In an Uncertain Word, God’s Promises are Always Certain
1 Kings 17: 8-16
Twenty fifth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 27)
Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ amen. The sermon text for the twenty-fifth Sunday after Pentecost is the Old Testament reading 1 Kings 17. We live in an uncertain world, this is true. But what is also true is that God’s promises are always certain. We see that in our Old Testament reading for today. The widow in this account is in a desperate and uncertain situation. First of all she is a widow. That would be hard enough on anybody. It is always difficult when your spouse passes away. But to be a widow in the ancient world was especially difficult. Not only would she have the sorrow of losing her husband but she also would not have the means to support herself. That is why in the Bible you hear the Old Testament prophets speaking about taking care of the widows. A widow would be one of the most vulnerable members of society. The extended family was often responsible for taking care of the widow. But if there was no family around widows would be forced to fend for themselves without any income. That is the situation that this widow found herself in. But there is more. There is also a drought taking place in the land. It would have been hard enough to be a widow in Old Testament times but to be a widow during a drought would have been devastating. But there is more. The widow was also responsible for another person. She had a son to take care of. When we look at our reading from 1 Kings, we see that the widow was in a desperate and uncertain situation.
The same could be said for the prophet Elijah. Elijah was hiding from the wicked King Ahab who wanted to kill him. He also lived in the time of drought so he did not know where his next meal would come from. He was also entering Sidon which was a gentile land. It was a place that was not friendly to Israel. And so Elijah, found himself running for his life, living in a foreign land during a time when food was scarce. We see that Elijah was also in a desperate and uncertain situation.
But as we look at our text we see something else. We see that in an uncertain world, God’s promises are always certain. It was the Lord’s hand that let Elijah to the widow and it was the Lord who provided for them. When Elijah arrived he asked for some food. The widow explained that she had none to give. All she had was a handful of flour and a little oil in a jug. It was going to be the last meal for her and her son. And then Elijah said these words. “Do not fear; go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son. For thus says the Lord the God of Israel, the jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth”. Elijah spoke the Word of the Lord and it was a powerful Word. God made a promise to the widow through Elijah and when God makes a promise it is certain and true. The Holy Spirit worked through the Word and created faith in the widow. She made Elijah some food and gave it to him first because she trusted in the Lord. She knew that the Lord would keep His promise to her and supply her and her son with food throughout the drought.
When we look at our reading we see people who are desperate. We see people who are living with uncertainty. But what we also see is something wonderful. We see that in an uncertain world, Ged’s promises are always certain. What we see in our text for today applies to all of us. There are times in our life when we will find ourselves in a desperate situation. Some of you may remember a time when that happened. Some of you are going through it right now. Some of you will go through it in the future. There are times when we will find ourselves facing great uncertainty. All of us know what it feels like to be in a bad situation, from times when money was tight, to poor health, to a loved one passing away.
We all know what it is like to have lived with uncertainty. We all live in an uncertain world. Our nation has just completed the elections. What will happen in our country moving forward is unknown. There is also uncertainty in our personal lives. We could get cancer in the future. Our finances could falter. Our children and grandchildren could be living in a culture that persecutes the church. We live with uncertainty all around us.
But here is the Good News that I get to tell today. As we live in an uncertain world, God’s promises are always certain. God made a promise to the widow that her food supply would not run out during the famine. God kept that promise. The Lord also makes promises to us and He keeps them. They are certain and true. Our Lord speaks to us in His Word and He tells us that He loves us and that He will bless us. He promises us that He is with us and will not leave us. We have the assurance that what God promises is true because of what Christ has done for us on the cross.
Recall what was said in our epistle reading from Hebrews. “For Christ has entered not into holy places made by hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer Himself repeatedly. As the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own. But as it is, He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him”.
What this is saying is that Jesus, the Son of the living God, is our advocate. He died on the cross and rose from the dead to win for us life and salvation. Through faith in Christ we receive God’s grace and forgiveness. Jesus has made us right with God and He continues to intercede for us right now. He stands in the presence of the Father on our behalf. And when the time is right He will visibly return and bring us to be with God and each other for all eternity.
If God does all of these things for us through Christ then He will also give us all that we need in this life. He loves you and will provide for you. He will bless you, stand with you, and never leave you. These are all promises from God. And we know that the promises of God are certain and true, and we are given great assurance that they are true when we look to Jesus and see what He has done for us at the cross. We know the promise of God are true when we look to Christ knowing that He is always interceding for us. We know that promise of God are true for it is certain that Jesus will appear a second time to usher in the new creation.
God made a promise to the widow through the prophet Elijah and by the power of the Holy Spirit she trusted in the Lord. She knew that the Lord would provide for her and that is why she gave Elijah his food first. She knew that she would have enough. It is the same with us. Because God blesses us so richly we are freed up to be generous with what has been given to us. We can live a life of giving to others because the Lord has given us so much. We can live a generous life knowing that the Lord is the giver of all good blessings both temporal and eternal.
Our life is not always easy. There will be times when we will struggle. There are times when we will experience sadness and loss. We all live in uncertain times. We live in an uncertain world. But the Good News that I get to tell you today is this. In an uncertain world, God’s promises to you are always certain. Amen.