Embracing the Pain - April 26, 2009
Sermon Notes for 2 Corinthians 1:3-7
Key verse: 2 Corinthians 1:7 "We are confident that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in the comfort God gives us."
“There was always enough…” What a wonderful promise from our scripture today to a world that teaches us to desire more and more in an economic climate devastated by greed and insatiable appetites for immediate gratification! With God, there is always enough. But, what does enough look like? Who defines what is enough?
Today, we begin our series on the Beatitudes, found in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:2-12 and in the Sermon on the Plain in Luke 6:20-26. Matthew’s version reads: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Luke’s version reads a little differently: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.” However, the sentiment remains the same. In first century Israel as well as today, no one considers the poor blessed. But, in these Beatitudes, Jesus turns upside down the way we think about what it means to be blessed by God, and thus he informs how we should live in this new community formed by his resurrection.
These blessings prove true not just because Jesus says they are true, but because they arise from the very nature and character of God. God acts in these statements to bless those whom the world usually ignores or worse, curses. In Jesus’ day, being poor not only meant not having enough to eat, but also put the poor at a disadvantage spiritually because they could not keep all of the purity codes. Therefore, the poor would be unclean, which presented an obstacle to holiness. Yet, here, Jesus claims that God blesses them, makes them holy. Again, Jesus demonstrates that life with God does not depend on what we do or how well we keep rules, but instead it depends on a relationship of love and trust. In this passage, Jesus reminds us that God loves us and will provide for us no matter how the world classifies us.
Our story from 1 Kings demonstrates this provision, trust, and dependence. We meet the prophet Elijah as he is running for his life. He has shown up the god of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel, Baal, and they in turn threaten his life. As he runs, God sends ravens with food for Elijah. Interestingly, the holiness code lists ravens as unclean because they are birds of prey. So, God sends unclean birds to feed Elijah. God also sends Elijah to the home of a Gentile woman, again another violation to the purity codes. Elijah meets the widow of Zarephath and asks her to provide for him. As a widow, she has no way of providing for herself and therefore was probably destitute. She tells him that she was preparing her last meal for herself and her son, then they will run out of provisions and die. Elijah promises her: “Don’t be afraid, for there will always be flour and olive oil left in your containers until the time when the Lord sends rain and the crops grow again.”
Now, the widow has a choice. She can save what little she has in hopes of providing for herself and her son. Or, she can share what she has with this stranger and trust that somehow God will provide for her. She does not even dare to call God her God. Notice how she says: “I swear by the Lord, your God.” Yet, something in her calls her to trust. Maybe she falls back on the code of hospitality, which demands that people provide for those who come under their care, even if they are strangers. Maybe she senses something in the way Elijah speaks of the God he serves: “As surely as the LORD, the God of Israel, lives—the God I serve.” Or, maybe her courage arises from a lifetime of trusting that there would be enough. Either way, she chooses to trust this God of Elijah, and she feeds him. Because of her act of faith, God continues to feed her, ensuring that her flour and oil do not run out.
Here lies the invitation of this blessing: to choose to share with others even out of our own poverty and discover that God always provides enough. Can we trust that much? Can we find blessings in the midst of our own poverty? Can we choose to share what we have? Can we depend on God that much? Jesus affirms that we can, and if we do, we will discover what it truly means to be blessed by God.
Questions for Reflection
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Think of some of your favorite memories of mealtimes. Was there ever a time when you did not believe that there would be enough? What happened? Did it seem like a blessing or a curse? What would have made it different?
- When do you have a hard time trusting or depending on God to provide? When does it come easy for you? What is the difference between the two times? What do you learn from this passage that can help you deepen your dependence on God?
- What constitutes “enough” for you? Who determines that for you? What do you find yourself longing for more of? When you talk with God about this longing, how do you get a sense of needing to meet it? What is the deeper longing that God wants to fill in you?
- How did the Holy Spirit speak to you in worship today?
