Rev. George Miller
November 3, 2024
1 Kings 17:8-16
Today’s reading is such a special
one. It’s my favorite story in the
Bible; one that got me through the toughest of times when I was in my twenties,
working 3 jobs, just trying to make ends meet.
It's a story about God, about miracles,
about faith in action.
It’s about facing scarcity and adversity
head on, and moving forward even when the odds say “No.”
Today’s story takes place 90 years after the
Temple was completed, and things have not gone well for God’s people.
The nation is divided, the north has split
off from the south and there is a new king who builds an altar for another god
named Baal and no longer worships the Lord.
From out of seemingly nowhere, a prophet
named Elijah steps into the story and tells the king that as a consequence of
his actions, no rain will fall upon the land for years.
That’s where today’s scripture
begins. In this time of drought and
emptiness, God says to Elijah- “Go!”
Gods tells Elijah “Go to the land North of
Tyre. A widow is there who will feed
you.”
Elijah gets to the gates of the city, and
he sees a woman gathering sticks. He
asks for water and a morsel of bread.
But the widow replies “I have
nothing. Just a handful of flour; a bit
of oil. I am gathering a couple of sticks so that I can go home, make bread, so
my son and I can eat it and die.”
There is so much going on right here. The extreme scarcity and sheer loneliness.
This woman is so vulnerable. She is a widow, which means she has already
lost so much and experienced great pain.
She is a mother, which means who must not
only fend for herself, but her child.
The place where Elijah meets her has great
significance. She is at the city gates,
which means she is at the very end of town.
This is not the Townsquare, surrounded by
others. Nor the Temple with other
worshippers, or the dining room table, with friends.
She had to travel a distance just to find
something, anything to cook with and keep on living.
And what she finds is not much- just a
couple of sticks. Two. Barely enough to make a fire.
This story has so much heaviness, so much
scarcity.
But as we witness again and again
throughout scripture,
where there can seem to be moments of
assured failure,
there can also be the moments where life
and God and wonder appear and exist and surprise us once more.
Like Hagar in the wilderness, like Sarah
and Hannah with their barrenness, this is a woman who is without, who seems to
have come to the end of her story.
Into this moment comes a stranger, a man,
someone who could possibly do great harm.
And what does the prophet Elijah say to
her?
The same words that God said to Hagar in
Genesis 21.
The same words that Moses tells the people
right before the waters of the Red Sea part.
“Do not be afraid.”
In the middle of this women’s misery, the
Prophet says “Do not be afraid.”
This phrase right here is such a
foundational phrase of scripture, from the Old Testament to the New.
“Do not be afraid,” Elijah says to the
woman.
In others he tells her “Be Brave.”
Sometimes those are the only words you can
say to someone who is going through something really, really difficult.
“Be brave,” Elijah says. “Make your
bread. Bring some to me, to your son, to
yourself. For your jar of meal and your
jug of oil will not run out until the rains fall again.”
The woman does as encouraged, and somehow,
some way she and her son are able to eat for days.
It is a miracle of amazing
proportions. One that we can hear and
say “How is this possible? How can this
be?”
There are many ways we can interpret this,
and things that can be said about how and why the jars did not run out.
But here is one thing we can focus on
today- the actions of this amazing woman.
She is living during a time of historical
crises- a drought has ravaged the land and food is nearly impossible to find.
She has lost her husband, making her one
of the most vulnerable people in the city.
She is not just doing this alone, but she has
a child to care for and worry about.
And she has so so so little-
only has a handful of meal, a little of
oil, and a couple of sticks that she had to search hard for.
She is running on absolute empty.
And yet, when she is told to “Not be
afraid,” but to feed Elijah, that is what she chooses to do.
She could have said “No.” She could have completely refused.
But instead she decided to take
actions. She acts. She does.
She responds, and in doing so she plays a
huge part in her own salvation.
When studying verses 13, we hear a
multitude of verbs that she is instructed to do-
Do not be afraid.
Do as you have said.
Make a little cake.
Bring it to me.
Make something for yourself and son.
Verse 15 tells us “She went and did…and
her house ate for many days.”
This widow, this woman, is so incredibly
brave, so incredibly bold because she could have said “No,” she could have
stopped, she could have given up.
But instead she heard; and she acted.
Just like Hagar in the wilderness in
Genesis 21 who could have remained a victim, but instead did as God instructed
and was led to what she needed.
Just as Moses and the Israelites.
Sure, God parted the waters, but the
people had to be willing to step, they had to be willing to take that chance,
they had to be brave and bold enough to walk between those waters.
The widow in today’s story is such a
wonderful hero because she represents all of us, man or woman, young or old,
Who here or watching from home knows what
it is like to have struggled, what it is like to have experienced a great loss?
What it is like to feel like an outsider,
what it is like to worry about a child or family, what it is like to live
during historically difficult times and wonder-
“How am I going to make it through to the
other side?”
And the way she does this is by hearing a
Word from God, not allowing fear to have the ultimate grip on her, and to act,
to do, to move.
If we have lived long enough, we have all
experienced our own kinds of drought and emptiness.
It can be financial issues, work related,
relationships, marriage, chronic illness, death.
Things that seem to say “You’re done,” “You’re
finished,” and “You’re as good as dead.”
But the faith of God’s people, the faith
we have in God, is one that says “With the Lord, we can find a way.”
“With the Lord we can survive.”
“With God what may seem to be an ending
can be a new beginning.”
The Good News we find in today’s story and
throughout the Bible is that God has a way of offering us life even in the
midst of uncertainty,
even in the midst of death, even when it
seems we have nothing left.
We are brave. We believe.
We act, trusting in the Lord.
For that, let us say “Amen.”
