Proper 27 - Live Abundantly

Welcome Statement

Good Morning everyone, I am praying that you all have went through this past week with thanksgiving and much prayer. We are going to say goodbye to Job for now, as we move on into the book of 1 Kings, a book that discusses many of the dynasties that ruled in Israel, but also talks about a prophet too, particularly Elijah. Now Elijah is introduced pretty abruptly, as 1 Kings can feel like a group of disconjoined stories between Kings. During the time of Elijah, Ahab was the ruler in the kingdom, who was the son of Omri. Ahab in particular did evil in God’s sight, and was worse than all of the Kings before him (1 Kings 1:30). He is the one who marries Jezebel, who is a daughter of King Ethbaal who leads the Sidonians, who were members of the city of Sidon, which was one of the most important cities that belonged to the Canaanites and Phoenicians. These Sidonians are who worshipped Baal. This motivates Ahab to make Idols and serve/worship Baal, which provoked the anger of the lord. Elijah before we get to the widow, he predicts a drought. He is guided by God to go drink from the Cherith Wadi, which a wadi is just a valley that only fills up during a rain season. Once the wadi dried up, he was guided by God to go to Zapherth, and that is where our reading leads us to today.

Old Testament Reading - 1 Kings 17:8-16

1 Kings 17:8–16 NRSV

Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “Go now to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and live there; for I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” So he set out and went to Zarephath. When he came to the gate of the town, a widow was there gathering sticks; he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, so that I may drink.” As she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” But she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a jug; I am now gathering a couple of sticks, so that I may go home and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.” Elijah said to her, “Do not be afraid; go and do as you have said; but first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterwards make something for yourself and your son. For thus says the Lord the God of Israel: The jar of meal will not be emptied and the jug of oil will not fail until the day that the Lord sends rain on the earth.” She went and did as Elijah said, so that she as well as he and her household ate for many days. The jar of meal was not emptied, neither did the jug of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah.

Abundance During a Dry/Dreary Season

The first thought I get after ending this passage is, who is Elijah that he would ask for even a morsel of food from a widower, who can barely tend to her own needs? Another question that pops up is, is this a call that the needy should also serve? To answer the first question, we understand that God proclaimed in this passage a widower WOULD feed him, but he didn’t establish how that was possible. God and Elijah proclaim abundance here when everything is barren. What a paradox it seems! Secondly, we get this idea that even the wounded can heal other wounded people, as we identify the Church as a place for the wounded to be healed, like a hospital, we understand that ministers, pastors, and lay people all have their own share of afflictions. We all walk in here from different walks of life, equal before God, because our relative differences are pretty insignificant in His presence. We look to today’s issues of economic stress and anxiety, increased prices, and stagnant wages, and question, how can we possibly be abundant? I don’t wish to romanticize the past in any way, God is forward looking, but we can all remember a time when things were much cheaper, and we all remember a time when housing was much more affordable. We focus on these individual issues or trees in the forest, and forget to notice that while perhaps a couple of trees are struggling to keep their limbs growing, there is an entire rain forest, plentiful of water, and healthy overgrown trees. How many of you have running water, electricity? A Gas Stove? A Dishwasher? A Washing Machine? A Dryer? What about central air conditioning, or even a window unit? TV Meal Dinners when you’re in a hurry? I learned that the first dishwasher was made in 1850, and it was powered by a hand crank. Makes one wonder how tedious that would be and if it was effective, but the amount of labor in return for results, has significantly reduced, in the past two centuries. Food prices have certainly gone up, there is no denying that, but when was the last time we noticed we at least have food on the table? I don’t wish to trivialize people’s situations nor the places where the valley is dry, and scarcity runs amok. Absolutely not. But this idea of seeing abundance even in the scarcity of life, really changes the picture, and can bring lasting change. My grandmother’s generation was interesting in this regard, they didn’t take anything for granted, on the surface, one might think they are paranoid about scarcity, trying to re-use every little thing, down to even the tags on bread, but to me, it shows an appreciation for the things we do have, and can use, it shows ingenuity. My grandmother, I recall, would save all of the twisty ties or bread tags from bread she bought, I do not recall if she ever did anything with them, but I imagine she would have used them to help her in a pinch on tying something together when a rubber band wasn’t around, or locking up bags. We get so much free junk today, we are practically drowning in it, think about all the times you walked by a booth at a fair and they are handing out pens, pencils and all sorts of things.

