The Way for Widows and Infants
Listen here.
The title for this message is The Way for Widows and …Infants. That’s the title I chose over a
month ago when I was planning out the sermons across the Easter season. But
when I was typing it into the worship service I typed The Way for Widows and … Orphans. The reason I did that was because
I am highly skilled, which also explains why I didn’t catch my goof when I
edited the worship service. So, please excuse my goof and stick with Widows and
Infants. Because, those two groups of people are brought to our attention in
our readings today.
Two of our texts mention some of the most fragile people
that you might think of: Widows and Infants.
Now these days, widows can be some tough ladies. Beyond
capable of taking care of themselves they do so much. They give generously.
They serve others. They help at church and they help their families, too. So,
it might seem strange or even offensive to think of widows as fragile. But in
the days of the early church, they were! They were socially and economically
fragile because, generally, women had no income in those days. There was no
social security, and women who were not married were often in a precarious
position. They often had no property, and they had to rely on their children
and extended family to provide for them. But if they had no children, or if
their children were too young to work, there was no system to help them other
than begging.
And that was what was at the heart of the problem in our
first reading from Acts 6. The church had taken responsibility for the widows
in their fellowship and through the generosity of the body they provided for
them through a daily distribution of either food or money, or maybe it varied.
But it seems that some of the widows were better taken care of than others. It
seems that there was preferential treatment based on the ethnic background of
the widow, leaving those of a not strictly Hebrew background without the care
they needed. The widows were fragile.
Seeing infants as fragile is easy for us even today. It’s
obvious that they cannot take care of themselves. Even after they are born they
are still completely reliant on their mother, their parents, or at least
someone to take care of them.
What is perhaps not so obvious in what we’re talking about
here is that in many ways the position of widows and infants is also our
position in relationship to God. Spiritually we are completely dependent on
Jesus and the daily regular provision of faith and forgiveness he gives to us
through the ministry of the Holy Spirit and through the Word and Sacraments.
In Acts the church felt compassion for the widows and
decided to help them; a loving thing to do. When it went wrong and they brought
it to the apostles they gave the task of solving the problem to others. They
said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve
tables.” And they instructed them to choose others to do that work. It was not
because the apostles didn’t care for the widows. They were focused on another
need. They knew that for people to have eternal life they needed to proclaim
the word of God – to tell people about Jesus, his sacrificial death and his
victorious resurrection. They knew that this was the Gospel – the good news of
forgiveness and hope in Jesus. They couldn’t turn away from that work. They saw
how fragile they themselves were apart from Jesus – and they saw how important
it was go distribute this life giving Word as their main work.
And friends, this is what got Stephen in trouble, too. He
wasn’t stoned to death because he was out there feeding widows. Nor was he
stoned because he was making sure different ethnic groups were treated fairly.
Those are good and important things to do, but notice that Stephen was stoned
for proclaiming Jesus.
This message of salvation through Jesus’ death and
resurrection is so important that it is even worth dying for. Why? Because no
one can come to God apart from Jesus.
That is an unpopular idea these days. It seems that more and
more people want to believe – and this includes Christians – that all roads
lead to God. That all that matters is that you believe something to guide your
life and it will all be okay. But Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the
life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” And in Acts 4 the apostles
testified, “There is no other name given under heaven, given among men, by
which we must be saved,” than the name of Jesus.
Today we are being urged to be completely depended on Jesus.
Peter writes, “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk.” That
milk is the gospel truth of Jesus the Son of God crucified and raised for you!
He’s saying, “Look! Here is your salvation! Don’t you want more and more of
it?”
And through His salvation, God works something wonderful in
us. He builds us into a spiritual house – a place that welcomes people,
welcomes sinners, cares for their needs – physical and spiritual. He makes us
into a holy priesthood offering spiritual sacrifices. This is our service to
God by serving others, it is acts of mercy in the world, but it is also sharing
the hope we have in Jesus! Declaring the deeds of our savior who has called us
out of darkness into his marvelous light. And notice that all of this is
acceptable – not because we were able to do them, but they are acceptable
through Jesus. Even in our good works we must rely on Jesus.
Friends, like the widows in Acts, we are those who have
received mercy. Not once. Not twice but continually! We received God’s mercy
and forgiveness when we first believed in Jesus. We received it in our baptism.
We received it today in absolution when we confessed our sins. We will receive
it again in the Lord’s Supper.
Sometimes people will ask, “If I’m already forgiven, why do
I need things like baptism or the Lord’s Supper?” It is because we never get
enough of God’s mercy. He always wants to give us more! More love! More
forgiveness! He pours it into our lives that it might overflow from us … to our
children, to our neighbors, to our enemies. Receive his daily distribution of
mercy, forgiveness, and salvation, and share it with others. Everyone needs Jesus
who is the way for widows and infants … and for us. Amen.
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