Meditation for Worship: Nov. 8, 2009

Two Widows Learn to Sing

Psalm 146
1 Kings 17:8-16
Matt. 15: 21-28

They were aliens and strangers,
outside your sheep pen, Lord.
Two widows, separated by centuries,
but both lived near Sidon
(the land we now call Lebanon),
Though they came from the same locale,
they came from opposite spiritual directions.

One widow was starving.
and watched her child gradually waste away…
as if losing her husband wasn’t enough!
And then came the last straw:
a runaway prophet confronted her with the gall to demand her to make him dinner!
“As surely as the Lord your God lives”… she swore at him.
Your God may live, but we’re dying!

Father,

sometimes you come to us and we are so despairing that we spurn you.
Thank you for your patience with us, drawing us to faith in You so that we can sing:

“He upholds the cause of the oppressed
and gives food to the hungry.”

Lead us in the next step of faith as we welcome the homeless to Your house this winter.

Another widow was frantic.
“Lord, Son of David!” she cried. “Have mercy on me!”
Three times she called Him “Lord.”
So confident was she in His power to heal her daughter,
so trusting was she in His compassion,
that she ventured a riposte:
"Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table."

Father,

sometimes we are so desperate that we come to You, but You play hard to get.
Forgive us for thinking you are spurning us. Give us faith to sing:

The LORD watches over the foreigner
and sustains the fatherless and the widow.

Lead us all into the places where You are--

You who are faithful forever--
so that we might sing praise to You as long as we live.