"Don't ever worry and say, 'What are we going to eat?' or "What are we going to drink?' or 'What are we going to wear?' Everyone is concerned about these things, and your heavenly Father knows you need all of them. But first, be concerned about God's gift of the Kingdom and His gift of His pardoning approval. Then all these other things will be provided for you." Matthew 6:32-33
"Hurry, scurry, and worry" that was the mantra of Harry Truman when he was president. He had a ton of decisions to make in light of post WW II, in terms of facing brutal communism, working on desegregation, and helping our domestic economy get back on its feet. Hurry, scurry, and worry" is a description of most Americans today, let alone most people in the world. The world with all its deadly doctrines pounds people into pulp. It treats humans like chattel and cattle. It always has been that way since the fall into sin.
With everything swirling around us, it is difficult to focus on our true riches. Literally, we are children of the heavenly Father through the gift of faith in Jesus. Literally, through we own the whole universe wrote St. Paul--through Jesus. Literally, we have a magnificent forever future in the new heaven and new earth--coming our way.
Moreover, in this broken world in which we live we have a gracious God who desires to help us. Our first account which goes back 2800 years, tells of a time of serious climate change. Bad behavior precipitated bad weather. For three years God withheld rain from Israel's wicked leaders. Elijah had prophesied a 3 year drought and God turned off the spout when it came to rain. The world had gotten insane. The leaders were worshipping pornographic gods, doing the twisted evil things one wishes not even to imagine.
In the midst of that drought there was widow in Northern Israel who had a son. She was in dire straits. She was down to a hand full of flower and a little oil in a jug--that's it. She needed help. Jesus sent to her Elijah.
Jesus had been feeding Elijah for a good while by air express. Jesus commanded a ravens to take turn each morning and each evening to bring Elijah fresh bread and meat. Jesus is Lord. The almighty Son of God who dwells within each of us was caring for Elijah in a NOVA fashion--even as He was caring for the birds of the air.
The point should be clear. Jesus is our Refuge and Strength, a very present help in time of trouble. He is living loving helping God. He takes on a human body to dwell body and soul within you and me. He is Savior, Lord, but One and only Person through Whom every blessing on earth comes (1 Timothy 2:5).
Later, Jesus would through Elijah help this woman in a profound way. The woman's only son died and God's only Son through Elijah would raise this boy to life. It was a warm up for Jesus raising others from the dead in His three year ministry on earth and raising Himself from the dead and raising us from the dead. Tradition: the boy was Jonah. Think of it! Our helping God, Jesus, is the One who made out of nothing everything. He created the whole cosmos. He sustains the billions of galaxies. He preserves the birds of the air and the flowers of the field. For us He became a baby. For us He died on the cross. It is Jesus' death on the cross that is the biggest help any human can know, have, and receive--sign, sealed, and delivered. In all the other religions in the world, their gods do not show up. They do not help anyone because they do not exist which is why they cannot show up. If anything, these false gods hurt people with all the burdens their phony founders made up pretending to represent the living God. God's house of help, house of hope, is the Church. The Church is in its deepest sense, the very Bride of Christ. For this Bride Jesus died. For this Bride Jesus went to hell and back. He left no one behind. For this Bride Jesus was pierced in the side--giving to His bride--the blood and water of the holy sacraments--and the miracle of Baptism. The Church as an empirical entity is an eye-popping ongoing footprint of God's love in history. Its first members were Adam and Eve. It has grown from these two to the eight of the Ark to three thousand at Pentecost to seven thousand to seven million to over two billion. It is a fellowship of wounded healers who live from the life and love of Jesus. It is this Savior who has given to them a powerful promise which will have a ripple effect for all eternity. A monumental miracle! Another miracle in history is the record of Jesus' perfectly keeping all the promises of God. These are written miracles for anyone interested in ultimate absolute truth. They have been signed by the blood of Christ, sealed in our baptism and delivered in the Lord's Supper. Here is the promise Jesus gives us today. It should be posted when we go into house and when we depart. It reads: Seek First the Gift of God's Kingdom and the gift of His righteousness and EVERYTHING else you need in life will be added unto you (Matt 6:33). A game changer!!!!
