“The Widow’s Mite” – Daniel Bonnell
Have you ever heard the expression, “I’m all in?”
For instance, “I’m all in for St Peter’s!” this part of the Body of Christ.
And today is all about being all in.
So, with the help of your imaginations, I want to check in with several people who are all in.
Sign: The Widow of Zarephath, around 2700 years ago
Prop: A jar with a little bit of meal in the bottom
A piece of fabric for a shawl
Our village has been suffering from a drought. Nothing grew last year, and I didn’t have much laid away for hard times since I’m a widow.
The other day, I was out gathering sticks to build one last fire to cook one last cake out of the last of the meal and the oil I had, so that I could feed myself and my son, and then we would end up starving to death because that’s it, nothing more to eat!
But then a stranger showed up and was pretty much insistent that I get him some water, and then he asked for a little bit of bread. He told me not to be afraid because the Lord God of Israel had told him that my jar of meal wouldn’t be emptied and the oil in my jug wouldn’t run out until it rained and crops could grow again.
Well, what choice did I have? If this stranger was just tricking me for my last little dab of food, what did it matter? Because the end result would be the same.
So, I decided! What have I got to lose? Why be afraid? This Lord God of Israel promised mercy for me and my son.
“I’m all in!” Here’s my little bit of meal to feed a stranger.
Sign: A Scribe, around 2000 years ago
The cloak and a bright stole.
I’m a scribe—an authority when it comes to the law, and to our holy scripture. I found that by fleecing the very people I was supposed to care for because of my position, I could feather my own nest, and the more I had, the more people looked up to me.
Those prayers you see me saying help you to believe that I’m all in for the Lord and the ones I’m to care for, but don’t be fooled. To look at me, you’d think that I’m all in for God!
But I’ll let you in on a secret. “I’m all in!” But not for God! I’m all in for ME!
Sign: The poor widow with only two almost worthless coins
Prop: A piece of fabric for a shawl
Two pennies in a change purse
So far it hasn’t worked out the way it should. I’ve always been told that our Lord sustains the orphans and the widows and cares for the stranger. But in spite of having applied to the scribes in the temple for help, I’m still waiting and hoping. Now all I have left are these two small coins.
I really do believe that the Lord will move the hearts of those who are to care for those of us who have no way to care for ourselves. I’ll give all I have left so that the Lord can put it, even as small as it is, to good use. So, “I’m all in!”
Sign: World War I Soldier, around 1917
Prop: Sign shaped like a dog tag: Delbridge, William M. O Pos. 237-77-7177 US Army Baptist
Back in 1914, when the war started over in Europe, we here in the United States were not all in, that’s for sure. But then, as the Germans became more and more aggressive, President Wilson had no choice but to go to Congress and to ask for a declaration of war against Germany. I got drafted and sent to over here to Europe in 1917. Now I’m fighting for my life in the trenches in France, doing all I can to survive the bullets, the shells and the mustard gas, hoping to get home.
These long days in the trenches have made me realize that I’m fighting for more than my life. I want our way of government, our democracy, to continue. And I heard that this war is being called the war to end all wars. So even if I die in this war, I’m willing go give my life, hoping against hope that another war will never have to be fought and that people everywhere can live in peace from now on.
So, “I’m all in.”
Sign: Dan West, 1944
Prop: Old Farm Jacket
My name is Dan West, a farmer from the mid-west. I’ve been in Spain with my church, The Church of the Brethren, and we, along with the Mennonites and the Quakers, took care of refugee children. One day, when I was giving a child a cup of milk, I thought to myself, “These children need a cow.” So I brought my idea home to my neighbors and the church, and they liked the idea. So we formed The Heifers for Relief Committee. We’ve just sent seventeen heifers that my farmer friends donated down to Puerto Rico. We named three of the heifers Faith, Hope and Charity, and everyone who gets a heifer has to promise that the first female calf will be donated to another family needing a cow. My friends keep donating pregnant dairy cows! All of us are ALL IN!
During announcements, we’ll hear more from Melanie Kepinos, the liason for this area for Heifer Internations.
Sign: Felicia, Andrew, Dorian, and Everett James Huffman, November 11th, 2018
Prop: Water
In just a few minutes, we’re going to renew our baptismal vows. This act is a reminder that we Christians are trying our best to live as God’s people out in the world. We will join in the baptismal covenant today in thanksgiving for who God is, and in thanksgiving we say who we are striving to be as God’s people out in the world. We’re ALL IN!
And parents who choose to have their children baptized want their children to know God with all their hearts and souls and minds. Felicia and Andrew, by bringing Everett here to be washed in this baptismal water, are making a statement of faith in God on Everett’s behalf, that someday he will take up for himself the Baptismal promies that they will make for him today. And whether he finds himself rich or poor, living in peace or in war, living with something to give, or needing instead to receive—no matter what, his parents are full of hope that he will always know that God is with him, and that God is merciful and full of compassion.
Felicia and Andrew are all in! Everett’s godparents, Ashley and Scott are all in!
And we are going to promise to do all we can to support Everett in his life in Christ, because We’re All In.
Sign: Jesus, From Before Time and Forever
Prop: A Cross
Jesus, Son of God, lived and died as one of us. Jesus brought the kingdom of God near by caring for the sick, the demon possessed, the hungry, those whose souls were empty and longed to be filled. He wanted the people to remember his Father was full of compassion, mercy and love, so they could love God and one another as God loves each one of us, mercifully, and without exception. The love of Jesus was so radical that he was put to death on a cross, and in dying, he set us free to live fully in God’s love. When God resurrected Jesus, the doorway into eternal life for us all swung wide open, so that even now we can catch those glimpses into eternity. And so we eagerly wait now for Jesus so to appear a second time and as this age closes, for all things to once again become new, and right, and good.
Jesus is all in for us.
And I hope that above everything else in our lives, we are all in for Him.
Amen.