WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2022
1 Kings 17:7-16
But after a while the wadi dried up, because there was no rain in the land.
Then the word of the Lord came to him (Elijah), saying, ‘Go now to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and live there; for I have commanded a widow there to feed you.’ 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.’ As she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, ‘Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.’ 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.’ 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. 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.’ She went and did as Elijah said, so that she as well as he and her household ate for many days. 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.
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A God of Abundant Sufficiency
Mark Yackel-Juleen
I remember from my early childhood my father often saying, “We don’t have much, but we always have enough.” On two occasions, when my father had been injured at his job and unable to work for nearly a year each time, I witnessed my parents needing to live by the charity of others to help feed our family. And subsequently I watched my parents never overlook the needs of others, generous with their time, talents, and material things regardless of how much they had for themselves. By the end of his life, my father was known in our lower middle-class neighborhood as a “give you the shirt off his back” kind of guy—an expression of high regard in that context. Looking back, I realize that my parents lived a philosophy of abundant sufficiency—never a lot, but enough for us and enough to share with others.
My family of origin was not religious. It wasn’t until later in life that I recognized God at work in those experiences of my childhood. Our God is a God of abundant sufficiency. It is exemplified in this beautiful story of the widow of Zarephath. This woman, seemingly at the end of all she has to sustain her and her son, finds the courage to offer hospitality and generosity to this strange prophet Elijah with her very last. And out of that courage, hospitality, and generosity, God creates an abundance of sufficiency. This divine abundant sufficiency is liberating. It frees us from the fear of scarcity. It frees us to share whatever we have with our neighbor and a world in need. In my later years, I have found myself to be materially blessed and privileged far beyond what my parents ever experienced. But in that, I have sought, however imperfectly, to live out of God’s abundant sufficiency—to gratefully accept what is enough and to share the rest.
May God give you the courage of the widow of Zarephath to live in the freedom of God’s abundant sufficiency for the sake of your neighbor and a world in need. Amen
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