Grace Episcopal Church, Madison NJ
November 11, 2012
Year B: Proper 27 – The Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Pentecost
Ruth 3:1-5; 4:13-17
Psalm 127
(Hebrews 9:24-28)
Mark 12:38-44
From Emptiness to Fulfillment
Well,
it’s been a rough couple of weeks.
Nearly
two weeks after the “super storm” hit, many of us are still reeling from the
loss of life, property, business and electricity.
Maybe
more than anything else, though, the storm battered our sense of stability and
security.
We
find ourselves living like so many people around the world, wondering –
worrying - what’s next for us. We’re not sure if our homes and possessions are
safe – or can ever be truly safe again.
On
the other hand, many of us have a renewed appreciation for the so-called simple
things of life: flicking a light switch and a light actually comes on - pulling
into a gas station without waiting for hours – finding cold leftovers in the
fridge – calling friends and family on the phone – getting to know our
neighbors.
And
it hasn’t only been the storm. We also had to endure the last few weeks of a
truly dismal, and obscenely expensive, presidential election. Whatever you
think of the final result, I think we’re all glad it’s over.
All
of this has left me drained – has left me feeling empty. Maybe you feel
something similar. Over these past few days I’ve wondered and prayed about how
to get from emptiness back to fulfillment.
From
emptiness to fulfillment.
Today’s
lessons are filled with people experiencing emptiness. But, unfortunately, only
some of them are able to get from emptiness to fulfillment.
In
today’s gospel lesson, Jesus is teaching in the Jerusalem temple where he has
some not very nice things to say about the scribes. Since we think of a scribe
as simply a writer, Jesus’ indictment seems over the top. But, in those days
scribes we’re actually lawyer-theologians – people with a good bit of power and
prestige in that time and place.
Yet,
all of that power and prestige doesn’t seem to be enough for them, does it? It
seems that, like some of us, they had a sense of emptiness. But, unfortunately,
the scribes tried to fill their emptiness in all the wrong ways.
The
scribes tried to fill their emptiness by puffing themselves up; by drawing
attention to themselves and by accumulating wealth as they greedily swindled
others.
I’m
sure it didn’t work. It never really works. Those things – those actions –
don’t fill the emptiness. Jesus says that they will receive the greater
condemnation. By trying to fill their emptiness at the expense of others the
scribes have already condemned themselves.
And
then there is the poor widow. Actually, a better adjective would be destitute.
In that time and place widows owned little or nothing themselves - and were at the mercy of their
families.
At
the temple, people deposited their coins into metal trumpet-shaped receptacles.
So the clinking noise would have sounded all too clearly the size of one’s
donation. Compared to the deep sound of the thick coins deposited by the rich,
the poor widow’s little copper coins must have resonated as tinny and pathetic.
Yet,
Jesus points out that since she gave everything she had, the widow was the most
generous of all.
Notice,
though, that Jesus doesn’t say he approves of what’s just happened at the
treasury. In fact, the implication is that the widow has been taken advantage
of by the corrupt religious establishment.
And,
actually, this passage isn’t so much about the widow – who, we could argue, was
generous to a fault. No, this passage is mostly about the scribes, the
religious leaders and the rich who tried to fill their emptiness in all the
wrong ways, ending up condemned.
So,
we know what doesn’t work.
But,
how do we get from emptiness to fulfillment?
Today’s
Old Testament reading is from the Book of Ruth – a book that has a lot to say
about moving from emptiness to fulfillment.
Do
you know the story?
It
begins with Naomi and her husband, Elimelech, and their two sons leaving
Bethlehem during a time of famine and going to Moab, a neighboring land on the
eastern shore of the Dead Sea.
Both
sons married local Moabite women but then both sons and Naomi’s husband, Elimelech
died.
Talk
about emptiness! It seemed like Naomi had lost everything – she had lost her
husband and her sons and was living in a foreign land. She understandably
decides to return home to Bethlehem. Naomi urges her Moabite daughters-in-law
to stay in their own country. But, one of the daughters-in-law, Ruth, in an act
of extraordinary generosity, insists on accompanying Naomi to Bethlehem.
