but i know that i can make it

as long as somebody takes me home

A sermon on the widow at Zarephath and Elijah:

Here we are. And on the one hand, it doesn’t appear as though very much is happening at all. Does it? You’re sitting there. I’m standing here. And yes, I’m talking, but that’s about it. 

But you know what? Something is happening! And not just something, either. No, a lot is happening! God, in all the fullness thereof, is happening!

Yes, I’m speaking, but the words are not mine. No, God, God is coopting them! The Holy Spirit is filling them with Christ himself! Whatever else you’re hearing, it’s not just mere words. No, it’s Christ the Word made flesh, made word again, and presently taking flesh in these words once more!

This means it’s not just the speaking God has a hand in! No, God is also coopting your hearing! Christ is riding the breath of the Holy Spirit on these words to travel down your ear canal and into your heart! And the Holy Trinity is doing all this to bring about the greatest miracle of all, the creation of saving faith out of nothing but your good-for-nothing carcass! 

What I’m trying to say is, a miracle is happening today! And you know what else? I don’t care if you believe me. I mean, I do care. I want you to believe. That’d be better all around. 

But the point is, it doesn’t matter one whit whether you believe this or not. It’s true. It’s true. And the sooner you get used to that, the better. God, in all the fullness thereof, is happening to you today! Deal with it. 

…That’s not mere bluster, either. No, that’s how it always goes with God! Take today, for instance. Today is All Saints. And don’t for a second think God asked those saints if they believed they were raised. No, God just went ahead and raised them! 

Then, after they were raised, they believed! But you can hardly call that belief. Can you? No, that’s just responding to reality!

That’s the funny thing of all those depictions of St. Peter at the pearly gates! Everyone has already been raised! Haven’t they? There’s no other checklist! The one that mattered already occurred! On account of Christ’s resurrection, they, too, were raised!

You know who else has also been raised, though? Don’t you? You have! Yes, you. Now, I know, on the one hand, you’re still dragging your sorry corpse around. And some days, that’s more pronounced than others. But that you that’s destined to die has already died! 

In baptism, the old sinner in you was drowned! That means the life you now live is lived by faith in the Son of God! In other words, there are now two yous in you! There’s the old you, the you that will come to nothing. And there’s the new you, the you that will be raised on the great Last Day! 

And today, on this day, you live between those two yous. Yes, this is a struggle. The two yous don’t get along. Do they? No, they fight. And yes, you are caught in this struggle. 

But here’s the not-so-secret secret: The old you has no future! The old you has no future, but the new you has nothing but the future! So now, you live with death forever behind you and eternity perpetually before you, too! 

This makes all the difference! It seals your fate! It seals your fate, but it redeems your past! It seals your fate, and it resurrects your future! Now, you can ask for forgiveness, and you are no longer left to chance!

What I’m trying to say is, a miracle is happening today! And you know what else? I don’t care if you believe me. I mean, I do care. I want you to believe. That’d be better all around. 

But the point is, it doesn’t matter one whit whether you believe this or not. It’s true. It true. And the sooner you get used to that, the better. God, in all the fullness thereof, is happening to you today! Deal with it.

…That’s not all, either! It also means you now live closer to those we remember today than you can possibly imagine! They, too, live with death behind them! Don’t they? 

Yes, their resurrection is complete, whereas ours is still in process. Nevertheless, where it matters most, you live in the same realm as those Christ has called home! We live by faith in the Son of God! And the dead, they, too, by Christ’s resurrection, live in the exact same space, the Son of God! So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are all the Lord’s! 

This is what the communion of saints is all about! The communion of the saints is not just some nice idea! No, it’s a description of reality! It’s a description of reality now that Christ has forever torn the curtain separating heaven from earth by his death and resurrection! 

Now, you have communion with the dead. And it’s not through grief, magic, or memories, either. No, you have communion with the dead through Jesus Christ himself! You have communion with the dead because Christ has established communion with you!

This is why many communion rails are half circles. They’re picturing the other half of communion! The other half of communion is celebrated without end in heaven! And whenever you belly up to the communion rail, you step through time, into eternity, and take your seat in that eternal banquet yourself! 

