During Lent, the children and young people of All Saints Parish are learning how they can respond to the problem of hunger, in their community and beyond. They will be reflecting on this story during class on March 11 (Lent 3):
A poor family shares its food
From 1 Kings, Chapter 17
A long, long time ago, there was a prophet named Elijah. Like all prophets, Elijah and God were very good friends. They cared deeply for one another and they talked to each other all the time.
Elijah's job was to tell people what God wanted them to know and what God wanted them to do. (This is what prophets do.) Sometimes the people listened and obeyed, and sometimes they didn't.
The place where Elijah lived was run by a king named Ahab. Even though Ahab knew he was supposed to worship God, he didn't. Instead he worshipped many gods. His favorite one was Baal, the god of rain. Ahab had a statue of Baal and he thought that if he said nice things to Baal and brought Baal lovely presents, then Baal would make it rain and the crops in Ahab's kingdom would grow and everyone would have enough to eat. Ahab didn't realize that Baal really didn't exist. Baal was just a statue, and statues can't do anything except just be there and look good and be a place for birds to rest. Ahab didn't realize that it was God who provided the rain - and the seeds and the sun and the soil and everything else that people need to stay alive and healthy.
So one day God decided to help Ahab learn that important lesson. God said to Elijah, "I want you to go tell Ahab that I am planning to make it stop raining in his kingdom for a very long time. He's not going to like hearing that news, so once you deliver it, get away and hide in the place I send you to."
Elijah did what God wanted. He told Ahab about the drought, and then he went and hid in a place where Ahab wouldn't be able to find him and where there was a stream of fresh water. Every day in that safe place, God had some ravens bring bread and meat to Elijah. With God's help, Elijah was well-fed, while everywhere around him, people were starting to get hungry because they had very little food to eat.
Finally, the stream dried up. "What should I do now?" Elijah asked God. God said, "Leave Ahab's kingdom. Travel to Zarephath. There you will find a family who will feed you."
Again, Elijah did what God told him. He knew that he could trust God to take care of him. It took a long time to get to Zarephath, but finally Elijah arrived at the entrance to the town. There he saw a woman who was gathering sticks. Elijah called out to her, "Would you please bring me some water? I am so thirsty! And while you're at it, can you give me something to eat? I've traveled a long way and I'm starving!"
The woman looked at him. "You're not the only one who is hungry. My husband died some time ago. I have no money and almost no food. All I've got at home is a little flour and a bit of cooking oil. I am gathering enough wood to build one last fire so that I can bake one last little cake for my son and I. And then we will begin to starve to death."
Elijah told her, "I know things look bad, but don't be afraid. Go home. Make your cake and give me part of it. Share the rest with your son. The God of Israel will see to it that you do not go hungry."
Something about the way Elijah spoke gave the woman some hope. So she brought Elijah home with her and made the cake and gave him some of it to eat.
When they had finished eating, the woman washed the dishes and set them up on the shelf next to the place where she had stored her flour and oil. And guess what? The container of flour was full - and so was the jar of oil! She turned to Elijah. He said to her, "Didn't I tell you? God will not let you and your son go hungry. Thank you for sharing what you had with me. You were generous, and now you are beginning to learn how generous God is, too."
"Now I know that you are a man of God," she told the prophet, "and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth."
As for Ahab, eventually God sent Elijah back to Ahab's kingdom, and there they taught Ahab one more important lesson about the power of God. But that's a story for another time.*
*Read 1 Kings, chapter 18, if you really want to know!
Questions to ponder:
I wonder what you and God talk about together.
I wonder if someone has ever told you something that you didn't want to hear, or told you to do something that you didn't want to do. What did you do? How did you feel?
Besides seed, sun, and soil, I wonder what other things God gives us to keep us alive and healthy.
I wonder how the woman felt when she saw that her flour and oil supply was full.
I wonder what you can share with someone who has less than you do.