The 15^th Sunday After Trinity

SERMON

Text: 1 Kings 17:1-16

And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word.” Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” So he went and did according to the word of the Lord, for he went and stayed by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook. And it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land. Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.” So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, indeed a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Please bring me a little water in a cup, that I may drink.” And as she was going to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” So she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.” And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake from it first, and bring it to me; and afterward make some for yourself and your son. For thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the Lord sends rain on the earth.’” So she went away and did according to the word of Elijah; and she and he and her household ate for many days. The bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke by Elijah.

In Christ Jesus—the name in which we trust—dear fellow-redeemed:

Matters of trust are many and difficult. WHOM can you trust for help with homework when you “just don’t get it” or don’t know the assignment? Whom can you trust when stranded on the highway with a disabled vehicle for which you have no fix? Whom can you trust when searching for a reliable doctor, or trying to decide between multiple doctors who give varying opinions? Whom can you trust with your most personal confessions of sin and still find him to be your friend the next day?

Whom can you trust when even friends seem to be turning away from you, disregarding your feelings, and seemingly working against you? Whom can you trust when we are constantly being taught to be wary of so many people and so many things? Whom can you trust on a date so that you can be confident that it will remain God-pleasing? Whom can you trust to marry so that you can be confident of an equal view toward marriage and commitment to it?

Whom can you trust when you get to a point in life when you can’t do something that needs being done? Whom can you trust when you reach a point when you have to put your earthly affairs into the hands of someone else? Whom can you trust when you’re young and inexperienced…or older and inexperienced…and need to rely on someone to teach you, to show you the way?

Trust is something that goes out from us much like the ripples of water go out from a stone dropped into a pond. Those who are closest to us are the ones whom we will trust the most and with whom we will share the most. The trust level diminishes as we move out from our closest relationships into the rest of society.

Trust is something that we don’t manufacture. The trust we have is something that is created by the trustworthiness—the reliability and ability—of those whom we are trusting. In this regard, we KNOW that we can have the greatest of all trust in God our Savior because of His faithfulness and willingness to help.

There is so much reason to trust in our Lord in every possible way in every possible situation for every possible thing…and yet it can be so hard, and we can be so poor in doing it. Trusting in the Lord completely is “letting go” of worry, stress, strain, and knowing that He will take care of us. Trusting the Lord in this way is hard for us sinners to do because we tend to hang onto things at least a little bit because “I can do it!” Trusting in the Lord this completely is hard because there is so much that we can fear so that we become like Peter who was walking on water when he was looking at Jesus, but when he looked at the waves, he lost his trust and sunk.

We all need reminders and encouragement that everything is going to be OK—and more than OK, everything is going to be wonderful, because our God is caring for us and always will. This morning we seek encouragement from the words of our text as the LORD says to each one of You: “I WILL CARE FOR YOU—TRUST ME!” I. God preserves in times of judgment II. God provides with or without resources III. God calls for the trust created by His promises.

I.

God controls all things in the earth. This includes all the workings of what is loosely called “nature.” Job said, “If He withholds the waters, they dry up; If He sends them out, they overwhelm the earth”(Job 12:15). God’s control also includes all the events and happenings on the earth. God has unlimited power and authority at His disposal to use in order to accomplish His purpose. At times, God’s purpose requires judgement upon sin. Such was the case at the time of wicked king Ahab, his wicked wife Jezebel, and the wickedness of the Israelites who followed them. Through Elijah, God told Ahab that the rain would stop coming as a result of his sin: “Elijah…said to Ahab, ‘As the LORD God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word.’” [v.1]

This was not the first nor the last time that God would use earthly events to bring judgment upon the sins of Israel and other nations. At the dedication of the temple, King Solomon expressed the realization that there would be times when God would bring judgment upon the sins of the people. He said, “When (not if…WHEN) Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy because they have sinned against You…When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against You…When there is famine in the land, pestilence or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers; when their enemy besieges them in the land of their cities…” (1 Kings 8:33ff).

There would be times of judgment and consequence for sin, but God would preserve His people through those times of judgment. When God withheld rain from the earth during the days of Ahab, He sent Elijah first to the brook and then to the widow to provide for his bodily needs. It was God’s judgment upon sin when He destroyed every living thing from the face of the earth in the Flood. However, at the same time, God preserved His people by safely tucking Noah and his family in the ark and preserving them there.

When God brought His judgment upon Pharaoh and Egypt for all the years of their wicked oppression upon Israel, He sent harsh and destructive plagues upon the land. At first, those plagues affected Israel as well, but then God drew the boundary so that from the 4^th plague on through the 10^th the Israelites were spared the judgment—all of Egypt was plagued, except for Goshen where Israel lived.

When it became necessary for God to bring His judgment upon the people and He had them carried away into Babylon and held captive there for 70 years, God still preserved His people. Throughout all the years of captivity, God provided for His people—sparing Daniel from the lions, sparing the three men from the fiery furnace, and in many other ways—and then brought them safely back to Judah at His chosen time.

