A Small Loaf of Bread 11-11-12

The Reading: 1 Kings 17:8-16 Eventually the brook dried up because of the drought. Then GOD spoke to him: “Get up and go to Zarephath in Sidon and live there. I’ve instructed a woman who lives there, a widow, to feed you.” So he got up and went to Zarephath. As he came to the entrance of the village he met a woman, a widow, gathering firewood. He asked her, “Please, would you bring me a little water in a jug? I need a drink.” As she went to get it, he called out, “And while you’re at it, would you bring me something to eat?” She said, “I swear, as surely as your GOD lives, I don’t have so much as a biscuit. I have a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a bottle; you found me scratching together just enough firewood to make a last meal for my son and me. After we eat it, we’ll die.” Elijah said to her, “Don’t worry about a thing. Go ahead and do what you’ve said. But first make a small biscuit for me and bring it back here. Then go ahead and make a meal from what’s left for you and your son. This is the word of the GOD of Israel: ‘The jar of flour will not run out and the bottle of oil will not become empty before GOD sends rain on the land and ends this drought.’” And she went right off and did it, did just as Elijah asked. And it turned out as he said—daily food for her and her family. The jar of meal didn’t run out and the bottle of oil didn’t become empty: GOD’s promise fulfilled to the letter, exactly as Elijah had delivered it! The Middle Reading-- from"Spirit of Life" By Barbara Hamilton-Holway Spirit of life, in us and around us, here is our chance, once again,to live like we wish the world would live. May we find within ourselves the courage to be who we are. May we know when it is time to listen and when it is time to speak. May we trust ourselves to be the ones to find the words that need to be said or to do what needs to be done. May we trust one another and know there are many ways to go through life. May we know that though we cannot change some of what life gives to us, we can choose how we deal with what we are given. We are coming into our power, and together we can make possible justice and love. We are all connected; we depend upon one another more than we know. We are one body. So be it. Blessed be. The Gospel Reading: Mark 12:38-44 In teaching Jesus said, 'Beware of those scribes who like to walk about in long robes, and to be greeted obsequiously in the market squares, to take the front seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets; these are the ones who swallow the property of widows, while making a show of lengthy prayers. 'The more severe will be the sentence they receive.' Jesus sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the treasury, and many of the rich put in a great deal. A poor widow came and put in two small coins, the equivalent of a penny. Then Jesus called the disciples and said to them, 'I tell you solemnly, this poor widow has put more in than all who have contributed to the treasury; for they have all put in money they had over, but she from the little she had has put in everything she possessed, all she had to live on.' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A Small Loaf of Bread 11-11-12 Holy and Omnipotent God, we ask for your blessings of insight and understanding. Speak to us through your Word and through the love we have for each other. We praise you for the light of the Holy Spirit in our seeking and in our finding. Amen In today’s readings we look at two very different women in two very different times. There’s nothing that says they need to be women, they could just as easily be men, and in our congregation, if we’re talking about baking, it is twice as likely to be a man. So we are talking about two people. It’s interesting to me that these two passages are paired in the Lectionary, that universal listing of scripture passages for each week, that I sometimes follow. In my study I began with the feeling that these are two very different kinds of people. By the end of my study, I saw the real similarities between them and no longer regarded them as different. Let’s start with the baker. Elijah, who was a major prophet for the Hebrew people, is hungry and thirsty. The water has dried up, there is no food in the land. God sends Elijah to Zarephath in Sidon to live because God has a plan. There is a widow living there who is to feed Elijah. He goes to Zarephath and indeed finds the widow. But this is not a wealthy widow, no, this is a person near death, alone in the world, except for her son. We learn that she is planning to feed herself and her son one last time and then they will lie down to die. What hopelessness this woman brought with her to her encounter with Elijah. More than likely, she could barely walk, so close to starvation. For all we know, her son is already unable to walk, he does not escort his mother on her quest for firewood. Can you feel the heaviness in her heart? I can as I imagine her state of mind—knowing nothing to do other than have a last meal and then die with her son. Nevertheless, for some reason unknown to us, she makes this last trip into town. Along comes Elijah, probably not looking much better. It is hot and dry. We don’t know how Elijah gets to Zarephath, so I imagine him ragged and dirty. He, too, is alone, but he is following faithfully the word he has received from God. Walking along, he finds his destination—there she is, right at the entrance to the city. He asks her for a drink and as she turns to retrieve a drink from an unknown source, he asks her what must have surely sounded like a foolish question: “Would you bring me something to eat?” She does not ridicule his question, she simply tells him of her heartbreak—her