Sermon – 2 Kings 4:42-44 They Had Some Left

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

First Presbyterian Church of Ocean City

Sermon – 2 Kings 4:42-44 They Had Some Left

July 26, 2015

The image I want you to hold in your minds this morning is a basket of summer vegetables. In the basket are summer squash and zucchini, cucumbers, peppers of many different colors, sweet corn and vine ripe red tomatoes. You have seen such a basket many times here on the eastern shore. Some of you have summer gardens where you pick your own vegetables. There are stands along the roadways that sell local vegetables including cantaloupe and watermelon. No visit to the eastern shore would be complete without a meal of fresh vegetables right out of the garden.

As you hold this image, of a basket of summer vegetables, in your mind I want you to think of where all this comes from. When you do this some of the images that come to mind include a farmer in overalls, a field of corn waving in the breeze, an afternoon shower on dry garden. The true source of our bountiful summer produce is God. God has created a world were all of this happens. God provides the sunshine and the rain and the soil and the seed and the gardeners and farmers who put it all together. The baskets of summer vegetables we enjoy come to us as a gift from our creator God.

How should we respond to these gifts? Obviously we should thank God, and that is why it is so important to say grace before every meal. Every time you eat you should bow your head in prayer thanking God for the food you have to eat. But prayers of thanksgiving are only the starting point. There is more we should do. We will get to this, but first let's pray.

May the words of my mouth, and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer.

Barley is planted in the fall and grows all winter to be harvested in a early spring. It is a hardy crop that can be grown even in poor conditions. It was a staple in ancient Israel because it could grow in poor soil with limit rainfall. The barley harvest would begin during the festival of Passover and would end fifty days later at the festival of Pentecost. Before any of the grain could be eaten they first had to thank God. They did this by bringing a portion of the first fruits to the priest during day after the Passover celebration. Here is what they did.

Leviticus 23: 9 The Lord said to Moses, 10 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am going to give you and you reap its harvest, bring to the priest a sheaf of the first grain you harvest. 11 He is to wave the sheaf before the Lord so it will be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath. 12 On the day you wave the sheaf, you must sacrifice as a burnt offering to the Lord a lamb a year old without defect,13 together with its grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah[a] of the finest flour mixed with olive oil—a food offering presented to the Lord, a pleasing aroma—and its drink offering of a quarter of a hin[b] of wine. 14 You must not eat any bread, or roasted or new grain, until the very day you bring this offering to your God. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live.

And so for thousands of years the people of God have given thanks to our creator God for the gift of the food we enjoy. And since we must eat to live we give thanks to God for nourishing us with the food he has given.

But sometimes we forget to thank God for the blessing of food. We take the bountiful food we have for granted. Some people even think God had nothing to do with food. And when we forget about God sometimes we find ourselves in a time of famine with little to eat. This is what was happening 2800 years ago in a country called Israel. The king and queen had forgotten that God provided the food for the nation. They worshiped weather gods and fertility gods and watched as a drought worsened and famine gripped the land.

But a congregation of believers remained in Israel in spite of the king and queen. They continued to thank God for the food he provided. They were pastored by young man named Elisha, which means God is our Salvation. And here is what happened.

2 Kings 4:42-44 ⁴² A man came from Baal Shalishah, bringing the man of God twenty loaves of barley bread baked from the first ripe grain, along with some heads of new grain. “Give it to the people to eat,” Elisha said.

⁴³ “How can I set this before a hundred men?” his servant asked.

But Elisha answered, “Give it to the people to eat. For this is what the Lord says: ‘They will eat and have some left over.’” ⁴⁴ Then he set it before them, and they ate and had some left over, according to the word of the Lord.

And so even in the midst of a great famine the people of God continued to thank God for the blessings they received. And their God provided them with what they needed in abundance. According to the story an unnamed man brought an offering of first fruits of the barley harvest on the day after the Passover Sabbath. Elisha knew all the rules of the wave offering and the burnt offering. But he also knew that his people were hungry. So when a thankful farmer brought his offering to Elisha the prophet decided not to burn it on the altar, but instead give it to his hungry people to eat.

Now the farmer did not bring enough grain to feed all the people of God. He just brought enough for the offering. He could plainly see that he didn't have enough to feed everyone. So he asked Elisha what he should do. And then Elisha asked God what to do. God told Elisha to give the food to the people and he, God, would turn scarcity into abundance. And that is God's promise to us too. Give thanks to God for what you have received and you will receive in abundance.

We know this to be true because when Elisha gave the small offering to a hundred hungry men they were all satisfied and there was bread left over. This wasn't magic bread. It was a symbol of God's bountiful love for us. Jesus also exemplified this abundant love of God by feeding thousands with just a few loaves of bread and some fish.

And all of this still happens today. You bring your first fruits to the church in your gifts, tithes and offerings. You help raise money with parking lots, rummage sales and breakfasts. And God uses all of this to bless international students with an abundance of food during weekly summertime breakfasts.

But I have found that this church, First Presbyterian Church, does not receive an extravagant amount of God's gifts. In fact we live in scarcity. I have already been told that I have overspent on the Christian education and office supply budget, and the year is only half over. We are struggling to pay high utility bills, the gas bill last winter was particularly offensive. So what's happening? Well, it seems to me that perhaps we are insufficiently grateful for what God does for us.

Maybe we have adopted the American myth that you are self made and your house on the water, your collector car, your productive garden, your powerful boat are all products of your hard work. Maybe you think that you earned what you have and God had little to do with it. If so then there would be no reason to be grateful to God. And if you are not thankful there is no way your church will have the resources it needs to effectively proclaim the gospel in this community.

If we lived thankful lives God would bless up with abundance. If we had resources in abundance and hired dynamic leaders for youth and children ministries, what would happen? The church would be filled with young families. Can we afford to do this? Sadly, no, because the church has scarce resources. If we had an abundance of resources we could add new contemporary worship services and other programs. But the reason we don't have these resources is because we are insufficiently thankful for what God has done for us.

The solution for all this is prayer. Every morning when you get up pray to God and thank him for the new day. Thank God for the food he provides before every meal. And thank God at the close of the day for all the blessings you have received. Do this every day and your church will have all the money resources it needs.

Another way to show your gratitude is with stewardship. Stewardship means that you use the gifts God has given you properly. And we know that God wants us to bring a portion of our first fruits to the church. This is a tithe, 10% of your income. Grace and I do this, 10% of what we make goes to the church. And since pastors don't make that much, we have had to significantly change our lifestyles. But we do this because we are so thankful for everything God has done for us. I know that God had done much for you too. And so I ask you to give as a percentage of your income at least what Grace and I give. Give 10% to the church as your tithe and add to this additional gifts as you are called to by God. This should be your offering to support your church.

A basket of summer vegetables is a symbol of all the blessings we have received from God. Every time we see it we are reminded to thank God for all the blessings we have received. Express you gratitude by saying grace before meals and by writing a check each week of a tithe of your first fruit, 10% of your income that week. A thankful church will be blessed by God with abundance. Let's pray.

Almighty God, we are so thankful for all have received from you, the sunshine and seacoast, the fresh fruit and vegetables and blue crabs. We are thankful for the church you have given us. And we pledge to support that church with our tithes. We ask that you bless our church with abundance. This we pray in the name of the one who blessed people abundantly, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.