June 20, 2010
2 Kings 4:1-7 Now the wife of a member of the company of prophets cried to Elisha, "Your servant my husband is dead; and you know that your servant feared the LORD, but a creditor has come to take my two children as slaves."
Elisha said to her, "What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?" She answered, "Your servant has nothing in the house, except a jar of oil."
He said, "Go outside, borrow vessels from all your neighbors, empty vessels and not just a few. Then go in, and shut the door behind you and your children, and start pouring into all these vessels; when each is full, set it aside."
So she left him and shut the door behind her and her children; they kept bringing vessels to her, and she kept pouring. When the vessels were full, she said to her son, "Bring me another vessel." But he said to her, "There are no more." Then the oil stopped flowing.
She came and told the man of God, and he said, "Go sell the oil and pay your debts, and you and your children can live on the rest."
Galatians 3:23-29
Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise.
Pray
Some of what I will share with you this morning came from a sermon I heard back in 2004 when I was part of a UCC NY Confence delegation that traveled to the annual meeting of the Iglesia Pentecostal de Chile.
Bishop Ulises Munoz preached an inspirational sermon using this text, mind you it was in Spanish, but despite my lack of fluency I was moved by his words that Sunday.
I also want to make note of the fact that the passage just after this one is the text that was used at my ordination service 9 years ago in June 01
I am very fond of the prophet Elisha and his encounters with these women of the 4th chapter of 2Kings
a creditor has come to take my two children as slaves.
Now as a pastor and chaplain people have come to me with lots of strange calamities, and I am sure there are others among us this morning that have been presented with all sorts of problems
But this is a dilemma I am not ever likely to hear
That someone’s children will be sold into slavery because they have no money to pay their credit card or loan
But back in the day this was acceptable and is mentioned in the OT in Exodus and everyone’s favorite, Levitical law
It was acceptable for parents to sell their children into slavery.
But according to our text this son and daughter would be taken against their mothers will
This is not something we can relate to, is it?
Especially on a day we celebrate Dads and the accomplishment of our grads
Its not something we can relate to
Although there are some of us who can remember the draft… seeing older brothers or family members or friends and the relatives of classmates or perhaps you obliged to go to war in Vietnam or WW2 or Korea
But no debt was involved… except our debt to America as citizens
In our times there are countless fictional and real life stories of surrogate mothers… women who carry children for someone else… usually for pay, with varying degrees of success
I thought about it myself, but I don’t think I could have given up a baby I had bonded with.
But can we imagine being compelled to sell our children?
In the US when families can’t adequately care for their children we may take them away to foster care.
And yet all over the world women do give up their babies and children (for a price sometimes) to couples and singles who can better afford to raise them.
For monetary reasons this woman was being threatened with having her children taken away, to pay a debt.
A debt her husband probably incurred before his death
She was in need, desperate need
Who here this morning has a need? Desperate or otherwise?
Perhaps your need is
to wake up?
a cup of coffee? A cookie?
More time
new shoes?
another place to live?
another chance with someone you love?
some hope?
healing?
It can be difficult to admit our needs, even in church.
Do we really believe that God can meet our needs?
God helps those who helps themselves… does not appear in the bible
What are your needs?
Do you believe God can meet them?
This nameless mother and widow comes to the holy man, Elisha asking for help and what is his response?
What shall I do for you? What do YOU have in the house?
what does she have that she might begin to help herself with, not that he will just wave a wand and make it all better
And what is her response? I have nothing…. except a jar of oil.
She surmised that she had nothing, she was beyond being able to help herself without some assistance and direction.
She felt she had nothing, that all was lost, that there was no hope.
Have you felt that way?
Panicked? Like it was over, there was no hope?
I brought in a few vessels this morning
jars, bottles
different sizes and shapes
color does not matter
some will hold less while others can hold a lot
some may have chips or cracks and require special treatment
what she needed was not in her home
what she needed was outside, she needed to borrow it or ask of it from her neighbors
She needed the help and assistance of others to save herself and her children, she could not do it alone.
She was dependent on the community to find the means to salvation and she could not even do the asking for help alone, her children were needed to participate with her.
She and her family were to be bold in asking for help, in asking for as many vessels/jars as the neighbors could give.
So how might this apply to us?
Is it possible that what we need is not here among us, but rather is outside?
That Sunday morning Obispo said the real congregation is not here, but out there, out the doors.
Is what we need to be found in someone, a jar, a vessel who is not here because we have not invited them?
As you graduate, move on… despite your feeling of accomplishment and independence, you are still an intricate part of a wider community
Part of a family who has helped you become the vessel you are
And part of a church family
It is good to remember the ways you have been filled when you are empty, by your family and church family
And that the journey continues
there will continue to be times you need to remember to ask for help, for empty jars
there will be times you are the one asked for help and you will need to give your empty jars
times you even need to help someone ask for help, to find jars
that you are always in community part of your family, whether near or far.
you are not alone, you will continue to need others who in turn need you
And the story also implies that we need to be empty in order to be filled.
If we are so full of ourselves then perhaps there is no room for God’s Spirit to fill us.
If we, as individuals and as a faith community, seem so full or self sufficient, that we have no needs then we may be short changing the Spirit.
What is it you may need to let go of to be filled with God’s spirit?
But let us be sure to remember that despite our need to participate, to seek jars from among our friends and neighbors
and our need to be empty jars that can be filled, able to receive the Spirit
it is not really up to us alone, we are not alone
it is not how long we work, though I do think we need to take the risk of asking, it is up to God,
it is in God’s hands. Amen
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