Today is the Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Pentecost. Today is also what at one time was referred to as the third last Sunday of the Church year, meaning that after today there are only two Sundays left in our current church year. It is at this time of the year, as we move to the end of our church year, that we are often reminded that our time on this earth is short. And certainly, when compared with eternity, our time is very short. We do not know who much time we have on this earth. We do not know when we will die. We do not know when the Lord will return. Thus, we are reminded of the importance of what is important. We are reminded of the importance of making sure we are ready, ready for our last hour, or ready for the Lord’s return. Because, ready or not, He will return, or we will go to Him. And I would suggest that both of those times are sooner than we know and sooner than we might imagine.
How do we make sure we are ready? As we said last week, we make sure we are ready by making regular and diligent use of those means the Lord has given us to get us ready, His Word and sacraments. Thus, it is not really we who make ourselves ready, but it is the Lord, working through His means of grace, who gets us ready. Our text for this morning gives us an indication of our readiness by helping us to understand how we keep the first commandment, having no other gods before the one true God, by our fear, love and trust in God above all things, even and including trusting in ourselves. So, let us get to our text.
Our text is one in which we see how God is God and how He does care for His people, providing for all our needs. Notice, I said needs, not necessarily wants. In our text we see God taking care of His servant Elijah as well as the widow and her son. In the account before our text we read the account of God taking care of Elijah by his being fed by ravens, until the river dried up. In our text we are told that Elijah is instructed by God to go to Zarephath for the Lord to continue caring for him there. So, instead of being fed by the Lord by ravens, he will now be fed by the Lord through the widow of Zarephath.
Notice, as God takes care of His servant Elijah, He is also taking care of the widow and her son. As the account goes, there has been a drought on the land and the drought has been so bad that the supply of food has diminished to almost nothing. The widow has no husband to care for her and evidently her son is not old enough to care for her, so she is left to care for herself and for her son. By the time Elijah arrives on the scene the widow has nothing left except enough flour and oil to make one last meal for herself and her son. Her idea is that she will cook this last meal and then she and her son will settle in to starve to death. That is her plan.
Before she could carry out her plan, the Lord sent Elijah. He sent Elijah so that He, the Lord, might take care of Elijah and so that He might also take care of the widow and her son. You might remember that Jesus upset the Pharisees when He reminded them that God could have sent Elijah to one of many starving widows in Israel, but because of their lack of faith, because of their faithlessness, He sent Elijah to the believing widow in the foreign town of Zarephath.
As Elijah approached the widow, who was about to make her last meal and die, Elijah asked her to give him some water. Evidently water was not as scarce as food, so she went to get him some water. As she was going to get the water, he asked her to bring him something to eat. At this point she reveals to him her intentions, to bake her last meal and die. Elijah instructs her with words from the Lord, that is that she should first tend to his need, that she should first give him something to eat, and he gives God’s promise that if she does give him to eat first, that she and her son will not have to worry about food until after the drought is over and there is food in the land. As a matter of fact God’s promise is that the jar of flour and the jar of oil will not run out until the day the Lord sends rain. This is a test of faith for the widow, to not believe Elijah and God, and eat her last meal, or to believe and give up her last meal. The widow believed Elijah and God and gave first to the Lord and His servant Elijah.
This was indeed a testing of her faith. She, shall we say, passed the test and God’s promise came about, her flour and oil did not run out. As we are continually reminded, God’s Word does what it says.
Interestingly enough our Old Testament Lesson ties in very well to our Gospel Lesson for today. In our Gospel lesson we are pointed to a widow, very much like the widow of Zarephath. We are told by Jesus that this widow was also at the end of her physical provisions. She had only two small copper coins and we are not told if she had any expectation of gaining any more money to purchase food to eat.
Jesus points out this widow who had nothing in contrast to those who had everything but were living in spiritual poverty. This widow understood and believed that all things begin with and are first given by God. Remember a couple weeks ago when we were reminded that we enter this world with nothing and we leave this world with nothing, so nothing is truly ours. Everything we amass in this world is simply on loan to us from God. Very often there is the discussion concerning how much we should return to God from what He has first given to us. Should we return ten percent, and is that before or after taxes. Perhaps instead of asking how much we should return or give back to God, maybe the question we might ask ourselves is how much should we keep for ourselves. This widow, in faith and trust, knowing and believing that what she had was first given to her by God and knowing and believing that He would continue to take care of her, she gave first to the Lord and she gave everything she had. She kept nothing for herself.
