The Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

The Texts: Mark 12:38-44, Hebrews 9:24-28, 1 Kings 17:8-16

In the Name of our Triune God – Father, + Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Dearly beloved of the Lord,

So, what to make of all this… the times we are in? I guess it depends on what you are referring to. This time in our country, with the elections over? This time in the Church here below as we continue to fight the good fight of faith? Or are we referring to this particular time in yours and my own personal lives?

The here and now… what to make of it? Where the world and those of the world would be happy to share their assessment of it all, we in the Church are different minded. And this, no more so as we consider the fact of our being in the last Sundays of the Church Year. This, the third last Sunday. It is all coming to an end with the last day fast approaching. And here I am referring to the end of time… to what we in the Church know as the “parousia.” So very soon our Lord and Master comes to judge the living and the dead.

In case there is any confusion by the way… last Tuesday did not mark the beginning of the end be it of the world or this country with there being absolutely no need for the weeping and gnashing of teach. This would have been the case as well had there been the exact opposite of results. In it all, through it all, Jesus is Lord.

The true beginning of the end started with our Christ’s ascension into heaven where, seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty, He rules over all things in heaven and on earth. Again, in case there is any confusion, that includes the United States of America.

In regard to the divine end of it all, did you catch what the writer to the Hebrews tells us in our Epistle lesson for today saying, “Just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.” (Hebrews 9:27-28)

That would be us and all the faithful… all God’s children… eagerly waiting and awaiting. We who are coming out of the great tribulation taking place on earth in the here and now… we who in Holy Baptism have had our robes made white in the Blood of the Lamb… for us… our last day and the world’s last day hold no fear or consternation.

For us, not an ounce of trepidation when at last the trumpet sounds and we with all the world behold our Lord descending from on high with angels and archangels in full glory and splendor.

Why no fear? Because Christ has already dealt with our sin, once and for all, upon the cross, and He comes to make our salvation complete as He takes us to our heavenly home.

Oh, how we eagerly wait for Him… for Jesus, our Jesus, to return… to take us out of this veil of tears to Himself in heaven. That which will be grand and glorious… that which will soon be.

But have we answered the question as to what to make of all this, in the here and now?

Put quite simply, it is a mess and it is only going to get messier. The darkness deepens and we pray all the more fervently, “Lord, with me abide!”

And He does. He is with us through it all, in it all. Always to provide. As He lovingly cared for His chosen people throughout their wilderness journey heading to the Promised Land, so He does with us each and every day… providing for us… seeing to our needs… even when times are tough and oh-so bleak.

I am not sure they could have gotten tougher or bleaker for the widow of Zarephath. Among all of the sad comments we find in Holy Scripture, her words are among the saddest when she tells Elijah she has but a handful of flour and a little oil left and “now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die.” (1 Kings 17:12)

All right then. For all intents and purposes, this woman felt that she had reached the end… for both her and her son. And for good reason. She was scraping the bottom of the barrel, literally in regard to what food was left and figuratively in both body and soul.

Maybe not to the same dire level as this woman, we can nevertheless relate… can we not… to having reached our limit at times with nothing in reserve… being fully spent… seeing… believing… there to be no way out… no going on… no hope. Worldly speaking, that may be true. But not spiritually… not with our loving God. With Him there is always hope… always help. Sure and certain.

We are quick to forget this. We quickly lose sight of how He miraculously, wonderfully provides… saves… spares us. He knows our needs and sees to them always… constantly and consistently. All we need do is trust… to have faith in Him… He who is our Creator, Provider, Sustainer… our Savior and our Sanctifier. Indeed, He is our everything. Always has been, always will be.

The flour… the oil… did not run out for the widow of Zarephath and her son. Neither will they for you and me. We will never be without… without the Lord, that is…. who will provide for us according to His good and perfect will.

He has an unbroken track record of this in your life, mine and that of all His people. And if such is the past… why would we worry… need to worry about the present… the here and now? Why would we worry about the future?

Instead, we can go on in confidence, my friends. In peace and the assurance that the Lord our God is with us… He who loves us so. And in that confidence, we can make the most of each day, using what God has given… all of our spiritual and worldly treasures… in the “here and now”… giving generously… doing, serving, seeing to the needs of others… knowing without a shadow of a doubt that the Lord will continue to see to our need without fail.

The other widow in today’s readings certainly understood this… trusted this… trusted Him. The one in the temple. She could give all that she had to the Lord knowing He was the source of those copper coins that she placed in the treasury and that His giving, His providing, His love, His mercy, His grace toward her would not end… not that day… not ever.

Do you know the same? Do you act and live in light of the same? As pastors we get to ask the hard questions… questions we first pose to ourselves. As well as first calling ourselves to repentance for our weakness, our worry, our hesitation, our holding back at times with no reason not to go on, move on with confidence, living in joy and peace.

Thanks be to God for the forgiveness that is ours and the opportunity to trust the Lord in the “here and now” as well as the “there and then,” while there still is time… while we are still in time.

And we do so living in His Body, the Church and in His Holy Word and the Blessed Sacraments where we never lose sight of Christ on the cross and how He emptied Himself, poured Himself out, His precious lifeblood out, fully and completely… giving everything… His all… that we may have all… and so we do, my friends… so we do. Amen.

May the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting. Amen.