June 24, 2001 1 Kings 17:17-24
17 Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing. 18 She said to Elijah, “What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?”
19 “Give me your son,” Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed. 20 Then he cried out to the LORD, “O LORD my God, have you brought tragedy also upon this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?” 21 Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried to the LORD, “O LORD my God, let this boy’s life return to him!”
22 The LORD heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived. 23 Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said, “Look, your son is alive!”
24 Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the LORD from your mouth is the truth.”
When we were young, about twice a year we would make a two hour journey up to New London to visit our grandparents. For a five year old kid, two hours can be an eternity. Therefore, it was inevitable that we would ask the question - “are we there yet? How much further is it?” No matter how far we were, it never seemed like we would get there.
Paul once prayed for the Ephesians: I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. When you measure a box - you usually use three measurements - the height, the width, and the depth. But here - Paul prayed that the saints would know how wide, long, high AND DEEP is the love of Christ. What’s his point? There are some things that are beyond measurement - God’s love is one of those things that goes beyond the regular abilities of measurement. When you think you’ve determined the length of his love, you realize that it’s longer than you thought.
There are Great Lengths to God’s Love
First of all, let’s review the story from God’s Word for this morning. Ahab was the king of Israel at this time. 1 Kings 16 declares Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the LORD than any of those before him. 31 He married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him. 32 He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria. 33 Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than did all the kings of Israel before him. Ahab didn’t only test the boundaries of God’s love - he found out where they were - and he went the extra mile to make sure to provoke the Lord.
As a result, God decided to send a famine on the land of Israel. Of course, when Elijah announced this judgment - this made him one of Ahab’s Most Wanted fugitives. That’s how Elijah ended up at this widow’s house. God had directed him way up north to the city of Zarephath - a heathen city full of Gentiles - to live with a widow who believed in the LORD (1 Kings 17:12). We don’t know the condition of the rest of the people, but chances are that this widow had no one to provide for her - and she had to fend for herself. (cf. Naomi with Ruth) She likely couldn’t have been over 45 - since her child was still young enough to be carried up a flight of stairs and cradled in her arms. With this young child at home - and no more harvests to glean from - there was nothing left for her to do. She was about to starve. However, God provided not only for Elijah, but also for the widow and her son - who were on the brink of death - by miraculously having her flour and oil jars stay full throughout months of use.
At this point of the story we can already marvel at the lengths that God went to provide for this foreigner of the faith. He knew that she was up there in this heathen city. Even though the rest of her countrymen didn’t think she was worth their time - God did. And so he specifically sent Elijah many miles northward to the widow. What great lengths God’s love went to provide for this widow and her son! But he wasn’t done.
This leads us up to our text for this morning. Imagine the scene before your eyes. This little boy was all that the widow had left. Her husband had died. And now, the love of her life was dying. The text says, the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing. Here she was, cradling her little boy in her arms, watching him get worse and worse - most likely praying to the LORD - yet unable to do anything about it. Finally, as she held her boy in her arms - the boy stopped breathing. She was able to maintain her faith - throughout the death of her husband and the famine and lack of food - but this was too much. How could a living and real God allow this to happen to her? And so she cried to Elijah - “What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?” She accused God of punishing for some sin that she had committed that was bothering her and maliciously assassinating her son. (The same form of the verb to kill is used in 2 Kings 15:10.)
It’s easy for us to sit back and dissect this woman’s faith, isn’t it? We can see exactly what was wrong with it. She should have appreciated what God had done with her. She should have known God loved her. If it weren’t for God’s help - both her and her son would have starved long before this. She should have known that the LORD loved her and forgave her. But instead, she accused God of having something against her and maliciously assassinating her son. She assumed was a God of vengeance and hatred instead of a God of mercy and love. She lashed out at Elijah for the actions of God. It was wrong for her to do this.
It’s easy enough for us to see that. But it’s also somewhat pietistic - isn’t it - for us to coldly diagnose her sin? Put yourself in her shoes - would you have done any different. Imagine how heart wrenching it would be to hold your only boy - and see his life whittle away in your arms - to see the beads of sweat running down his forehead - to hear him moaning for mommy to help. Maybe some of you have actually gone through something like that. It’s one thing to see a mother or father die. But to see a young child die - I would be hard pressed to find anyone who wouldn’t question whether God was a God of love in a situation like that. And that doesn’t make it ok. It wasn’t right for the widow to accuse God of being a cold hearted killer. But it also isn’t right for us to self righteously think - “she should know better than that.” Would you do any better?
Elijah didn’t come down on this poor widow. What did he do? “Give me your son,” Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed. 20 Then he cried out to the LORD, “O LORD my God, have you brought tragedy also upon this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?” Let’s stop right there a second. Elijah here ASKED the Lord if he brought tragedy on this widow. He knew the limitations of her faith - and he felt that this would be too much for her to bear. It just didn’t seem right. Would the LORD - the Almighty God of mercy - really take this woman’s faith and snuff it out? And so the text goes on to say - 21 Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried to the LORD, “O LORD my God, let this boy’s life return to him!”
22 The LORD heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived. 23 Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said, “Look, your son is alive!” This was not a tragedy after all. It turned into a miracle - the first one recorded in Scriptures - of a dead body rising from the dead to live and breathe on earth once again. And what happened as a result? Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the LORD from your mouth is the truth.” The woman’s weak faith was made strong. She went from a woman weakly believing in Elijah and his LORD to a woman who KNEW - who was firmly convinced that the LORD was a loving Lord as Elijah said.