Again, this widow knew that all that she had came from the Lord who has promised to take care of all our needs. She had all her needs taken care of, given to her by the Lord. So, she gave the rest back to Him. Talk about faith.
But, what about us? Do we recognize that all that we have, all our gifts, talents, abilities to work, a job to work, are all gifts from God? Or do we believe we have done it ourselves? Certainly we talk about our house and our car, our this and our that, as if these things are ours. But are they truly ours, or is everything we have merely on loan while we live in this world. Remember, what we are born with and what we take with us when we die, that is what is truly ours. Everything else in this world is God’s, created by God, sustained and preserved by God, and loaned to us to use while we are here on His earth.
So, when we give, do we give as an offering to the poor? Do we give as for a collection for those we believe have less? Do we give because we think God needs something from us? Do we give out of a sense of guilt? Do we give because we think we have to? Do we give from our poverty, all that we have left, or do we begrudgingly give from our wealth? I am sure you have all heard the old encouragement, “give until it hurts.” Might I suggest that for some, it always hurts to give. Instead of giving until it hurts, I would suggest giving until it feels good. And please, do not give begrudgingly, remember as Paul tells us, God loves a cheerful giver.
Do we truly believe that all that we have is a gift from God? Do we believe God has provided and will continue to provide for all our needs, and is this faith more than merely lip service? In other words are we like the person who was afraid to give of their first fruits because perhaps next week might not be as good a week so we better keep some back just in case. If we truly believe that God has provided for all our needs to this point why is it so difficult to believe that He will continue to do so?
As we look at this world in which we live, a world that has been tainted by sin since the Garden of Eden, as we look at this world we can see that God does provide. God does give. God gives to the just and to the unjust. When it rains it does not simply rain on the just, but it rains on the just and the unjust. When people succeed, according to man’s definition of success, it is not only the just who succeed, but the unjust as well. God provides for the needs of all regardless of whether they know and believe in Him or not.
God gives us all that we need. His first and greatest gift is forgiveness. As you have heard me say time and again, our greatest need is forgiveness of sins, because without forgiveness we remain in our sins and if we remain in our sins then we would be eternally condemned, but with forgiveness if life and salvation. Our greatest need is forgiveness and we see this demonstrated time and again in the Gospels when the first thing Jesus gives to those who approach Him for any number of reasons, the first thing Jesus gives is forgiveness of sins.
Not only does God give us forgiveness, He also promises to always provide all we need. Here in America, because we are so blessed, perhaps we have a hard time distinguishing between needs and want. Do we need for everyone in this country to have a phone? Does everyone need six, seven, ten or more pairs of shoes, pairs of pants, shirts, and so forth? Do we all really need a computer and TV in every room of the house? Do we really need the latest and greatest technological gadget? And believe me, I am right there with the rest of the world, I like to be on the cutting edge, but is this something I need, or is it just a want. We are getting close to Christmas and I am sure we will be hearing more and more in the days to come, especially from our children. “Mom, Dad, I need the latest and greatest toy, computer game, video game, etc.”
God provides us with all that we truly need, beginning with forgiveness of sins. God provides for us gifts, talents and abilities as well as a job to work to earn a living to put food on our table, a roof over our heads, shoes on our feet and clothes on our backs. God provides for all our needs and here in America I know that He gives us all that we need and even more, so much so that He gives us many of our wants and more than we should want.
Not only does God provide for all our needs, He also stirs in us a response of faith. We give thanks, we return a portion, not because we are innately good and because this responses comes natural, but because He moves and stirs in us to respond. Much like a parent urging his child, so our Lords moves and stirs in us, “What do you say?” “Thank you.” Our Lord stirs our response of faith so that we make regular and diligent use of His means of grace and so that we return a portion to Him knowing and trusting that we cannot out give Him, that He gives or rather loans to us in the first place and that He will continue to pour out on us all that we need and even more than we might imagine.
As usual, here again we are remind that it all begins with God. God does and gives and we are done to and given to. What a great God we have. What a gift giving God we have.
As we approach the end of this current church year I would encourage you to make sure you are ready. And to know that you know you are ready as the Lord has His way with you, as the Lord makes and keeps you ready. God loves you very much and this is seen in the fact that He has, does and will always provide for all your needs and in the fact that He gave the life of His Son for you for your forgiveness and guarantee of eternal life with Him in heaven. What more is there to do except give Him praise and glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
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