To Be Filled

2 Kings 4:1–7 NLT

One day the widow of a member of the group of prophets came to Elisha and cried out, “My husband who served you is dead, and you know how he feared the Lord. But now a creditor has come, threatening to take my two sons as slaves.” “What can I do to help you?” Elisha asked. “Tell me, what do you have in the house?” “Nothing at all, except a flask of olive oil,” she replied. And Elisha said, “Borrow as many empty jars as you can from your friends and neighbors. Then go into your house with your sons and shut the door behind you. Pour olive oil from your flask into the jars, setting each one aside when it is filled.” So she did as she was told. Her sons kept bringing jars to her, and she filled one after another. Soon every container was full to the brim! “Bring me another jar,” she said to one of her sons. “There aren’t any more!” he told her. And then the olive oil stopped flowing. When she told the man of God what had happened, he said to her, “Now sell the olive oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on what is left over.”

This evening as we looked at this text think about this question:

What’s in your jar?

Througout scripture we see many instances of where God loves to fill empty things. He resolves desperate situations with the Holy Spirit’s power and might.

Life has a way of pouring us out. It takes a toll on us. When life takes away God GIVES!!

Emptiness is when God has us right where He wants us and where we need to be. It is where we best listen to God.

There is a difference between jars that are full and a jar that is filled!

Jesus loves to fill what is empty. God is a filler of empty vessels. Jesus is a living picture of what that means.

Jesus’ first public miracle for instance in John 2.

Jesus changes the water into wine. You see they were at a wedding.

Weddings at that time were more than an afternoon affair. These weddings lasted for 7 days and the wine is supposed to last that long also. If wine ran out that would mean the host would receive public ridicule. The hosts of the wedding came to Jesus to ask for His help.

The wine at the wedding was running low and they wanted to avoid this unfortunate social blunder.

Jesus asks for empty jars. Once again empty jars like we read about earlier in 2 Kings. Jesus asks for 6 of the jars to be filled with water, which he then changes into wine. Once the guests taste the new wine the bridgeroom is commended for saving the best wine for last which is a rarity.

You see Jesus does not just fill emptiness, he fills it with joy and abundance.

In John 4, we see it again where Jesus fills an empty vesssel. He meets the woman at the well. This woman’s life is empty, she needs an God but doesn’t realize it and Jesus fills her up!

In John 6, Jesus is faced with a crowd of empty stomachs. What does he do? He dills them all and they have left overs.

At the home of Jarius, Jesus finds emptiness. There is a loss, the death of Jarius’ daughter. Jesus fills the house with joy by bringing her back to life.

He met up wiht a woman who was caught in adultery. Jesus saves her life and He saves her soul. He fills her with hope that she has never known.

There are countless examples in the gospels and I can continue to list them but the main point here is

JESUS FILLS!!!!

Sadly, there are some who encountered Jesus but refused to allow Him to fill them.

They wanted to remain in their emptiness.

For instance, the rich young ruler - he walked away because he could not give everything up as Jesus comanded.

Pharisees — who gave Jesus grief because He healed on the wrong day!

God is the one who feeds us, who fills us. Give us this day our daily bread.

Presumption of Emptiness

Illustration:

Commercials on TV - their purpose - to sell you something. Something you may be ultimately convinced you need. These are based on the presumption of emptiness. Commercials state or confirms that you are missing something from your life.

In 30 seconds they state that they can fill your void.

Take a look at how we are and fill in the blanks about how you operate in your life:

Phones - the one you bought last year is not as good. This new one is bigger, better, faster and user friendly.

Tablet/Computer is no longer useful - it is obselete in no time flat.

Sewing machine - not enough options, too small, can’t embroider, not enough feet options.

Ski doo/quad not enough power, not a long track, not fast enough, or comfortable enough.

Guitars ---- I can list many resons here that I have been told that someone needs a newer better one.

The presumption of emptiness runs our consumer based economy. Consumerism is a personal sense of fulfillment directly related to our ever increating consumption of goods.

Put simply, “I feel a little down I need to consume a little more”.

Retail therapy at its finest.

Life is a cycle of ceaseless upgrading inventory. We are trying to fill the cavity of our soul with things that won’t fit.

Mother Teresa said this:

“The spiritual overty of the Western world is much greater than the physical poverty of our people in Calcutta. In the west, people suffer such terrible loneliness and emptiness… These people are not hungry in the physical sense, but they are in another way. They know they need something more than money, yet they don’t know what it is. What they are missing is a living relationship with God”.

I would add to this - what they are missing is the infilling of the Holy Spirit.

The Busy Trap

In the Book of Luke we read about the Great Banquet.

