1546AFC110615 – Given
Read it online here, please.
1 Kings 17:1, 8-9 – 1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.” 8 Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, 9 “Go now to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and live there; for I have commanded a widow there to feed you.”
Mark 12:41-44 –42 A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. 43 Then he called his disciples and said to them, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. 44 For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”
E pili mau na pomaika‘i ia ‘oe a me ke akua ho’omaika’i ‘oe, ʻŌmea! Today we are going to look at two instances where someone gave their all. Let’s begin by identifying the characters in these passages.
The First Book of Kings is the first time we learn about Elijah, one of Israel’s greatest prophets. He is introduced rather abruptly here without any trace of his history or origin – something that usually accompanies the stories of other prophets. He is referred to as a Tishbite of Tishbe in Gilead. There is no clear understanding of what that means, but it is generally taken to mean that he was a stranger from Gilead – a place in the mountains east of the Jordan which included the traditional lands for the tribes of Gad and Manasseh. He is sent to confront Ahab in his capital city in Samaria – perhaps the most evil king ever in the history of Israel – and tell him that God is about to lay waste to everything he has, including his wicked wife Jezebel.
A key phrase in the passage from 1 Kings is Then the word of the Lord came to him. Elijah takes his order from God, not from earthly masters. God has told Elijah that a long and terrible drought will afflict the land. Because of this, he sends his servant, Elijah, to a place of protection: A brook in Cherith east of Jerusalem. He hides out there until the brook dries up, and then God sends him to a town north of Jerusalem called Zarephath. That place was between Sidon and Tyre on the West Coast of Phoenicia. It was an industrial city where metals were smelted and pottery was made; Zarephath means “smelting place.”
The scripture does not disclose the name of the widow. It only describes her circumstances. She is desperately poor even though the town is prosperous. When Elijah greets her she is out gathering sticks so she can build a small fire to prepare the last meal she and her son will eat. Elijah asks her for water. As she goes, he asks her to bring bread as well. She tells him she basically doesn’t have enough to feed her son and herself. Elijah, however, insists that she help him first. Then he tells her that God will provide for her: Her jar of flour and jug of oil will never run out as long as the drought will last. Later, her son nearly dies, but the Lord restored the boy’s life after a very vigorous prayer from Elijah. She was willing to share everything she had – including her home and her son – with the prophet.
In the passage from the Gospel of Mark, we meet another widow in desperate straits. There is a similar passage in Luke 21:1-4. In both accounts Jesus makes it clear that, though her offering is small – only a few cents – it is everything she has. Her entire livelihood – probably less than a standards day’s wages – has been donated to the Temple. He contrasts her generosity with the pretentious and self-important actions and behaviors of the Scribes who looked with disdain on the poor claiming their poverty was a punishment for sin whereas the Scribes material wealth was evidence of their righteousness.
In both of these accounts from scripture we see people who are considered to be essentially worthless. First a Widow and a child, neither of whom has any rights or standing in the community. And again, in Mark and Luke, a widow living in extreme poverty and judged by others to be sinful and unworthy. Jesus and Elijah don’t see it that way. They see persons who honor God by giving all that they have and trusting that God will receive it. In the eyes of others around them, the gift is too small. For these wonderful women, the gift is everything they have. It calls to mind the words Jesus spoke to “The Rich Young Ruler:” Go and sell everything you have and give it to the poor. Then come, follow me. Use these links to see that story:
Is that really what we need to do? Do we really need to give everything away? Well, we certainly can work harder at trusting that God will provide all we need as did Abraham, Elijah, David, Jesus, and these two widows. Do you know anyone who faithfully lives by Divine Providence? I do. His name is Brendan Case, and he is a Catholic Lay Missionary. Everything he has – home, family, children, mission, support, ministry – all of it traces directly back to God. His only work is to spread the Good News. With that he supports his family and still gives relentlessly of his considerable spiritual gifts and is also very generous with his temporal gifts – Time, Talent, and Treasure. You might say (as I would), “I can’t live like that.” We’re probably right.
