When We Trust the One Who Gives, We Give
1 Kings 17:8-17
Then the word of the Lord came to him: “Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.” 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?” As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.”
“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 olive 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.”
Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. 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 sends rain on the land.’”
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. 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.
When We Trust the One Who Gives, We Give
How can someone with so little, give so much? That’s probably what the disciples were thinking when they saw that poor widow give the temple treasury all she had left. That was certainly the thought on my mind when I went to our fellow Lutheran congregation in Grenada. I remember the houses made of sheet metal and cinder blocks. I remember seeing sailboats lodged in the hillsides from Hurricane Ivan that the whole Island was still recovering from. I remember the poverty. But the thing that made the most memorable impact was the congregations love and generosity towards me and my family while we were there. That congregation gave so much of their time and treasures to make us feel welcomed. They didn’t have much to give, but they gave it up anyway. How can someone with so little give so much?
You see, the gifts we give communicate something, kinda like when a son buys flowers for his mom – he’s communicating he loves her. The gifts my family got from our brothers and sisters in Grenada certainly communicated they loved us. Just as that woman’s few coins she gave to the temple communicated that she loved God. But there’s something else that is communicated in these stories – when a believer with so little gives so much. What’s communicated is trust, an amazing trust in God. And when we trust the One who gives, we give.
Our story for today picks up around 870 B.C. during the reign of King Ahab. Ahab’s reign was one defined by false worship practices, blatant idolatry, and active persecution of those who followed the LORD, the one true God. And so bad was the current religious climate that God sent the prophet Elijah to tell Ahab that God, for the purpose of calling Ahab to repentance, would withhold rain from the entire land until his prophet Elijah said otherwise. Instead of repenting, Ahab channels his anger towards Elijah, forcing Elijah to flee and hide for safety.
Not only were believers actively persecuted, but they too felt the pangs of hunger as a result of this famine. Elijah himself, a prophet of God, worried about if he would have food to eat or water to drink. But God – by protecting him, and giving Elijah food to eat and water to drink – reminds Elijah that God will always provide for his people! It’s equipped with this comforting promise that God sends him Northwest, to the region of Phoenicia. “Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food.”
When Elijah arrives at the main entrance to the city he sees a woman gathering sticks. This widow was collecting firewood to bake a measly cake with the very last of her oil and flour for her and her son. Elijah approaches her and asks her to bake him a small cake to eat. When she hears this, she must have known this was the prophet that God had told her about. Nevertheless, she responds with fear. “As surely as the LORD your God lives, I don’t have any bread – only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I’m gathering some firewood that I’m going to take home and use to bake one last cake for myself and my son, one last meal, and then that’s it. Then we’re going to die.”
It wouldn’t be the first time death had entered her house. It was the husband’s job to provide for the family, and with her husband dead, this widow – from a societal, cultural perspective – was extremely vulnerable. Her only son was essentially her life insurance policy. This last meal was her last investment in any foreseeable future. But that morning when she shook that jug of oil and opened that jar of flour, any hope she had of a future seems to be empty. And now she’s being asked to give that last meal back to God. Essentially, she was being asked to put all she had in God’s hands. But she was afraid to do it. And it’s hard to give when we’re afraid, isn’t it?
But the question is, should we be? You and I live in far better conditions than most of the world – far beyond this poor, starving widow trying to feed her only son. And yet we’ve all responded to giving back to God with similar reservation. We also are afraid to give to God. Why?
One reason is we’re tempted to see giving to God as zero-sum – where giving back to God is only financial loss. A zero-sum view of giving to God sees the collection plate as a shakedown, like a weekly invoice or bill – except this bill I have the ability to say “No.” The widow saw her situation no differently: she, in fear, saw giving the last of her food to Elijah – even after God himself asked her to – as zero-sum, a lose-lose for her. Because was afraid. Fear defines giving to God only as making ourselves more vulnerable. It’s this same fear that leads to doubt. When the oil jug is almost empty, we wonder if God really is able to give us today our daily bread. When the flour jar is running out, we question if God really loves us more than the birds of the air or the flowers of the field. Will God really provide for all of my needs? Or am I on my own to provide for myself? If I doubt God’s promises to be true, then giving to God is, at best, a gamble – no different than coughing up money for a lottery ticket at a gas station. And if I don’t trust God, then why would I give to God at all?
