The Prophet & the Widow

SERMON INTRO

Let’s review…

Where are we in the story?

Overview sheets…

Creation & Fall

Humans are made to live in the presence of God and in relationship with one another and with all of creation.

Family of Faith

Get outside! Look up! A promise made to a childless couple to not only “bless them” but to bless the entire world through their family.

Exodus & Call

Moses leads the Israelites (look at how Abraham & Sarah’s family has grown!) out of Egypt, out of slavery, and into the wilderness where they will wander for 40 years. Moses dies and Joshua leads the tribes of Israel into Canaan.

Tribes & Judges

This is really different than wandering in the desert:

their dependence on God is not as obvious or necessary (direction/guidance and daily manna)

God responds with Judges to help them navigate the messiness of life in Canaan. Someone to help discern right from wrong, someone to settle disputes, etc.

they long to be like the other nations… they want a king. And so all through the book of Judges, God keeps saying, “I’m your king. You’re not like the other nations. Stop trying to be like them.

This period of Judges is dark… with each generation more disobedient than the last. And so, God seems to relent and decides to give them a king.

The United Kingdom

Two weeks ago we heard Hannah’s story of longing for a child- which comes just at the end of this period with the birth of Samuel who will be the one to anoint the both Saul & David

And then last week, we met King David and his prophet Nathan. And we heard about David’s longing to build God a house and God’s promise to build David an altogether different kind of house - and one that would last forever.

Kings & Prophets

central & peripheral prophets

central - function from within the seat of power (ie. on the king’s payroll and have access to social power, wealth & privilege

peripheral - outcasts who are excluded from the central power, constant clash with those in power, challenging the establishment and speaking truth to power with the goal of bringing them back to the true worship of Yahweh

Last week Nathan (a central prophet)

This week Elijah (a peripheral prophet)

Elijah’s context:

Ahab - King who adopts the worship of his Phoenician wife Jezebel’s god… Ba’al - a Canaanite storm God

A decree from Elijah

Then the Word of the Lord: “You should probably run away, Elijah… but don’t worry, I’ll take care of you.”

Then the place that is offering Elijah a respite literally dries up and he has to seek sustenance somewhere else.

READING

1 Kings 17:1 NIV

1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.”

1 Kings 17:2–6 NIV

2 Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah: 3 “Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. 4 You will drink from the brook, and I have directed the ravens to supply you with food there.” 5 So he did what the Lord had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there. 6 The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.

1 Kings 17:7–9 NIV

7 Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. 8 Then the word of the Lord came to him: 9 “Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.”

1 Kings 17:10–12 NIV

10 So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?” 11 As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.” 12 “As surely as the Lord your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.”

1 Kings 17:13–16 NIV

13 Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. 14 For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.’ ” 15 She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. 16 For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah.

This is the word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

SERMON

The Prophet & the Widow

A story (or two) about scarcity…

Grandma Hunter - kept… everything. Yogurt/sour cream containers we gave her with leftovers? Washed, stacked and saved, and secured with the tops of old pantyhose/nylons.

But there was also a sense of “scarcity of time” … she lived into her 90s, but I remember her in her early 80s that she was hesitant to buy the big honey… because she might not live that long. I went shopping with her quite often, and I still remember convincing her to buy the larger one, promising that we’d eat the remaining honey if she died before it was finished. She had known scarcity, and so abundance wasn’t good if it meant waste.

I think my Grandma probably loved this story. Just enough for the day. And then enough for tomorrow.

In the encounter today, we see Elijah announce scarcity.

We see God provide in the face of Elijah’s self-imposed drought.

And we wonder how it’s affecting other people. In fact, I’d like to take Elijah aside and have a little chat.

“You know how you think you’re making a point about Ahab introducing the worship of Ba’al… well, you might not be making the point you think you’re making. Ahab isn’t going to starve. He won’t suffer. But what you’ve done is going to have an impact… on creation. And on people. (remember how I want you to live in my presence? And also in relationship with creation and with other humans? Yeah. Well… I’ll get creation to take care of you. And then I’m going to show you how people can take care of you as well.”

Elijah goes to the ravine. Where even though the river has gone way down, there is still a small brook.

There, Elijah has water, and then the ravens show up with bread. (note: this is not natural behaviour for ravens)

And then, because of the drought, even the brook dries up. And God sends Elijah to the widow at Zarephath.

