Turning Little Into Enough
Notes
Transcript
Intro
Intro
Final Sermon. We have reached the last sermon in the Rock Button series. Over the past few weeks, we have considered how merciful our Lord is.
A God who draws near to those who, because of their sins, had become unapproachable, rejected by society, individuals without any hope.
Historical Context. The biblical passage just read describes the beginning of Elijah's prophetic ministry. Elijah is called by God to denounce the rebellion of Israel's king, Ahab.
In fact, during Ahab's reign, a spiritual battle was raging between Balaam and YHWH. Through Elijah's prophetic ministry, the Lord will demonstrate that He is the one true God and not a false god:
When you cry out for help, let your collection of idols save you!
The wind will carry all of them off, a mere breath will blow them away. But whoever takes refuge in me will inherit the land and possess my holy mountain.”
The Condition of Widowhood. In this context of national confusion and rebellion, God does not forget to show grace to a single individual.
The God who exercises His rule over the nations does not forget to show His favor to humble and forgotten individuals.
God was the Lord of individuals, nations, and all of history.
Stephen R. Miller
God cares for nations, but God reminds us that He cares for us individually. In this regard, being a widow meant experiencing poverty and loneliness.
The future for a widow is full of obstacles and challenges of all kinds. In the Old Testament, God often presents Himself as a defender of widows:
A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.
The Lord watches over the foreigner and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.
Sermon's outline. The Bible passage under consideration tells the story of a widow who had reached rock bottom: she was preparing the last meal of her life.
Despite the widow's desperate condition, God will send His prophet to the widow, and with him the hope for a better future.
God's help is the theme of this biblical passage, and in this regard, I would like to consider the three main places where we find God's help towards the widow:
Help is on the way;
Help is at the Town Gate;
Help in the Widow’s House.
N.1 - Help is on the way
N.1 - Help is on the way
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?”
Help is coming. The prophet Elijah obeys the voice of the Lord, traveling 140 kilometers to reach the city where the widow lived. Regarding this journey, I would like to share two aspects:
1A. Instructions for the widow. From verse 9, we understand that the widow had already experienced a supernatural encounter with God: "I have directed a widow..."
The term "directed" also means "to set up, to give instructions, to appoint."
The encounter with the prophet Elijah, therefore, does not represent the widow's first encounter with the Supernatural, but her second. Indeed, God does not improvise, nor does He act on impulse or instinct; rather, His works have been established since the foundation of the earth:
The Lord Almighty has sworn, “Surely, as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will happen.
Application. God is not improvising with you! God is not hastily preparing a plan to deliver you, but He has prepared a plan for your life and will carry it out.
Just as the meeting between the prophet and the widow of Zarephath was masterfully orchestrated by God, so you are here listening to the Word of God because the Lord coordinated this moment. God does not improvise; God carries out His plan.
1B. The Widow's address. We do not know the widow's name, but Scripture gives us her address: Zarephath, a city in the region of the Sidonians.
Steeped in idolatry, the city of Zarephath was under the dominion of the Sidonians, the region from which the wicked Queen Jezebel came from.
In other words, the widow resided in the heart of a pagan region; this widow was a daughter of the false god Baal, she was outside the territory of Israel, far from the prophet Elijah, she was living in the stronghold of the witch Jezebel.
Despite this, God sends His prophet to the city of Zarephath. This biblical passage reminds us that there are no centers of hellish power on this earth, that the Devil has no strongholds: God's help is on its way!
Application. The context in which you live, your residential address, your home, seems so similar to the city of Zeraphath: a place of pain, an impregnable stronghold.
There are homes where evil reigns, addresses where every kind of transgression and violence is committed. Yet the Lord is sending His help; divine help is on its way to your address.
N.2 - Help is at the Town Gate
N.2 - Help is at the Town Gate
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?”
Help at the Gates. After a long and perilous journey, the prophet Elijah reaches the gates of the city of Zarephath.
As we will see, it is only when the prophet approaches the city, only when Elijah reaches the gates of Zarephath, that the widow's crisis, her tragedy, emerges.
