Title/ God helps His people Texts/ 1 Kings 17:8-16, Luke 7:11-17 There was a boy who was asked to see a dentist because of the cavities. So his mother sent him alone to the dental clinic. He opened the door and spoke to the receptionist there. “My mother told me to see the dentist about my bad teeth.” “Oh, I’m sorry,” the receptionist responded, “but the dentist is out just now.” The boy sighed in relief and asked hopefully, “When will he be out again?” We know we cannot live a day without anyone’s help. That’s really true, because almost everything we need comes to us because of someone else’s help, great or small. The bread we eat, the water we drink, the letters we send and receive, and the cars we drive… We can say that there’s almost nothing available without someone’s help. Of course, we pay the price for the help or service we need, but still we cannot negate the fact that we are using the help. We often say “I don’t need any help” just like the boy who tried to avoid the dentist, but the truth is our existence is only possible with continuous helps, aids and assistances by someone other than ourselves. Friends, spare a moment and think about how you could live well enough until this time of your life. Don’t you think you have been helped by someone, especially in times of need? You got the helps from your family members, church members, and community members as well, but where do you think they come from to give you helps? Don’t you think God has let them help you by giving them someone to help? If you truly believe so, you deserve to listen to the beautiful confession that the writer of Psalm 121 made regarding the origin of the helps he received. “I lift up my eyes to the hills-- where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.” Amen! My help comes from no one but the Lord! I do hope this could be your confession as well. Today, we encounter two different women who lived in different times yet with a common status of being widows. The first widow who Elijah met in the town of Zarephath was living with her little son in the extreme poverty, and the second widow who Jesus met in a town called Nain was also living with her young son, who just passed away leaving his mother behind. As you can imagine, living as widows was too tough in those times, because of the male-oriented structure of the Jewish society. Widows, in many cases, were easily exposed to the financial difficulties if their children were too young to work for living. That is why the people of Israel were encouraged to leave some amount of olives and grapes during harvest just for the fatherless and widows. (Deutoronomy 24:20-21) Anyhow, you can imagine how miserable was to live as a widow in the ancient Jewish culture, but to make it worse, both widows of today’s Bible texts lose their only sons who were their last hope and only treasures. Our life at times seems to be full of unexpected sadness, bitterness and loneliness. I remember what Dulcie Paine told me about life when I visited her right after her husband Jack passed away November last year. “You know what, Kevin? I think life is ridiculous.” As a young man in his 30’s, I don’t think I can fully understand what that ‘ridiculous life’ really means, but what I can say for sure is our life will not be as what we want it to be. Our life is full of uncertain things, and that uncertainty could be the most certain thing allowed to be known to us humans. But sisters and brothers in Christ, let me tell you there’s one more thing you must remember for sure; we got one great helper! When you don’t know what to do and where to go, God is there for you. Wherever you are, God is with you to give you enough help, beside you, behind you, before you, and most importantly within you! I know life can be ridiculous at times, but overall, it can be marvelous in the end if we let our Creator come in and help us out. Do you see when the miracles did happen in the passages today? It was only when the widows opened their hearts and gave the men of God (namely, Elijah and Jesus) to help them. When the first widow served the prophet with her flour and oil, which were the very last meal before the starvation to death, God blessed her with never-failing supply of flour and oil. And later on, God has helped her by bringing back the life of her son when he died suddenly. Likewise, when the second widow in the Gospel of Luke lost her boy, she let the Lord Jesus raise him from the dead. God helps His people. He looks after His own sheep. Our God is a good God, and He never abandons us or forsakes us, as long as we remain His own. Do you believe that? Just believe this. God is our helper. He wants to help us, because He is our heavenly Father. You have to remember what the Scripture tells us about Him in Romans 8:32, saying “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” There’s an old saying of “Heaven helps those who help themselves” and we think and believe that is true. But Joyce Meyer, an American Christian author, asserts “God does not help those who help themselves; He helps those who know they can’t help themselves.” At the peak of their lives, people tend to believe they can do almost anything with their youth, money and fame, but they might feel exhausted, helpless and even hopeless at the lowest ebb. Let us not waste our valuable life thinking that we don’t need any help from God. Definitely, we need God, and we need His help every day, every hour, every minute and every second. Let us empty ourselves and try to let God come into our hearts and help us as our Maker and Master. And let us try to give ourselves to the people around us, especially to those who are in need. The 13th verse of the second scripture lesson today says, Jesus’ heart went out to the widow who lost her only son. Before we help someone, we better check ourselves whether our hearts go out to the ones we are about to help with the love of God. Remember! Our Lord Jesus Christ had ‘passion’ in his heart, but that was not the only thing we Christians have to follow. He had ‘compassion’ too. Beyond mere passion, we gotta have more ‘compassion’ to deliver the love of God to the neighbours we help and serve. I believe this should be a good example of our life that is helped by our God. “There’s always another use.” This is the catchline of the famous spray-type lubricant called“WD-40,” and this phrase means the product can be very useful in so many parts of everyday life. In fact, I also use it quite often for the kids’ bikes, the door hinges, and for removing the chewing gums stuck on the floor. It sounds a bit exaggerated, but still there seems to be another use. Likewise, God is always there around us to give us ‘another help’ as long as we need it and ask it. Dear people of God, there’s always another help. So, ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. (Matthew 7:7) We need God and His help, and we have the right to ask Him for it as His children for the kingdom of God and His righteousness. May God bless you all! Amen. (Jun. 9th, 2013 Sunday Worship)
Posted on: Sat, 15 Jun 2013 07:53:52 +0000
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