This is my sermon from June 5, 2010:

NRSV 1 Kings 17:8 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." 10 So he set out and went to Zarephath. When he came to the gate of the town, a widow was there gathering sticks; he called to her and said, "Bring me a little water in a vessel, so that I may drink." 11 As she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, "Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand." 12 But she said, "As the LORD your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a jug; I am now gathering a couple of sticks, so that I may go home and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die." 13 Elijah said to her, "Do not be afraid; go and do as you have said; but first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterwards make something for yourself and your son. 14 For thus says the LORD the God of Israel: The jar of meal will not be emptied and the jug of oil will not fail until the day that the LORD sends rain on the earth." 15 She went and did as Elijah said, so that she as well as he and her household ate for many days. 16 The jar of meal was not emptied, neither did the jug of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD that he spoke by Elijah. 17 After this the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill; his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. 18 She then said to Elijah, "What have you against me, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to cause the death of my son!" 19 But he said to her, "Give me your son." He took him from her bosom, carried him up into the upper chamber where he was lodging, and laid him on his own bed. 20 He cried out to the LORD, "O LORD my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I am staying, by killing her son?" 21 Then he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried out to the LORD, "O LORD my God, let this child's life come into him again." 22 The LORD listened to the voice of Elijah; the life of the child came into him again, and he revived. 23 Elijah took the child, brought him down from the upper chamber into the house, and gave him to his mother; then Elijah said, "See, your son is alive." 24 So the woman said to Elijah, "Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in your mouth is truth."

NRSV Luke 7:11 Soon afterwards he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went with him. 12 As he approached the gate of the town, a man who had died was being carried out. He was his mother's only son, and she was a widow; and with her was a large crowd from the town. 13 When the Lord saw her, he had compassion for her and said to her, "Do not weep." 14 Then he came forward and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, "Young man, I say to you, rise!" 15 The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. 16 Fear seized all of them; and they glorified God, saying, "A great prophet has risen among us!" and "God has looked favorably on his people!" 17 This word about him spread throughout Judea and all the surrounding country.



“RESUSCITATION”

We don’t always have an accurate picture of things. We sometimes think things are better than they are, or are worse than they actually are. That’s when something or someone sets us straight. I recall an exam in Algebra I in high school. I thought I did very well on it until I got the exam back. Reality quickly corrected my faulty impression of things.
This morning we have a story from the Old Testament that has some twists and turns. The prophet Elijah was sent to Zarephath. It was a time of famine when there was no rain as a punishment on the land. He was to live there and a widow was supposed to feed him. When he went there, he found the widow, who was collecting a few sticks of wood, in order to make one last little fire to make a last meal of some ground grain and oil and then die. Elijah tells her to do that, but first tells her to bring him some of the last food she has. He tells her that her jar of meal and jug of oil will never run out while there is the famine all around her. She thought she was out of food, but was wrong. What Elijah said came to pass. He transforms what she has so that she is given another chance in life.
Some time afterwards the son of the widow became ill and died. When Elijah approached her, she assumed that he had come to judge her sin. But she is wrong about that, too. He took her son and prayed for him and gave life back to him. He too is given another chance in life. And the end of the story shows us one more resuscitation. It is a little strange that the woman who had seen the miraculous provision of meal and oil now seems to lose faith and confidence in Elijah, but that is how it was. She questioned his purpose for being there. Perhaps it was her grief or some other thing, but her faith was lacking. Gaining her son back revives that as well. She proclaimed that he is a man of God and that the word of the Lord coming from him is true. Not only her life and the life of her son have been saved, but her faith has been revived as well.
The Gospel reading is of the time Jesus saw the funeral procession of the son of a widow. He stopped the procession, and commanded the young man to rise and he did. The crowd immediately understands the point. Jesus is a great prophet like the prophets of old. These stories are to strengthen our faith. Like for the widow of Zarephath, we have God’s word among us. God speaks and things happen. It reminds us of the beginning of the Bible where God speaks and the world is created. When Jesus raised him from the dead it shows that God not only creates but preserves what God has made.
We might feel like the widow, like we have only a few sticks left for one last meal. From these stories we see that God wants to make alive what is dying in us, give us back what we had and lost, the things that are important to our lives. And it is clear that one of the most important things in life is our faith. Many things can injure faith. Things like disappointment can. Tragedy can. And yet we also know of people who grew stronger in faith when life was at its worst. Things in life do not automatically kill faith. They can draw us to God as well as drive us away from God. Much is up to us. Where are we going in life? What is important to us? Are we listening to God, being led by God, or telling God what to do? If we are looking for God to do our bidding, maybe that leads to disappointment. Perhaps if we are looking for what God will give us, we will not be. Are we trusting God to give us what we need, or doing things on our own? Maybe what makes our faith weak is that we spend too much time on nonessentials. Maybe what makes our faith weak is that we fill up our lives with everything except God.
God gives us these things to strengthen our faith. We have the words of the prophets and the life of Jesus to listen to. We have much if we will only let God guide us. The prophets were sent by God to tell us God’s will and truth. We know what we do with people who tell us what we don’t want to hear—we ignore them. But there is hope, even for those whose faith is fading, because we see and hear that God brings back what is lost, gives new life to that which is dying, brings things into being that were not there before. There is hope because God is not done with us and God can do anything.
Sometimes we neglect the greatest gifts because they are not flashy or do not give us what we want immediately. God’s word is like that. Often, we must be patient with it and allow it to shape us. Those can be hard to do. But there is nothing else like it. It speaks the truth in our lives and is constant in a way that few other things are. We are given these gifts so that our faith and hope can stay alive in life’s dark times. They give us what we need at the time we need them. Our faith comes alive when we remember to let the word God gives us guide us. Then we have a place to turn to, no matter what is happening.
God sent the prophet Elijah to a widow to restore her life. He provided food in a time of famine, brought her son back to life, and has restored her faith. She now has her foundation in what God did and said through him. We have this precious gift, that God has spoken to us through the prophets and the Son. It is a gift that can sustain us in change and difficult times. It can be our rock and can lead us onward. Like the Lord’s Supper, from it we are given food for our faith, which is in endless supply.