Sermon - Trinity XV 2021 - 1 Kings 17:8-16

Prophet Elijah and the Widow of Sarepta, Bernardo Strozzi, 1630's

“Do not be anxious.” That’s not too hard when life is going well. It’s easy to trust God when everything’s okay. It’s easy to have faith when your stomach, cupboard, and wallet are full. It’s easy because you don’t actually have to trust the Lord for anything, since it doesn’t seem like you need Him. But it’s far harder to not worry when people are sick and dying, when shelves are bare, and the bank account is drawing perilously low. It’s hard to trust then because you actually have to trust the Lord since you truly do need Him. 

What is it that we do when we trust the Lord? We christians trust in the Lord by seeking first the kingdom of God. This isn’t just a nice turn of phrase, this is where the rubber meets the road, this is where faith meets reality. Seeking first the kingdom of God and trusting the Lord are concrete actions that we perform. Christianity is not only spiritual but it’s also physical, it’s not just in the heart but it’s also in the hands.

We see this trust and faith in the Lord, this seeking first the kingdom of God, in both the prophet Elijah and the widow of Zarephath. Here’s the situation: Israel was ruled by a series of wicked kings, presently it was Ahab, he “did evil in the sight of the Lord, more than all who were before him.” He worshipped the false gods Baal and Asherah and built altars to them. The Lord’s anger burned hot against Ahab and the Israelites, so God sent a drought and thus a famine in the land.

For a time the Lord cared for Elijah by a brook, where God sent ravens to bring him bread and meat in the morning and evening. Eventually, the brook dried up due to the drought, so the Lord sent Elijah to Zarephath. There he was to be fed by a widow. But upon arrival, it turned out the widow and her son had only enough food left for one final meal. “As the LORD your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die.”

Elijah, the widow, and her son had almost nothing. Their bellies, cupboards, and fields were all nearly empty. They’re on the verge of starvation and death. But what does Elijah say? “Do not fear... For thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the LORD sends rain upon the earth.’” Right there the rubber met the road, faith met reality! These three people had to trust God to provide them their daily bread because they had no other source of food and there wasn’t enough in the jar and jug to last beyond each day. Each day they had to trust that God would provide. They had to live by what Jesus said: “Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

And what happened when they trusted in the Lord? “She and he and her household ate for many days. The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the LORD that he spoke by Elijah.” God provided for them. Instead of worrying about their food, they sought first the kingdom of God by believing God’s promise.

This is what we likewise are to do, in whatever situation we find ourselves, we are to trust in the Lord and not be anxious. Our Lord uses the story of Elijah, the widow, and her son to encourage us when we’re anxious and teach us not to fear when things appear to be at the brink of collapse. God even surrounds us with many other ordinary examples of Him providing in order to strengthen and encourage us.

“Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” Are not two sparrows sold for a penny, and yet not one falls to the ground without your Father knowing. Everyday you can look out the window or step outside and see birds alive and well, fat and happy, singing with joy, not because they store up food, nor because we feed them, but because God feeds them. Birds are a daily reminder that God will feed us, He will provide.

“Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?” When you drive along the road and see the weeds and wildflowers growing in the ditches or the pastures, you see how beautifully God makes flowers in the most mundane locations. They’re not beautiful because the flowers decide to be beautiful, but because God clothes them so wonderfully! Flowers bloom for a short time and then decay, whereas we are eternal. Those flowers are ordinary reminders that God will clothe us, He will provide.

Another reason we need not worry and be anxious about our life, but seek first the kingdom of God, is that “life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.” Those things are temporary and fleeting, while we are immortal and shall live eternally. The reason you can’t serve both God and mammon is that one is eternal and the other temporal. Mammon, money, property, earthly riches, these things are all quickly fading away, and if you serve mammon, you’re a servant of that which is temporal. But God is everlasting, His kingdom is forever, and His reign shall be without end. When we serve the Lord we’re adopted into that eternal household and shall live under Him in His kingdom forever.

“And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?” The temporary is always going to be temporary. This life is always going to end. No matter how much we worry and stress over this life, it’s always going to come to an end, there’s no way around it. If we spend our lives in fretting and in stressing, it’s not going to change the fact that we’re going to die when God has determined that we shall die.

All of this has concrete applications for our lives today. Covid needn’t cause us any worry or anxiety. It’s always in the news, new variants and stats are always placed before our eyes. Masks and signs are constant reminders of Covid. But we don’t need to be anxious about it. Prudence is good, so be prudent, but don’t be anxious. No amount of anxiety will prevent you from dying, that’s already been determined by God. So entrust your days and burdens to the Lord.

Instead of serving mammon, let us serve the Lord. Let us even use our mammon primarily in service to the Lord, to prove that mammon is nothing and that God is everything to us. God speaks through St. Paul to teach us that “as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” They say put your money where your mouth is, and that’s not a terrible idea for the Christian. Look at your bank account and figure out where you spend your money, that’s generally a good indicator of where your heart is.

And finally, seek first the kingdom of God before all other things in this life. Afterall, Jesus sought you instead of seeking His own glory and mammon. Jesus is God, He could’ve set up an earthly kingdom where He reigns in glory here and we all serve Him. Instead, He sought us, and laid down His life for us so that we, with Him, may be redeemed from our love of mammon and anxiety, and taken to paradise. 

So seek first the kingdom. That means primarily making the Divine Service your weekly priority; since you’re here, well done! Thank you! Other things that this means is to make Bible reading a priority over the news or social media; to make prayer the alternative to worry; to prioritize Christian living over gaining worldly mammon. 

In these and other concrete ways we are seeking first the kingdom of God. We are prioritizing the eternal over the temporal. We’re trusting the Lord to provide for us in all things. We’re filling our hearts with hope in the Lord instead of anxiety in mammon. We’re seeking first the kingdom of God because Christ has sought us first so that His kingdom may be ours. God bless you, dear Christians, to continue to seek first the kingdom of God and be filled with hope instead of worry.