Rev. Craig S. Kirby-Grove
May 31, 2015
Red Oak CC. Greenville, NC
Text 1 Kings 17:1-16
Title “God Provides”
Children’s Moment
Have you ever gone on a picnic? Have you ever gone on a picnic and
forgot the food?
One day a man named Elijah was told by God to go to a creek and to camp
out there because there were back guys after him. So Elijah went but he
didn’t have any food. God, knowing he didn’t have any food, said, “I have the
birds bring you food and the creek will provide the water you need.” And the
birds brought Elijah food but the creek ran dry, because God had made the
rains stop.
So Elijah was in trouble. What do you think Elijah should do next?
(wait for answers)
Elijah waited for God in great faith and God said, “I know the water is
gone here, but if you travel up north there is a city with water and food.
Look for a woman who has a son and she will feed you.”
Well, Elijah traveled up north, and have your ever been on a hike? What
happens on a hike? (You walk a long way and you get tired and thirsty and
hungry!) Well, Elijah was tired and thirsty and hungry and he saw a woman
outside of town picking up sticks to make a fire. He said, “Can I have some
water? And then can you make me some food.” For Elijah thought, because God
told him, that this woman was waiting for him to come. But God forgot to tell
the woman or she wasn’t listening when God spoke to her and she was
surprised. She was nice and gave him some water but said, sadly, “see these
sticks, I am going to make a little fire and cook some pancakes for my son
and myself and then we will die because there is no more food left in the jar
or oil in the can.”
Elijah said, “God will provide. There will be food in that jar and oil
in the can until the rains return.” And it was so. The woman made pancakes
for Elijah and her son and herself and the food never ran out and the oil
never ran it!
When God says, I will provide, God means it.
But the best part of this story is what is not said in the Bible. I bet
that woman and her son, even after Elijah went on his way, took that jar
which never ran out and that can of oil that never ran dry and feed all the
other hungry people in that town. You see, when God provides for us, we are
meant to also share God’s gifts with others. So the miracles of God are known
to everyone. Pretty cool!
Let’s prayGod who provides, thank you. Help us be good sharers of your gifts with
others. AMEN.
PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION
Come, Holy Spirit, giver of life; breathe into us that we may hear a word
of truth this day. Draw us into communion, enable us to love, conspire to
make us one with you for the world you so deeply love. Amen.
Sermon
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What has changed since God walked with Elijah in today’s story?
Nothing! By the end of April this year, there has been a general deprivation
in living conditions in many locations, largely consistent with the ongoing
drought due to El Nino event. El Nino is expected to endure through the
summer and will likely last until the end of the year. Europe is also dryer
than usual. In Asia, drought continues in the eastern and southeastern parts
of the continent while in Taiwan, the worsening conditions have led to the
implementation of water rationing in a number of cities and counties. In
Africa, drought has intensified, Madagascar is experiencing severe crop
failure that is estimated to impact over 200,000 people. America is not
immune; drought grips the northern High Plains and Midwest even into the
Maritime Provinces of Canada. In South America, drought remains in Brazil,
causing an upswing in Dengue Fever due inadequate water storage
containers. And Australians have now gone three years without rain in some
places.
Children and hunger
Children and the poor are the most visible victims. Under-nutrition
magnifies the effect of every disease, including measles and malaria.
Malnutrition can also be caused by diseases, such as the diseases that cause
diarrhea, by reducing the body's ability to convert food into usable
nutrients.
Number of hungry people in the world
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that about one
out of every nine people are suffering from chronic under-nourishment in
2012-2014. Almost all the hungry people, 791 million, live in developing
countries, And there are 11 million people undernourished in developed
countries (we are a developed county).
Harmful economic systems. Hunger Notes believes that a primary underlying
cause of poverty and hunger is the ordinary choices made by our leaders and
companies around the world. Essentially control over resources is based on
military, political, and economic power that ends up in the hands of a
minority, who live well, while those at the bottom barely survive, if they
do.
For all of us who think the Bible is a good story with good life
lessons have we really looked at how relevant the stories are for today?
Look at our text from I Kings this morning. That world is full of economic
and political turmoil’s and the people who get hurt are the women and the
children. Our scripture lesson begins the first of what are called, the
Elijah cycles. Kings is a religiously bias history of the kings following
David and his son Solomon. Elijah has just announced, as we read in the
opening verses of chapter 17, that God will shut off the water supply. King
Ahab and his Phoenician wife Jezebel have strayed from God and become
believers in the power of Baal; who was believed to control the weather. The
king of Israel has left the covenant with God; to worship God as the only
God, and there is a political war going on in not just Israel proper but in
the world. This is the world in which Elijah lives. He has traveled north to
Sidon, to what is modern day Lebanon, and it is here God tells him a widow
will provide for him.