That’s not all, either! You should know, those who have been raised are not waiting on your resurrection. We sometimes talk about our loved ones watching over us. But think about what that means! 

It’d mean they’re trapped in heaven. But they’re not trapped! Are they? No, they’re free! And that means they see what we cannot! They see what we struggle to trust! They see Christ’s ultimate triumph!

For the dead, the resurrection is accomplished! They’re not waiting on you! No, for them, you’re already as good as there! There is no separation for them! Christ is all in all!

This is true for you, too. And you know what else? I don’t care if you believe me. I mean, I do care. I want you to believe. That’d be better all around. 

But the point is, it doesn’t matter one whit whether you believe this or not. It’s true. It true. And the sooner you get used to that, the better. God, in all the fullness thereof, is happening to you today! Deal with it.

…Now, perhaps you wonder where I get off saying this. I mean, who died and made me God’s mouthpiece? Well, fair enough. I get it. I wouldn’t choose me, either!

But you know the answer. Don’t you? You know who died so I could speak for God. His name is Jesus Christ. And I speak in his name!

That’s what this stole means. It means these words aren’t mine. They’re Christ’s! And they’re not just Christ’s words, either. No, they’re Christ himself!

You want to see Christ today? No problem! Close your eyes. Close your eyes and open your ears. There he is! In the air that moves those fine hairs in your ears and moves the spirit God has breathed into you, Christ stands in your presence today!

I know that’s an audacious thing to say. And you wouldn’t be the first person to take exception to it, either. Just take a look at today’s Scripture. Take Elijah, for instance. No doubt Elijah felt how you may be feeling today.

Now, we don’t know much about Elijah. We know he was a Tishbite, of Tishbe. But you know what? We know even less about Tishbe! Here’s the first sentence for the entry on Tishbe in the New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible: “A city of uncertain location associated with the prophet Elijah.” Not much to go on. Huh?

Nevertheless, despite the paucity of information, it’s safe to assume Elijah didn’t choose his lot for himself. Like you and me, presumably, Elijah was just trying to have an ordinary life. He didn’t lose sleep over the fact that Tishbe was a no-account city. He wasn’t trying to be remembered for the ages. No, getting to the next day was enough for him.

But then, one day, on a sabbath like any other, out of the clear blue, God spoke. And just like every time God speaks, God didn’t try to convince Elijah. God didn’t make a case. No, God just reads Elijah the riot act!

Elijah is to go from relative obscurity to pick a fight with Ahab, the wicked king of Israel. And that’s just the beginning! No sooner does Elijah follow through on God’s odd sermon than the word of the Lord comes to him again. But God’s not saying, “Good on ya, Elijah.” No, God is telling Elijah to run and hide! Run and hide?!?

Here’s the thing, though: God hasn’t arranged a safe house. Quite the opposite! God tells Elijah to take cover in the woods by a creek! And don’t forget, Elijah has just told Ahab a drought is coming!

Folks, this plan threatens to fall apart even before it’s out of the Lord’s mouth! A puny water source like a brook in the middle of a drought is no one’s idea of a good one. Plus, getting food from birds, and unclean birds like ravens, which are basically just big crows, is about as far from optimal as you can get. No doubt Elijah thought, “How could God say that to me?”

…Inevitably, the creek dries up. And with it, whatever perfectly sensible doubts Elijah had are born out. But then, God speaks again! Only, instead of admitting the whole thing was poorly planned, God doubles down! God tells Elijah to go to Zarephath.

Now, unlike Tishbe, we know a thing or two about Zarephath. And here’s the thing about Zarephath, it’s foreign territory! And Zarephath isn’t just any foreign territory, either. No, Zarephath is enemy territory. Ahab’s wife, Jezebel, is from Zarephath. 

That’s not all, either! Instead of ravens, God tells Elijah he’ll be getting his food from a widow. Now, like today, widows had a tough time of it. But unlike today, there were no life insurance payouts, no social security, no savings accounts, and no pensions for widows. No, widows lived by the generosity of others! And that’s who God tells Elijah he’ll get his daily bread from: none other than a widow!

