Show Notes
In this twenty-sixth week of “Ordinary” (or “Normal”) time, Case reflects on 1 Kings 17 and the miraculous power of God even amidst dire circumstances.
Nuance’s Formed for Formation is a weekly liturgy to encourage all of us to be faithful to Christ in the public square. Join Case Thorp as he follows the Church calendar through the reading of Scripture, prayer, and short reflections on faith in all facets of public life.
For more on being faithful in the public square, make sure to subscribe for Nuance’s bi-weekly interviews with Christian leaders as they discuss everything from policy making to difficult conversations across worldviews at work to Christian art-creation.
Nuance’s podcasts are presented by The Collaborative, which provides diverse Christian media and collaboration services to equip industry/sector Christian leaders for effective contribution to the common good.
Learn more about The Collaborative:
Website: https://collaborativeorlando.com/
Get to know Case: https://collaborativeorlando.com/team/
Episode Transcript
Welcome to today’s podcast, where love takes center stage. In a world that often feels divided and uncertain, we come together to focus on the one constant that binds us all, love. Whether it’s the love we receive from God, the love we share with others, or the love that fills our hearts in moments of peace, it is this divine force that brings light into our lives.
Today we’ll explore the power of love to heal, to connect, and to transform. So as we begin this journey together, let’s open our hearts and let the love of Jesus be our guide.
A reading from 1 Kings chapter 17 verses 8 through 16:
Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah. Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food. So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked,
“Would you bring me a little water in a jar so that I may have a drink?” As she was going to get it, he called, and “bring me please a piece of bread.”
“As surely as the Lord your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil and a jug. I’m gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son that we may eat it and die.”
Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said, but first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me. And then make something for yourself and your son. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel says, the jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.” She went away and did as Elijah had told her.
So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah.
1 Kings 17:8-16 is a profound narrative illustrating the miraculous power of God in the midst of dire circumstances. The story of Elijah and the widow of Zarephath is a testament to faith and divine provision when human resources are at their end. The widow, facing the prospect of her last meal during a severe drought, is asked by Elijah to act in faith and provide for him first, despite her desperate situation. Her willingness to trust in Elijah’s words and ultimately in God’s promise sets the stage for miraculous provision. The jar of flour and the jug of oil do not run out, sustaining her and her son and Elijah throughout the drought. This miracle demonstrates that God’s power transcends the limitations of the natural world, providing abundantly where there seemed to be nothing.
The miraculous in this passage is not just about the physical sustenance provided, but also about the transformation of the widow’s faith. Initially, she speaks of her hopelessness, resigned to death, but through the miracle, she experiences firsthand the faithfulness and power of God. The endless supply of flour and oil becomes a symbol of God’s unwavering provision and care, even in the bleakest of times.
The miraculous often occurs when we step out in faith, trusting in God’s promises despite our circumstances. It shows that miracles are not just about dramatic displays of power, but about God’s intimate love of us, His involvement in the lives of those who trust Him, bringing hope and life and love where there once was despair.
Psalm 146:
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord my soul. I will praise the Lord all my life. I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. Do not put your trust in princes and human beings who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground. On that very day, their plans come to nothing. Blessed are those whose help is in the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God. He is the maker of heaven and earth, the sea and everything in them. He remains faithful forever. He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets prisoners free. The Lord gives sight to the blind. The Lord lifts up those who were bowed down. The Lord loves the righteous.
The Lord watches over the foreigner and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked. The Lord reigns forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Praise the Lord.
St. Francis of Assisi’s Peace Prayer:
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love. Where there is injury, pardon. Where there is doubt, faith. Where there is despair, hope. Where there is darkness, light. Where there is sadness, joy.
O divine master grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive. It is in pardoning that we are pardoned. And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
And finally, Hebrews 9:24-28:
For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one. He entered into heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again. The way the high priest enters the most holy place every year with blood that is not his own.
Otherwise, Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world, but He has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself. Just as people are destined to die once and after that to face judgment. So Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many, and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who were waiting for him.
