Sermon 6-6-2010
I Kings 17:8-16 (17-24) Luke 7:11-17
God’s Abundant Provision
Let us listen to the encounter of Elijah and the widow once again!
Two voices:
Female: Here is a man on a journey – needing somewhere to lay his head, thirsty, hungry.
Male: Here is a woman on her home ground – picking up sticks wary of strangers.
Both: Both of them are living in a dry land where a little water, a handful of meal need to go a long way.
Male: One has a household to feed,
Female: the other has only himself to keep going through the wilderness,
until God lets him know why. He is traveling in faith…
Male: she has given up hope…
A coping woman she has now come to the end of her resources –
Just this last ration of meal, just this trickle of oil – not much water, sticks for the last fire – just these embers of courage – she is burnt out.
Female: He is not sure why he is here, except that God pointed him this way - to take the food out of the mouths of this hungry family?
To walk away? or to watch her child die?
What can he do that will change anything?
Male: But she offers him welcome…
Female: and he offers encouragement…
Both: and they go on from there…
PRAYER
Who are the widows, the orphans, and the strangers?
“These words or categories appear many times in the Scriptures grouped as one social class of voiceless people. Why? What was the thread that united those categories of people? Is it possible that a system of laws designed to protect these people, a system forged under the guidance of the God who is decidedly in favor of the voiceless, nevertheless keeps these very people locked in a perpetual second-class position?
The widows, the orphans and the strangers were the poorest of the poor of Elijah’s days. Being a widow also meant her child was considered an orphan, the father figure bearing more societal weight that of a mother. Widows, orphans and strangers had this in common: they did not count on the protection offered by a citizen adult male in their family. Thus they were poor and powerless; life was miserable. Much in the OT lets us know of God’s care for them, but what kept them powerless?
Here in the United States today there are many laws protecting the more vulnerable ones. Not strong enough or empowered enough, these laws are attempts in the direction of care for the weak. Are some of these laws also keeping justice at bay? Are we as a nation and as individuals more interested in doing charity than enabling justice for all? Such a thing happened in Elijah’s days.
In the story we find a widow and her child – strangers to Elijah and Elijah a stranger to them, as well.
Elijah is physically thirsty and hungry, but, as a fugitive from the anger of King Ahab, he is also emotionally distressed. The widow, a loving mother, is thirsty and hungry, but not only for food and water. She earnestly desires a voice that can be heard and fullness of life for her and her son. We know Elijah’s name, (he is a prophet of God). We do not know the names of the woman and the child – something common in biblical narratives, yet another sign of injustice. Women and children were, more often than not, referred to as the wife and child of male adults, in those days the only ones with any power in social and religious life. The laws of the land kept things that way. Some of us know how that feels.
Too many around us are that widow or that child, literally or figuratively. Too many around us feel lost, hopeless, hungry, and thirsty for something beyond the tangibles of daily living, for more than meager leftovers, scraps of food, love, and justice. Many feel that there is simply no one willing to empower them with healing and grace. The image of the widow also stands for all manner of poor people in the Bible; the psalms are full of such imagery… Widows are also metaphors for spiritual or emotional poverty. Are we not all poor before God? We are all indeed needy, widow, orphan and stranger in spirit. Yet our trust in God leads us to sing the words of Psalm 146:1,7,9. ‘Praise the Lord… who executes justice to the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry… who watches over the strangers; upholds the orphan and the widow.’
We first know ourselves to be poor, and God is on the side of the poor.”
(Feasting on the Word, Gláucia Vasconcelos Wilkey, Year C. vol.3. pg.98-102)
“The emphasis (of the story is) on hospitality… this is the first miracle). Elijah demands water and food from this desperate woman, whose family is at the point of starvation.” (Feasting on the Word, Carolyn J. Sharp, Year C. vol.3. pg.100)
“The stranger woman and her child feed Elijah and receive him,…”
(Idem, Gláucia Vasconcelos Wilkey)
“Now the second miracle comes when her jar of meal and jug of oil are… replenished, day after day…” (Idem, Carolyn J. Sharp)
“…she is glad of the miracle of unending food for life, and oil for healing and for light. Then the child dies. The widow’s grief is beyond the normal grief of a mother: she knows that without a male adult in her life she will be kept at a level of dependency even more profound than her current situation. Her son was hope for her later years, and now hope is gone. Elijah pleads with God, covers the boy’s body with his own – symbolizing God’s care for the whole person – and hope and life return to the widow and child.” (Idem, Gláucia Vasconcelos Wilkey)
This is the third miracle…
“Elijah shows God’s compassion to those who dare to host the prophetic word. Most striking in this story is not the resurrection of the boy but the intimacy of prophetic presence… when we dare to host the prophetic word, we are transformed. For we encounter a God who delivers the powerless, a God whose abundance of love and compassion are stronger than death.” (Idem, Carolyn J. Sharp)
We are that widow today, but God’s countercultural favor and actions on behalf of the poor, love beyond measure, are also in our midst today.
We see signs of mercy every day, every Sunday, here at the font, the good news of life in unending water; in the anointing, good news of healing and light in unending oil; in the pulpit, the good news of justice and salvation in unending Word, Jesus Christ; in the Table, good news of life, grace, and joy in unending bread and wine. All these things are set out for all (God’s people).
In God’s name, we like the widow bring water, oil, bread and wine for the lost, oppressed, poor, and forgotten. Surprised by joy, we receive life from their hand, for God promises that when we receive the stranger and the poor, we may be receiving angels without knowing it. (Hebrews 13:1-2)
“We see widows in the Gospel narratives like today’s story of Jesus’ encounter with a grieving (name less) widow.” (Idem, Carolyn J. Sharp)
She had a child, “He was his mother’s only son…” Luke 7:12
Here we have another miracle story, this time it is Jesus…
“The (only) word of Jesus to the Young man, “Rise,” is not only a word to conquer
death. It is a word of life in the middle of the “deathly” experiences… the mother called for compassion, and Jesus gave them the life – giving presence of the risen Christ.” (Nan Duerling. The Word and You. vol.1. pg. 192)
What is the story to us? Are we like widows, orphans or stranger in our own church? Are we looking for a miracle? Are we looking for a miracle when we have everything we need here and now, even if we don’t see it?
God’s abundant provision starts with hospitality to the stranger…
Compassion of the needy… Faith in the middle of the struggles…
Hoping for a miracle… “Miracles are the first signs to which we look for proof that God’s compassion will bring our world back into alignment.”
(Feasting on the Word, M. Jan Holton, Year C. vol.3. pg.120)
Our truth, the life – giving presence of the risen Christ! Amen!
BENEDICTION
Go and live generously in love,
trusting that God’s love will never run out
and that there is enough for the whole world. Amen!
