When we think about the widow of Zarephath, we may picture an old lady, with gray hair, with her back aching as she picked up sticks to cook her final meal for herself and her son. But she and her son are a classic example of what the Bible refers to as the widows and orphans—literally, “the widow and fatherless.” The widow and the fatherless are a unit. They are single mothers with young children who have been bereaved of husband and father—at a time and in a culture where husband and father was the bread winner. This young woman with a young son at home has been overcome by despair and hopelessness. The Hebrew Scriptures over and over again remind us of the vulnerability of single moms who are overwhelmed with raising young children with no husband or extended family to help. The entire nation is experiencing a drought and famine. And like any society in hard economic times, this single mom and her son feel it the most. She is preparing the last meal they will have together before inevitable starvation and death. In the New Testament, James says, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction” (James 1:27).
It is why it is so strange that God would send Elijah to be fed and sustained by someone who had nothing to give or even to sustain herself. It was strange enough that God would feed Elijah in the previous verses by a flock of wild ravens. Now God sends a starving and hopeless young woman to nourish Elijah through the remainder of the famine. The vessel with flour is nearly empty. The vessel of oil is nearly empty. And yet, by the Word and promise of God, the empty vessels become a rich source of food and sustenance. The vessels never become full. But they fully satisfy their need.
This passage should remind us of how God sustained his people in the forty years in the wilderness where there was no water or bread. God sent bread from heaven in short supply every day. They were to gather only as much as they needed and not on the Sabbath. Some gathered more than others. But it was always enough. Scripture says of that time in Deuteronomy 8 (v. 3), “[God] humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” And so God continues to works in our lives. We may find ourselves on our precipice of despair and hopelessness—physical, emotional, relational, and spiritual bankruptcy. It may seem that God meets our cry of desperation in short supply...like two nearly empty jars of flour and oil...like a dew of manna on the wilderness floor...like a fistful of water splashed on an infant's head...like a quarter-sized piece of bread and a sip of wine...like a friend who comes alongside who has their own problems.
But with the Word and promise of God, the empty jars are a rich supply. The dew of manna is the bread of heaven. Plain water is a holy Baptism that washes away our guilt and sin. Ordinary bread and wine are the Body and Blood of Jesus that strengthen and preserve us body and soul to eternal life. And our fallible Christian friend sticks closer than a brother. And so Jesus tells us in John 14, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me...I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you...because I live, you will live also.”
No comments:
Post a Comment