“But I do give money back to God!” you may be saying. Maybe you don’t see giving back to God as zero-sum, but there are other ways that fear can dictate our finances. Allow me to illustrate.
In college I was really into this girl. We started dating and everything seemed to be going well. Until she dumped me. Here’s why: My Senior year in college was packed: I had maxed out on credits, and was involved in tons of extracurricular activities. Whatever time I had left after all these commitments, I gave to my girlfriend. In my male brain, as long as I gave her some time, I thought I was okay. But what I actually was communicating to her by how I allotted my time was that she wasn’t a priority. I didn’t give her prime portions of my time. I gave her whatever was left. Whatever time I didn’t need for something else. Whatever time I didn’t want for something else.
What about you? Do you give your first, your best back to God? Or do we only give what we don’t need? What we don’t want?
Notice how in our story today Elijah asks this woman to make him food first. This is how we give offerings to God. We give our first-fruits – our first, our best. Before we slice and partition our paychecks for ourselves, for our bill payments, toys, gadgets, and vacations, we set aside an amount proportionate to our income, and give it first to God. But our sinful nature doesn’t like that. We catch ourselves prioritizing the things we want over the things we need. We fear giving our best offerings to God means saying “not now” to the latest iPhone, that brand new car, or a bigger house. The slice of pie gets smaller and smaller until it’s not even a slice, but a sliver.
Whether it’s fearing over our needs or fearing over our wants, here’s what it boils down to: we’re afraid to give our best to God because we’re afraid to trust God. We’re afraid he won’t meet our needs. We fear we won’t be able to meet our wants. And yet, our Gracious God of Promise says to you and me – just like he did to that widow in Zarephath - amidst our fears and worries, “Don’t be afraid.” Why? Because we can trust our loving God! And when we trust the One who gives, we give!
The widow of Zarephath didn’t have much, but she gave it all to God. She took a leap of faith and trusted her God would provide – and He did! That jar miraculously never ran out of flour! That jug of oil never ran dry! For three years, that jar of flour and that jug of oil never ran out – just like God promised! But God does far more for us than fill empty jars. Later in this story, we find out that the widow’s son suddenly dies. But God shows his power over even death and brings her one and only son back to life! The God who sustains our lives is the same one who gave us life! And would you believe me if I told you God has given you something far greater than that? Not just physical life, but spiritual life! Because of sin, we were born spiritually dead, and enemies of God. So God sent his Son, Jesus, into this world, who took on human flesh, who made himself poor, so that through his poverty we would be rich! Through Jesus, we have the gift of eternal life! Never again will we hunger. Never again will we thirst! Until that day in heaven, we hold fast to the promise that our God always meets our needs. He truly sustains and satisfies. We can take God at his word, because his word is good – because he is good! He’s won salvation for us! Our God has given us so much! When we trust in Him and His promises, we give too!
How can someone with so little give so much? The answer is trust. That widow at the temple, those brothers and sisters in Grenada, and that widow at Zarephath trusted the promises of God. And when you and I give our best gifts, we communicate where our trust is, too. We trust in God – the God who gave us life and breath, the God who has given us house and home, friends and family, our jobs, our gifts and talents, the God who richly gives us his grace every day. When we give our best offerings to the Lord, we communicate thankfulness for all the things he has given us, and a trust that he will provide for all our needs to come. “What” we give is used to support the growth of the church, the spread of the gospel, the advancement of God’s very kingdom! “Why” we give is Jesus, our God who gave up heaven itself for a time so that we would have it for an eternity. Don’t be afraid to give back to your God. You can take him at his word. Trust him.
Amen.