A familiar tale, with a twist

Scripture 2 Kings 4:42-44   NRSV

4:42 A man came from Baal-shalishah, bringing food from the first fruits to the man of God: twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain in his sack. Elisha said, "Give it to the people and let them eat."

4:43 But his servant said, "How can I set this before a hundred people?" So he repeated, "Give it to the people and let them eat, for thus says the LORD, 'They shall eat and have some left.'"

44 He set it before them, they ate, and had some left, according to the word of the LORD

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When we hear this story we are tempted to fast forward to the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000.  It might even be tempting to nod our heads sagely and say, “See, Jesus was way more powerful than the old prophets.  Elisha only fed 100 people, but Jesus fed 5,000!”   Let’s not go there.  Instead, let’s look at the context in which we find this story.  Let’s look at Elisha.

Elisha was one of the great prophets, the one who received God’s blessing from Elijah.  It was a time of great suffering, a time of famine and war.  Chapter 4 in 2 Kings begins with the story of a poor widow whose creditors were about to sell her children as slaves.  All she had in the house was one jar of oil  Elisha had her borrow all the jugs and jars she could from her neighbors and when she had brought him all she could find, he filled them all to overflowing from that one jar of oil she had and sent her out to sell the oil in the marketplace so she could support her children with the money that was left after her debts were paid.    Then, a childless woman married to a an old man was given a son by God’s grace, as a reward for her faithfulness in caring for Elisha as he went through her town.  That son suddenly died some years later, but Elisha returned him to life because the woman believed that God gave him the power to do so.  After that,  he shares a pot of stew with a group of people but one had accidentally put some poisonous plants in it and Elisha, using God’s power, purified the stew with a handful of flour, and everyone ate with no ill effect.  And then - a man comes with his tithe, the best of his harvest, and Elisha, rather than keep it for himself, tells his servant to divide it among the poor who were there.  

In a time of great need, this little bit, this minuscule amount of food being offered as a tithe was multiplied by God to feed 100 people.   “How can this little bit make a difference?”  Well, cause God said it could.  God said “They shall eat and have some left.”   And when God speaks, the entire universe listens.  Some loaves and grain stretches to feed 100.  Some loaves and fishes stretch to feed 5,000.  It’s not a matter of which prophet is stronger. It’s simply a matter of God taking what there is available and making it work.

God works way beyond our expectations.   My friend Linda is a nurse. Some years back she went on a mission trip to another country to help in a medical clinic.   Everything that clinic had was a gift, a donation from somewhere in the world.  Linda could see that the need of the people far exceeded what was available for them.  They were running out of prenatal vitamins and she asked the woman in charge of the mission whether she shouldn’t just give the women half, so more could be served.  She was told no.  She was told to rely on God, and give the women all the vitamins they needed until they ran out.   Much to her surprise, there were enough vitamins for all the women who came to the clinic that day, and a bit left over. 

We probably all have a story of some time in our lives when we were short on the rent, or had an emergency car repair, or something, and no idea how to cover it.  Most of us did not go out and rob someone to get the money.  We probably prayed and did whatever we could to come up with what we needed when suddenly, a refund check for something we forgot about showed up in the mail, or we received an unexpected bonus at work, or a cash gift for our birthday, or someone gave us a winning scratch off ticket.  Something almost miraculous and totally unexpected anyway.  We just did the next indicated thing.  We just did the best we could with what we had, and God took care of the rest.  Now I can’t count on God coming through to pay my bills, or fill my pantry, or change my insurance company’s mind.  And, just in case you were wondering, spending my money on lottery tickets instead of my bills is not the best way to solve my financial problems.  But if I just keep on doing what I am supposed to do, living the way God wants me to live, I can be assured that whatever happens, God is with me.  And things will work out, somehow.  Even if I am not especially crazy about the way they work out.

If Elisha’s servant and my friend Linda had had their way, the food and the vitamins that got distributed would have been insufficient. If they had been allowed to let their fear of not having enough be in charge of the distribution, there would not have been enough.  But the people directing them - Elisha and the head of the clinic knew that God is great, and God’s blessings are abundant.   They knew that the Lord said, “They will eat, and have some left.”  And indeed, they did.  Everyone was served and there was some food left. There were some vitamins left over.

It’s easy to let our fear run ahead of our faith.   It’s easy to decide we don’t have enough, and to start holding what we do have close so we don’t run out.  It’s easy to forget about God’s abundant blessings.  And then we hear stories like these, and we remember. 

In today’s Scripture, the generous gift of one person in a time of great need, plus the faith of another person, provided abundance for those present that day.   The same thing happened at that missionary clinic.  There was enough, because the Lord made it happen.  There was enough, because those who had faith held up those who were fearful.  

If we bring our best before God, recognize the needs of the people, and keep our attention on the movement of God in our midst, amazing things could happen.  Amazing things will happen.   For Great is the Lord, worthy of all glory and praise.