"Interdependence"
Sermon Presented November 12, 2006
1 Kings 17:8-16
I believe we can have good government when senators and representatives of both political parties work together for the good of the people and when the legislative branch and the executive branch work together. This doesn't mean that the entities give up their proper roles or their ideals; it just means that the partisan bickering and controlling factors must be put aside for the good of the nation and the world. I want to be hopeful that this will happen, and that we will see a spirit of interdependence exhibited in Washington and Madison.
Families also need to be interdependent - not just biological families but church families and communities. No one functions to optimum ability without learning to give and receive, be respectful of the other, ask for what he or she needs, and work for consensus. Interdependence works for the good of all.
I can't lead this church alone or exist by myself, and neither can you. No politician can be elected by himself or herself - no matter how much money is in the coffers, and no family can thrive outside of society. We need one another. And God can't work without the help of receptive people who are willing to be channels of God's love and grace.
Now you might question my last statement, thinking that God is God, and can do whatever God chooses to do. I would like to explore this idea further as we examine our text and the idea of interdependence.
Before I read the text, let me give you some background. The prophet Elijah comes on the scene suddenly without any introduction. Ahab is king of the northern kingdom of Israel and the time is somewhere between 874 and 852 BCE. To date, Ahab is considered the worst king of Israel, and his evil reign is exacerbated by his marriage to Jezebel. Jezebel is a foreigner who worships Baal - the fertility god. After their wedding, Ahab builds a temple and altar to Baal in Samaria. This raises God's ire, so God sends judgment on Ahab's rule, with Elijah as God's prophetic agent.
Elijah tells Ahab that God is sending a drought on the land. After delivering this word of judgment, God sends Elijah into hiding beside a stream bed where he will receive water and sustenance. Elijah, knowing his great danger, does as God commands. However, as the drought intensifies the water dries up. Here the text begins: 1 Kings 17:8-16.
This account was written about 300 years after the event. The story is recorded to alert the readers to the dangers of idolatry and injustice. It is a story of judgment, hospitality and interdependence between God, Elijah, nature and a Phoenician widow. God works through various means and individuals to accomplish God's purpose.
Prophetic legends of this type function in two ways: on one hand, they authenticate the person of the prophet. God's word comes to Elijah - the prophet - in a time of human history and it impacts the weather, the supply of grain and oil belonging to the widow, and Elijah's salvation. God is involved in human history, and this story draws us - the readers - into the story and into God's salvation history.
The widow in the story is a single mom who, along with her son, is on the verge of starvation. She has no male protection or support, a dangerous position for any woman in that society. She isn't a Jew and is likely a worshiper of Baal. God sends Elijah to this woman who lives in Zarephath, the Phoenician commercial capital known for its exports of wine, oil and grain. The drought has negatively affected all of its exports.
God sends Elijah to this foreign land to be fed by a Gentile widow. The widow has no idea who Elijah is or that the God of Israel sent him there. When Elijah asks for water and bread, he doesn't know that the woman is destitute, or that she has a child to care for. He asks for what he needs, and the woman gives him hospitality.
I said that Elijah "asks", but he really commands her to bring him what he needs, and that command repels me! Here this stranger shows up and instead of asking where he can find water, commands her to bring him some water so he can drink. Then he adds, "Oh, by the way, bring me some bread too!" In that paternalistic society, his rudeness would have gone unnoticed.
The woman recognizes him as a Jew - a foreigner, and yet she respectfully answers his request. Elijah doesn't tell the widow to take care of herself and her starving son first, he expects her to take care of him first. "Make a cake for me first and then fix something for yourself and your son!" He tells her not to be afraid because the God of Israel will keep her supplied until the drought ends. She grasps the hope he offers and does what he says.
Elijah moves in with the woman and her child. I can imagine tongues wagging in that community when this Jewish man takes up residence there, but coming together, they have enough to eat during the drought.
God works through a non-Jewish woman to save the prophet, herself and her son, and Elijah acts on God's direction to go there in the first place. Just as God provided for Elijah - first through nature, God now provides for him through a foreign woman. But before his needs can be met, Elijah has to go to Zarephath and ask for help. The widow has to give him hospitality, and God makes provision for them all. Elijah, the woman and her son all live because of their interdependence on one another and on God. They are all saved.
When this story was first put into writing, it was to encourage the faithful people to live within their covenant relationship with God during unfaithful times. The purpose was to strengthen the interdependence between God and God's people, and to believe that God would take care of them. Why should we read and study this text today?
I believe that we see here a prophetic warning to today's societies that worship false deities and live in luxury, while poverty, exploitation and other forms of injustice abound. Who are the Elijah's (both individuals and groups) who point the way toward repentance, living in a covenant relationship with God and blessing?
When the election results were finalized last Wednesday morning, I was upset that the two amendments on the Wisconsin ballot passed. I look at both of these issues as justice issues and was saddened that Wisconsin voters passed them. I have been comforted by these words spoken by Martin Luther King Jr.: "The arc of history is long, but it bends toward justice." I trust that it won't be long before what I see as injustices will be overturned. We continue to need a prophetic voice to bring us back to God.
Some have said that the best guide to a nation's character is how well it cares for its most vulnerable citizens, its poor, its aged and its children. Last week I read that here in the United States there is an increasingly widening gap between the wealthy and the middle class and the poor. That is evident here in Milwaukee. How does the "word of the Lord" impact the lives of the impoverished who live in the world's wealthiest nation?
Before Elijah came on the scene, it looked like the woman and her son would prepare their last meal and die. However, God sent Elijah to them for Elijah's sake and for their sakes. We don't usually understand how God works in situations of crisis, but we do believe that God works. It's easier to see God's provision in hind sight rather than in the present circumstances. Our job is to be obedient - to offer hospitality even when we have little to give. Our job is to allow others to help us and through helping us, both giver and receiver will be blessed. Sometimes our need isn't material but emotional or spiritual, and we need to ask for that help too.
God works through individuals. When we are silent before God, we are better able to pick up on direction than when we are busy satisfying our own needs. Elijah had lots of time to think as he sat alone beside the water hole. The woman had lots of time to think as she contemplated the starvation deaths of her child and herself. We need to be open to see the avenue available and open ourselves to them.
There is so much need here in our own back yards, and there are many good avenues of support to the needy. However, money and time are needed and we must be willing to be a part of the solution on whatever level we can provide.
We need one another. No one is an island. So let's celebrate our interdependence on both God and others, and then be willing to be God's instruments to help others or to receive help from others. God needs us!
We live in unfaithful times, so if the purpose of telling the story is to encourage faithful people to live in a covenant relationship with God in unfaithful times, what do we do? First, don't rule out any person or group as a source of God's activity. God used a woman who worshiped Baal to save God's prophet. God needs us as agents of love and justice. So let your capacity for interdependence come out of the closet and shine forth for the world to see.