Many times in these essays I’ve written about “My Old Friend Abraham.” Most of could never do the things Abraham did. Why? Because that is not our gift. Abram was a righteous man to whom God elected to revel himself as El Shaddai – Almighty God. Abram believed what God told him, and for his faith in God, El Shaddai made him Abraham the Father of Many Nations – and the founder of our faith in God. Abraham was prepared by God to do great things. We are all prepared by God to do some things. When we do part of those “some things” for ourselves, we are not giving all that God has given us. Every good and perfect gift comes from above (See James 1:17), so everything we have that is good comes from God. Everything we have that is not good does not. We should never try to give God the things that did not come from him; however, we can ask him to take them and make them good. That is what God does. He takes stuff that’s not-so-good and makes it wonderful.
That’s what he did to the widow in Zarephath and her son. He did that for the widow at the Temple Treasury – she will be remembered forever because of her unstinting generosity born of bottomless faith. Yes, El Shaddai, God Almighty, takes stuff and situations that are not-so-good, and from them brings good into our lives. Through Jesus’ gift of everlasting life in him, El Shaddai also takes people who are not-so-good and turns their lives into blessings. That kind of thing is the only kind of thing that deserves the ill-used adjective AWESOME. God is AWESOME. Skateboards are not. Salvation is AWESOME. Tee-shirts are not. Jesus is AWESOME, but, despite popular opinion, football is not. God is awesome because he gives us everything we need to recognize and enjoy his awesomeness. What God commands becomes reality for those who serve him – especially when his command comes as the answer to our prayer when we take our not-so-good stuff and give it to him so he can make it all better. Even the smallest of your gifts are good gifts if they come from God and you place them at his disposal. And if you can be faithful in returning to him the small or not-so-good stuff, God will see to it that you have plenty of the truly amazing stuff to pass around. After all, he is the Source of everything you have to live on – and for. All that you have ever had or been – now, before, or later – comes from God. It is given to you, not bought by you. Honor the Giver by accepting the Gift and then share it like crazy!
Share-a-Prayer
Please add our friend LVL to your prayer list. She is dealing with an especially aggressive form of breast cancer. Along with her, please pray as well for all of our friends and family battling cancer. Pray also for those in the grips of or recovering from any form of addiction. Pray also for an end to the violence and destruction wrought by ISIS, and for the safety and victory of those who are opposing that evil.
Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License
Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
1546AFC110615 – Given
Read it online here, please.
1 Kings 17:1, 8-9 – 1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.” 8 Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, 9 “Go now to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and live there; for I have commanded a widow there to feed you.”
Mark 12:41-44 –42 A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. 43 Then he called his disciples and said to them, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. 44 For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”
E pili mau na pomaika‘i ia ‘oe a me ke akua ho’omaika’i ‘oe, ʻŌmea! Today we are going to look at two instances where someone gave their all. Let’s begin by identifying the characters in these passages.
The First Book of Kings is the first time we learn about Elijah, one of Israel’s greatest prophets. He is introduced rather abruptly here without any trace of his history or origin – something that usually accompanies the stories of other prophets. He is referred to as a Tishbite of Tishbe in Gilead. There is no clear understanding of what that means, but it is generally taken to mean that he was a stranger from Gilead – a place in the mountains east of the Jordan which included the traditional lands for the tribes of Gad and Manasseh. He is sent to confront Ahab in his capital city in Samaria – perhaps the most evil king ever in the history of Israel – and tell him that God is about to lay waste to everything he has, including his wicked wife Jezebel.
A key phrase in the passage from 1 Kings is Then the word of the Lord came to him. Elijah takes his order from God, not from earthly masters. God has told Elijah that a long and terrible drought will afflict the land. Because of this, he sends his servant, Elijah, to a place of protection: A brook in Cherith east of Jerusalem. He hides out there until the brook dries up, and then God sends him to a town north of Jerusalem called Zarephath. That place was between Sidon and Tyre on the West Coast of Phoenicia. It was an industrial city where metals were smelted and pottery was made; Zarephath means “smelting place.”
The scripture does not disclose the name of the widow. It only describes her circumstances. She is desperately poor even though the town is prosperous. When Elijah greets her she is out gathering sticks so she can build a small fire to prepare the last meal she and her son will eat. Elijah asks her for water. As she goes, he asks her to bring bread as well. She tells him she basically doesn’t have enough to feed her son and herself. Elijah, however, insists that she help him first. Then he tells her that God will provide for her: Her jar of flour and jug of oil will never run out as long as the drought will last. Later, her son nearly dies, but the Lord restored the boy’s life after a very vigorous prayer from Elijah. She was willing to share everything she had – including her home and her son – with the prophet.
