathed back into the Church. These projects, many located in Oakland, but also in South Hayward, in San Francisco, and now Livermore, serve those who need help most, and who are often forgotten: single mothers without adequate shelter or food, people living with addictions on the streets, at risk youth after school in East Oakland, same gender loving Christians in the Asian and Pacific Islander community. An inspiring group of pastors, priests and lay people created what felt like a spiritual revival, so full of passion were they for helping those with the least power in our society. And that is who we meet in the today’s Bible readings: the widow and her son. In the time of both Elijah and of Jesus, being a widow meant being the poorest and the most disregarded of all groups. In a society ruled by men, a woman without a husband relied completely upon the generosity of her community. She could not earn money or own property. Her son represented her only hope for the future; now that hope had died. And yet, this woman gave nourishment to Elijah: so often, it is those who are acquainted with pain, with hunger, with suffering who know how to be generous with others. They have learned the compassion of Jesus. During our meeting on Tuesday, one woman from a Baptist church in East Oakland who runs a feeding program talked about knowing each client by name, treating them with respect and dignity, because she herself knew what it was like to be hungry, to be homeless, and without hope. She also knew the miracle of God’s abundance. The story in the Book of Kings takes place in the time of King Ahab – Elijah is called to the scene, because Ahab has lost his way, lost his faith, and this has caused scarcity in the country. The widow’s house symbolizes that scarcity – she has only one portion of meal and a bit of oil. Yet the prophet Elijah speaks a message of hope against that scarcity: there will be enough meal, enough oil, to last for as long as needed. God will provide. This is the message of truth and hope that a prophet speaks to the power of a culture that does not believe – a culture that has lost sight of the value of each human being, especially the lives of our young people. All around our country, and here in the Bay Area, in communities as close by as Hayward, Oakland, Antioch, young people are dying from violence, violence that begins when people lose Page 1 of 3
Rev. Joyce Parry Moore St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church, Livermore, CA
Sermon 6/09/13 Proof of a Prophet
faith in God’s abundance, when they think they must fight and kill one another to have enough; when their hope dies. And each of these precious children of God has a mother, who is as angry as the one in the story from Kings, when she talks back to Elijah: “Why did you even come here!? You barged into my life, and exposed my mistakes, and then because of you my son is dead!” She did not believe that Elijah was a true man of God just because he said so; she needed to see results, she needed to witness change in her life and the life of her son. She sought fulfillment of the Psalm: “The Lord . . . gives justice to those who are oppressed, and food to those who hunger . . he sustains the orphan and the widow . . . throughout all generations”. Elijah prays for the life of not only this widow’s child, but for all future generations, for the hope of us all, connected to one another in both our need and in our blessings. And when God breathes life – breathes hope – into the body of this beloved son that hope reaches all the way into the time of Luke’s Gospel. The widow’s son in Luke’s story has grown into a man, on the brink of change, of having voice and power, when his life is taken away. And Jesus revives him, so that he may speak. And I like to think that, not only does the revival of this precious son provide proof of Jesus’ authority as a prophet and foreshadow Jesus’ own future resurrection, but that the widow’s son becomes a prophet himself. Who better to spread the good news throughout all the country than one who received such abundant grace? The best evangelists are those who understand God’s blessing, and can speak from their own experience about the power of the Spirit. Yesterday, four of our youth, along with two adults, kneeled before our Bishop at Grace Cathedral to profess their faith and to receive the blessings of the Holy Spirit for their future service in the Episcopal Church. The gospel reading for the day was the beatitudes, from Matthew’s gospel. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted”; Jesus had compassion and comforted the mourning widow. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God”; yesterday as light streamed into the cathedral upon the pure faces of the faithful, we truly beheld God in our midst. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God”; Bishop Marc reminded us that our call to be peacemakers in this world of anxiety connects us to all believers of every generation. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake . . . Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven . . . for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you”. When we profess our faith in Jesus Christ, and in God’s kingdom of justice and peace, we claim not only heavenly blessing, but also the burden of the prophets. Prophets like Paul, and Elijah, and even the widow’s son, who rose up and told the Good News of resurrection. Page 2 of 3
Rev. Joyce Parry Moore St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church, Livermore, CA
Sermon 6/09/13 Proof of a Prophet
Together with believers of every generation, let us also rise up and speak, serving those who are in need. Let us glorify God out of gratitude for all we have been given. And let the renewed children of God rejoice by saying…. AMEN!
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