Some commercials
are pretty creative. I remember an animated
Coke commercial which had a man driving through a city and he parked his car. He
then got out of his car, walked into a store, bought a bottle of coke and drank
some of it.
He left the
store, and proceeded to go down the street helping anyone he could help. First he gave someone a free bottle of coke,
then he gave a homeless man some money, he saw a fire in a can and put it out,
he opened a car door for someone, he stopped a thief from robbing an elderly
woman, he turned a negative religious sign into a positive message, and before
too long, the entire city was walking along with him and singing.
All through the
commercial, you hear the words, “You give
a little love and it all comes back to you.”
And of course, at
the very end of the commercial, they show you a close-up of a billboard on top
of a building advertising Coca-Cola.
I got to thinking
that this is what our new “Athens First Saturday Community Outreach” is all
about. We meet at the church at 8:30 in the morning on the first Saturday, but
instead of drinking lots of Coca-Cola, we pray instead, and then we go out into
the community to share God’s love with the people around us.
In fact, our church
participated in this just yesterday and Logan Waldie who coordinates our “Athens
First Saturday” outreach is here to tell us some of the ways that we did nice
things for people here in our community.
(Logan Shares)
As Logan shared
with us, “Athens First Saturday Outreach” is about giving a little love, and it
really does come back to you. But it’s not a love that comes from a coke bottle.
It’s God’s love working in and through us that makes a difference in people’s
lives.
I notice that the
prophet Elijah didn’t have a coke bottle in his hand when he did a kind thing
for a struggling widow who was finding it hard to make ends meet. Living during a time of a severe drought, all
she had left were a few ingredients to make a biscuit. And with that one last biscuit, she would try
to make a meal out of it, perhaps their last meal as a family.
But by reaching
out to this family in need, Elijah was able to share with her that God would be
able to make those last few ingredients last until the drought was over. To this woman’s credit, she trusted in what
Elijah told her to do and that little food she offered to Elijah and to God never
ran out.
But that’s not
the end of this story. After some time,
this widow’s son becomes ill and dies.
Elijah offers prayers to God, stretches over this boy three times and
her child came back to life. And because
of this, this widow knew that Elijah was truly sent from God.
Just at the right
time, this woman was reminded that God was with her.
I think of our own
community and single parents who are trying to make ends meet. With bills to pay, and trying to keep a
steady job, when would you ever have time for yourself? And what if you don’t have any extended
family to help?
I remember reading about a single mother here
in Ohio. Her name is Rachel, a single
mother of two children who was homeless.
She suffers with epilepsy. She
had lost her apartment and had nowhere else to turn. As a last resort, she stayed at a homeless
shelter.
During her stay, counseling
sessions revealed Rachel’s wonderful gift of writing poetry. After her 60-day stay at the homeless shelter,
she was able to turn her life around and move into her own apartment. She published her first book of poetry.
Here is one of
her poems. This one is called “Earth
Angels.”
“You hear people talking about seeing
guardian Angels everywhere you turn today.
I don’t know if they exist of not.
I am sure that one day I will have the answer to that question.”
“But I am sure of one kind of Angel that
goes unnoticed. That is the kind of
Angel that lends a helping hand to those in need and does not think to look
down upon them. But strives to lift them
to higher firmer ground. Or the ones who
drop a kindly word to help ease the ache of sorrows dark.”
“Then there are those who will stand
strong and sure against life’s stormy seas.
For those of us that can not withstand its rushing waves.”
“These kinds of Angels do have wings and
they are heavenly beings. They are
mortal flesh and blood. But still they
give of themselves to me. These are true
earth angels.”
“Thank you from our hearts.”
It’s amazing what
even a little love can do.
The Psalmist
cries out, “Happy are those whose help is
the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God, who made heaven and
earth, the sea, and all that is in them; who keeps faith forever; who executes
justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry. The Lord watches over the strangers; he
upholds the orphan and the widow.”
Hundreds of years
after this story of Elijah, the widow and the little boy, a funeral procession
makes its way down a dusty road in Galilee.
A widow’s only son has died. She
walks slowly behind the coffin and as they make their way toward the family burial
plot just outside of town, a stranger approaches the procession and has great
compassion for her.
He then does the
unthinkable. He breaks social and
religious custom by touching the coffin which would have been considered
unclean. And if that wasn’t enough, he
then tells this young man in the coffin to rise. To everyone’s amazement, he does! Jesus brought this widow’s son back to life.
Everyone begins to glorify God and the word about Jesus
begins to spread all over the surrounding country.
We can’t but
wonder, if by recording this story of Jesus healing this widow’s son, Luke
might be giving us a foretaste of what is to come.
Toward the end of
his Gospel, Jesus’ himself will be carried off to a burial place just outside
of Jerusalem. His widowed mother’s only
son.
He will be placed
in a tomb. On the third day he will rise
to new life and will be given a new body.
A resurrected body.
The stories of
these two widows, the one from the Book of I Kings and the one from the Gospel
of Luke, show us God’s care and concern for all people, and especially for
those who are the most vulnerable in our society. In the midst of heartache and despair, God
reaches into our lives and offers us more than enough hope, love, and new life.
I mentioned that
our “Athens First Saturday Outreach” is held on the first Saturday of each
month, hence the name. I think it’s no coincidence that we often will celebrate
Holy Communion on the first Sunday of each month.
Notice that we
don’t serve Coke Cola for communion. Instead, we serve grape juice which reminds
us of Christ’s self-giving love when he died on a cross for the sake of the
world. It’s this sacrificial love that leads us to do good in our community.
The Sacrament of Holy Communion is what reminds us that, “You give a little love and it all comes back to you.”
Penny and I ate
out for dinner one evening. We talked
about how our days went, enjoyed our meals, and went to the cashier to pay the
bill. We’re about ready to go out the
door when Penny says, “Hold on.”
I stand at the door thinking that she forgot something. When she comes back, I notice that she now
has this great big smile on her face.
Out of curiosity, I ask her if everything was OK. She tells me, “Everything’s fine. I bought
some candy for the children who were at the one table near us. Weren’t they adorable?” she asks me.
I nod my head in agreement, not wanting to admit to her that
I never even noticed them. And then Penny tells me, “Well, I told the mother that her children were adorable and thought
they would enjoy some candy. And she
thanked me.”
As we left the restaurant, I could swear that I heard
someone singing, “You give a little love
and it all comes back to you.”
You
Give a Little Love
Small Group Questions
I Kings 17:8-24 & Luke 7:11-17
June 5, 2016
A coke commercial has used the phrase, “You Give a
Little Love and It All Comes Back to You.” It then shows people walking down a
street while drinking their bottles of coke. Supposedly, the joy of drinking
this popular soft drink is why the people end up doing nice things for people
as they walk through the city.
Think about
a recent time when somebody did something nice for you when you weren’t
expecting it. Maybe it was something as simple as opening a door for you. How
did you respond?
Jesus spent a lot of his ministry walking from
village to village doing nice things for people. Our Gospel reading is a good
example of this. He brought healing to a mother’s child. This led to the people
of the town praising God.
What helps
you to remember to “give a little love” by doing good things for people when
you are running errands in town?
Our new “Athens First Saturday Outreach” is a way for
our church to intentionally “give a little love” to the people in our
community. These are held on the first Saturdays of each month beginning at
8:30 am and lasting until noon. We meet at the church for a prayer before we go
out to serve.
Sometime
this week, go to where people are and look for ways that you might offer God’s
love to the people you see. Before
going, pray for God to open up opportunities to “give a little love.”
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