It is a question of what sustains us
Where do we place our trust in a world filled with uncertainty? The Widow of Zarephath reminds us that true sustenance and security are found not in political leaders or earthly powers, but in our unwavering faith in God. Through a powerful call to spiritual reflection and recommitment, we are challenged to align our actions with the teachings of Christ and actively work towards a more just and compassionate world.
The Glimpses of Grace podcast is a ministry of Grace Episcopal Church in Gainesville, Georgia. We are passionate about supporting the spiritual growth of souls, and we hope these sermons and conversations meet you where you are and enrich your soul as we all continue to make meaning in the world today.
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Transcript
Put not your trust in rulers, nor in any child of earth,
for there is no help in them.
Happy are they who have the God of Jacob for their help!
whose hope is in the Lord their God.
These words from today’s assigned psalm are convicting, coming on the heels of the election. In case you’re wondering, I had planned to open my sermon with those words no matter who won, because the psalmist speaks the truth. Once and again, like every moment of our lives, we are challenged to ask ourselves “in whom do we place our trust?”
In the note I sent out to you on Wednesday, I wrote that these are not easy days–and they have been uneasy days for a while. I’m not sure there have ever been “easy days,” come to think about it, but we feel the intensity of the days we are in and we struggle to make meaning. We need something to help us make sense of things, so part of the human condition is to grasp onto something that makes us feel safe.
No doubt there are strong feelings within all of us about what we are experiencing, and the strong feelings actually come from complex factors. No doubt there is enormous spiritual work for all of us to do if we are going to heal as a community. Now, as in every moment of our lives, we are called to practice our faith.
I am really only interested in one thing at this point. I only want to spend my energy delving as deeply as I can into my soul, into our common life, into the heart of things, to see where attention is needed, where transformation and healing is needed. What is the deep spiritual work I am being called to do? What is the common work we are being called to share? What is the holy work beneath the distractions and the noise? Beneath the bravado and the shortsightedness, the greed and the grasping?
I felt strongly all week that I needed to dig deep, that my soul, my heart, needed to dig deep. Not that I ever cared for them, but I no longer have any time for catch phrases or shorthand, for superficial answers or broad generalizations. These days call for mature engagement. Authentic faith demands that we ask ourselves, “what are the motivations of my actions?” How are the actions of my life aligned with, attuned with, the living Spirit of Christ? How do my choices demonstrate where my trust ultimately lies?
Put not your trust in rulers, nor in any child of earth…
If there is a part of my life, if there is an aspect of my life, of what and how I make choices, that I have compartmentalized off, separated off, from the all-infusing Spirit of Christ, that part of my life has become an idol for me. If there is a part of me and my actions that I believe are separate from the Spirit’s presence, that is the definition of an idol, because I have placed that–whatever or whoever it is– above the call of Christ on my life.
I have been a priest during the time of five presidential administrations, and throughout my seventeen years in parish ministry, I have been criticized for saying things no matter who has been in the oval office. I struggle with being human just as much as anyone else, and it is always helpful to remember that the Gospel does not play favorites with any political party or platform, with such human constructions. The message of Jesus Christ challenges and convicts all of us.
I am a mixed-ticket voter myself, just to be completely transparent with you, and while I try never to be partisan in my sermons, the Gospel is always political. Please hear me say this, because it is a crucial distinction to make right now: The Gospel is not partisan, but it is political, because it challenges us to pay attention to how we live together as human beings in this world. The way we practice our faith should transform the way we live in the world, and the Gospel claims allegiance over every part of our lives.
Jesus was crucified because the incarnated Love of God challenged the corrupt fusion of political power and religious establishment, and God took death onto God’s self to break the chokehold of oppression that takes root when such systems threaten and abuse God’s people and all of creation. That deep truth is the heart of the Gospel’s message, and it is absolutely ‘political’ in that sense.
“Salvation,” we remember, means wholeness and freedom, and when we say “Jesus died on the cross for my sins,” what we are saying is that God took death onto God’s self to break the hold on my life that misses the mark, the “sin” of my life that is
participation in such brokenness and a failure to live into God’s dream.
