November 10, 2024
Pastor John Hering
1 Kings 17:8-16
1 Kings 17:8-16
8 Then the word of the Lord came to him: 9 “Get up! Go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and live there. I have commanded a woman there, a widow, to provide for you.”
10 So he got up and went to Zarephath. He came to the city gate, and there he saw a widow gathering sticks. He called to her and said, “Please give me a little water in a jar, so that I can have something to drink.”
11 When she went to get it, he called to her, “Please bring me a piece of bread.”
12 She said, “As surely as the Lord your God lives, I have no food except a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a pitcher. See, I am gathering a couple of sticks so that I can go and prepare it for myself and my son, so that we can eat it and then die.”
13 Elijah said to her, “Do not be afraid. Go and do just as you said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from the flour and bring it out to me. Then go and make another for you and your son. 14 For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says. The jar of flour will not run out and the pitcher of oil will not become empty until the day the Lord sends rain to water the surface of the ground.”
15 So she went and did exactly as Elijah said. He and she, as well as her household, were able to eat for many days. 16 The jar of flour did not run out, and the pitcher of oil did not become empty, just as the Lord had said through Elijah.
I’m sure you remember what happened about 20 years ago. I’m sure you remember what happened about 10 years ago. 20 years ago we were thinking about remodeling the church. 10 years ago we were thinking about starting a new mission. Do those memories bring you nervousness or joy? I remember the Voters Meetings we had with people wringing their hands and wondering how in the world we could ever afford to build a new church. The concern was that our general offerings (our flour and oil) were barely paying the bills and we wondered how 50 families could ever support gospel ministry and build a new church. At the meeting someone said we should take God as his Word and pray for his blessing on our effort. So, we prayed and then asked you to be responsible and generous with the blessings God had given to you and lay out your best plans and pray, “God, your will be done.” The leadership then began a special stewardship emphasis called “Forward in Faith” as a plan to finance our new church. And you know what happened. You’re sitting in it. We could basically say the same thing when it came time to start a new mission in Rockwall. Once again we laid out our best plans (Growing Gifts) and invested our financial support (our flour and oil) and today we have a thriving mission in Rockwall. Look what has happened when God’s people were generous with their flour and oil! Today we want to look around once again and be reminded of the storehouse of blessings we have received from the Lord. We may look into our lives and be tempted to say, “I just don’t have enough flour and oil.” So, may the Holy Spirit led us to follow the example of the Widow of Zarephath and
Be Generous With Your Flour and Oil
Remembering we have God’s Promises
God’s Word before us today is not about building a new church or starting a new mission, but it certainly drives home the point that the Lord can use various occasions to challenge God’s people to exercise their generous giving from thankful hearts of faith. Wicked King Ahab and Queen Jezebel were introducing the false worship of Baal in Israel. God called his prophet to proclaim a tough-love message to the king and the people to awaken them from their idolatry.
“Elijah from Tishbe, one of the settlers in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As surely as the Lord lives, the God of Israel before whom I stand, there will be no dew or rain during the coming years, except at my word.”
1 Kings 17:1
Of course this Word of the LORD stung Ahab and Jezebel began a revenge campaign against Elijah. I wonder what Elijah thought when the LORD told him to go into the wilderness for protection? “What?! No rain and I’m going where? What non-sense!” But, God provided Elijah with his own Uber Eats service by having ravens bring him bread to eat.
“7 After some time the stream dried up because there had been no rain in the land. 8 Then the word of the Lord came to him: 9 “Get up! Go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and live there. I have commanded a woman there, a widow, to provide for you.”
Again, this sounds like non-sense for the place where God was sending Elijah was the center of Baal worship! And to a widow to get food? Single moms need financial help, not free loaders! But, God said, “Go!” Elijah could have made lots of excuses not to go. But, he trusted in the Lord to take care of him.
Perhaps Elijah was able to connect the dots as he walked along. After all God had used famine, wilderness and ravens to protect him. Maybe it was time to trust in God even more that he could help Elijah using a poor widow.
“10 So he got up and went to Zarephath. He came to the city gate, and there he saw a widow gathering sticks. He called to her and said, “Please give me a little water in a jar, so that I can have something to drink.”
So far so good. It wouldn’t cost her anything to get some water out of the well. But,
“11 When she went to get it, he called to her, “Please bring me a piece of bread.”
Now, that meant she would have to sacrifice! And just like the poor widow at the temple who gave her last coins, giving this man a piece of bread was no small request!
“12 She said, “As surely as the Lord your God lives, I have no food except a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a pitcher. See, I am gathering a couple of sticks so that I can go and prepare it for myself and my son, so that we can eat it and then die.”
Would you have given this stranger your last bite? This is exactly the time to Remember that We Have God’s Promises.
“15 The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time. 16 You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing”
Psalm 145
As Elijah was asking and the widow was fretting, God in heaven was smiling. God already knew what he would do and it was time for Elijah to exercise his faith and the widow to learn a lesson about trusting in the Lord. This was more than a discussion about bread, it was the Lord working to gain more souls for his kingdom!
“13 Elijah said to her, “Do not be afraid. Go and do just as you said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from the flour and bring it out to me. Then go and make another for you and your son. 14 For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says. The jar of flour will not run out and the pitcher of oil will not become empty until the day the Lord sends rain to water the surface of the ground.”