We may at times feel that our nation too is ripe for God’s judgment upon our sin. Just this past week, the “abortion pill” was declared “safe” and approved for use in our country. Now, it will become as easy to kill an unborn child as it is to take an aspirin for a headache. Can a people who so freely and willingly kill children escape God’s judgment? Can a society which in so many ways thumbs it’s nose at God and His law be spared from God’s judgment much longer? Only God knows the answers to these questions. What WE know is that it is purely from the Lord’s mercy that we have not seen judgment. “Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not, they are new every morning” (Lamentations 3:22).

God will judge all sin on the Last Day. Whether or not He will see fit to bring a wide spread judgment upon our nation before that time, need not be a fearful thing for us. If God should see fit to bring judgment upon our nation, we have the confidence that He will preserve us just as He has preserved His people in other times of judgment. Many times, the believers suffer right along with unbelievers in the hardship, BUT we have the confidence that God will preserve our souls, enable us to persevere, and that He will bring us to our heavenly home.

If God sees fit to send hardship as a rebuke to wide open sin in our society; or if He allows hardship to come into our lives as chastisement, we need not fear because we know that the judgment for our sins was taken out upon Christ. No matter what earthly consequence God sends as a result of sin in this life, we know that when Jesus died on the cross He was bearing the full and true judgment of our sins upon Himself so that we might live. We need not fear God’s judgment upon sin, because our sin is taken away through Christ; and God will preserve us through the consequence of sin in our earthly lives.

II.

Everything in this life is so limited. Our God is so UNlimted. We can see how true this is in the way by which God provided for Elijah. God first provided for Elijah’s earthly needs by sending him to the brook, Cherith. The brook provided water for Elijah and God sent ravens with bread and meat to provide food for Elijah each morning and night. Having the food brought by the ravens was extraordinary and unique, but beyond that God was first providing for Elijah with very natural resources—food and water from the earth.

God did not spare the brook, Cherith, from the effects of the drought. So, after a while, the brook dried up. The drought had taken its toll upon nature so that the resources God had used to provide for Elijah were gone. As a result, God’s providing for Elijah didn’t come to an end, rather He now provided for Elijah without resources. God send Elijah to the widow of Zarephath and there provided a never ending supply of flour and oil out of nothing—they simply never ran out.

God can and does provide for His children either WITH or WITHOUT the ordinary resources. Most of the time, God does provide with the usual resources—the natural processes of planting and harvesting; of earning a living and purchasing what is needed. God can also provide for things in ways that are unexpected and out of the ordinary.

God’s providing for His people is not only for our bodies, but also for our souls. For our souls’ needs God has given us the resource of His Word. The GOSPEL—the Good News of all that Christ Jesus has done—is the means/the resource which God has given us for our faith and eternal life. That “Means of Grace”—the Gospel—comes to us through the Word itself as it is spoken, read, heard; and it also comes to us through the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

God provides for our needs of body and soul, even if it seems to us that there is no way in which those needs could be solved. In different situations at different cross-roads of our lives we might say—“I CAN’T!” It may look as if it is impossible to continue on in life…or it may seem impossible to follow God’s will in a particular part of my life; but in those situations God says, “I will provide.” With us such things seems impossible, but with God ALL things are possible (cf: Matthew 19:26).

At times we might find ourselves caught in the “if onlys.” If only things were different, then I could succeed in this situation…if only he was here or she was there then everything would work out just fine…if only I could do this then all things would fall into place. Whatever “if onlys” might come up in our lives, if we believe them we are confining God. When we say, “if only it could be a different way” we are supposing that only in that way with those resources could God help us and make things work out for our blessing. We might see only one possible way for a positive outcome and that is because we are limited to seeing things work out with present resources. However, our God who loves us and is working for us, can accomplish things without those resources.

God simply is not bound in the way He will provide for us! Whatever need we may have and however impossible it seems that the need could be filled, God can accomplish it—if it is His will. Regardless of the need you are facing, you can be assured that God has done far more with far less than what would be required to supply that need. He created the universe with NOTHING except the power of His Word! He created faith in your sin-darkened heart with NOTHING except the power of His Word! He can and will provide for your needs by the authority of that same powerful Word!

In a sermon on this subject, Luther once had this to say:

“This is the common weakness we feel to this day not only so far as our sustenance is concerned but also in all kinds of other troubles and temptations: we know how to calculate very accurately what we need, what apparently is necessary to give us help. But if we do not obtain it as quickly as we desire, our calculation brings us nothing but discontent and sorrow; and it were far better to let God take charge altogether and not to think about our needs…we shall never worry ourselves rich. But we can actually think and worry ourselves sick, consumptive, and made and foolish, as we observe from daily instances……In all kinds of need God marvelously and unexpectedly supplies help, for He is almighty and has promised us aid. Therefore, when calculating leads to no results, everything depends on our clinging to faith and prayer and our taking comfort in the thought that God, who not only can increase a small supply through His blessing, as He marvelously and unexpectedly increased the flour and oil of the widow at Zarephath, but also can and will make everything out of nothing.” [WLS #1295]

III.

