Reading 60 • November 12
Today's Scripture
1 Kings 17:8–24
Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “Go now to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and live there; for I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” So he set out and went to Zarephath. When he came to the gate of the town, a widow was there gathering sticks; he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, so that I may drink.” As she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” But she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a jug; I am now gathering a couple of sticks, so that I may go home and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.” Elijah said to her, “Do not be afraid; go and do as you have said; but first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterwards make something for yourself and your son. For thus says the Lord the God of Israel: The jar of meal will not be emptied and the jug of oil will not fail until the day that the Lord sends rain on the earth.” She went and did as Elijah said, so that she as well as he and her household ate for many days. The jar of meal was not emptied, neither did the jug of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah.
After this the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill; his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. She then said to Elijah, “What have you against me, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to cause the death of my son!” But he said to her, “Give me your son.” He took him from her bosom, carried him up into the upper chamber where he was lodging, and laid him on his own bed. He cried out to the Lord, “O Lord my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I am staying, by killing her son?” Then he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried out to the Lord, “O Lord my God, let this child’s life come into him again.” The Lord listened to the voice of Elijah; the life of the child came into him again, and he revived. Elijah took the child, brought him down from the upper chamber into the house, and gave him to his mother; then Elijah said, “See, your son is alive.” So the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.” (NRSV)
Reflection
When I was in the orchestra at Valparaiso University, we played a concert of the oratorio Elijah by Felix Mendelssohn. (Oratorios are musical stories, like operas, but without acting. If you’ve heard Messiah by Handel, you have heard an oratorio.)
Our conductor wasn’t pleased with our progress in rehearsals. Since Valparaiso is affiliated with the Lutheran church, he must have been startled that we weren’t playing as if we were familiar with a prophet's story. We weren't playing with the drama the story demands.
“After rehearsal,” said the conductor, “go back to the dorms and read 1 Kings. Know the story.”
We did. I could tell I wasn’t alone. I read 1 Kings, and I got to know Elijah’s struggles. Then the music came to life, or life came to the music. I think of that with this first part of the tale, and not just because it was the first part I read.
I think of how our conductor offered us 1 Kings to nourish us while learning the music, like the widow feeding Elijah. “Go now, and do.” Sounds a bit like a professor giving homework. It was lovely to hear our progress when we knew the story. We knew it as truth.
Prayer
God our Father, conductor of our lives, help us to know the stories behind what we should do. In the name of Jesus, our brother. Amen.
Written by Margaret Laing, Member of Fourth Presbyterian Church
Reflection and Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church
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