SERMONS

Proper 5C
June 10, 2007

By The Rev. Sylvia Czarnetzky

1 Kings 17:17-24
Psalm 30:1-6, 12-3
Galatians 1:11-24
Luke 7:11-17

Elijah is starting to be one of my favorite figures in the Old Testament!

Today we have another sliver of the Elijah story. A couple of weeks ago, on Ascension Sunday, we had the story of Elijah’s ascension into heaven with chariots of fire. That episode was, obviously, from the end of the Elijah story. Today’s reading from 1^st Kings takes us back in time, to the beginning of the Elijah story, shortly after the introduction of Elijah into the narrative.

Elijah is a Tishbite, which just means he’s from Tishbe in Gilead, but I like the sound of that: “Elijah the Tishbite.” Elijah the Tishbite shows up rather abruptly in the story, as the prophet God sends to the kingdom of Israel during the reign of the evil King Ahab and his deliciously wicked queen, Jezebel. When Elijah arrives on the scene in chapter 17 of lst Kings, he rolls up his sleeves and gets right to work as prophet.  He announces to Ahab the King the news that the God of Israel is sending a drought. (17:1)

“Drought is an ancient form of energy crisis.”  (Brueggemann 183) For without rain, there is no food, and no hope.  (183) So for Elijah to announce to Ahab that the God of Israel was sending a drought came as bad news indeed. Ahab takes this news badly, and “intends to silence the voice of Yahweh by silencing Elijah.”  (Cousar 373) Yahweh “directs [Elijah] to flee for his life” (373) And sends him to Zarephath, to a widow who will take him in.  (17:8-9)  Elijah takes refuge from King Ahab in the widow’s home at Zarephath, where she lives with her only child, a son. (Gaudino 90)

Now, we know that drought in the ancient world “affected everyone, rich and poor.  As usual, however, the crisis impinged upon the poor first, and most decisively.”  (Brueggemann 183) And the widow in our story is no exception. (Craddock 292) This widow, whose name we never learn (Brueggemann 183), is in dire straights as the drought continues. When Elijah first meets her at the gates of the town, We find out that she is down to her last “handful of meal” and her last bit of oil.  (1 Kg 17:12) She tells Elijah that she is “gathering a couple of sticks,” to build a fire and literally prepare the last supper for herself and her child!  (17:12)  She intends to fix this last meal, eat it with her son, and die.

Now, Elijah almost immediately takes care of her first problem, the lack of food.  Elijah makes it so that her jar of meal and her flask of oil are somehow, magically always filled, for the duration of the drought. (17:14-5)

The text says, “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.”  (17:16)

The widow experiences the miracle of the bottomless jar of meal and the bottomless jug of oil: an “unending supply of food.” (Brueggemann 183)   But her troubles are not over, because right after Elijah helps the widow solve her hunger crisis, another crisis brews.

Our lesson for today tells the story of the widow’s second crisis. Her son – her only child -- becomes so ill “that there was no breath left in him.”  (17:17) Now the death of her son is a big deal because it’s her son and she loves him. But it’s also a big deal because she’s already a widow, and if she loses her only son as well, then she’s in real trouble. “In ancient Israelite society, economic well-being generally required a male head of the household.” (Craddock 292) So if she loses her son in addition to her husband, she will be completely powerless.  (292) Her son was all she had going for her – he was “her welfare system, her lean link to life.” (Brueggemann 183)

“The boy, the widow’s only hope…dies…Elijah acts in a remarkable way. 

He prays.  He turns the problem of death over to the reality of God.  He speaks to…open the problem of death to the power of God…”  (183)

And another miracle occurs: the son is revived. “[T]he life of the child came into him again, and he revived. Elijah took the child…and gave him to his mother; then Elijah said, ‘See, your son is alive.’”  (17:22-4) And so the scene ends.