The message of Jesus Christ is never just about our personal salvation, what each of us must do, as it were, to get to heaven. That is a shallow interpretation of what the Gospel teaches. I always tell people that we seem to be so focused on escaping the world that God strove so hard to create and incarnate into. If the Gospel is only about our individual salvation, then the well-being of others doesn’t matter a bit.
Honestly, that is a sticking point with some of the conversation right now about just what “being Christian” means. It is striking how such a narrow focus on personal salvation fits hand in glove with so much of individualistic American and Western values. The Gospel, my friends, is about nurturing a transformed heart, so that we can live more fully in the world together. As much as the point is “to be saved,” we would do well to remember that we are “saved” together–as the entire creation that is loved and held in God’s embrace.
So, we look deeply at our lives in times like this. I am convicted today by the story of the Widow of Zarephath. In this story, we see an encounter between this struggling widow and the prophet Elijah. It helps to remember that in the chapters preceding today’s reading, we have a description of a series of corrupt political leaders who wreak havoc on the nation and land because of their arrogance and pride. We recognize the names of some kings, like Jeroboam, and we see division and strife among the people, with the entire country being divided. When King Ahab comes on the scene, he becomes such an epitome of corruption that he marries the renowned Jezebel and blatantly worships false gods, setting up the challenge with the prophet Elijah.
With today’s text, the entire land has gone into drought, suffering from the effects of the series of corrupt leaders. At this point, Elijah encounters the widow at Zarephath and we learn a lesson about what truly sustains us. What gives us nourishment? Elijah invites her to make a cake and to trust that God will provide for her and her son. Trust in God is key, as the text says, to see that “the jar of meal was not emptied, neither did the jug of oil fail.” The encounter with the widow of Zarephath teaches us that it is only God’s presence that truly sustains us. Put not your trust in rulers…
Immediately after this encounter, the widow’s son falls ill and dies, and Elijah takes him to the upper room where he is staying (sound familiar?) and stretches out over him three times, and he is brought back to life, back to wholeness, by God’s healing presence.
Only trust in God brings healing, and the prophet embarks on his mission to call the people away from their self-obsession and pride and back to God’s vision of wholeness. When we meditate on the widow’s story, perhaps we hear Jesus whispering over the horizon, “This is my body. This is my blood. Take and eat.”
Happy are they who have the God of Jacob for their help!
whose hope is in the Lord their God.
The question of what sustains us is absolutely essential. I actually spent time again this week reflecting on the land on which this building sits. You may not know that there is actually an underground creek that runs under this very building we are in now. You can see the depression in the land, if you look back one way toward the old Methodist Church and the other way toward the medical center. You can discern by looking closely at the land (which is itself another sermon).
I think about this deep, underground water that flows beneath us all the time. Sometimes when it rains a lot, the water will actually rise up into a hole in the basement. In other days, there would have been a well there like in the ancient churches of old, and it brings my soul comfort to know that this deep source of water flows beneath us. I sit here many times and envision the water flowing. It invites me to reflect even more deeply on how the presence of God flows deeply beneath and within us, rising up and even bubbling out into our lives in times of spiritual drought. Think about that when your soul feels dry.
When it comes to a deep underground flow of the Spirit that nurtures our lives, there is a core practice that we share in our Baptismal service that reminds us of this dynamic of what sustains us. In that liturgy of sacramental water that brings new life, we stand together and ground ourselves in a mature practice of faith. Our mission and vision statements flow directly from that Baptismal Covenant as well. Maybe it is easy to stand and say those words when life feels certain or stable. The truth is that we have gathered at many difficult times in this place to reaffirm our faith, and today is another of those difficult moments.
So, I would invite you to stand with me and reaffirm our baptismal vows on page 292 in the Book of Common Prayer. Following this reaffirmation, we will continue with the Prayers of the People.
Do you reaffirm your renunciation of evil and renew your commitment to Jesus Christ?
I do.
Do you believe in God the Father?
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
Do you believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God?
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
Do you believe in God the Holy Spirit?
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
Will you continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers?
I will, with God’s help.
Will you persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord?
I will, with God’s help.
Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ?
I will, with God’s help.
Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?
I will, with God’s help.
Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?
I will, with God’s help.
May Almighty God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has given us a new birth by water and the Holy Spirit, and bestowed upon us the forgiveness of sins, keep us in eternal life by his grace, in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.