June 6, 2010

Once in a while we have the experience of dining with a dignitary or powerful person. I remember that I had a college professor who was a progressive professor of Islamic studies. He and his wife, who taught Farsi and other Arabic languages, were invited to the White House for a state dinner - I believe it was during the Reagan years. Their politics could not have been more at odds. It was fair to say that he loathed the seated president. When they returned from the dinner I was interested to hear how the experience was. They were mesmerized. He had a copy of the menu that he showed me; he described the evening with awe and amazement. He ate in the presence of royalty and he was visibly star-struck at his dinner at the White House. It didn't matter that there were over a hundred diners present. The reception line, the shaking of the president's hand, eating in the White House, sitting with other dignitaries, eating the artfully prepared meal - everything about it was an experience of awe.

I have not eaten with kings or queens. I have shared with you that William Sloane Coffin slept in my house and drank tea at my kitchen table in Massachusetts the weekend that he was the guest speaker at our church's 275^th anniversary. I did not feed him because he was on a hunger fast at the time with his wife. But I served him tea at my kitchen table, made up his bed and watched him bounce my young four year old son on his lap. It is fair to say that I was in awe in his presence - a moral and spiritual giant in my book. I have a picture of the two of us in my office that I cherish. Great people in any field inspire us and move us. The have been singled out by the public as people who have achieved a certain level of status for the lives they have led and it is hard to treat them like normal people. And yet, they are normal people. They live, love, eat, and put their pants on one leg at a time, just like the rest of us. What a privilege it is then when we have the opportunity to look them in the eye, to watch them speak and interact with others, to hear their words, to watch them eat a meal. Everything is imbued with great meaning as we look to find connections with our lives and the lives of the great ones.

Today we hear the story of one of the great prophets in our Bible - Elijah. Elijah burst onto the public scene in the year 864 before the time of Christ. Just to give you some perspective about what was happening in history during that time: King David reigned about 1000 B.C. and the Kingdom of Israel was united during his reign. His son Solomon came to the throne after that in 971. After a 40 year reign, Solomon dies and there is a great stretch of instability in ancient Israel with a revolving door of kings. The country is divided into the north and south (Israel and Judea) and 42 different kings reign in both kingdoms over the next 350 years until the first wave of the Babylonian Exile. It is fair to say that it was a tumultuous time in which Elijah lived.

Elijah's stories can be found in the book of First Kings. The book is about kings and prophets, and a few significant foreigners and the plot is about how Israel achieves and fails to live as God's people under the reign of this parade of kings. It is a highly selective account of the history of this time - there are some stories that are related with great detail and other events and stretches of time that are glossed over quickly. The message conveyed through scripture is that despite all appearances, God is in control of history, not us, not kings, not natural disasters.

Elijah's reputation looms large in this book of First Kings - he comes onto the scene during the reign of King Ahab - an evil king, according to scripture, because he has wed a Phoenician wife, Queen Jezebel, who has openly constructed shrines to her Phoenician gods, the fertility goddess Astarte and has 850 prophets of Baal and Astarte in her household. She is boldly asserting that she is not a believer in the God of Israel. Further, she cares not a whit for the poor.

Within this larger backdrop of history and power, we zoom in today on the very modest story of Elijah and the unnamed widow of Zarepheth. Elijah has received a message to go to this widow and be fed and live with her. God has sent Elijah to a very hopeless and poor woman who barely has enough food to feed herself and her son. "I am gathering a couple of sticks," she says, "so that I may go home and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die." What an interesting God we have who uses the poorest members of our society to teach us great truths.

In this encounter with the widow of Zarepheth we see and hear about a God who cares deeply for every aspect of life - the food we eat, the despair we feel, the need we have for hope and sustenance on every level of our lives. Elijah gets thrust into her life and the message is: God not only cares for kings and prophets but each and every person and their needs. Not only that, but God uses every person in our life to teach us things about hospitality and care, faith and nurture. Here is a woman who is gathering sticks and worrying about how to feed her fatherless son and the powerful miracle-worker Elijah shows up and asks to be fed and housed by her! How crazy is that? How great is our God. Elijah, who will be hunted and threatened by the queen; Elijah, who will run and hide in a cave, cowering because he is afraid for his life - finds sustenance from a woman who barely has water to boil of meal to make a cake. And yet.

The world of First Kings - the world of the 21^st century - wants us to believe that history is shaped by those in power with food to spare and servants in the castle. But our Bible says something entirely different. Over and over again the prophets of the Hebrew Bible, continued in the ministry of Jesus and his successors, say that it is the faith and experience of the least of these that shapes and influences great people of faith. Elijah came to stay at this widow's house on many an occasion. The food was pitiful. Her power was non-existent. But her need for, and reliance on God was genuine and palpable. And this is where the powerful and mystical Elijah was sent.

Who comes to you for food and hospitality? Where does God send you to reside? What do you learn from the people in your life about the world and about God's hope for the world?

Food is a fascinating image in scripture. Story after story of feeding and offering first fruits, hunger and famine; story after story of banquets and meals where there is too much to each or too little to eat; too many guests or too few guests. Perhaps God is sending someone to your household for you to learn from; perhaps God is sending you to someone's table to nurture you. Thanks be to God for the courage and power of the prophet Elijah who was willing to go where God sent him and to challenge the powers of the world to listen to the power of God. Amen.