“God’s Gifts and How to Use Them, Part 3: The Gift of Multiplication” by the Rev. Dr. Don Wahlig, November 10, 2024, Year B / Pentecost 25 (Proper 27) -  1 Kings 17:8-16 and Psalm 146 / Hebrews 9:24-28 / Mark 12:38-44

THEME:  Trust in God’s provision and faithfully share even the smallest gifts for his purposes.  God will multiply them in surprising ways that bless all. 

It certainly has been dry these past few weeks, hasn’t it? I don’t think we’ve had rain for something like 6 weeks. As I wrote today’s sermon, it occurred to me that maybe God has been preparing us to better understand the story of Elijah. Elijah appears at a time of religious crisis in Israel. Solomon’s Kingdom has fractured in two.  In both of them, a series of kings rule, each worse than the last. The current King is Ahab. Ahab’s Canaanite wife Jezebel has turned the entire nation to worship Baal, the Canaanite fertility God. And Yahweh, the God of Israel, is not pleased.

That sets the stage for Elijah. His name is the clue to his mission. Elijah literally means “My god is Yahweh.”  Where we pick up the story, Elijah appears before King Ahab with a message. He tells the king, “There shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.” And with that stark warning, God sends Elijah off into hiding. As the drought takes hold, God provides him with food and water. Finally, when Elijah’s little trickle of water runs dry, God sends him down to the city of Sidon on the Phoenician coast, the very heart of Baal worship. God promises that Elijah will find a widow there who will feed him. That in itself beggars belief. Let’s remember that, even in the best of times, widows and orphans were the most vulnerable of all people.  During a drought, they would be utterly unable to sustain themselves, let alone others. And that is exactly the situation of the widow whom Elijah meets at the city gate.

Elijah does as God commands. He asks her for a piece of bread. She has none, she says. All she has is a little bit of flour and oil. That will be the last meal for her and her son. After they eat it, they will simply starve to death. But Elijah trusts in God’s promise of provision. He tells her to go and make some bread for him first, and then also for her son and herself.  Can you just imagine the look she must have given him? She has barely enough for one final morsel for herself and her son, and this crazy Jewish prophet tells her to first make some for him and then somehow make more?

But Elijah’s strange request comes with a promise from Yahweh. “For thus says the God of Israel, the jar of meal will not be emptied, and the jug of oil will not fail until the day that the Lord sends rain on the earth.” 

Put yourself in her position. This poor widow is at her wits end. She has no alternative. Death is imminent, for her and her son. She is out of options, and she is out of hope. But Elijah comes with both. “Do not fear,” he says. And, sure enough, Yahweh comes through. God provides for the three of them until the day he causes the rains to return, and the prophets of Baal are defeated. That is what happens when God’s people trust in him and his provision. All are preserved and all are changed.  All are drawn closer to God and to one another. It starts with Elijah being willing to trust God and do the unthinkable: to follow God’s command and go to the land which is the very center of Baal-worship. And then to seek out a widow, of all people, through whom God promises provision.

Then it continues with the widow. She, too, is willing to trust God’s promise and share what little she has. Have you ever been in her position? A situation where you were backed into a corner and all seemed lost? I think we all have. We can appreciate the amount of faith that it took. The message for us is that we have a choice. We can either cling to the resources we have and look to our own devices, or we can follow God and use what resources we have for his purposes. It has been my experience, that when my back is against a wall and I decide to trust him, God never fails to come through.

When I was a junior at the University of Delaware, our family was in tough shape. My father had died several years before.  My mother had still not gotten back on her feet, emotionally or financially. Money was in short supply, to say the least. We struggled to pay my tuition. The Financial Aid office examined the budget that my mother and I created, and twice sent letters questioning whether it was even possible to live on so little. Sure enough, as the fall semester progressed, I ran out of money. 

I came back to school from Thanksgiving break with a dish of leftovers that had to last me through finals. Needless to say, I got a little tired of turkey, cranberry, and stuffing, but it was all I had. Then, a week later, what was left went bad. It was the one time in my life that I was truly hungry and did not know where my next meal would come from. I did a lot of worrying and a lot praying, as I considered my options. My pride prohibited me from asking friends for help. The only other place I could go was back home.  But I had sworn that when I left for college, I would always be independent for the rest of my life. I remember saying that to my mother in no uncertain terms.

Yet, now that seemed to be the only door left open to me.  And hunger can be a pretty persuasive force.  Even so, I questioned whether she, a widow with more than enough troubles of her own, would be able and willing to help. But I had no other choice.  So, I swallowed my pride and I went home to ask my mom for help. What happened next astounded me. My mother was more than willing to share what little she had in the way of food and financial resources.  It wasn’t a lot, but it was enough. And, with God’s grace, we made it through Christmas. With the new year, our circumstances improved. So did my relationship with God and with her. 

It was then that I realized this was God’s answer to my prayers. He was teaching me a lesson in humility and faithfulness. He was teaching me to trust his goodness and provision, no matter how unlikely the source, or how seemingly impossible the circumstances. It is a lesson I have carried with me my whole life long. That is how it is with God. When we step out in faithfulness and trust him by sharing the resources he has given us, no matter how much or how little, and we do it for his purposes, both the giver and receiver are changed. Both are drawn closer to God and to one another. That is how God multiplies our gifts.

That is what happened to Elijah and the widow.  And the same can happen to you and me when we follow their example. Friends, all of us recently received information from our Commitment, Legacy, and Endowment Committee. This financial narrative describes a series of bold new initiatives to love and praise God, to love and nurture our members, and to love and serve our neighbors, as our Mission Statement declares. Our Elders have led their committees in prayerful visioning to create these new ministries. They all move us closer to realizing our Vision of becoming more of a grace-filled family of faith sharing Christ’s love with all. These ministries reach not only our own members but our community. They touch the lives of young adults and young families, to bring them closer to Christ. They touch the lives of seniors and other folks in need of care, fellowship, and support. They enrich our worship, which is the very reason we exist in the first place.  

There is a cost to these new ministries, of course. Specifically, if we can increase our giving by 10%, or roughly $75,000 we can achieve these things. The question is will we respond as Elijah and the widow did, trusting God to lead us and others into new life? Like them, we have a choice. We can cling tightly to the gifts God has given us and ignore his calling.  That road does not lead to new life. On the other hand, we can step out in faith and trust that God will provide, as he always does. That is the road that leads to new life, not only for us, but for those in our community and beyond. That is the road that leads to the multiplication of God’s gifts.

The question is will we follow it?

May it be so.