The theme of Emmanuel (God being with His people) runs throughout Scripture. I believe that God’s promise to be with us is the central promise of the Bible, for again and again, God says, “I will be with you.” Now, we know that theologically, but do we believe it personally? We may know it as a textbook answer, but do we cling to it as a gut conviction?Often we think that God is only ‘with’ the spiritual big dogs, the heavy hitters – the Billy Grahams and Mother Theresas. We think that God is with people who write books and speak at conferences. God is with pastors and elders and Sunday school teachers, but not really with me. But that is a wrong way of thinking, for God is with His people. God is with us.
In 2 Kings 4:1-7, we will find that God was not only with His prophetic representatives to kings and nations (guys who stopped it from raining and called down heavenly fire and parted rivers and brought people back from the dead), He was also with an impoverished widow and two boys who had lost their father. God was with the marginalized, the overlooked, the vulnerable and the helpless.
Please read: 2 Kings 4.1-7.
Walter Bruggemann has written that, “The marvel of biblical faith is that barrenness is the arena of God’s life-giving action” (Genesis, Interpretation). This woman had practically nothing. She was, in a sense, barren. She could not save herself or her sons. But barrenness is the arena of God’s life-giving action. And so into this arena God brought a miracle.
This story doesn’t attempt to explain how the miracle happens, it just reports that it does. And yet the story hints at the conditions in which the miracle took place. I’ve mentioned the condition of barrenness, but in that arena we also find the core biblical virtues of faith, hope and love. And so, I want us to look at this miracle story through these three virtues.
First, HOPE. Though this woman was in a hopeless situation, she still had hope and therefore she cried out to Elisha. Hope can be defined as a desire accompanied by confident expectation of its fulfillment. We are hearing a lot about “hope” lately, especially from one of the candidates running for president. But hope is not simply a slogan or a feeling or a vague promise. Hope is not an end in and of itself. Hope is always directed towards something else. We have hope IN something or someone. And it is who you place your trust in that matters. Real hope (the hope that this woman had) is a hope grounded in God. However, it would have been easy for her to lose hope in God. After all, she was the wife of one of the prophets from the company of prophets – a man of God – on the inside track with God. Couldn’t God have cut her a break? It would have been easy for her to exclaim, as Teresa of Avila did once, “If this is how God treats His friends, no wonder He has so few of them!” However, the unnamed widow did not give up on God. With confident expectation she cried out to God for help.
This woman also had FAITH. The author of the book of Hebrews (11.1) tells us that, “faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” And it is the surety and certainty of faith that leads to action and to obedience. For faith contains both elements of belief and action. And we find such faith in this woman.
// We find a humble faith. We see this when this story is set alongside one that follows it – the story of the healing of Naaman. On the surface, there is not many similarities between the stories. Naaman was a powerful Syrian general (who suffered from leprosy) who came to Elisha with a letter from his king and with wealth and pomp and bling. He came to Elisha with a show and expected a show from Elisha. The widow however came with nothing and simply cried out for help. However, there is a similarity in that in both stories Elisha was not present for the miracle but merely gave instructions for the miracle to take place. He told Naaman to dunk himself seven times in the Jordan R. and the woman to ask for jars from her neighbors. And notice that their reactions were vastly different. Naaman threw a fit when Elisha refused to put on a show for him. He resisted out of pride. The widow simply obeyed out of humility and trust. Naaman wanted to be healed on his terms. The widow was open to God’s terms. She had a humble faith.
// We also find in her an active faith. Elisha told her to, “Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don't ask for just a few. Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.” And the woman did as she was instructed. She didn’t grumble at Elisha’s suggestion or second guess it or even question it. She simply did what the prophet instructed her to do. In faith she acted. She took what she had – a little oil (similar to the five loaves and two fish of the disciples) and trusted the word of Elisha.
// And we find an expectant faith. Notice that Elisha tells the woman not to simply ask for a few jars from her neighbors, but to take everything she could get her hands on. God was going to pour out His blessing and she needed to collect as much of it as she could. And so she and her son went around the neighborhood borrowing jars and filled her house with them. Having filled her house with them, she began to pour the oil. And she continued to pour the oil. I don’t know if she knew what to expect, but she expected the Lord to act and she was not disappointed. She had expectant faith.
