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Daily Bread
The Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity – 9/8/2024
1 Kings 17:8-16
Rev. Christopher W. Brademeyer
That portion of God’s holy Word for consideration this morning is our Old Testament lesson from the First Book of Kings in the seventeenth chapter with special emphasis on verses eleven through fifteen which read as follows:
“And as she was going to bring it, [Elijah] called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” And she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die.” And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son. For thus says the Lord the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.’” And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days.”[1]
Thus far the Scriptures.
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
It is common enough for us to doubt that God will give our daily bread. It is so common, in fact, that we have normalized and accepted the worry and pain that come from this particular sentiment. Now I am not trying to make an argument today that if we only had enough faith that this world would cease to be unpleasant in any way and that we would be only content if our eyes were fixed fully on Jesus. We are still sinners, even as faithful Christians and we are still in this world of sin. This means, simply, that there will be things that cause us distress, suffering, worry, anguish, and the like. We are not God, and we do not control all things. Some things will happen outside of our control. But the lesson here in this text is simple. In spite of this reality, that there are things of sin in this world outside of our control that cause us harm, suffering, and worry, God provides and will continue to do so.
This does not mean that we have any entitlement to luxuries or anything at all for that matter. Indeed, we must remember that all the good things we have in life are gifts to us from our gracious Father and Creator. And while we may talk of rights before the government or our fellow Americans and North Dakotans, we have no claim of rights before God. God’s rule is absolute, but we must remember that God is also love and seeks our good and our benefit. This is proven, of course, in the death of Christ the Lord, the eternal Son of the Father, Who is Himself God of God. God gave up His Son for you. Clearly, He has a great deal of compassion and care for you and us all.
But God does promise us our daily bread. That is to say, God will give us what we need each day. Our Catechism reminds us of this in the explanation to the fourth petition of the Lord’s Prayer, “Give us this day our daily bread.”[2] There we are reminded that daily bread is all those things we need each day like food, water, shelter, good and peaceful government, friends, neighbors, gainful employment, and the like. But here again is a word of caution: what God promises to provide is meager by the measure of American affluence. We have many things that we consider to be necessities that, in the strict sense of the word, are not. As nice as it is to have climate-controlled houses, cars, cell phones, internet, movie streaming, social media, or a night cap from time to time, we do not need these on the basic level of survival. And if it be God’s will that these luxuries be taken from us, we should not doubt God’s love or care for us. Mammon, that idol of wealth and money, seduces us to follow it with great subtly.[3] And, as our earthly wealth increases, so does our expectation of what we need and are owed. And with this comes worry about potential loss or some tragedy concerning our material comfort in the near future. And this characterizes worry: worry is a type of fearfulness about what might happen to us, usually connected to a fear of loss. And the things we worry about may range from important to unimportant, but worry about them we do, nonetheless.
Compare that to the attitude of the widow of Zarephath here in our reading today: she was absolutely destitute. She has resigned herself to death and was going to take the last bit of her flour and oil to make a final, plain cake of flatbread to eat before starvation would inevitably set in. There was in the area a great famine, one that had been prophesied by Elijah, the prophet.[4] Zarephath was outside of the land of Israel and Judah. Elijah was sent here by God for a good reason: Ahab, king of Israel, was not a fan of the prophet and sought to kill him. So he was given refuge in this gentile city by a gentile woman. And, strangely enough, she decides to believe the word of the prophet, that is, the Word of God, and makes him a small cake. God did what He promised, and the flour and oil did not run out until the famine was over. Now this was no filet mignon or lobster and caviar. It was the most basic of sustenance, but it was sufficient to keep them alive.
And God, as the Catechism notes, God grants daily bread to everyone even without our prayers, but it is good for us to remember that God provides. In addition, it is good for us to remember what we really need to live and what in our lives are great luxuries. The things we take for granted today like cars, media streaming, video chat to anywhere on the globe, any food we want at any time of the year, the size of our homes, and everything else like this are luxuries unheard of in nearly all of human history. This means that God has blessed us far beyond our daily bread.
So we ought not worry. God will provide. So what if your luxuries are taken away? Will it be a nuisance? Yes, of course. Will it be emotionally unpleasant? Yes, of course. But God will not forsake us, forget us, or abandon us. So, then, when we worry, we should remember this basic truth: God has granted us everything we need in this life, even to a luxurious excess. But, more still, God has given us everything we need for eternal, everlasting life in the salvation granted to us in Christ Jesus the Lord. And even if the things of this life are all completely taken away, our greatest worries come true, and we literally starve to death or some such thing, we know that through death and suffering lie the everlasting Kingdom of Christ. That is to say, even if all is at loss, we still have the eternal Lord Who has ensured our salvation by His blood and righteousness. And this was made yours in your Baptism. So, come what may, you belong to Christ and God’s promise to care and provide will be met, if not in this life, in the life to come.
Fret not, God makes good on all His promises.
In the holy Name of + Jesus. Amen.
The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
[1] 1 Kings 17:11-15 English Standard Version
[2] Small Catechism part III petition 4
[3] Matthew 6:24
[4] 1 Kings 17:1
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