In the passage from the Gospel of Mark, we meet another widow in desperate straits. There is a similar passage in Luke 21:1-4. In both accounts Jesus makes it clear that, though her offering is small – only a few cents – it is everything she has. Her entire livelihood – probably less than a standards day’s wages – has been donated to the Temple. He contrasts her generosity with the pretentious and self-important actions and behaviors of the Scribes who looked with disdain on the poor claiming their poverty was a punishment for sin whereas the Scribes material wealth was evidence of their righteousness.
In both of these accounts from scripture we see people who are considered to be essentially worthless. First a Widow and a child, neither of whom has any rights or standing in the community. And again, in Mark and Luke, a widow living in extreme poverty and judged by others to be sinful and unworthy. Jesus and Elijah don’t see it that way. They see persons who honor God by giving all that they have and trusting that God will receive it. In the eyes of others around them, the gift is too small. For these wonderful women, the gift is everything they have. It calls to mind the words Jesus spoke to “The Rich Young Ruler:” Go and sell everything you have and give it to the poor. Then come, follow me. Use these links to see that story:
Is that really what we need to do? Do we really need to give everything away? Well, we certainly can work harder at trusting that God will provide all we need as did Abraham, Elijah, David, Jesus, and these two widows. Do you know anyone who faithfully lives by Divine Providence? I do. His name is Brendan Case, and he is a Catholic Lay Missionary. Everything he has – home, family, children, mission, support, ministry – all of it traces directly back to God. His only work is to spread the Good News. With that he supports his family and still gives relentlessly of his considerable spiritual gifts and is also very generous with his temporal gifts – Time, Talent, and Treasure. You might say (as I would), “I can’t live like that.” We’re probably right.
Many times in these essays I’ve written about “My Old Friend Abraham.” Most of could never do the things Abraham did. Why? Because that is not our gift. Abram was a righteous man to whom God elected to revel himself as El Shaddai – Almighty God. Abram believed what God told him, and for his faith in God, El Shaddai made him Abraham the Father of Many Nations – and the founder of our faith in God. Abraham was prepared by God to do great things. We are all prepared by God to do some things. When we do part of those “some things” for ourselves, we are not giving all that God has given us. Every good and perfect gift comes from above (See James 1:17), so everything we have that is good comes from God. Everything we have that is not good does not. We should never try to give God the things that did not come from him; however, we can ask him to take them and make them good. That is what God does. He takes stuff that’s not-so-good and makes it wonderful.
That’s what he did to the widow in Zarephath and her son. He did that for the widow at the Temple Treasury – she will be remembered forever because of her unstinting generosity born of bottomless faith. Yes, El Shaddai, God Almighty, takes stuff and situations that are not-so-good, and from them brings good into our lives. Through Jesus’ gift of everlasting life in him, El Shaddai also takes people who are not-so-good and turns their lives into blessings. That kind of thing is the only kind of thing that deserves the ill-used adjective AWESOME. God is AWESOME. Skateboards are not. Salvation is AWESOME. Tee-shirts are not. Jesus is AWESOME, but, despite popular opinion, football is not. God is awesome because he gives us everything we need to recognize and enjoy his awesomeness. What God commands becomes reality for those who serve him – especially when his command comes as the answer to our prayer when we take our not-so-good stuff and give it to him so he can make it all better. Even the smallest of your gifts are good gifts if they come from God and you place them at his disposal. And if you can be faithful in returning to him the small or not-so-good stuff, God will see to it that you have plenty of the truly amazing stuff to pass around. After all, he is the Source of everything you have to live on – and for. All that you have ever had or been – now, before, or later – comes from God. It is given to you, not bought by you. Honor the Giver by accepting the Gift and then share it like crazy!
Share-a-Prayer
Please add our friend LVL to your prayer list. She is dealing with an especially aggressive form of breast cancer. Along with her, please pray as well for all of our friends and family battling cancer. Pray also for those in the grips of or recovering from any form of addiction. Pray also for an end to the violence and destruction wrought by ISIS, and for the safety and victory of those who are opposing that evil.
Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License
Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
About Chick Todd
American Roman Catholic reared as a "Baptiterian" in Denver Colorado. Now living on Kauaʻi. USAF Vet. Married for over 50 years. Scripture study has been my passion ever since my first "Bible talk" at age 6 in VBS.