To rescue her. And provide for all her needs.

No… he shows up. Checks in. How are things, ma’am?

Oh, you have nothing left and you and your son are going to die? (Because of the drought YOU PROCLAIMED, Elijah!)

Well, could you get me a drink first? Oh, and a little bread?

Again, could we take Elijah aside for a little chat?

But she does what he asks.

And experiences a miracle.

In her actual scarcity - not just her “scarcity mindset” - the widow takes what little she has, uses it. And there’s more leftover.

This isn’t the move from scarcity to abundance exactly… this is a move from scarcity to trust.

Elijah tells her to carry on with her “last meal” prep… but he also inserts a sense of an alternate future into the widow’s imagination… a “what if there is someone who might provide what you need?” Not necessarily a cupboard full of food - but enough for today. And a sense that tomorrow will be okay, too.

And what did Elijah learn about his own decree of scarcity? Well… I hope he didn’t go around announcing more droughts to teach rich kings a lesson about how to properly worship Yahweh.

Instead, running from one Phoenician woman (Jezebel), Elijah was SENT to another who would demonstrate for Elijah what placing one’s trust in Yahweh looked like in the day to day. Even though she doesn’t yet know Yahweh for herself. But here she is “assigned” by God to take care of Elijah the prophet. Invited INTO the narrative!

And so, let’s review… as we have made our way through the Narrative - through the grand story, who has God taken an interest in?

we’ve seen God take interest in human beings (made to live in God’s presence),

we’ve seen God take interest in a childless older couple (who would become the parents of a whole Family of Faith),

we’ve seen God take interest in a people oppressed in slavery, set free, and yet still struggling to trust the God who had led them out of Egypt.

we’ve seen God take interest when they beg for a king… and in a childless widow who longs for a son (Hannah)

we’ve seen God take interest in the shepherd boy youngest brother, who would become King David… and whose throne would be a dynasty - a house God would build and maintain and ultimately occupy

and now here we see God, not only interested in kings and kingdoms, but in foreigners, an outsider, a Phoenician woman, and vulnerable at that, a widow and a single mom.

And she is our example of putting one’s faith into action.

She doesn’t know or believe in a whole “system” of religion, she’s just willing to take Elijah’s word that if she does this, Elijah’s God will provide for her and for her son.

(And of course, if you keep reading, God is going to do another miracle in her home in the not so distant future, but it all starts here. With a tiny bit of oil and flour remaining… an actual scarcity. Not just a tough situation that she could do a bit of “positive thinking” to reframe…

But the God who made her now invites her into the story. To be part of it. To live in God’s presence… which will sustain her.

And so, wherever this story intersects with your story,

what if you, too, are being invited to live in the presence of the God who made you?

What if you, too, are being drawn in, whether from a place of power and privilege, or from the margins and seemingly inescapable need… drawn into the story of God and God’s people?

What if God is looking at your scarcity - whether real scarcity or only a mindset of scarcity - and saying, let me who you what I can do if you’ll trust me just a little?

Let’s pray …

LEADING TO THE TABLE

Prayer of Confession (Psalm 146, 1 Kings 17)

Merciful God, You know how we love miracles. We love Your healing, life-giving presence. We confess that poverty and oppression are less appealing topics. Yet, we find You among the poor, the downtrodden, the widow, the orphan. In their midst we find You, Your prophets, and Your miracles. Dwell with us, as we make the struggles of the oppressed our own struggles. Join us at Your table, as we join the effort to feed and clothe those who live in want. Grant us Your compassion, we pray, that we may truly be your people. Amen.

Words of Assurance (Psalm 146, Luke 7)

Hear the good news: Those who seek will find help and hope in God. In Jesus we are raised to newness of life. Thanks be to God.

“On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread and gave

thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and said, ‘This is my body, which

is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying,

“This cup is the new covenant between God

and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood.

Do this in remembrance of me as often as you drink it.’

For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup,

you are announcing the Lord’s death until he comes again.”

1 Corinthians 11:23b-26

Prayer of Thanksgiving

Let us give thanks for the Bread and the Cup.

Distribution and Partaking of the Bread

[As the bread is distributed:]

The Body of Christ, given for you.

Distribution and Partaking of the Cup

[As the cup is distributed:]

The Blood of Christ, shed for you.