Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity - September 20, 2009

The Church Season of Trinity
The Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity, One Year Series
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (September 20, 2009)

“An Empty Jar?”

Readings:
Psalm 146
1 Kings 17:8-16
Galatians 5:25 – 6:10
Matthew 6:24 - 34

Sermon Form Deductive

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Grace, mercy and peace be to you from the Father
and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen

The text for today is as recorded in the Old Testament Lesson from the 17th chapter of 1st Kings, especially the following verses:

1 Kings 17:8-16

8 Then the word of the Lord came to him: 9 “Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food.” 10 So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?” 11 As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.” 12 “As surely as the Lord your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.” 13 Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small cake of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. 14 For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord gives rain on the land.’ ”15 She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. 16 For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

Elijah said to the widow, “Do not be afraid.”(v. 13) It is not ironic that these are the very same words used by saints and angels throughout Holy Scripture when the Word of God is spoken to His people. And then follows God’s assurance, that is, what God provides is an unending source of His love and grace for all those who would believe. It was true for the widow there in Zarephath of Sidon it is true for us here today, it is true because our Lord God has told us so, that, “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the Name of the only Son of God.”(John 3:18) Sadly the things of this world trip, challenge, and entice us into questioning our belief that God will always provide for us. And this widow of Zarephath was no different than us, she had lost her husband, she obviously had no family nor friends to help support her, her food had run out, but for a jar of flour and oil. This woman was preparing herself and her son for their last meal, for she knew that soon all would be gone and she would be left with,

“AN EMPTY JAR”

Our Father, who is in heaven, spoke to Elijah and told him that He had, “commanded a widow in that place to supply [Elijah] with food.”(v. 8) This meant that God had prepared and made ready this widow to trust the Lord’s promise spoken by Elijah, that the vessel of flour and the jar of oil, her last remaining physical possessions on earth, would never become empty so long as the drought should last. And as He had promised, and by the power of His Word, God fulfilled that promise, day after day. But even though she was worthy and well prepared, the widow succumbs to that which is around her. The widow falls victim to what she sees, a world without her spouse, a jar that may be more than half full today, yet at the end of the day it will be most certainly be completely empty. This is the way she see her life, for she knows at the end of the day she has no further resources to feed herself or her son. For her it is eat, drink, and be dreary, for today you will die.

We can’t blame this woman for her words, “As surely as the Lord your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.”(v. 12) We can’t blame this widow for if we were in the same situation, most likely we too would fall to the same circumstances inflicted by the devil, the world, and the sinful nature of all human beings. For we too, each and every one of us, have fallen into the sin of doubt and despair as a result of anguish, which blurs our vision, and causes us to loose sight of the miracle of our Lord’s grace.

It would be very easy to see this world as an empty jar, to wonder where all God’s grace has gone, to wonder how we will make it through the day, nevertheless think about all the days to come. It seems that life is full of circumstances which cause our bodies, our jars of clay, to be shattered into pieces. The things that we once thought were stable in our lives seem to be all but gone. Half of Marriages end in divorce, and that fact is true whether you are a Christian on non-Christian. Our world would have marriage itself would be re-defined to meet the needs of society rather than stem from God’s clear teaching. The world is at war with itself, nations strive against nation, people against people, and the weaponry which we has been developed causes our minds to consider the enormous magnitude of the mass annihilation which could occur should these weapons be unleashed. People are angry for what the government doesn’t do, while at the same time people are angry for what the government does do. Family schedules are filled to the brim with activities, events, sports, school, and so many other distractions so vast that the idea of a family sitting down together for a meal together is all but a lost memory to us. To our minds the world and all that is seems to have become a ruthless and relentless train of events yet sadly we hop aboard, show our ticket and gladly get punched, or rather should I say we punch ourselves. And when it seems we are down the most, something comes up to empty us further.

We can relate to that widow that Elijah spoke to. Although we may not be preparing to eat our last meal, sin, devil, and this world still makes demands upon us, it empties our minds, our resources, until we can no longer bear the burden. Sadly we are not only tripped by sin, we gladly skip to it as well. But if I were to say to you now, that you should strive to be like that widow, and pick yourself up in the face of death, I too would be piling on with words of the Law. Meaning, if I said you must do better, you must have more faith, you should, and you could, I too would be adding a burden upon you so that you would fear whence your next meal may come from.

Therefore we must repent. For it does not bring us any closer to God, if we try to be like the widow to whom Elijah spoke. Quite frankly, before God our jars are as empty as hers, and just like her we do face a certain death by starvation. Yes satan would starve our faith, and cause us to look at all that we face and cause us to fall to the ground writhing in our own self pity. Because whether we trust in that widow, or in ourselves we ultimately place all our trust in what we do. We set ourselves up for failure, for the acts of humans do not gain us the Kingdom of heaven.

Repent. God will and has given you more than your daily bread, more than what you would ask for, he has caused your jars of clay, your bodies and souls to be filled to over flowing. Do not worry about today, for today He has forgiven your sins. Do not worry about what will happen for your tomorrow, for God has always had a plan for your tomorrow. And do not worry about what is beyond tomorrow, this week, this month, or this year, for God has always had a plan for your tomorrows and beyond. The widow returned to Elijah and her jar was never found empty. God gives you much more than that, for He has emptied His Son upon the cross, and He fills you with His grace which will never end. The Lord spoke to the widow through the prophet Elijah, but now in these last days God has spoken to you through His Son Jesus Christ. And so God brings for you His heavenly food, which will never ever run dry and never run out, and you will enjoy His food and drink at His heavenly banquet feast forever and ever. Amen.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

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