Application. It is only when the Lord reaches the depths of our hearts that our desperate spiritual and moral condition emerges.
I would like to consider two aspects of this "help at the gates":
2A. The widow's industriousness. The tragedy and desperation the widow experienced did not stop this woman from providing for her family.
Here she is working, gathering branches to light the fire. The pain she is experiencing does not stop her from fulfilling her responsibilities as a mother.
In the widow's dynamic attitude, I seem to discern the industriousness of the tireless Paul who, after being shipwrecked on the island of Malta, immediately set to work:
Paul gathered a pile of brushwood and, as he put it on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand.
Application. We must all imitate this widow, imitate her dynamism. This woman did not allow tragedy to immobilize her.
Perhaps you are petrified by the pain you are experiencing, incapable of taking initiative.
Take Courage! This morning, divine help has reached the doors of your heart. You too can take some branches and light the fire of praise to the Lord.
2B. The second request. We understand that the widow had water: in fact, the woman does not object when the prophet asks for water.
But it is at the second request that the woman must confess the miserable condition in which she finds herself. The woman had water, but she had no food.
Application. There is a second request for the church as well. This morning, God wants to delve deeper with us too: He wants us to confess to Him what we lack.
Through this sermon, the Lord doesn't want just validate your “water," but He wants you to confess to Him that you need food.
Jesus and the Samaritan Woman. Jesus used the same approach with the Samaritan woman: first He asked her for water, then He asked her for her husband, and she answered Him:
“I have no husband,” she replied.
Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband.
Many services are turning into “group therapy sessions for religious people”, where they affirm each other, praise and glorify each other, emphasizing only what they have, but not leaving the Spirit of God the freedom to ask people the indispensable second request.
Questions. What are you lacking this morning? Maybe you have water, but no food... Maybe you have water, but no husband... Maybe you have water, but you can't forgive, you lack joy, maybe there is water in your house but no peace. Confess it! Tell the Lord, and He will provide for your home.
N.3 - Help in the Widow’s House
N.3 - Help in the Widow’s House
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.
Help is at home. This widow's story ends beautifully: help arrives in her home, on the table, for her entire family.
Application. I hope none of us can feel satisfied knowing that God's help is on its way to you; I hope no one is content knowing that God's help is at the door of our hearts.
In fact, I pray that God's help will be brought to your home this morning.
How can all this happen? Act in faith, just as the woman in question did. In this regard, I would like to highlight two aspects of helping in the home:
3A. Priority. Elijah specifically asked us to give priority to him! The prophet didn't ask for a cake for her and the prophet, but for the prophet first.
Application. If you want God's help to enter your home, you must prioritize your life.
The Gospel is not: God and…, The Lord together with... A cake shared between the world and faith, a single dish for everyone.
The Gospel is: "God first!”
1500 Illustrations for Biblical Preaching Priorities
Lewis Sperry Chafer, referring to a friend who was devoting most of his time and energy in pursuit of an insignificant matter, said, “He reminds me of a bulldog chasing a train: what’s he going to do with it if he catches it?”1089
Christians are not called to escape the world but to be obedient to God within it, allowing the transcendent dimension where Christ reigns to set the priorities for our lives.
David E. Garland
3B. A sufficient miracle. What will take place in the home of this foreign widow is the first miracle of multiplication contained in the Bible.
In this case, however, there is no abundance, no baskets full of bread, but rather the reassurance that nothing will be lacking in the widow's house.
Application. I regret to remind all preachers of the prosperity gospel that our God has never promised us that the gospel will make us millionaires; He has promised us that we will lack nothing:
The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.
The fact that God provides just for what we need does not mean that our God performs mediocre miracles, but that He works knowing our nature.
In fact, our trust is not in the jar or the jug, but only in God. Every day, God will not let you lack what you need.
Conclusion
Conclusion
On the way, at the town gate, at home. This story reminds us that God's help ultimately focuses on our families.
Act in faith, allow God to help you confess all your needs, put your priorities in order, and God will bring His help to your home.
