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1 Kings 17:8-16 – Wilda C. Gafney translation

The word of the Holy One to Elijah was, “Get up, go to Zarephath, which is part of Sidon, and settle there; watch now, I have commanded a widow woman there to provide for you.” And Elijah got up and went to Zarephath. Then he came to the gate of the town, and look! a widow woman was there gathering sticks; so he called to her and said, “Bring me, please, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.” She went to bring it, and he called to her and said, “Bring me, please, a bit of bread in your hand.” Then she said, “As the Holy One your God lives, if I had a cake. There is only a handful of flour in a jar, and a little oil in a jug. Now look, I am gathering two sticks, then I will go home and prepare the oil and flour for myself and for my child; we will eat it, and we will die.” Then Elijah said to her, “Fear not; go and do as you have said, only make me a little cake of it and bring it to me first, then make something for yourself and your child afterwards. For thus says the Holy One the God of Israel: The jar of flour will not empty and the jug of oil will not decrease until the day that the Holy One grants rain upon the earth.” She went and she did as Elijah said, and she and he, and her household, ate for many days. The jar of flour did not empty and the jug of oil did not decrease according to the word of the Holy One that God spoke through Elijah. 

Luke 4:16-27 – Wilda C. Gafney translation

Now Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had been nurtured and went, according to his practice on the day of the sabbath, to the synagogue. And he stood up to read. Then was given him the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: 

“The Spirit of the Most High is upon me, because God has anointed me to proclaim good news to those who are poor. God has sent me to preach liberation to those who are captives and recovery of sight to those who are blind, to liberate those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Most High’s favor.”

Then Jesus rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down and every eye of all in the synagogue looked intently at him. Then he began to speak to them, saying, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” And all bore witness to him and marveled at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, “Is this not Joseph’s son?” 

Then Jesus said to them, “Of course you will all quote me this proverb, ‘Doctor, cure yourself!’ And you will all say, ‘The things we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown.’ And Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in their hometown. But I speak truth to you all, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were closed three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land. Yet, Elijah was sent to none of them, rather to Zarephath in Sidon, to a widow woman. And there were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.” 

Emily Dickinson (1830–1886)

Tell it Slant

Tell all the Truth but tell it slant —Success in Circuit lies;

Too bright for mind's infirm intent,The Truth's superb surprise.

As Lightning to the Children eased,

With explanation kind;

The Truth must dazzle gradually,

Or every man be blind.

---

The Irish poet, Padraig O’Tuama has a podcast called Poetry Unbound. He reads a poem, then gives some background information about the poet and their topic, and then he reads the poem again. The second time I hear him read the poem I gain a much deeper understanding. The poem has been transformed from black ink on a page to a technicolor vision that comes alive in my mind. 

Why do I mention Padraig and his Poetry Unbound podcast? Because the truth that Jesus speaks at his hometown synagogue – or that any prophets speak in their time and place – can be too much to be absorbed in the first hearing. That is why I hear Emily Dickinson’s poem, “Tell it Slant” responding to these readings. Some truths cannot be digested all at once. Some truths are too big for us to process, too blinding. We absorb them gradually as we are able. 

Luke recounts for us what amounts to Jesus preaching his first sermon in his local synagogue. Like so many that begin their ministry, their first messages are about themselves, their journey that brought them to where they are, where they came from and what is pushing them forward. For Jesus, this takes place in Jerusalem, his home town. He is speaking to his neighbors, his friends, his family members. They are impressed at “Joseph and Mary’s boy” speaking so elegantly, so graciously. “This scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing,” Jesus says after he sits down and begins to expound upon the passage that he has just read. This is who I am, the boy you all know as Joseph and Mary’s son. I am not called to be a carpenter like my father, I am called to “…proclaim good news to those who are poor. God has sent me to preach liberation to those who are captives and recovery of sight to those who are blind, to liberate those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Most High’s favor.”

The townspeople and his family are proud, but soon their pride will turn to anger as they realize that Jesus will not show them favoritism by remaining with them. The deeper truth of what he has just told them is that he must leave, must go where God sends him, to people in other towns and villages where there is also need. 

And all this that he is to do – those things will be accomplished in the year of the Lord’s favor – in the Jubilee year – which is understood to be every 50th year. A year of sabbath, so to speak. The Book of Leviticus (25:10) proclaims that every seven years you must give rest to the land and to your beasts of burden, harvesting only what the land provides. And every 50 years there was to be forgiveness of debts and release from servitude, a rebalancing of resources, freeing the poor, and the captive, and the oppressed. Jesus states that the Spirit of the Lord compels him to begin this work of the Jubilee now. 

Our Hebrew scripture this morning came from the book of 1 Kings. Elijah, originally a Tishbite, had gone East as instructed by God, where he was fed by ravens and drank from a stream to survive the drought in the land. When the stream dried up God spoke to him again, sending him to Zarephath, where he met a widow woman who was near the gate of the city collecting firewood to prepare the last of her food for herself and her child. 

This widow and Elijah needed each other for survival. Is she who Elijah was expecting? This woman was down to her final ration of food, and thought that she and her son would surely die after this last meal. She doesn’t meet the description of who I would be looking for to provide me food and water to sustain me in a foreign land. But of course, Elijah was familiar with the mysterious ways that God provides for us.

What they have in common is that they both trusted in God. Elijah that he would be provided for wherever God sent him. She that in sharing her meager rations she would still have enough for herself and her child. Elijah assured her… “For thus says the Holy One the God of Israel: The jar of flour will not empty and the jug of oil will not decrease until the day that the Holy One grants rain upon the earth.” Great was their faithfulness. 

Does God work through us? Absolutely, yes. Through prophets and through ordinary people. Was this a miracle? Surely it was. A miracle that needed all of them to make it happen, the widow, Elijah, and God. This woman is unfortunately nameless in our scripture, but nonetheless is an integral part of the story, an integral part of our faith history. 

Where do I find hope in this passage? When we give to others first, when we share our resources, we will all have enough. When we share our resources we will all have enough. That is what I hear. That is what I believe. Is that what I do? Only sometimes. And still, I have hope. To paraphrase Maya Angelou, We do the best we can until we know better. And then when we know better, we do better. 

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,” said the prophet Isaiah. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,” said Jesus. The Spirit of the Lord was upon Elijah. The Spirit of the Lord was upon the widow woman. The Spirit of the Lord is upon us. The Spirit of the Lord is here among us now. 

We are to proclaim good news to those who are poor. God has sent us to preach liberation to those who are captives and recovery of sight to those who are blind, to liberate those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Most High’s favor.” Let us make this year a Jubilee year for one and all. We shall rest from the world as we know it and live peaceably, in harmony, with all of God’s creations. This will be quite a challenge in the world we live in, and in an election year, no less!

Let us be brave enough, wise enough, foolish enough to listen to the voice of Spirit, to follow the push, to let God guide our actions. We can make joy, make Jubilee, a real and present truth for one and for all. 

Amen

Rev. TJ Mack – February 11, 2024