Would she trust this stranger who served the Lord? Perhaps she recognized that her god, Baal, wasn’t doing anything to help her, but this God of Israel made a promise that she could verify right now! This widow had a no-lose promise and went back home to use her last cup of flour and oil to make bread for Elijah.
“15 So she went and did exactly as Elijah said. He and she, as well as her household, were able to eat for many days. 16 The jar of flour did not run out, and the pitcher of oil did not become empty, just as the Lord had said through Elijah.”
Wouldn’t you love to have Elijah for your pastor! He would help you Remember God’s Promises and Be Generous With Your Flour and Oil. You could tell him all about your job loss, cancer, poor investments, kids getting into trouble, boatload of love in your marriage running into a sand bar, death in the family, and the Voters of Divine Peace about to consider whether or not to continue with starting Divine Peace Academy! What are we going to do when we think our flour and oil are not enough? Be stingy! Be sure we have hundreds, or thousands, or hundreds of thousands in the bank or our investments? What would Elijah tell you? You know. He would tell you what God can do! Not only could God made flour and oil not run out, but he also created faith in the hearts of this Gentile woman and increased the faith of Elijah.
God has promised to take care of all your needs. This is his powerful Word to remember so we can be Generous With Our Flour and Oil. I know the temptation for me is to wonder if it is worth all the effort. Why continue to write sermons and prepare Bible Classes? Only about half the congregation shows up for worship and only 20% show up for Bible Class. Is it all worth it? If Elijah had thought that way and stayed in Israel he would have missed out on the miracles of bread and faith. Shame on you and me for selling short the power of God’s Word. It does change hearts and changes lives for eternity! These are the perfect times for us to remember to be Generous with the Flour and Oil of God’s Word as we Remember God’s Promises and
We Are the People of God
Our hearts are encouraged when we see the generosity of other people. It happened in the Gospel reading for today.
“43 He called his disciples together and said to them, “Amen I tell you: This poor widow put more into the offering box than all the others. 44 For they all gave out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all that she had to live on”
Mark 12:43-44
We get Jesus’ point. There were many who were giving to the Lord, but the widow gave her “flour and oil” to the point of giving all she had while trusting in the Lord to take care of her as a child of God. The widow of Zarephath was also put to the test.
“14 For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says. The jar of flour will not run out and the pitcher of oil will not become empty until the day the Lord sends rain to water the surface of the ground.”
Showing her trust in the Lord she generously sacrificed her “flour and oil.” In doing so she trusted in Elijah’s words from the Lord. Trusting in the Lord’s promises made her a child of God!
You are also the People of God! While we thank the Lord for his gracious call to faith, we also recognize the challenges that face us as the People of God to trust in his Word. The election is over. Are we still going to trust God’s Word when he says,
“Everyone must submit to the governing authorities. For no authority exists except by God, and the authorities that do exist have been established by God”
Romans 13:1
Your life isn’t going the way you planned it. Are you still going to trust God’s Word when he says,
“28 We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose”
Romans 8:28
We’re afraid of what might happen in the future for the next generation of kids and grandkids. Will we trust God’s Word when he says,
“7 The Lord is my strength and my shield. In him my heart trusts, and I am helped”
Psalm 28:7
Let us repent of the times we have failed to trust in the Lord as His People, and forgotten to treasure the Gospel! Let us repent for the times we made our God a God of convenience, for doubting his promises, laziness, abuse, anger, lust, greed, and failing to defend a person’s reputation. Rather let’s follow God’s holy will because of Jesus who did die to forgive us, pay the penalty of our sins, and give us the holiness we need to enter heaven. Let us respond as God’s People to use the “Flour and oil” God has blessed us with to his glory and honor.
Oh, how I wish this would be easy because we are God’s People Eager To Be Generous With our Flour and Oil, but I know the devil will not give up. He will tempt us to wait to use our blessings to serve God when things get better. The widow of Zarephath didn’t have that luxury of waiting, did she?
“14 For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says. The jar of flour will not run out and the pitcher of oil will not become empty until the day the Lord sends rain to water the surface of the ground.”
And she did. How many times in the Bible does the Lord use a poor person to get his work done. The boy came with a couple of fish and loaves of bread for Jesus to feed 5,000 people. Jesus made fishermen his disciples. Jesus healed beggars. In the hands of God great things happen through poor people. I pray that you are a poor person. I mean the kind of poor person Jesus was talking about when he said,
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, because theirs is the kingdom of heaven”
Matthew 5:3
There are people here who could tell you how they thought their flour and oil were running out. But, then they came to realize that they been mocking God with their selfish lives. They will also tell you how they prioritized God first in the their family, work, and support of God’s kingdom and the Holy Spirit exercised their faith just like the widow of Zarephath as they rejoiced to give generous gifts of their time, talents and treasures to the Lord. Then they discovered more flour and oil than they ever imagined. Please note, the widow never said, “I’ll give to the prophet so I can get rich.” That would not be honoring God. She honored the Lord by taking him at his Word.
We can look back and see how the Lord has blessed Divine Peace over the past 10 or 20 years. I wonder, if the world lasts that long, what Divine Peace will be saying 10 years from now? To be sure there will be times when we see our “flour and oil” running a little thin. I know there will be challenges and heartaches along the way. But, we are living for what is to come. May you live today as God’s People who are Trusting in God’s Promises so You can Be Generous With Your Flour and Oil for the glory of God and good of his kingdom. Amen.
