When We Work For God, God Works With Us; Sermon on 1 Kings 17:8-16

Rev. George Miller
Feb 26, 2018
1 Kings 17:8-16

“If only I could go back in time, I’d do things differently.” “If I knew then what I know now…”

These are familiar refrains that we’ve heard others, and ourselves, say.

This is my “If I could go back in time” moment, because this right here has been my favorite biblical story for nearly 2 decades.

This is the scripture that has given me hope, has given me strength, has given me the reason to keep on keepin’ on when the world said “Maybe you should just stop and be a bit more realistic.”

I came across this scripture when I was in my 20’s and felt I was at a dead-end, with nowhere else to go.

As someone working 2-3 jobs at a time, living paycheck to paycheck in a 3rd story walk-up studio apartment, I felt like I was that widow and the only reason I was able to make it through was because of God and God’s miraculous ways…

…Looking back now, I realize I was perhaps being a bit overly melodramatic in my youth.

That I didn’t know, and there was no way of me knowing, that in your 20’s you’re supposed to struggle, you’re supposed to work long hours at crappy jobs, you’re supposed to drive a junk car and live in a cheap apartment, and that you’re supposed to exist on snack ramen as opposed to beef wellington.

Looking back now, I can see how yes, things were difficult.

Like the time my fridge broke and the only food I had in the house was a gift-box of mustards from around the world.

And yes, how my shower didn’t work so for years I could only take baths.

And yes, I was up to my eyeballs in debt.

But looking back, I can catch my breath, and realize I was in debt because I was well-to-do enough to go to college and own a car.

Yes, I could only take baths, but they were in a claw-foot tub that rested upon art-deco tiles in a downtown apartment building with marble floors, conveniently located next to world class theatres.

Yes, I only had a box of mustards at home, but I spent my days working at an Italian restaurant in which the staff ate gourmet pasta for our break and snuck tastes of red wine and crème brulee when the boss wasn’t looking.

Yes- back then I felt like the widow, barely getting by, but if I could go back in time, I’d say to my former self-

“Don’t lose hope, don’t judge yourself too hard. This is exactly what you’re 20’s are supposed to be, you’re just paying your dues and one day you’ll be living a life that is just, just fine.”

Would it have made any difference?

Probably not.

And in many ways I am thankful for whatever my perceived experiences were way back then, because they shaped who I am now, and this story, this story has always prodded me along, willing to believe that when it comes to God-

-the jar of flour will never run out; the jar of oil will never go dry.

God will provide.

God always has, and I’ve witnessed too many miracles to ever doubt this not to be true.

God, who has this ability to take nothing and turn it into a wonderful something.

We see that in the creation story when God’s Spirit moves over the waters and with just a word, there is light and life.

We see that with the resurrection, in which Good Friday ends with death but Easter morning begins with new life.

We see that with the loaves and fishes story in which so little becomes so, so much in the hands of our Savior.

And we saw this just last week.

Do ya’ll recall the weeks leading up to the Spaghetti Supper? We didn’t outwardly say it, but we knew there was a sense of worry and a bit of dread about how things were going to go.

We were holding the supper later than usual, with new people organizing it, and barely anyone signing up, and not many tickets sold.

Just last week we had to send out an e-mail and start Ash Wednesday service by stating we were in the need of 40 pies and 5 people to serve. If not we’d have to buy them all.

But the day of the Spaghetti Supper came along and we had more pies than we knew what to do with.

Yes, not many folk were here to serve, but it allowed me to really mix and mingle with our guests, and we had new faces who were happy to share their time as we served 200 meals.

We went from not knowing if we could pull it off, and not knowing if we would have any pies, to making a tidy profit of $1,280.91.

But here is where I think the true miracle came in-

all that left over spaghetti, all that left over sauce, all that left over salad, all that left over pie we were afraid we’d run out of-

we ended up serving to our Shepherd’s Pantry guests, feeding 105 families with real, home cooked, honest-to-goodness soul food that

nourished their bodies,
calmed their minds,
satiated their spirits,
and created a true, true moment of fellowship and diakonia.

On Feb 14 we were so worried we wouldn’t have enough pies.

By Feb 19 we had enough to feed 200 paying guests and 105 hungry families, with pies, pasta and sauce still left over to share.

We’re talking about
-children who looked dazed from their reality of poverty,

-to elderly vets barely getting by on their disability,

-to young adults dealing with the reality of addiction,

-to mothers, aunties and grandmothers who were happy that there was one less magical meal for them to pull together.

Last Monday our Fellowship Hall was filled from start to finish with folks who came in thinking they were simply getting groceries and discovered they were being served a meal;

a real heavenly banquet in which they were treated as honored guests.

If that is not a miracle, I don’t know what is.

If that is not real, real ministry, then someone needs to send me back to seminary so I can learn…

So now, so now that I can learn to let go of my 20’s, and we have seen how God can make nearly empty vessels full and overflowing, what do we do?

Where do we go from here?

Tracy has said that now that they know what they are doing things been be done even better next year.

Service Committee has hopefully witnessed a new way they could continue doing what we’ve been doing.

As a congregation, I hope we are continuing to absorb, continuing to realize this narrative before us, that has always been there-

That God will provide.

That when we work for God, God will work with us.

That miracles do happen, and more often than not it is both God and creation, God and human, God and institution working together, then God just doing it all alone.

I am excited about the events of last week.

I am excited about our present moment in time in which we are reaching out and welcoming people in.

I am excited about our future and the ways in which God will send Elijahs and widows and children into our lives.

I am excited about the opportunities that are out there, yet to happen, that we can’t even begin to imagine.

But we can begin to anticipate and prepare for.

This is God’s world, and we are so, so fortunate to serve and to share with those around us.

May our jars of flour never run out; may our jars of oil never run dry.

Because when we have an opportunity to feed and to care, we are feeding and caring for ourselves as well.

For that, we can say amen and amen.