B Cycle – 32^nd Sunday in Ordinary Time 24

Mk. 12: 38-44

The biblical story of Elijah’s encounter with the widow of Zarephath is one of the most interesting stories about faith.  In many ways it surpasses every other story except perhaps the disciples early in their discipleship going out two by two and performing miracles.  This widow was preparing her last meal. She expected her and her son to die because she had run out of food.  Remember in the Old Testament, widows were dependent on the generosity of the community for their daily needs and with the famine ravishing the land there was not much of a surplus for anyone to share with her.

Then along comes Elijah, the great prophet, who encounters her as she was gathering sticks.  She was not in prayer; she was not meditating; she was not in the temple. She was busy with life.  As Elijah enters the city, he calls out to her and requests a cup of water.  We do not know how long he had been traveling but we can be certain his flask of water was dry.  She stops what she was doing and is on her way to get him water when he asks for more than water. 

There is something for us to consider in her first response which was to get him water.  We like her want to do what God want of us, and we are intent on fulfilling what we believe to be God’s demands.  Then we discover there is a greater demand of us beyond small easily filled gestures of faith.  Elijah needs more than water from her and God needs more from us than an easily filled giving something that requires more than just time.  Remember God said He wants our hearts.    

Elijah’s encounter with this widow is reminiscent of another encounter involving water and a drink.  It is in the New Testament when Jesus goes out of His way to encounter the woman at the well in Samaria.  We know Elijah went to Zarephath because God directed him to go there where he would encounter her.  It is one of the most famous encounters in the scriptures because it shows us how God goes out of His way to encounter us.  God is teaching us something through this story and Jesus’s with the woman at the well and we need to pay attention. 

Eijah knowing her dire condition demands something is almost impossible to give – all she has left of her food.  Elijah, in addition to water, requests that she bring him a small cake.  She has only enough flour and oil for one meal and then she and her son will die.  Give me what you have and do not be afraid, he says. 

Think about the demands you face in your own life for a minute. As humans, it is natural for us to analyze the cost of doing anything when we know that choice demands a sacrifice.  What is the reward for us if we act on what is required or requested of us? Her cost was easy to analyze, she was going to be without food and she and her son would die.  In one sense it did not matter if she gave him a cake because she was looking at the same outcome either way. 

But there was a reason Elijah was there, just as there was a reason Jesus went to that well in Samaria.  God directed Elijah to go there and that he would encounter a woman, a widow and she would take care of him during the famine.  Despite her inability to grasp how she could respond to his request Elijah said, “give to me first and then feed yourself.”  God demands a lot more than we believe we can give. 

But like her we are told not to worry.  Elijah reveals to her that the flour jar will not be exhausted, nor will the oil jar run dry.  There is the challenge to us – how much do we trust God when we cannot see how we must walk by faith not by what we see and what we are comfortable doing.  Do we believe our flour and oil can be multiplied and feed us during those challenging times of our lives? 

Do we trust in God’s promises to supply our every need.  Parable after parable, story after story in the New Testament Jesus tells us do not worry, do not be afraid, do not let our doubt overcome His ability to work miracles in our lives or in the lives of those we love. Do not the birds of the air have enough (Mt.6:26).  Our human nature motivates us to constantly weigh the cost of any sacrifice we make for God. 

The widow in the gospel is another story of faith. She is sacrificing her own ability to survive by dropping her a few cents in the temple treasury.  Jesus uses her as an example of something that went even beyond the widow of Zarephath.  The widow of Zarephath was told by a man of God her she would not die.  We have God telling us He will never abandon nor forsake us.  Yet your gut tells you there is plenty to worry about.  You need to be reassured and the only way to be reassured is to step out in faith and trust God’s promise.  God wants a relationship based on love and trust not one based on an acceptable behavior which demands nothing of us but compliance. 

As Joshua said to the people, choose who you will follow. Will you follow even when it demands total and complete faith in God? Will uncertainty cause you to depend on yourself rather than on God?  These gospel stories are more than stories, they are God words speaking to your hearts.  Give me your total and complete trust and trust me when your faith is challenged. God’s promise is we will be given all we need and more.