Letting Go - May 3, 2015 sermon

By Pastor Greg

The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island.  He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him, and every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming.  Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect him from the elements, and to store his few possessions.  Then one day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, the smoke rolling up to the sky.  The worst had happened; everything was lost.  He was stunned with grief and anger.  "God, how could you do this to me?!" he cried.  Early the next day, however, he was awakened by the sound of a ship that was approaching the island.  It had come to rescue him.  "How did you know I was here?" the man asked.  "We saw your smoke signal," they replied.

Sometimes in order to be rescued from a difficult situation, we need to let go of things.  Sometimes in the bleakest situation, we need to demonstrate faith in God rather than reliance upon ourselves.  Take, for instance, the story of a poor widow who was at the end of her rope.  A terrible drought had parched the land and she had only enough food for one last meal.  We read her story in 1 Kings 17.

Before we look at her story, though, let me give you a little background to help you better understand the situation.  The King of Israel at this time was Ahab, and he was not a very godly king at all.  The Bible says, “But Ahab son of Omri did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, even more than any of the kings before him. ³¹ And as though it were not enough to follow the example of Jeroboam, he married Jezebel, the daughter of King Ethbaal of the Sidonians, and he began to bow down in worship of Baal. ³² First Ahab built a temple and an altar for Baal in Samaria. ³³ Then he set up an Asherah pole. He did more to provoke the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, than any of the other kings of Israel before him” (1 Kings 16:30-33).

Baal was a fertility god who was worshiped through sex and sacrifice.  And if the illicit sex were not enough to arouse God’s anger, then for sure it would be the sacrifice.  You see, it was not bulls or lambs that were slain.  It was children.  Parents would often sacrifice a child to this god.  As judgment against Israel, God sends the prophet Elijah.  He speaks a curse against King Ahab and announces that there will not be any rain for a long, long time (Actually, it didn’t rain on the land for three and a half years). 

At some point during this drought, when it had become so severe that food and water were hard to find, Elijah travels to Sidon – Jezebel’s home – and stays with a poor widow.  “So he went to Zarephath. As he arrived at the gates of the village, he saw a widow gathering sticks, and he asked her, “Would you please bring me a little water in a cup?” ¹¹ As she was going to get it, he called to her, “Bring me a bite of bread, too.” ¹² But she said, “I swear by the Lord your God that I don’t have a single piece of bread in the house. And I have only a handful of flour left in the jar and a little cooking oil in the bottom of the jug. I was just gathering a few sticks to cook this last meal, and then my son and I will die.” ¹³ But Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid! Go ahead and do just what you’ve said, but make a little bread for me first. Then use what’s left to prepare a meal for yourself and your son. ¹⁴ For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: There will always be flour and olive oil left in your containers until the time when the Lord sends rain and the crops grow again!” ¹⁵ So she did as Elijah said, and she and Elijah and her family continued to eat for many days. ¹⁶ There was always enough flour and olive oil left in the containers, just as the Lord had promised through Elijah” (1 Kings 17:10-16).

Picture this poor widow.  She has enough flour and oil to bake one last meal.  Being a widow, she had no one to support her.  There was no government food stamp program.  No charity.  No food pantry.  She was on her own.  Then some stranger comes into town and asks for a drink and some of her food.  That’s right.  Elijah said, “Feed me first, then you can eat.”  What would you do at this point?  Would you provide a portion of your last meal to a stranger?

The point of this story is faith, not in God supplying our every need.  I’m not trying to preach some prosperity gospel here.  This isn’t some lesson on giving God all you have so He will give you an abundance in return.  To give so I get in return is bartering.  There is no faith in bartering.  The supply of flour and oil is not the thrust of this story.  Faith is the point we should learn.

Jesus actually helps us understand this story when He tells the people of Nazareth, “You will undoubtedly quote me this proverb: ‘Physician, heal yourself’—meaning, ‘Do miracles here in your hometown like those you did in Capernaum.’ 24 But I tell you the truth, no prophet is accepted in his own hometown. 25 “Certainly there were many needy widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the heavens were closed for three and a half years, and a severe famine devastated the land. 26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them. He was sent instead to a foreigner—a widow of Zarephath in the land of Sidon” (Luke 4:23-26).

The people of Nazareth became outraged because they were expecting Jesus do something for them (Do miracles – verse 23).  They were looking to receive something, not prepared to give something.  They thought of themselves, not of others.  Based on the way Jesus speaks of this widow, we can assume there were people in Israel during the drought who thought only of themselves as well.

Why did God help this woman and not the others?  Why help someone from Sidon and not the people of Israel?  It all comes down to an attitude of faith.

Isn’t it interesting that the King of Israel was shamed by the faith of a poor widow from Sidon?  King Ahab still held on to Baal, as if this fertility god could solve all his problems.  However, this woman must have let go of that false hope because she was able to find faith in God.  Even while prepared to die, she found the strength to help just one more person.  In her poverty, she did not refuse offering the little she had to help someone else.

I know sometimes we feel like we are living in a drought.  At times, it seems we are at the end of our rope.  We have nothing left.  We are spent emotionally, physically, financially, and spiritually.  We have nothing left to give, or so it seems.  What do we do at this point in our life?  It all depends on where we have placed our faith.  It all depends on what we are holding in our hands.

The kind of faith that will move a mountain is not based on circumstances and situations but is a faith that holds on to God.  You cannot hold on to God during trying times if you are still holding on to the things of this world.  At some point, you will need to let go.  Please do not miss this important lesson of faith.  God sent Elijah to this woman at the lowest point in her life.  She was ready to give up.  She was cooking one last meal and then going to die.  Yet when asked, she gave one more time.

Those who hold tightly to the things of this world have no idea what it is like to have the Lord sustain them.  They have never experienced Jehovah Jireh (The Lord Provides) because they are turning to the wrong places and the wrong things in order to make it through a crisis.  However, for those who reach the end of their strength and let go, they will find birthed within them a supernatural strength.

What do we do when we reach the end?  What do we do when we have no strength to continue?  We give one more time.  We give, not trusting in our own strength but with the strength God provides.  We give faithfully.  We give believing that God will sustain us through the trial.  We give depending on God, not in our own wisdom and understanding.  We hold fast to the promises of God.