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, 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 afterward 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.”
In the short span of these ten verses, we come face to face with two of the most provocative characters that appear throughout Scripture: a prophet and a widow.
The role of the prophet is usually filled by someone completely occupied with speaking truth to power in Israel, reminding the rulers of how they have forgotten God’s heart for the marginalized and oppressed. But in our story, we find Elijah traveling abroad instead, declaring the authority of God to distant lands. Why is he sent there? To help a seemingly random widow who doesn't even know his God? Weren’t there plenty of widows closer to home? (See Luke 4:25 for that question).
Maybe the travel is the point. We could see Elijah as a forerunner of Jesus, sent into the wilderness to trust that his Father will meet his needs even far from home. Or maybe this story is a preview of God's plan to extend blessings beyond Israel, a theme developed in Isaiah 56 and picked up in the New Testament as the early Christians open their eyes to their Jewish rabbi's heart for the Gentiles.
But what about the widow? As a recurring character across the pages of Scripture, her role is arguably even bigger than the prophet’s. James 1:27 distills the entire purpose of Christianity down to "caring for the orphans and widows." But strikingly, this widow doesn't even have a name! All the more reason not to ignore her perspective: she is sorrowfully preparing one final meal for her family before they die of starvation, when suddenly she is confronted by a foreign man who asks her (in the name of a foreign God) to give up that meal. Yet through this strange and even offensive interaction, God blesses both of them with abundant food.
What are we to make of this? I'm reminded of Jesus' teaching about those who give food to the hungry (Matthew 25:34-45), a teaching which warns those who neglect the hungry that they are neglecting Jesus himself!
I want to dream of all these things – to dream of a world where we can go forth into the unknown and trust that God will provide, a world where God speaks to those on the margin who do not even know his name, and a world where generosity can be truly fearless. But I am afraid. As I write this, many of us fear the threat of economic recession, and food assistance is currently being withheld by the government. In light of these realities, I am tempted to limit my generosity and protect my assets. But God has made it clear (from the very first pages of the Bible in which Adam names the animals) that we are to play a part in the divine work being done in the world.
Where do you need to step out in faith with generosity toward someone in need? May you both encounter God in the process.