[Sorry, missed the anthem]
Sermon – Life in a Broom Closet
Judges 12:8-15; Mark 12:41-44
9/20/2026
When you begin to think of the most significant people in the Bible, it might be a very long list or a very short list for you. You might like the idea of identifying the many, many people who played a pivotal role in God’s story at all different times throughout the narrative. The heart of the main narrative beginning with Abraham and Sarah carries up to a couple of thousand years of experience – more generations than we can imagine. Over that time, many people showed up in significant ways. In fact, there are so many people who make an appearance that our preference might be to narrow down our list of biblical note-worthies to just the “mains.” Those are the few folk who really had the most dramatic roles in the story, those who continue to stand as heroes of faith or the most notable among the notables.
These individuals stand out to us today and not just because they are good Bible trivia, but they are also people in our story who played a role in who we are today or who can be an example to us or who mean something precious to us as our spiritual mothers and fathers. One of our church members just this last week was sharing his admiration for American patriot and founder, Alexander Hamiliton, and what he was able to accomplish in Colonial America with all of the things that were stacked against him. He had to climb a seemingly impossible mountain to reach his place in American history. It is such a place that he has a Broadway show about him which is even coming back to Richmond in 2027.
As impressive as Hamilton is, though, our spiritual parents in Scripture are even more dear to us. Just sticking with Broadway as a cultural measure, two major Broadway shows are about our Founding Fathers (literally the people who shaped our nation) and at least five major shows are about ancient biblical characters. Since the Bible carries such weight across time, those characters in Scripture are invaluable as the substance of the book. We would literally not have a story in faith without them all those years ago because they helped write our story of hope and salvation. They gave us this priceless story that inspires, comforts, and teaches us today. So who is on your list of notables?
I can tell you this – probably everyone on your list has a name, in that they are almost certainly named in the Bible. Names are especially telling in the Bible. They give an indication of someone’s place in the story. Nearly all (if not all) biblical name with the letters “EL” means “God/Elohim” is part of their name. It should surprise no one that Jesus’ actual name (Yeshua) means “Salvation” and is part of “God is Salvation.” Names say something… usually. Three names that are NOT on your list of “who’s who in the Bible” are Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon. In fact, I would guess that if I quizzed the most astute among our Bible scholars here about Ibzan of Bethlehem, Elon the Zebulunite, or Abdon, son of Hillel the Pirathonite, I would stump us all. The answer is that all three of them are minor judges, not that they were not important, just that they did not do anything significant enough to warrant the fuller treatment in the Bible. But think about this, there are literal and actual disciples of Jesus himself, some of the named 12, that we know nothing about other than a name, but I doubt any of us would consider them pointless or filler material. They were claimed as disciples; they were called and chosen and worked with Jesus. They were named. They were recorded for us, and that alone makes them “someones” that we can appreciate. In the Book of Judges, just being a judge is a big deal. That person served as God’s representative in those years before the kings. They handled administrative matters, decided legal situations, went to war, and spoke for God. They were a critical piece of God’s connection to God’s people in these years of Israel trying to figure out what it was and what it wanted to be. Some of the judges are more familiar: Gideon, Samson, Samuel, and Deborah are a few examples. You may have heard of them. Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon… not so much.
Actually, Ibzan was probably very wealthy with so many children. He was also fine doing his own thing. His claim to fame, as the Bible mentions, is that his children were given in marriage to people outside his clan. That is odd but not against the rules. Maybe he was a shrewd judge who found the use of extending his influence into other groups of the wider tribes. For whatever reason he did this, he judged Israel for seven years.
Elon is clearly a man from a clan, named for us as the tribe of Zebulun. All we have about him, though, is his clan, his time as a judge (10 years), and where he was buried. Sounds like me might have had peaceful days.
Abdon is someone else who was presumably very wealthy with the size of his family. As is the trend here, he served in the important role as judge without much distinguishing his time.
I want to be clear about them. These judges were part of God’s work on earth. They might not have had the big or dramatic roles like Joshua or Gideon or Samuel, but they were there for God’s people at that time and in that way. If they had not been there, if there had been no judges in those years of presumptive and relative peace, there would have been no one taking care of the issues between the people of God. They would have had no one directing and deciding God’s intent for them. These people who could today appear so small as to be disregarded were crucial in their day serving God’s people.
Let’s go even further down this path to someone that I suggest might be one of the most important people in the entire Bible. And to fly in the face of what I said earlier about names, hers we never learn…. [Mark 12:41-44]
How many people (do you think) genuinely impressed Jesus in the gospels? I am not talking about the people that Jesus seems pleased to encounter but those who are remarkable. There really are just a handful of people that Jesus actually pulls out from the crowd as examples to those around him and to us. One was a Roman Centurian in Capernaum who admitted to Jesus that he could just speak healing for his dying servant and he would be healed; a Syrophoenician woman who recognized that even though she was unworthy, she still wanted whatever grace Jesus might share; a woman who washes Jesus’ feet at the end of his life, anointing him for what was to come; and a poor widow who gives her last two pennies as an offering to God. What is most, most striking to me out of the gate is that none of them are named. Jesus does praise John the Baptizer, but theirs was a different relationship, and they were related though Jesus never mentions this.
The centurion and the Syrophoenician woman and the foot-washer all show faith directly toward Jesus. They were face to face with our Messiah and did something remarkable to Jesus. The poor widow does not even know Jesus is looking. Her faith is not directed at him at all but to God the Father. She had more trust and faith than any of them because she gave all that she had, her last two pennies (the widow’s mite), for the love of God, to be a blessing for someone else. This is an unparalleled gift in the Bible, the most profound offering as no one had to make her do it. No one commanded her to give all she had. She just did it, and Jesus was amazed. She literally did what others failed to do – she gave it all, and her offering has stood out to us ever since. This nameless woman astounds us.
She is the one who gives me hope. I will never be a big name or a big presence in the kingdom of God. Granted, I might be a big presence in a room because I ate my vegetables and got to nearly 6’5”. In the kingdom of God, however, I will never be on anyone’s list of “who’s who” and I am fine with that. It turns out that you can be a little person and amaze Jesus. You can be a small presence and make a big impression. You can even be nameless and inspire others for centuries. As vast and wide and immeasurable as the kingdom of God might be and certainly is, my little part is the broom closet. All I need to do is keep it straight and make sure others have brooms when they need them. But I keep it straight with love.
We all want to believe that what we do counts and matters. We want to believe that the effort is worth it in the end. That is what this message is about. This is about honest, unassuming, and dedicated service no matter who you are or who notices. We were not created and placed on this earth to make a name for ourselves but to serve God and our neighbor. Anyone is capable of rising to that task by the grace of God in the love of the Spirit. Anyone is in a place of living out of their hearts in such a way as to amaze Jesus. Just think about that. Just giving ourselves completely is what delights our Lord. It does not matter your age or ability or wealth or intelligence or appearance or background or even your name. It does not matter – none of it. Wherever you are, do whatever you can to take care of the little bit of God’s kingdom right around you. We do not need the glory. We do not even need a name. In fact, to God be the glory. Amen.