The other day I had coffee with a long-time member of St. Andrew’s who, like so many here, is a very committed, dedicated Christian. The conversation turned to the future of St. Andrew’s and how best to move forward, to meet the challenges of an aging congregation desiring to grow, to reach out and engage our neighbours with the Good News. At one point, he asked: “What are the blessings of God in the life of our church that you see?” I understood and appreciated it as both an affirming and a searching question. That is, it was an affirming: ‘Can you see the great treasures/blessings of our church life together… the fruit of our faithfulness to God over the years?” And it was a searching question: ‘Counting the blessings of what we have, what do we need in order to overcome our challenges and to prosper in sharing the gospel with new generations in our families and our community?’.
That conversation comes to my mind as we look at the passages of scripture read this morning.
Both passages reveal how God is present amid very difficult challenges. In 2 Kings, the prophet Elisha answers the cry for help of a desperate young widow by asking ‘What do you have?’ She had one small cup of oil, but in the hands of the Holy Spirit it not only met the desperate need of the widow … it also blessed her whole neighbourhood. And in Acts 8, God convenes a coffee-hour type conversation between two men meeting at a crossroad in their personal lives, and at the crossroads of human history. The impact of that conversation was so infused with the Holy Spirit that it blessed every conversation they had with anyone after that. And it was used by God to change the course of human history!
Let’s take a closer look at these 2 scriptures.
In 2nd Kings 4, the story opens: “There was a widow…”. What follows is a story of profound tragedy, and a story of resilience and faith. It tells us something about ourselves… and about the ways of God.
In 2nd Kings 4, the story opens: “There was a widow…”. What follows is a story of profound tragedy, and a story of resilience and faith. It tells us something about ourselves… and about the ways of God.
First, there are some characters in the background of this story that sort of set the stage of for what happens, and who are particularly relevant to us: The company of the prophets are mentioned. We know from other places in Kings, and Samuel that this was a group of people- about 50 in all – who served with and were mentored by Elisha. They were not priests or studying to be priests, instead they were lay persons who desired a life closer to God. Elisha was a known as prophet to the common man and this group of young men were drawn to him. They were like a session of young elders… Elisha is their teaching elder, their pastor. The young man who, sadly, died… was one of this group. We don’t know how, but he died. Also in the background are the neighbours. We’re all familiar with the concept of neighbours… and I expect it hasn’t changed much in 3000 years. I’ve heard it compared to family. You know the adage: you can choose your friends but you can’t choose your family… neighbours fall into the latter category. Sometimes our neighbours have great needs and require a lot of our time and patience. Other times our neighbours show up in our time of need – or add to the joy of our happy moments. They are the village that raises our children. In the gospel, Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan when asked the way to eternal life. The Great Commission… sends us to our neighbours. In the widow’s instance, the neighbour’s participation with her and Elisha – at the very worst of times – is essential to the work of the Holy Spirit.
And, there are the creditors: Now, I don’t know if you noticed it, but these guys are quite aggressive! We’re familiar with creditors: banks, credit card companies who send you notices and harsh letters of warnings if you haven’t paid your bills. But these people were serious… more like mobsters! They wanted their pound of flesh, literally. The threat they represent – to sell the widow’s 2 young boys into slavery- is very real. Everyone in this story knows it- everyone!
These are the people who shape the background of the story. And as much as we today identify with the those in this story, we become part of that background.
There are 3 main individuals in this account:
1)There is the dear woman who was widowed. 3000 years ago, women were not at all valued in that society. Sadly, there are still places today where women are not valued. This woman was in that situation. We don’t know her name. But we do know that she was prematurely widowed. We know, too, that she was in debt… hopelessly in debt. In some developing countries today, even small children have important jobs. A 4 or 5 year old child will have a toddler sibling strapped to their back and will be responsible for their care. It was that way in this situation. So the women’s young sons were marketable assets, and they were going to be taken from her, and sold. Forever gone. I think you could say its true that this woman was going through some of the greatest pain anyone could experience: little-valued by society; widowed prematurely; hopelessly in debt; and soon to see her 2 boys snatched away.
2)There is Elisha, the prophet, also a main individual. His was not a common name, it means ‘God is my salvation’. And a lot is said of Elisha just in his name. The timeline is 150 years after King David, a dark time in Israel, with corruption of spiritual and political leadership and a nation spiralling downward, toward its demise. Elisha was from a wealthy farming family but left them to join Elijah, his mentor. It is said several times in scripture that Elisha was a prophet of the people in these difficult times… and, that Elisha ‘waited on God’ … and many times that ‘the power of God came upon him”. Elisha was known as ‘ the holy man of God’.
