Sunday Stretch: Vol. 101

Start off your week with a grounded take on Bible, prayer, the world, and your life ...

Hi Readers,

If you’re looking for some post-election commentary from me related to my long background and coverage of Christian Nationalism, you can find it here.

Other than that - I’m pretty spent. Tired. Cynical. Nihilistic. Frustrated with myself for ignoring signs I saw coming and failing to hold powerful people accountable for not telling the truth.

I’ll be preaching this morning at 10:45 at Lake Nokomis Lutheran Church, and I know that time in worship will be important today and in the time ahead. All forms of idolatry, including political idols on the left and the right, have to be knocked down in order to continue a strong fight against Christian Nationalism.

The days ahead require courage and community. I’m grateful that many of us continue to find it here in this space. Thanks for being here.

Let’s get to the texts!

The Widow's Mite by J. Kirk Richards

Bible Stories

1Kings 17:8   Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, ⁹ “Go now to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and live there; for I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” ¹⁰ So he set out and went to Zarephath. When he came to the gate of the town, a widow was there gathering sticks; he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, so that I may drink.” ¹¹ As she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” ¹² But she said, “As the LORD your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a jug; I am now gathering a couple of sticks, so that I may go home and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.” ¹³ Elijah said to her, “Do not be afraid; go and do as you have said; but first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterwards make something for yourself and your son. ¹⁴ For thus says the LORD the God of Israel: 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.” ¹⁵ She went and did as Elijah said, so that she as well as he and her household ate for many days. ¹⁶ The jar of meal was not emptied, neither did the jug of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD that he spoke by Elijah.

This is such a fascinating story, and honestly one with more theological insight to it than I probably have the spoons to unpack today. One of my initial reactions when I read this story as a mom of two boys is always like - oh my gosh - some other guy asking me to get him a snack when I’m exhausted and out of everything! But also - I don’t know - maybe there’s a piece of hope for us here today. When it seems that we have given all we have, instead of turning inward, if we turn outward toward the world, God gives in abundance more than we could have imagined.

Questions to Ponder

What is the significance of Elijah’s first words to the widow: Do not be afraid?

What do you make of the fact that we don’t know the widow or her son’s name?

What parallels do you see here to other Bible stories, like the manna for Israelites in the wilderness? Or the Feeding of the 5,000?

Hebrews 9:24-28

Heb. 9:24 For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made by human hands, a mere copy of the true one, but he entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. ²⁵ Nor was it to offer himself again and again, as the high priest enters the Holy Place year after year with blood that is not his own; ²⁶ for then he would have had to suffer again and again since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to remove sin by the sacrifice of himself. ²⁷ And just as it is appointed for mortals to die once, and after that the judgment, ²⁸ 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.

I think I’ve said here before that the letter to the Hebrews, overall, is not always my favorite of the letters in the New Testament. I find some of its language to be overly spiritualized and kind of hard to relate to, especially coming from a theological tradition that is suspicious of high priests and sacramental theology, in some ways. But then again in this text, I think we see a critique of a shallow sacramental theology, one that elevates human priests and church traditions over the body and blood of Jesus Christ.

What do you think about the notion in verse 24, of heaven described as a “true sanctuary”?

Why does the writer of this letter critique the practice of ongoing sacrifice by the high priest, “with blood that is not his own?”

What do you think about the idea of the Second Coming?

Mark 12:38-44

Mark 12:38   As he taught, he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in