Love until it hurts?

     Sunday's readings are all about sacrifice.  In the first reading from 1 Kings 17, a widow who is preparing her last meal shares with Elijah and God miraculously provides jars of oil and meal so that she doesn't run out.  In the reading from Hebrews 9 the author talks about Christ's own sacrifice for all people for the forgiveness of sins.  In Mark 12 Christ tells us that a widow who has sacrificed by giving two small copper coins actually gave much because she gave out of poverty rather than abundance.
     November 11 has been a day of honor since 1919, when it began as a day of remembrance called Armistice Day, marking the armistice between Allied and German forces the year before.  In 1954 Armistice Day became Veterans' Day, a day to honor all veterans, not just those of World War I.  It is a day to remember and honor all veterans who served during times of war and peace,and to remember the sacrifice people have made to make our nation what it is today.
     Sacrifice is indeed a theme that we see many times in the readings and celebrations for Sunday.  And it has gotten me to thinking about the life of faith and sacrifice.
     The widows sacrificed.  Widows were the lowest of low in the social totem, with no one to care for them, no real rights or hope for improvement unless someone took pity on them, and a bleak future.  Yet these two, not mentioned by name, are held up as wonderful examples of faith.  The widow in 1 Kings wasn't even an Israelite.  She most likely didn't worship God, but probably worshiped the god of her area, which would have been Baal.  Yet she sacrificed for Elijah because he told her God would provide.  The widow in Mark is given even less of a story.  We know nothing of her story, where she lives, if she is young or old.  We know only that she put in two copper coins, worth a penny.  And we know that it was all she had to live on.
     Interestingly, there are no reasons given for these two widows' sacrifice.  So I wonder, why?  Why would a widow with a starving son give the last of her meal to a stranger?  Why would a widow give her last penny to the treasury, knowing it was all she had left?  Was it that there was nothing left to lose?  Were they so desperate that it was with a prayer they gave and hoped that God would somehow provide?  Did they simply have such faith that they knew money and food are just materials for this life?
     I am especially struck by the widow in Mark 12 - and the contrast between her and the rich people who contributed large sums to the treasury.  Today, the final day of election season, stands in stark contrast with this widow.  With both candidates raising over $1 billion each, campaign fundraising has gone to a new level.  I wonder what this means for sacrifice?  What if people who contributed to campaigns also contributed an equal amount to a charity?  Or, what if people contributed an equal amount to go to national debt reduction?  Or what if people only contributed half of what they did to the campaigns and one-and-a-half times that to something else? 
     What does sacrifice look like for you?  For our vets, sacrifice looked like giving of themselves: their time, their energy, and sometimes their lives.  For our widows sacrificed looked like giving of themselves: their last and final possessions.  For Christ, sacrifice looked like giving of himself: shedding all the glory of being God and taking on human form, subjecting himself to pain, grief, life, and death, loving us into salvation.
    So what does sacrifice look like for you?  What does it mean that in Christ's sacrifice of life and love we ourselves are freed to live and love others?  How do I love until it hurts?