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June 10, 2007
Scripture: 1 Kings 17: 8-16
Title: “The jar will be not emptied”

I received my latest edition of my Disciples World, our denominational magazine that keeps us informed and inspired about what is going on in our denomination. I flipped through the pages and was intrigued by one of the stories shared by a Disciples minister in Houston. His church is a newer church was started about 3 years ago. The church is an inner-city church and recently discovered its mission for the church in the mist of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The church became known in the area for responding to the needs of the many homeless people who were evacuated from the streets of New Orleans after the hurricane. The church became known for helping people who have lived with drug addictions for most of their lives. People who have lived with the violence of the streets for most of their lives. “Some of God’s least of these…who simply do not posses the skills to cope with the world”.

The story opens with this minister sharing his experience of discovering a person from his flock who lives on streets has died in the hospital due to a car accident. The woman had no name, no identification. He know this woman as someone the church had help and he recognized this woman by the shoes that he had given to her on the last night that she was at the church. He shares a little of this woman’s background with us as readers of the article and says that he understands why she tried to numb her life with drugs. And he doesn’t want to make excuses for her life or her death but he remembers that she was a child of God.

This minister continues the story by explaining the various outreach ministries that their church has been participating in the Houston area and how these people, who live on the streets, who are considered the “least of these” have changed and inspired so many members of the congregation. Each day, he reminds himself and the church of their mission: To reach out to the least of these. To reach out to people who would never be accepted or welcomed in other churches. To reach out and recognize the child of God in the people who live on the streets, who live in violence but have come to their church, seeking God’s love and God’s care. To reach out and create a place where everyone is welcome.

This minister closes the article by saying “My hope is that God will continue to find us faithful and prepared for the next storm, and that in the meantime we do not become too weary to help those who still need our help.”
And I thought that should be all of our hope! That should be all of our prayer! That God will continue to find us faithful and that in the meantime we do not become too weary to help those who still need our help.

That is our purpose as people of faith. That is our hope as people of faith. That we will continue to faithful and that we will always be nourished and energized for the journey.

Almost like we are bottomless jars of grace, hope, and peace for our brothers and sisters in faith.

Bottomless jars of nourishment for one another. Bottomless jars of sustenance for God’s creation. Bottomless jars of grace for all of God’s children. Our prayer and our hope is that the jar will not be emptied. That we will never be empty.

As many of you know, Elijah is one of the most well known prophets in the Old Testament. He is the prophet that is lifted up as the example of faith and determination in your calling to serve God. And he has a very interesting story.

Elijah has been called to speak out against the evils of King Ahab and his wife Jezebel. King Ahab became known as one of the worst kings in Israelite history. He married a foreign wife who turned him away from worshipping God and turned him to worshipping her god, Baal. He has forgotten his people. He has forgotten to care for the poor. He has forgotten his God. He was just a bad king.
So God calls Elijah to take a message to Ahab that there would be a drought in the land until God decides to bring the rain in response to the evils of the kingdom of Ahab. Well, this didn’t go over to well with the king and God sends Elijah out of town for his own protection.

And so we arrive at our story today. Elijah has been sent to Zarephath to find a widow who will feed him. So Elijah sets out and comes up this widow who is picking up sticks. And he asks for water and as she is going to get it, he asks for a morsel of bread. This widow then informs Elijah that she only has enough meal for one last meal for herself and her son. And Elijah informs her “Don’t be afraid. Do as you planned on doing, but first make me some bread and then you can feed your son. The jar is not going to be empty until God sends the rain.”

I think it is at this moment that Elijah should be thankful for God’s protection. We have a widow who only has enough to feed her son one last meal before they starve to death. And she is asked by some guy who is claiming to be a prophet of the God of Israel to make him some bread before she feeds her child. Starving child who you love, who you gave birth to, who you have watched grow up or Starving man who claims to be a prophet of a god that you don’t even worship, who wants you to feed him first and he says the jar will not be empty, because he says that there will be enough to feed you and your child after you feed him? Who do you feed first?

Starving child or starving man? I think if I had been the widow, I would have smacked the man!

But amazingly enough, the widow goes and does as Elijah says. The jar of meal was not emptied. The jar of oil was not emptied. The jars were not empty just like Elijah promised. They become bottomless jars of hope for the widow and her son. They become bottomless jars of faith for Elijah. They became bottomless jars of grace from God.

Everything about this story is not normal. Everything about this story goes against the grain of what we hold as the norm. God sends Elijah into “enemy territory, a territory that is known as the god Baal’s territory. God sends Elijah to go to a widow for help. A widow! A person is known as the least of these. A person who is poorest of the poor in good times, let alone in a drought situation. And God does not let the jar become empty. It defies logic!

And that is the very point that the writer is trying to make in this story. God’s providence defies our logic. God’s providence goes beyond our limited understanding of richness and wellness. God will provide for all of God’s children an overabundance in God’s own way. God will use who God wants to bring about this overabundance, regardless of who they are, regardless if we think they are worthy. It is God’s choice. It is God’s providence. It is God’s gift to give to God’s creation.
God’s providence is beyond our understanding and for that we should be truly grateful! God offers us grace like a bottomless jar. God offers us hope like a bottomless jar. God offers us peace like a bottomless jar! And we in turn can offer them to all of God’s creation.

The promise that is given to the widow is not a conditional promise. “If you feed me, then the jar will not be empty. The promise that is given to the widow is a promise of hope, faith, and abundance of life. “The jar will not be emptied, so you can share your resources without worrying about it running out. There will be enough for me. There will be enough for you and your family because my God is a God of overabundance. My God is the source of never-ending nourishment. My God is offering up hope, peace and grace to all without term limits, without expiration dates.

Take that leap of faith. Not because of what is promised as a condition if you do. But because of what is already promised when you do. It is the promise of God’s providence. The promise is that you can show and share God’s love and hospitality to all without worrying if there is enough to go around or worrying if there is enough for you.

The jar will not be emptied. The bottomless jar of nourishment. The bottomless jar of sustenance. The bottomless jar of grace. The jar will not be emptied. God will refresh you. God will restore you. God will revive you. There is enough for all!

The most precious resource in our lives is GRACE!! And there is an overabundance given to us by God. This is a renewable resource from God and only by God. We will never run out!

The price for this renewable resource has already been paid and will never go up in price. The price was set when we accepted Christ into our lives and we entered into a relationship with God.

We have experienced the bottomless jars of grace. We have experienced the bottomless jars of hope. We have tasted the meal from the jar that will not be emptied. We have been nourished over and over again by the grace that flows from the jar that will not be emptied. We have been revived over and over again by the hope that flows from the jar that will not be emptied. We have been refreshed over and over again by the love that flows from the jar that will not be emptied.

And now we have been given a choice. Are we going to remain in a drought, in fear of a famine, prepare for our last meal and wait to die? Or are we going to offer the meal that comes from the jar that will never be emptied? Are we going to hold to the promise of God’s providence not because if we do so we are faithful people but because when we do so, we can stand firm and truly know God’s grace?

Are we going to become bottomless jars of grace, hope and peace for all of God’s children?

God is still working in the world. Your jar will not be emptied. God will revive you. God will restore you. Your jar will not be emptied. There is an overabundance of God’s grace to go around.

May we always share our renewable resource of God’s grace with all of those we meet on our journey of faith. Amen.

Rev. Heather McColl
Midway Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

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