The widow of Zarephath provides an amazing example of trust. When Elijah came to her, he said: ““Please bring me a little water in a cup, that I may drink.” And as she was going to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” So she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.” And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake from it first, and bring it to me; and afterward make some for yourself and your son. For thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the Lord sends rain on the earth.’ ” So she went away and did according to the word of Elijah; and she and he and her household ate for many days. The bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke by Elijah” [vv.10-16]

The widow was preparing to die with her son for lack of food and God called upon her to trust that she could give her last bit of food to Elijah and still live. Through Elijah, God called upon the widow to trust, but His Word also created the trust which God called upon her to have. “Thus says the LORD God of Israel, your flour and oil will not run out.” That promise of God was all the widow needed. On the basis of that promise, she did what Elijah asked and she was not disappointed for God fulfilled His promise just as He said.

God calls upon us to put our complete trust in Him, but when He calls for that kind of trust it is a trust He has created by His promises and His faithfulness to them. We can look back on God’s “track record” and see how bountifully He has provided in the past. As we sing in one of our hymns, “Who from our mother’s arms hath blessed us on our way with countless gifts of love…” [TLH #36 st.1]. Surely we too have to conclude with Solomon, “There has not failed one word of all His good promise, which He promised…” (1 Kings 8:56).

There are times when we might feel like the psalmist did when He asked “will [the LORD] be favorable no more? Has His mercy ceased forever? Has His promise failed forevermore? Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has He in anger shut up His tender mercies?” The psalmist also provides the solution “…I will remember the works of the Lord; Surely I will remember Your wonders of old…You are the God who does wonders; You have declared Your strength among the peoples. You have with Your arm redeemed Your people…”(Psalm 77:7-12,14-15).

God calls upon us to trust Him, and when that trust seems hard to have, we need to go back to His Word where we find His “trust-creating” promises; and we need to look back at His faithfulness and bountiful blessings to be encouraged that He is indeed worthy of all our trust and will not let that trust be left disappointed or put to shame.

A lack of trust develops when we are uncertain as to the intentions of the “other person”—whether or not he has my best interest at heart. God’s intentions are clear, He desires YOU and all people to be brought to faith and preserved in that faith unto life everlasting. God’s intentions are to use everything in this life to strengthen you for your journey and bring you safely home to heaven. Trust Him!

A lack of trust may develop even if someone has the best intentions for your good, but lacks the knowledge or ability to bring those intentions to pass. Your all-knowing, all-powerful God can bring every one of His good intentions to pass for you. Trust Him!

A lack of trust can occur even if someone is devoted to you, is knowledgeable, and is able if that person is not reliable—and even the most reliable of human beings fail in this at times because they can’t control everything. Your Savior is unchanging and 100% reliable in all things. “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever!” (Hebrews 13:8). Trust Him!

There two final steps in this encouragement from the Lord this morning.The first one is this: Each of us needs to take these truths and this confidence that we have in the Lord and use them to overshadow our individual worries and “trust issues.” It is very easy to know that God provided for the widow of Zarephath but then conclude, “God, my problems are so different.”—No they’re not. Each of us does have our own particular problems that no one else will be able to fully understand. But although whatever you are facing is uniquely yours, in essence it is not any different than the individual things your fellow Christians are likewise facing.

The widow’s concern regarding food for herself and her son is your concern when the checkbook doesn’t balance. The widow of Nain’s concern as she was following in her only son’s funeral possession is your concern of “how can I go forward alone.” One by one, whatever the individual twists and turns might be for each one of us, we are ultimately the same weak sinners with the same needs, the same fears. Paul told the Corinthians, “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful…” (1 Corinthians 10:13). He will take care of you.

One last step…while sitting in the pew and standing in the pulpit this all seems so simple…so straightforward. Here in the confines of God’s House with His Word its not hard to evaluate ourselves and say: “Yes those are my weaknesses, and I don’t need to act or think that way. Oh yes, of course my Savior will take care of me! I’m ready to go!” And then we go out there to meet the world and everything we have going on in our lives and cry out: I am TRUST…ing—oh, oh!—and all of a sudden the world’s REALITY is staring me in the face. The knees get a little weak, the confidence wobbles, and how soon we forget that we have nothing to fear and then find ourselves “stressing out” all over again.

This will happen “out there” but we can’t stay here all the time—we have work to do in God’s kingdom; we need to get out into the world and testify to the Savior. But when you DO face the brick wall of reality…the pitfalls of worry…and the pools of sadness that seem like they will surely drown you; be sure to remember what the Lord says: “I WILL take care of YOU—trust ME!” Amen!

—Pastor Wayne C. Eichstadt