And so this woman and her sons witnessed a miracle … and experience LOVE. This grieving, scared, desperate, broken family was shown the love of God. The love of God was expressed to them through God’s mercy, His rescue, provision, abundance, redemption, salvation. God heard their cry. He saw their tears. He reached down into their hopeless, fear-filled situation and proved Himself to be “a Father to the fatherless” and “a defender of widows”. This family was shown God’s love in miraculous flow of oil. But they were also shown God’s love through their neighbors’ generosity – by God moving the hearts of their neighbors to respond to their need and share with them. God gave abundantly. He redeemed the woman’s sons from slavery and the woman herself from poverty. He gave them enough oil to pay their outstanding debts and to get themselves started again.
I pointed out last time the similarity between the ministry of Elisha and that of Jesus. Therefore, I find it fascinating that in Isaiah 61:1-3 (the passage Jesus quoted at the beginning of His ministry and went on to fulfill) we read this, “The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion-- to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.” If anyone knew the “oil of gladness” it was this woman and her sons. For God brings good news to the poor, binds up the brokenhearted, proclaims freedom for the captives and release for the prisoners; He comforts all who mourn and provides abundantly for his Beloved – a crown of beauty, the oil of gladness, a garment of praise.
A simple story but one with deep meaning and profound significance. And so, what is its significance for us? We may not be able to relate to the specifics of this woman’s circumstances, but we can relate to her experience of fear, of grief and loss, of anxiety over finances, worry about children, and a sense of helplessness in life’s circumstances. Sometimes we look around and seem to be in the arena of barrenness (in our personal lives, in our family, in our work, our culture, even in the church). We can relate to what the woman went through, but can we also relate to her response?
DO WE HAVE HOPE or do we think that our situation, our circumstance is helpless, hopeless, unchangeable? Hope caused the widow to look to the Lord. Hope does that. It turns our eyes to the Lord. Hopelessness only turns our eyes toward ourselves. In his masterful work The Screwtape Letters, CS Lewis puts these words in the mouth of the devil Screwtape as he writes to the demon Wormwood, “Our cause is never more in danger than when a human, no longer desiring, but still intending, to do [God’s] will, looks round upon a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys” (ch. 8). Do we have a hope like that? Even though a particular situation may seem hopeless; even though our lives may seem to be in shambles, do we have a hope that causes us to still obey? Are our lives so firmly rooted in God; do we cling so tenaciously to God that, in spite of our circumstances, we still have hope? Has our hope found its resting place?
DO WE HAVE FAITH TO ACT or do we shy away, pull back, let pride interfere? Do we have the courage to follow the Lord no matter what he asks us to do or give up? Do we have a humble, active and expectant faith? Do we really believe God can do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us (Eph 3:17-21)? How many jars are we willing to collect? Just a few or do we fill the house expecting God to fill them all? Do we have a little faith or a faith that can move mountains? (And really the issue is not about our amount of faith, but our understanding of God.) Is God a God who does little things or is He a God who can move mountains? The question is not: do we have enough faith to manage or manipulate God, but do we have the faith to allow God to be God and have His way with us? Do we have faith?
DO WE RECEIVE GOD’S LOVE or is it just for others? Do we lay our lives before God (like the jars filling the house) and ask Him to fill us – to pour out His love in abundance? Or do we restrain ourselves and limit God’s grace? Allow yourself to be loved by God. God’s love is not a luxury or an accessory; it is a necessity! We don’t scrimp when breathing and how much more do we need the love of God! Closely associated with this is the question: do we receive each other’s love? I know people who are great at giving gifts (they love giving gifts) but cannot receive gifts themselves. Often we are good and praying for others, but won’t ask prayer for ourselves? We’re glad to support others, but won’t let others support us. Bearing one another’s burdens means not only carrying other people’s burdens but allowing yourself to be carried. Love is two-directional. In order to love, you must also allow yourself to be loved. All of us have faced, are facing or will face hard times; we all have problems; none of us is perfect or has it all together. Therefore love one another … and be loved.
There is one more application from this passage and it is the central one because it is about God. The application is not so much me asking allegorically, “What are the creditors who are coming to steal the children in your life?” This is not an allegory. The application is that the same God who helped this woman in her dire circumstances is the same God who will help you in yours. God is real. And so, the same God who responded to the hope and love of that poor widow with love is the same God who loves us and wants to find hope and faith in us.
God is with us. Do you believe that – not simply as a textbook answer, but as a gut conviction? In Isaiah 41:10,13-14, the Lord says to Israel: "Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand … For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you. Do not be afraid … O little Israel, for I myself will help you," declares the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel."
That is the message of this passage. And that is the message of Scripture: God is with us. Our heavenly Father is powerfully present with His children. Not just the ‘big dogs’, but with you and me. We are His Beloved and no matter how barren our situation may seem, He will never leave us or forsake us. For He hears. He sees. And He acts.