In
the best-known passage from the Book of Ruth, Ruth says to her mother-in-law:
“Do not press me to leave you or to turn back from following you! Where you go,
I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and
your God my God.”
Naomi
reluctantly accepts Ruth’s generosity and together Naomi and her daughter-in-law
Ruth make their way to Bethlehem.
In
Bethlehem the foreigner Ruth goes to a field where she takes advantage of the
Israelite law that required farmers to leave part of their harvest for the
poor, the aliens and the widows. Ruth, of course, is all three.
Fortunately,
she goes to a field belonging to a man named Boaz – who goes beyond the law by
warmly welcoming her, protecting her and sharing his meal with her.
As
we heard in today’s lesson, Ruth and Boaz end up married and had a son, Obed,
who will be the grandfather of King David.
The
Book of Ruth tells the story of going from emptiness to fulfillment. Naomi and
Ruth had nothing and yet by the end of the story their lives are fuller than
they could have ever imagined.
How
did it happen? How did Naomi and Ruth get from emptiness to fulfillment?
Generosity.
Ruth
could have stayed with her own people in Moab and yet she chose to stick with
her mother-in-law.
And
it took some generosity for Naomi to accept Ruth’s love – to accept her help
and loyalty. How many of us have trouble asking for or accepting help?
Boaz
could have just followed the letter of the law and simply allowed Ruth to
gather the leftovers but instead he generously welcomes her into his home and
into his life.
And
what was true long ago is just as true today.
We’ll
fail every time if, like the scribes, we try to fill our emptiness by just
accumulating wealth and prestige – by trying to convince everyone how special
and impressive we are. Instead, we simply condemn ourselves.
But,
we move from emptiness to fulfillment through generosity.
Look
at the generosity we’ve seen in the aftermath of the storm!
As
most of you know lifelong parishioner Don Van Court died on the Thursday after
the storm. That morning, as the word got out, in the midst of toppled trees and
downed power lines, so many neighbors – some of whom only knew Marge from
seeing her walking her dog – offered help – charging phones, hauling over piles
of firewood, sharing a generator, and bringing over a little care package of
snacks and bottled water in a basket wrapped in cellophane.
From
emptiness to fulfillment through generosity.
Yesterday
some of us from Grace and other local Episcopal churches went to the Community
Food Bank in Hillside where we and other volunteers packed over 500 emergency
boxes of food for hurricane victims. It was the most fulfilled I’ve felt in
weeks!
And
we’ve even seen some generosity of spirit in the days after the presidential
election.
In
his concession speech, Governor Romney congratulated the president and his
campaign and offered prayers especially for the president and his family.
In
his speech on election night, President Obama said this: “the Romney family has
chosen to give back to America through public service, and that is a legacy
that we applaud and honor tonight.”
I
know politicians are expected to say those kinds of things on election night.
But, imagine if we had seen that kind of graciousness and generosity from both
sides throughout the campaign. Imagine if our leaders behaved that way all the
time! Imagine if we behaved that way all the time!
From
emptiness to fulfillment through generosity.
These
last few rough weeks may have left us feeling drained – may have left us with a
sense of emptiness.
But,
we know the way from emptiness to fulfillment.
It’s
the way of Ruth generously giving herself to her mother-in-law Naomi. It’s
Naomi accepting Ruth’s love and loyalty. It’s the way of Boaz who went beyond
the law to welcome the stranger.
We
know the way from emptiness to fulfillment.
It’s
the way of a group of neighbors on the hill in Madison, who in the midst of
devastation, generously reached out to a grieving neighbor.
It’s
the way of volunteers helping people we’ll never meet.
We
know the way from emptiness to fulfillment.
On
this Veterans Day we especially remember that it’s the way of men and women
willing to sacrifice their lives for our safety and freedom.
And,
most of all, it’s the way of Jesus who gave away his life for us all – and
calls us to give away our lives in loving service.
From
emptiness to fulfillment through generosity.
Amen.
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