Let’s just stop and think about the lengths that God went through to strengthen this widow’s faith. He put her son through suffering and death. He allowed the widow to go through a heart wrenching time - only to bring her son back to faith. Some might look at that situation and say - “it was cruel of God to put this child through suffering and death - and this widow through such heartache - just to make her faith stronger.” It’s easy for us also to sit back and try to dissect God - accusing him of being too extreme. “Why couldn’t he have just let her faith be?” He had already built her faith by providing her with enough to eat through the famine - wasn’t that enough? If you think about it - how many of you would want to witness your child die in your arms? You would probably say - “I would rather not, Lord. I’m happy with my faith where it is.”
In the movie, Remember the Titans, the coach pushed the students to the brink of their abilities. Some accused him of trying to ruin them and break their spirits. But by pushing them - he made them stronger. It prepared them for a difficult season of football - and in the end they went undefeated and won the championship. If he hadn’t pushed them, they would not have pushed themselves. A team without discipline ends up weak and soft - unprepared for battle. And so, like a coach that pushes his players - God pushes us for our good. People can blame God for being too extreme all they want. And they will. “God took my son - so I won’t come to church. He told me I was going to hell. I can’t believe in a God that would punish in hell. He told me I couldn’t divorce my lazy husband. I can’t follow a Lord like that. That’s too extreme. ” But the Lord continues to push. Why? Because the stakes with God are not just winning a state championship. An eternity of either bliss or fire is at stake.
Therefore, you answer the question - was it too extreme for the LORD to allow this woman’s son to suffer and die? Was it too extreme to put her through such trauma? What happened in the end? Her faith was strengthened and she knew that the LORD was a God of love and compassion. Her faith was strengthened. To God, all of these other things - even the life of a child - is SECONDARY - compared to the FAITH and SALVATION of his people. Would you want a God who put your PHYSICAL health above your SPIRITUAL health? I would hope not.
The problem is not that God is too extreme. The problem is that we are not extreme enough. We are deadly afraid of “extremes”. It’s as if it’s the last thing we want in our lives. Is it right for us to have the attitude that says, “I’m happy with the level of my faith where it is”? Is it right for us to not witness to Christ because we don’t know what to say or because we are too afraid? It is right for us to pray for persecution free lives, when God promises that he works persecutions out for our good? How would you feel if you had an employee who didn’t want your company to grow, because he didn’t want more work? Something isn’t right there. But that’s how we treat Christianity - I’ll be a Christian as long as it doesn’t require too much of me. So when God does push some, they respond by accusing God of pushing too hard - and reject him.
The truth of the matter is that God loves us too much to leave us where we are. And that’s the neat thing about his love. He loved this widow too much to let her faith just stop in knowing that God provided. He wanted her to know that He had power over life and death as well. He wanted her to know through the life of her son - that He would have the power and love to send another Son to live and die for her. God loves us to much to only give us what we want. He doesn’t allow us to remain stagnant in the faith. He wants to see us grow in the faith - so we end up with him in heaven. He wants to take away the things in our life that get in the way of our devotion to him - so that we can trust only in Christ. If our pride is getting in the way, he is willing to humble us. If our money is in the way - he is willing to make us poor. If our jobs are in the way - he is willing to have us get fired. If our health is getting in the way of our spiritual life, he is willing to make us sick. He is willing to go to all lengths to keep the cross of Christ before our eyes. Would you want a LORD who was any less loving?
There’s only one problem with this illustration I’ve been using - isn’t there. The boy lived in the end. Who couldn’t have faith in such a situation? I can recall my first week in the public ministry. I was serving a congregation down in South Carolina, when a young lady of the congregation - who had been in a coma from a motorcycle accident - only thirty some years old - died. I wished I could give her life. But I couldn’t. Her boyfriend and family were devastated. When people die today, we can’t just bring them to life. So how does that build the faith of anyone? There are many people living today who have witnessed their children die - who haven’t been raised from the dead. As a result, they have turned away from God and the church. What about those who don’t have a happy ending? Did God push them too far?
Finally, we have to trust that God knows His children. We have to trust Paul when he says in 1 Corinthians 10:13 God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. We need to cling to the fact that God is a loving God - who sent His Son to die for us. He promises us He will give us what we NEED in this life. When people question God’s love in these difficult situations of life and death, we may not be able to raise children from the dead, but we can promise a resurrection from the dead. Jesus promised, “because I live, you also will live.” When people are feeling dead and without the hope of ever seeing their loved ones again - we can breathe life into their souls by talking about the death and resurrection of Jesus. We can promise them that they too will live if they believe that Jesus died for them. We can give them hope of seeing their loved ones who died in Christ again. This is all we need. It may not make complete sense now, but as God says in 1 Corinthians 13:12 Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
When a young child is in the car, and he asks you, “how much further is it?” - how can you explain it? If a child has no concept of a minute - or a mile - you say - “we’re half way there.” We’re “almost there.” And that will pacify him for a little while - to know they’re getting closer.
Like children, we often ask our LORD - “how much further?” We have no concept of where our faith could go - or how to get there. When we’ve lived a long life and start to suffer - we ask, “how long?” When we are going through a sickness and it drags on we ask, “how much further?” You may not think that your faith can be stretched. You may not agree with God on how to get there. But God knows how far it can go - and it is His will to stretch your faith - make it greater. He will do whatever it takes to make sure you stay in the faith and that you grow in faith. This takes pain sometimes. This takes heartache. It takes time. Sometimes it even requires death. Like the widow, we don’t understand - and we question God. Thank God - that in His mercy - He forgives us through the blood of Christ. As our merciful LORD, Sometimes He finally has to answer, “we’ll get there when we get there. But rest assured we’re getting closer.” It may seem like a long and hard journey - but when we end up in heaven - we’ll thank our LORD for all he did. Then we’ll know that God’s power will not lead us where His grace cannot keep us. And we’ll thank him for the lengths that he went through to keep us strong in the faith. Amen.