Faithfulness in the Dry Valley

New Testament Reading - Mark 12:38-44

Mark 12:38–44 NRSV

As he taught, he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets! They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.” He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. Then he called his disciples and said to them, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

Putting your Two Cents in Christ!

This story reminds me of those round “wishing wells” or spiral wishing wells, where you drop a coin in, and watch for what seems like forever, a coin spinning around and around, and around. How much spare change do we have lying around our houses? The amount of quarters I have is ridiculous, Olivia knows that I am a collector in that regard, collecting state quarters, state park quarters, and all sorts of pennies through the years, I’m not a professional, but it sure is interesting getting to see a lifetime of how money changed over the years, or has stayed the same. I think too to how wikipedia every so often will do a donation drive with the phrase, “If everyone donated $2.75 that read our website, we would reach our goal within hours”. That always struck me, the amount of people living on earth is huge and vast, and we are so capable of pooling minute amounts of resources together. During Hurricane Helene in September, we saw what a pooling of resources by multiple people meant, and we still see people donating and serving. Tons of items ranging from food, clothes, hygiene products, anything to regain a sense of normalcy in these people’s lives. This is the outpouring of the entire United States, united towards healing destroyed communities. That compassion is only possible through a mentality of abundance. we have to not be terrified of tommorow. I am not saying throw every dime away, you have to of course take care of yourself. What people get wrong about this story of the lady with two pennies, is that they then have to put all of their money towards an organization or a Church, we have to be careful as that can be abused, and many large Churches abuse this mentality, that one might receive some bigger reward by God simply for extreme self-sacrifice. That isn’t guaranteed, you don’t share your winnings so to speak simply because you get something out of it, when you put something in the offering plate, it’s a gift to God and his Kingdom, it is this understanding that one is completely letting go of whatever that amount of money is, letting God work through it for the benefit of his body of believers and those in need that might be impacted by it. It’s about loving thy neighbor. So if you feel guilt-driven, that’s not what this story is about, there is certainly an element of conviction for those who brag or are high and mighty about how much they contribute, but it is more so about, did you put your own two cents in Christ. Have you spent time with him? Serving his flock in some way? Have you spent time with others? Are you manifesting God’s love in your life through your actions and thoughts? That’s what Christ means, he means that we need to put our entire lives in him, it’s not about money specifically, this is the example he is simply using, that a woman with almost no money to her name, felt that it was still important to put her share in the church, to put her two cents in. That’s how we should feel about the church, a fighting spirit to keep it alive, even if we have nothing to give. God will multiply from nothing if he has to, but he certainly has commissioned us to share in his mission.

Living Abundantly

So as we get ready for prayer, let us reflect, what it means to live abundantly when you have nothing. I have seen people with much less, with a brighter look on their faces simply because they didnt’ take things forgranted, and they use every little thing life gives them. It’s not a straight and narrow path in this regard, times will be tough, but Christ is with us all the same! Let Us Pray!

Closing Prayer

Heavenly Father, We praise you today for your infinite abundance in situations where we are lacking. Help us to recall your faithfulness to Elijah when we find ourselves downtrodden in times of scarcity and afflictions, help us to remember not just the material wealth we have, thanks to you, but the spiritual wealth you have given us through the sacrifice of your Son, that infinite well of Grace that has been poured out over all of us, as we share the Good News to others, a gift that can only multiply, because you have deemed it so.

I say this in your Gracious Name, Amen.

Doxology / Benediction / Closing

Hear this closing Benediction from Paul, in his remarks to the Church of Corinth in 2 Corinthians:

2 Corinthians 9:6–10 NRSV

The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work. As it is written, “He scatters abroad, he gives to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.” He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.

May you Have a Blessed Sunday, and rest of your Week! Amen!