And 3), there is God. God is involved in every event in this story. Yet if you observe carefully, God is not mentioned once in the text. Not one time. Not one mention of the Holy Spirit. Not one mention of a miracle or of the power of God. Not one of these words is used this text. But when we read it, God is everywhere, the fingerprints of God are all over this event. Many times in our own lives when we cannot directly see God with us, yet we see, sometimes just glimpses, of the evidence that God is working. But it is often a mysterious working…like the wind… like the breath of God that gave life to the bones in Ezekiel. Even here… God is in the oil. God is not directly mentioned in this story, but God is there! And in the account itself, the widow’s first words tell the whole story: Now the wife of a member of the company of prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord, but a creditor has come to take my two children as slaves.” (2 Kings 4:1) ‘Cried out’ is a strong word in Hebrew. It’s not associated with anger… it’s used to convey depth of pain-filled emotion… utter despair… the loss of hope. The Proverb (13:12) says: “Hope deferred makes the heart sick”. This woman is heartsick.
Hear then what Elisha says to her, in a voice that is like the voice of the Lord to her: ‘What have you got?”. Not ‘how did you let things go wrong?’. Not ‘why do you have such bad debt?’ Instead, ’what have you got?’. “I have nothing but this jar of oil.” Well, Elisha knows ‘God can work with a small jar of oil.’ Among the more than 200 times that oil is mentioned in the Bible, the connection as a metaphor of the Holy Spirit’s presence and action is clear, especially so in the ritual of anointing prophets, priests, and kings. Though the jar is small, and the need is overwhelming… the oil – the Holy Spirit of God – is there.
As the miracle unfolds, Elisha sends her to her neighbours to borrow larger pots. Elisha knows the neighbours and he knows that they know what the need is. They participate with the Holy Spirit… bringing pot after pot after pot… until every pot in the village is full.
Do we see the message for us, the application? If we are in a desperate situation, or just in need of a visit, a conversation… we have each other. ‘God sets the solitary in families’ – we here in this church are the family of God to each other. And so are our neighbours. We didn’t choose our neighbours, God chose them. Our neighbours are those near our homes or condo’s; they are the friends for who we pray; they are, like the those in pride parade on Sunday those walking past our door here needing a drink of water; they are our brothers and sisters in Christ at Knox church. God sets church families in neighbourhoods/communities. The treasures of our faith are not ours to protect but to give away, to be share… and to grow and multiply!
Very briefly… so too, in the conversation of Philip with the Ethiopian eunuch, we can see ourselves. In the scripture everywhere and here particularly, great things happen at the crossroads of life to which God leads us. I believe this church is at one of those crossroads and know that many of you do as well.
In the background to this event is the great dispersion of the Jerusalem church following the death of Stephen, the church’s first martyr: That day a severe persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria…. Now those who were scattered went from place to place, proclaiming the word. (Act 8:1,4)
As it happens, this ‘Resurrection Zone in Jerusalem’ turns out to be a hazardous place for he first followers of Jesus. The angel of the Lord said to Philip: “Get up and go south…” And as he goes … the net of salvation begins to spread! Remember Jesus’ words to his disciples: ‘There is one flock and one shepherd, I have other sheep to get into the fold…’ Philip takes the first step toward those ‘other sheep’ in this conversation with this official of the court of Queen Candace of Ethiopia. The African man is reading Isaiah 53:7-8, Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter… he asks to whom it refers. Philip explains the recent events of the Resurrection Zone and the eunuch says: Look, here is some water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?” So Philip baptized the eunuch and When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away, the eunuch saw him no more…(8:39)
When the Holy Spirit is involved, intersections happen that we could not ourselves imagine or create. Through Philip and a nameless high official of the Queen of Ethiopia, the seed of the gospel is carried into the African continent, and to all the known world.
So here we too have been led to a crossroad. What do we have? Like Philip, we are the beloved in God, living within a neighbourhood of the beloved of God ?! Let’s pray that the next steps we take is a story of this love first and foremost… that our bonds of brotherhood and sisterhood at St.A’s are deepened, old wounds are healed, that forgiveness flows and that old baggage is not invited along. Let’s spread the net of salvation, anointing every person in the neighbourhood with God’s love!