More Than Enough

INTRO — “NOTHING IN THE PANTRY”

There’s a very specific feeling you get when you open the pantry, stare into the shelves, and say out loud — or mutter under your breath — “There is nothing to eat.”

And of course… there is food in there. There’s pasta. A can of beans. A half-open bag of rice. The emergency jar of peanut butter that no one in the house likes but somehow survives every pantry purge.

But in your heart, you're convinced: There’s nothing to work with here.

Then someone else — someone infuriatingly optimistic — comes along and says, “What are you talking about? We can make something! Pasta, beans, a little olive oil — boom — dinner.”

Sometimes the pantry isn’t empty. Sometimes faith is.

Sometimes stewardship is.

We look at our life — our bank account, our schedule, our energy, our stamina — and something in us says, “It’s not enough. I don’t have enough. I’m not enough.”

And maybe today, God wants to speak into that moment and say:

“What if you do?”

What if the pantry isn’t empty — you just can’t see the feast yet?

ANCHOR VERSE — JARS OF CLAY

Our anchor for this series is Paul’s line in 2 Corinthians:

“We have this treasure in jars of clay, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and not to us.” (2 Cor 4:7)

Clay jars were the everyday containers of the ancient world — the Tupperware of the first century. Common. Fragile. Replaceable. Prone to crack.

Paul is saying:

You’re not the treasure — you’re the vessel.

You don’t have to be impressive — just available.

God does extraordinary work through ordinary people.

So today is a stewardship sermon — yes. We’re talking about money — yes. But this isn’t about guilt. This isn’t about pressure or shame.

This is about trust. This is about identity. This is about remembering who we are and whose we are.

We are jars of clay. Fragile — yes. Ordinary — absolutely. But carrying treasure.

TEXT — 2 KINGS 4: A WIDOW & A JAR

Let’s step into the story.

We are in 2 Kings, and at this point in the story of scripture the people of God — Israel — have endured civil war. They’ve split into two kingdoms, Israel in the north and Judah in the south. 2 particularly famous prophets speak into the ever so frequent wickedness of the monarchy in the Northern kingdom — Elijah and Elisha. Similar names, differing guys. Elisha is the protege of Elijah. And we are talking about Elisha right now.

Now, things in Israel were not good. Israel is under tremendous pressure from foreign powers—likely the Arameans at this stage of Elisha’s ministry. The king is politically unstable. Elisha is operating in a society teetering on collapse. Economic injustice is rampant—debt slavery was common, and creditors were permitted to seize children as collateral.

Today’s story opens with a pretty relatable crisis that is born out of these circumstances. Let’s read it.

2 Kings 4:1–7 NRSV

Now the wife of a member of the company of prophets cried to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead; and you know that your servant feared the Lord, but a creditor has come to take my two children as slaves.” Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” She answered, “Your servant has nothing in the house, except a jar of oil.” He said, “Go outside, borrow vessels from all your neighbors, empty vessels and not just a few. Then go in, and shut the door behind you and your children, and start pouring into all these vessels; when each is full, set it aside.” So she left him and shut the door behind her and her children; they kept bringing vessels to her, and she kept pouring. When the vessels were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” But he said to her, “There are no more.” Then the oil stopped flowing. She came and told the man of God, and he said, “Go sell the oil and pay your debts, and you and your children can live on the rest.”

A widow cries out to Elisha, the prophet.

Her husband has died — and according to Jewish tradition, he may have been Obadiah, the man who hid God’s prophets during the reign of evil King Ahab and Queen Jezebel.

Her husband gave everything he had to serve the Lord. Now she has nothing. And worse — creditors are coming to take her two sons as slaves.

She is grieving. She is terrified. She is at the bottom of the pantry and the bottom of hope.

Elisha responds with a question that God still asks:

“What do you have in your house?”

And she answers like so many of us:

“Nothing at all… except a jar of oil.”

Nothing… except.

Oh, the holy power of an “except.” Let’s look at what God does here.

The Hebrew word for “jar” here is not a word that describes a big storage jar. Not a gallon jug. A small flask. A tiny anointing vessel.

Barely enough oil to cook a biscuit.

And the Hebrew word for “pour” used in this story is the same word used to describe anointing kings and consecrating priests.

So spiritually speaking — this isn’t just cooking oil. This is king-making oil. Calling oil. God-sets-you-apart oil.

God loves to start miracles in places that feel insignificant.

THE MIRACLE BEGINS WITH A NEIGHBORHOOD ERRAND

Elisha tells her:

“Go borrow vessels from all your neighbors — and not just a few.” — 2 Kings 4:3

Then shut the door. Gather the jars. And pour.

And she does.

And the oil keeps flowing until every jar is full.

And then — only then — does it stop.

The miracle matched the measure of her trust and the room she made.

If she borrowed 5 jars, she gets 5 jars of oil. If she borrowed 500, she gets 500.

God fills the space we prepare.

Let’s zoom out.

Garden of Eden — humanity was created to steward God’s gifts. Not grasp. Not hoard. Receive — and multiply blessing outward.

Sin enters when humans doubt God’s generosity and try to secure their own future.

Scarcity theology begins in Eden.

And God has been undoing it ever since.

This widow isn’t grasping. She isn’t hoarding. She’s offering what little she has.

She chooses trust over fear. Faith over scarcity. Pouring over protecting.

And in doing so, she steps back into her original design: partnering with God in abundance.

THIS IS ABOUT MONEY — BUT IT’S NOT ABOUT MONEY

Let's name the thing: Yes — we are talking about financial stewardship. And yes — in a few minutes, we will invite you to make a pledge for our ministry budget for 2026.

But listen — this is not about fundraising.

This is about formation.

This is about learning what it means to live as people who trust that God provides.

Because the world says:

Protect what’s yours. Hold tight. You never know.

But the gospel says:

“Look at the birds of the air. Your Father feeds them.” (Matthew 6)

Faith says:

“Bring what you have.” “Pour anyway.” “The oil will not run out.”

OUR CHURCH: A HOUSE FULL OF JARS

Church — what if we are standing in a house full of empty jars right now?

What if we are in the middle of a miracle and we don’t even realize it yet?

Each of us came today carrying a jar — some small, some large, some chipped, some polished. All vessels God can fill.

Maybe your jar is generosity. Maybe your jar is consistency. Maybe your jar is a mustard-seed start.

The size doesn’t matter. The willingness does.

God never asked the widow for oil she didn’t have. He asked for what she already held.

So we ask humbly today:

What do you have in your house?

PLEDGE MOMENT — “BRING YOUR JAR”

In your bulletin is a 2026 pledge card.

Think of it not as a bill… but as a vessel. A jar of trust. A place for God to pour.

We don’t give because we have extra. We give because God multiplies trust.

And yes — we are believing for an abundant year of ministry at this church. A year of baptisms, and discipleship, and kids learning about Jesus, and worship that lifts the weary, and justice that restores dignity, and meals shared, and families strengthened, and hope poured out like oil.

That’s what you’re investing in.

Not lights. Not air conditioning. Not budgets.

Miracles.

Lives changed. Oil flowing. Rooms filled with jars.

Take a quiet moment. Ask the Spirit:

“Lord… what do I have in my house?”

Then offer it. Pour it. Trust it.