truth—that she and her son will soon die. He tells her not to worry—that God has a plan for all three of them. Notice that God’s plan was not just for Elijah, it includes the poor woman and her son as well. Elijah asks her to make him a small loaf of bread and in the making of it, the miracle will happen—the flour and oil will be accessible for this family for all time. And so it is. Imagine what it must have felt like to venture forth one last time, leaving your child behind dependent on you for food. Thinking of it makes it difficult to move our feet, to walk forward, or seek an answer. But something caused her to do it one last time. I do not believe that she knew that she would meet Elijah who would answer her prayers. I do believe that it was the Spirit of creation, the holiness of God, that led this woman to be in just the right place at just the right time. Coincidence? I think not. An openness to allowing God to move us into the place that we are intended to be, sets the events in motion by which we find God’s plan unfolding right before our eyes. Through her willingness to be in tune with the Spirit of God, even if she did not consciously think it at the time, she receives the blessing of food and oil for all time. I can’t imagine that she thought this all out, not in the condition she was in—but God led her to fulfill the components of the prophesy thereby caring for Elijah and eliminating her own hunger as well. We don’t know what she thought—we only know what she did. In our Gospel lesson, we come upon another widow woman. There is no interaction with her in the story. Jesus has just finished the teaching we hear in the beginning of the reading. Warning us against people for whom life is always about them, he notes that they will receive their just reward—and a stern reprimand it will be. Then, he sits down. But he isn’t resting, he’s watching—observing all the people put their money and gifts into the Temple Treasury. He notices that many of the rich people put in a great deal of money. That did not garner Jesus’ attention. Suddenly, this poor woman, comes into the Temple and drops two small coins into the Treasury. Two small coins that equaled no more than our penny—something most of us don’t even stop to pick up they are so insignificant. You can see her, if you look, shuffle in, bedraggled, perhaps? We don’t know much about her except what Jesus tells us about her. Jesus says that she has given her all, but unlike the baking woman in the Old Testament, this widow receives no promise from God, no instructions that will produce food for the rest of her life. No, this woman just gives. We don’t know her experience with giving. We don’t know what she believed or what motivated her to give her last penny, but, give it she did and Jesus noticed. I do not believe that Jesus, in this teaching, is calling us to give our last penny, although this passage has been used repeatedly, throughout all time, to suggest just that. I believe that Jesus is calling us to change our attitudes about giving and believing and living out the Good News in the world. Jesus shuns those who give so that they can be seen and, instead, favors those who give from a pure attitude—caring nothing for praise or personal gain, just giving because he or she wants to give. The widow, according to Jesus, gave her all—but mostly this story is about the way she gave, and, even more importantly, about the way she lived her life. Jesus calls us to be the offering—the offering given in the very same way the New Testament woman gave her all and the Old Testament woman gave of what she thought were the last moments of her life. What does it look like to “be” an offering? I believe that it looks like this: • It is a life of constant prayer—not that we are consciously praying all the time, but that we are open to the moving of God’s Spirit in our lives—knowing full well that when we are in tune with that Creative Divine Spirit, that we will find ourselves, just like the woman who experienced a life-altering encounter with Elijah—we too, will find ourselves in the right place at the right time. But it is God’s right place, right time, not ours. Our attempts to take over and exert control over God’s Spirit to move at our pace, in our time, obscure what God is wanting to share with us. • It is a willingness to give all of whatever we have been given to give. I have found that this is about far more than money—I have found that this is about time, and energy, and the willingness to drop what I think is important and devote the time to God’s call, offering praise along the way. Giving my all also includes giving those things I have never felt that I was worthy before to give—talents that I think are too small, gifts that I question or doubt anyone can use. Pushing myself past my own comfortability to give those things God is calling me to give, instead of those things that I am merely willing to give. That first, still, small voice that says “I could do that”, before it gets stifled by all our intellectualization—that is the voice that shows us how to give our all. That nudge, so easily pushed aside by our fears of inadequacy and incompetence—that nudge is the one we act on when we give our all. • Finally, it means that we do the same for all those around us. We point them to God’s offer of complete acceptance—not just acceptance of sexuality or gender identity, of difference, or background, or belief—but also in complete acceptance of our offer of all our gifts and talents given to us by that same Divine Spirit. As we have been given and called, so we call others to give and be the ones who, alive in the power of God, will be the bridge—our bridge--to God’s peace and justice in the world. So be it. Amen and amen