It is obvious the widow did not get that message from God; for when
Elijah finds the widow he must move from the one who is being taken care of
to the one who takes care of those he finds. And it is here, that Elijah
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delivers the message what truly lies at the heart of our belief in the power
of God. God will provide. Even in the midst of man’s stupidity and the greed
of governments; somehow the least, the women and the children survive.
We tend to read this story and focus on the miracle of the oil and the
meal not running out until as Elijah tells the un-named widow, the rains
return. That is certainly a miracle, but what is also miraculous is the
people. God remembers his people and is with them in their times of crisis.
The other woman in this story, the other Phoenician is not starving, is not
gathering a couple twigs to build one last fire to cook one last meal for
herself and her child. Queen Jezebel is just fine in her palace worshipping
her false god; she isn’t concern that the whole nation has fallen into
economic disaster. Many in Israel will die; yet it is Jezebel who falls; dies
but not from lack of food but through her own unfaithfulness.
When we read scripture, it is always important to find God. Where is
God? He is the one who causes the drought. He is the One who sends Elijah
away to fight another day. God is the One who then sends the prophet on the
road again to show the world their God has not abandoned them.
We are not told this, nowhere in the text is it said, but I believe in
a God who provides for his people, for all people. That jar of oil, that box
of meal did not only feed the prophet, the widow, the son, it fed the whole
community. Even after Elijah leaves to battle the prophets and priests of
Baal we read in chapter 18, the jar and the box remain full enough for all to
have some, for all to be nourished, for all to be saved.
The same organizations that collected the facts about weather and
hunger around the world report that while drought is a reality and in those
places food is in short supply, overall, there is enough food produced to
feed all the people. It is our call as Christians, as followers of the God of
abundance, to do everything we can to change the hearts of the politically
powerful from being hoarders into being sharers.
We say and pray and-10 sing “What will you do with Jesus; neutral you
cannot be; someday your heart will be asking; what will he do with me”. Then
we walk away. Turn today from the halls of power and sit down with the
widows and the children. God is always with the least and holds in judgment
the powerful who trust in their greed and in themselves. AMEN
Call to Discipleship
If you want to be a follower of Jesus, if you feel the call to join the
ranks of God’s faithful prophets, then know, you will be with the least, the
women, the children, those under the thumbs of the political rulers and not
with the rich, the overfed and the powerful. To be a follower means you
follow where He sends you, not where you want to go. It is a hard step to
discipleship, not one to be made without considering all the facts. But God
is still calling for God knows you are needed to make the world right again.
So come, make your confession, come rededicate your life, come transfer your
membership as we stand and sing hymn 19, In the Name of the Lord. We will
sing it twice!
Call to Prayer
PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION
Let us offer our prayers, crying, Abba! Father!
knowing that it is
God’s Spirit bearing witness
with our spirit, that we are children and heirs of God.
Eternal God, we pray for the world, that through the reconciling love of
Christ our destructive and violent ways may cease, as you bless your
human family with peace. We pray for the mission of your church, that
empowered by your Spirit we may proclaim the good news of the age in the
world you so dearly love.
We pray for all who suffer, that together with Christ in his suffering we
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may find healing as he did, as he was raised and exalted in you. We pray
for your creation, that as it groans for its redemption we may care for
its well-being through the power of your life-giving Spirit. Hear our
prayers for (prayer list).
We remember before you those who have died and pray for those who will die
today, that through your glorious redemption that ends all suffering they
may rest with you eternally. Through Christ, with Christ, in the unity of
the Holy Spirit, we praise you, O God, now and forever. Amen.
INVITATION TO THE OFFERING
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that all who love
him may have life eternally. With loving hearts, let us bring our
offerings to God.
Doxology
PRAYER OF DEDICATION
Holy God, your love overflows in the gift of your Spirit. Bless these gifts
that we offer that they may spread your blessing in a world of hurt and
need; in Christ’s name. Amen.
Passing of the Peace
Communion Hymn is from the Chalice, Some Share the Lord.
Call to Communion
It doesn’t look like much, there is enough here to feed all of us and
all the world. This table never runs drink and never is empty. So come and be
fed the food of God so that you may live today and tomorrow. All who love the
Lord are welcome to His table.
Etc
Closing Hymn is on page 595 vs 1 of Jesus, we just want to thank you.
Benediction
May the Lord give strength to the people. May the Lord bless the people
with peace! And the blessing of God, who creates, redeems, and restores,
be with you now and always.
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