“[A] widow’s son is brought from death to life by the power of God, a power that is made active by God’s special servant.” (Cousar 374) “[A] life-restoring miracle of God” takes place against the backdrop “of a God-sent drought…” (374) And Elijah is the instrument through whom the power of God worked to revive the widow’s only son. (Craddock 292)

The healing of the son of the widow of Zarephath is paired today with the story of the healing of the son of another widow, this one in Nain. Like the widow of Zarephath, the widow of Nain has only one child, a son. This widow is also first encountered at the gate of the city, except that the widow of Nain is not gathering sticks for a fire on which to cook her last supper, rather, she is part of the funeral procession for her son, who has already died.  There is a large crowd of mourners and bearers with her, as they carry her son’s body “outside the city wall for burial.”  (Craddock 296)  It is a scene of great “pathos”  (Cousar 379).  This widow, like our other widow, faces a grim future without support or protection from a husband or son. She is “a widow left in a man’s world without her only son…”  (379) And as this funeral processions threads its way from inside the city, to the city gate and out to the burial site, another procession is seen making its way to the city of Nain.  A large group of people and disciples were on their way to Nain with Jesus.  They came from Capernaum, where Jesus had healed a centurion’s slave. In today’s gospel, those two processions meet at the gates of the city.  (Lk. 7:11-12)

Between the two crowds of people, there must have been lots of people milling around in this scene, but notice -- Jesus’s focus is only on the weeping widow.  (Gaudino 95)  Even with all these people around, Jesus only has eyes for her and her suffering. (Cousar 379) Listen to the text, which moves quickly from here: “When the Lord saw her, he had compassion for her and said to her, ‘Do  not weep.’ Then he came forward and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still.”  (Lk. 7:13-14) They stopped probably because they were shocked to see a Jew touch a coffin – that was a violation of the purity laws.  (Gaudino 95) But then Jesus does something that shocks the crowd even more: he addresses the dead body!

“’Young man, I say to you, rise!’  The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother.”  (Lk. 7:14-15) Jesus gave him to his mother. That last line may sound familiar to you – Luke is actually quoting from the Elijah story (Gaudino 95): “And Elijah took the child,… and gave him to his mother, saying “See, your son is alive.’”  (Lk. 17:22) Once again, in the gospel, “a widow’s son is brought from death to life by the power of God,…” (Cousar 374), In the first story, the agent through whom God’s power worked was Elijah; in the second, it was Jesus.  (Craddock 292) What both stories demonstrate to us is the ability of God to work miracles through his chosen instruments. When Jesus resurrects the son of the widow of Nain, he “foreshadows” his own resurrectioin, “where the power of death is defeated once and for all.”  (Cousar 379) Finally, what both stories remind us is that God has special care for the vulnerable, for the powerless. Jesus had compassion on the widow’s plight, and literally turned that funeral procession around! At the gate of Nain, “a procession of death [was] turned to a procession of life.”  (Gaudino 95) At Zarephath, a widow’s anger turns to joy as her son, her only son, is restored to her.  (Gaudino 90)                  

You have turned my wailing into dancing;
You have put off my sack-cloth and clothed me with joy.
Therefore my heart sings to you without ceasing;
O Lord, my God I will give you thanks for ever.
                             (Psalm 30:12-13)

Amen.

 Works Cited

Anderson, Bernhard W. “Elijah, the Tishbite.”  Understanding the Old Testament.  4th ed.  Englewood Cliffs, NJ:  Prentice Hall, 1991.  271-  79.

Brueggemann, Walter. “The Oddness of Elijah.” In Resources for Preaching and Worship Year C.  Eds. Hannah Ward and Jennifer Wild. Louisville:Westminster John Knox, 2003. 83-4.

Cousar, Charles B., et al.Texts for Preaching Year C.  Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1994,

Craddock, Fred B., et al. Preaching Through the Christian Year, Year C. Valley Forge, PA:Trinity Press, 1994.

Gaudino, Rebecca J. Kruger. “The Season of Pentecost.”  New Proclamation Year C. Minneapolis:Fortress Press, 2006. 90-97.

O’Driscoll, Herbert. A Time for Good News: Reflections on the Gospel for people on the go, Year C. Toronto:  Anglican Book Centre, 1991.  98- 99