Take a look:

Luke 14:16–24 NLT

Jesus replied with this story: “A man prepared a great feast and sent out many invitations. When the banquet was ready, he sent his servant to tell the guests, ‘Come, the banquet is ready.’ But they all began making excuses. One said, ‘I have just bought a field and must inspect it. Please excuse me.’ Another said, ‘I have just bought five pairs of oxen, and I want to try them out. Please excuse me.’ Another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’ “The servant returned and told his master what they had said. His master was furious and said, ‘Go quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and invite the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’ After the servant had done this, he reported, ‘There is still room for more.’ So his master said, ‘Go out into the country lanes and behind the hedges and urge anyone you find to come, so that the house will be full. For none of those I first invited will get even the smallest taste of my banquet.’ ”

God’s feast is not just another meal. I am not arguing that point tonight. We want in on it. We can’t stop consuming long enough to take our place at the table. And even if we did we would be looking at the dishes, decore, and wondering where they came from!

From this scripture there are three types of people.

The consumer - the one who purchased the field (v. 18)

The talker - the busyness of work is represented here (v.19)

The cooner (v.20) - loves to nest, add on, a man cave with a home theatre. Someone who just wants to disappear into that place and enjoy it to the fullest.

We are just coming out of covid a time where we are forced to slow down. Where we had no choice but to stop, pause, breath.

May we not get back into old habits for the sake of we have always done it, or for this is how I need to live to buy, to do, to work for the sake of working.

We need purpsose, vision, we need to hear His voice and heed it.

Being crazy busy!

Is not the way, it does nothing for our family life, work life and for sure it does not do it for our spiritual life.

Busyness is another way of consumerism. Our lives cannot be that silly, trivial and meaningless. If we are so busy, booked and in demand every house of the day how do you hear God?

How are you led by His spirit?

We try to fill our lives with screen time whether it is online, phones, tablets, computers or tv. It is all void filling emptiness.

Doesn’t that sound like a prison sentence?

People never know what they have missed. We ahave moved too fast and think too superficially, busying themselves to places that are distant from God who loves us.

The guests we spoke of earlier have allowed “other things” to take up the space in our lives that is meant for God!

God fills and feeds His children.

He supplies basic needs.

He gave the Holy Spirit so that we would be filled with the Holy Spirit. When we become followers of God, we invite the Holy Spirit into our life. Jesus into our heart.

We then pray for His infilling, which means full cooperation with Him and all that He wants to do through us.

Holy Spirit is the presence of Christ with us everywhere we go.

The Holy Spirit gives us special gifts for ministry. The Holy Spirit counsels us, comforts us and transforms us to the image of Christ Himself.

In the book of Acts, the disciples change from a bumbling group into the Gospels to a dynamic, world-shaking band of Godly Revoluntionaries.

Filled with the Holy Spirit they are new people.

God wants to fill and inspire you through His Spirit.

Ephesians 5:18 NLT

Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit,

Paul writes to say don’t try to get inspiration out of a bottle. God wants to fill and inspire you through His spirit.

If you need comfort don’t guzzle it. Find the real stuff in the one Jesus called the comforter.

Don’t try to work up courage by drinking the spirit is courageous.

Paul commands us in Ephesians to be filled with the Holy Spirit. He uses present passive imperative tense here.

Wow!

Yes that’s a lot about grammar and we are not here for a grammar lesson but this is important for us to hear.

The way this is written means this is not an option it is a command!

It is not for certain denominations or just if you are into that kind of thing.

Be filled with the spirit, we are told to DO IT!

The verb tense also states that it is not a one time event. It is something we contine, just as we breath and eat.

As life happens, as life chips away at us be filled with the Holy Spirit, BE REFRESHED!

The passive tense - this is not something we do ourselves. The har does not fill itself remember?

Someone else must do that.

So how do we, the jars, place ourselves in the right position to receove that holy oil that never runs dry?

We empty ourselves, How?

PRAY - Constantly to God

Empty me O Lord of all the extraneous stuff and fill me with your spirit.

At the great Banquet, there is a moment of sadness. The servant is telling the mast about the men who are simply too busy, too full to come. No matter how rich and filling and wonderful the banquet.

Now the master smiles and says “I like filling, so fill the table, fill it up with people who have room in their schedules, their priorities, their soulds.

FILL IT WITH OPEN PEOPLE!!!

I do not care who they are, or what they have done.

I do not care if they have the appropriate wardrobe or make great dinner conversation.

All I want is emptiness!

You see we may be scared of emptiness, but God loves emptiness!

Do not fear it, embrace it, and allow God to fill you up and overflow you with Him and His presence.