If hiding by a brook and getting fed by birds was a dubious plan, this probably doesn’t even technically qualify as one! You don’t run from the enemy by going to their turf! And you don’t get your next meal from someone who can’t even provide for themself! How could Elijah not have wondered, “How could God say that to me?” 

There he was, though, at the enemy’s gate, begging from a woman who’s already been reduced to begging herself! But here’s the thing: if Elijah’s plight was bad, the widow’s was worse! Her husband, her only source of income, had died. And if that wasn’t bad enough, we also learn she was also trying to raise a child all by herself.

As dire as all that is, it only gets worse! For all intents and purposes, the widow appears to be collateral damage of God’s drought. As the crops withered, so did she and her son’s fortune. Little by little, her meager supplies dwindled.

Then, after a week she’d just as well forget; she went out to prepare one final, measly meal. Her and her son’s last supper, as it were. But then, before she could even get the fuel for the stove, a foreigner came out of nowhere, asking her for a free lunch! No doubt she was thinking, “How could you say that to me?”

Well, before the widow can tell Elijah exactly just where to go, he tells her the last thing she wants to hear, “Do not be afraid.” There she is, starving, and her child is literally wasting away, and this yahoo tells her not to be afraid?!? What could be more absurd?!? What else is there to be but afraid?!?

…Maybe that’s what you’re thinking today. Maybe all this chutzpah is a bit much for you. Maybe you’ve had one of those weeks. Or maybe your faith isn’t what it used to be. 

Fine. I get it. I get it, but fine. That’s all, too. Sorry. It doesn’t change reality! And whether you like it or not, I’m the one assigned to deliver Him to you today! So, brace yourself!

Here you are on any given Sunday. Presumably, you’ve left the bills on the counter, the to-do list undone. You’ve probably come with more prayer requests and doomsday predictions than you wish. And you have fewer folks with you than you want, too.

Yet, for all that, and it is a lot, here I am telling you that God is not detracted in the least by any of that! And on days like that, it’s hard not to wonder, “How can I say that to you?” And I get it, too. I do. But here’s the thing: With the God we have, what else is there to say?!? 

Sure, I might have been a little punchy this morning, but what else can I say? Consider my position! What else is there to say with this God who can take someone who died and raise a saint who lives with Christ?!? What else is there to say with this God who can take a bonafide sinner, dead in their trespasses, and raise a saint who lives by faith?!? 

What else is there to say with this God who can take a nobody and make a prophet for the ages?!? What else is there to say with this God who can take a widow and make her the provider for God’s prophet? And what else is there to say with this God who can take a little meal and even less oil and provide a dish that will not fail? Tell me, what else is there to say?!?

Nothing? Ok then. So it bears repeating. No, not deal with it. C’mon, though; deal with it. But, no. The word today is, “Do not be afraid.” So, hear me loud and clear: Do not be afraid!

You who hear these words with the gauge on E, “Do not be afraid.” You who hear these words after a week of hearing about an election gone off the rails, “Do not be afraid.” You who hear these words, wondering how your family will hold together, “Do not be afraid.” And you who hear these words with the news from the doctor still ringing in your ear, “Do not be afraid.”

You who hear these words unsure of your faith, “Do not be afraid.” You who hear these words unable to focus on them, “Do not be afraid.” You who hear these words but are numb to them, “Do not be afraid.” And you who hear these words unable to believe in them, “Do not be afraid.”

…Do not be afraid. Do not be afraid because these words are trustworthy and true. They will not fail you! In fact, on the Last Day, they will do for you what they are, which is nothing less than Jesus Christ himself raised from the dead and living to the glory of the Father!

How could God say this to you, you wonder? Well, let me tell you, with this cup of God’s mercies and this bread of God’s goodness that will not fail you, there’s nothing else to say! So I tell you again, do not be afraid! Do not be afraid.

By the way, don’t worry if you can’t overcome your fears, either. That’s just the old you in you fretting over literally nothing at all! And the new you in you, she or he can’t help but trust these words! That new you in you can’t help but trust these words and add some of their own!

Our Hymn of the Day is hymn number 421, By All Your Saints.