301. Tuesday after Seventh Sunday after Trinity.
Let the beauty of the Lord
our God be upon us. Amen.
1 Kings 17, 12-16. And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but a handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die. And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go, and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son. For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth. And she went, and did according to the saying of Elijah; and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Elijah.
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This widow believed the words of the Lord spoken to her by Elijah; therefore she did according to the saying of Elijah, and experienced the fulfillment of his promise. She took the last meal and oil that she had, and made thereof a cake for Elijah, in order that she might thereafter prepare food for herself and son out of the barrel and cruse, in which nothing remained. She may possibly as yet have been without a living knowledge of sin, and it may not have been awakened in her until the death of her son; or it may be that her heavy trials were means by which the Lord gave her a more hearty penitence and a deeper knowledge of self; — be this as it may, we see at least that even here, on this occasion of her first meeting with the prophet, she bows to the word of God with humble faith in his power and providence, and gives a beautiful proof of her faith by her charity and hospitality. Let us, dear Christians, learn a lesson of this widow. We have not only one, but many promises in which the Lord says that he will provide for us all things needful. “Take no thought; your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. He who doth feed the fowls, and clothe the lilies, shall he not feed and clothe you?” “He that delivered up his own Son for us all, shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” Thus God himself speaks to us through his Son and his apostles; and we know that he is greater than Elijah. If you have but little, do not doubt that it shall be enough; do not hesitate to take of it, and divide with others who are in need of it; and it shall surely suffice and last till the rain come again with plenty. Our times, with the prevalent system of doing business and living on borrowed money, certainly have peculiar difficulties; but faith in the holy, living God is able to overcome them. Beware of contracting debts; and do not consume what the Lord has not given you. But beware still more of penuriousness; you do not need much for yourself, but you need much to invest at interest with the Lord.
Even as this widow was forced to marvel and smile every day when she drew on her unfailing supply of meal and oil, so shall it be in your case also. You shall see the wonders of the Lord in this, that the supply of meal in your barrel, water in your well, milk in your jar, and money in your purse, does not fail. Or have you not had occasion to wonder at the way in which the Lord provides for you? Do not angel hands set a table before you every day? You have gone to your table many thousand times, and had many of the brethren as your guests, and yet there is food remaining; and I am ready to risk something on the prophecy that, no matter how long you live, your loaf will outlast your life. — It may be that the widow in our text gradually came to regard the Lord’s miracle as a simple matter of course; until she was recalled to herself by the death of her son and by the miracle of bringing him back to life. Salt and fire also are among the necessities of our existence.
Lord, again we pray thee, teach us to accept our bread from thy hand, to serve it out to others, and to partake of it ourselves with joy and thanksgiving. Amen.*
Wait on the Lord, my heart, in meekness
And cheerful hope; be thou content
To get whate’er thy Father’s kindness
And all-discerning love hath sent;
Doubt not that all thy wants are known
To him who chose thee for his own.
[TLH 518, LSB 750, ELH 205; listen here]
* Here the head of the family says a short morning or evening prayer in his own words, and closes with the Lord’s Prayer and the Benediction. This is to be done every day. If the stanzas are not sung, they may be read in their proper place before the impromptu petition and the Lord’s Prayer.