For Sunday the 10th of November, 2024 (Proper 27)
As we gather for worship Sunday the Old Testament and Gospel readings draw our attention to poor widows who gave all they had in service to the LORD. In the first case we hear how God miraculously provided for the needs of the widow and her son until the famine ended. Jesus doesn’t say how the widow fared who gave to the LORD all she had to live on. That he commends her for her devotion, however, shows he knows her circumstances, and Scripture teaches, “The LORD . . . upholds the widow and the fatherless” (Ps. 146:9). The reading from Hebrews makes it clear neither the widows, nor any of us for that matter, can do anything to open the way that allows sinners to come to God. Jesus did that once for all by the sacrifice of himself. May he keep us from thinking we have anything we can or must offer him to win his favor and lead us instead to respond to him in heartfelt gratitude as we eagerly wait for him to return and deliver us.
