The Unauthorized Homily

By Bill Dunn

A commentary on the Scripture readings from the Sunday Lectionary

(Scripture readings for Sunday, November 8th: 1 Kings 17:10-16; Hebrews 9:24-28; Mark 12:38-44)

DESPERATE ‘WIDOWHOOD’ NOW ENCOURAGED BY MODERN CULTURE

In the first reading this week, we hear about the prophet Elijah and the widow at Zarephath. The widow was desperately poor, but she offered to share her tiny amount of food with Elijah. Because of her faithfulness and generosity, God worked a miracle in her life. Her only source of food, a small jar of flour and a small jug of oil, did not go empty for a year, no matter how much she used them.

In the gospel reading, we hear about a poor widow who donated two small coins, worth only a few cents, to the Temple treasury. When people nearby mocked her for giving so little, Jesus pointed out that she gave more than anyone else, because she gave all that she had, while the rich people gave from their surplus wealth.

Widows are mentioned often in the Bible. In both the Old and New Testaments believers are commanded to care for widows. There is a good reason for these commands: widows need a lot of help. History has proven beyond a doubt that when the husband and father is no longer present in a family, the wife and children left behind usually end up in a very difficult financial situation.

OK, I realize I’m delving into very “old fashioned” territory here. Nowadays it’s politically incorrect to say that women and men might have different roles in the family, or to imply that a woman might not be able to support herself and her kids perfectly fine without a man. Well, sometimes “old fashioned” really means: common sense. Sometimes it means: reality. We can tell ourselves over and over that women and men are identical, or that women can get along fine without men, but the real world doesn’t care what we keep telling ourselves. Reality demonstrates beyond a doubt that it is very, very difficult for women to raise families without husbands. If that’s politically incorrect and offensive, sorry, it’s just a fact.

Anyway, since being a widow is demonstrably a difficult situation, I wonder why our culture has in the last few decades decided to celebrate and encourage “widowhood,” in other words, single motherhood.

I remember an eye-opening conversation I had with a friend in the early 1980s. At the time, my friend did a lot of volunteer work in Hispanic inner-city communities. I was an atheist back then, and I thought Roe v. Wade was a very convenient and lovely new law (especially for irresponsible men). I asked my friend why so many teenage girls in the Hispanic community were having babies when they could, I reasoned, avail themselves of Roe v. Wade if they had an unplanned pregnancy.

His answer shocked me. He told me the pregnancies were not unplanned. These teenage girls WANTED to have babies. He explained that as long as a teen was not a mother herself, she was considered a dependent in her own mother’s household, and had to live in her mother’s government subsidized apartment and live off her mother’s food stamps and welfare check. But as soon as she had a baby of her own, she would be considered a head-of-household, entitled to her own subsidized apartment and her own food stamps and welfare check.

Even though at the time I was a secular pagan and an ultra-liberal weenie, I exclaimed, “That’s insane! You mean to tell me the government is rewarding these girls for basically ruining their lives—or at least greatly reducing their chances to succeed in life?!”

He replied simply, “Yep.” He also pointed out there were only two things a teenage mother could do to disrupt the flow of government benefits: get a job or marry the father of her baby.

In the early 1980s I was still a few years away from becoming a believer in God, but that conversation with my friend was the first step in my journey away from muddle-headed liberalism, away from the view that feelings are more important than facts, and emotions more important than evidence.

In the Bible, being a widow was considered a desperate situation. When a man died of illness, accident, or war, the wife and kids he left behind were usually in trouble and had to depend upon the generosity of the community. It certainly was not a circumstance anyone would willing choose.

Nowadays we have declared that “widowhood” is no longer a desperate situation. Why have we made this declaration? Is it because a woman raising kids without a husband truly is no longer a desperate situation? No, it’s because we don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. We don’t want the unmarried mother to feel shame; we don’t want the kids to feel different compared to other kids; and we don’t want men to feel guilty about getting their girlfriends pregnant and then just walking away from the situation. In other words, we are like people inside a burning building who are convinced that as long as we keep saying to ourselves, “This building is not on fire. This building is not on fire,” then everything will turn out fine.

Well, guess what, folks? Our culture is on fire. And no matter how often or how loudly the people who shape our culture—politicians, media moguls, educators, and journalists—continue to yell, “This culture is not on fire. This culture is not on fire,” the facts will not miraculously change just because we refuse to face them.

As Christians, especially those of us in traditional, “old-fashioned” denominations, we receive a lot of flack for being so out of touch with the modern world. But really, are we out of touch with the modern world, or is the modern world out of touch with reality? When we point out the Bible frowns on unmarried motherhood and divorce, are we being “mean spirited,” or are we simply telling the truth? When we claim that men have a responsibility to care for the children they sire, are we “imposing our intolerant values on others,” or are we simply describing the reality of the human condition?

When barbarian hordes in Europe overran the Roman empire and caused civilization to spiral out of control, it was Christian communities, mostly monks in isolated monasteries, who preserved the wisdom and knowledge of how mankind ought to live. Later on, these small, isolated Christian communities were instrumental in rebuilding a civilized, vibrant culture.

History seems to be repeating itself. Today’s barbarians are not blood-thirsty savages riding into villages and burning and pillaging everything in sight. They are instead well-spoken and well-dressed, holding prestigious positions in academia, government, and the entertainment industry. The result of their efforts, however, is producing similar chaos.

So a new generation of small Christian communities will be called upon to preserve the wisdom and knowledge of how mankind ought to live. Don’t be afraid to take a stand for truth and decency, no matter how outnumbered we are. Don’t forget: truth is on our side, which means God is on our side.

©2009