November 10: A Lot of Nerve

Thirty Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

I always thought it took a lot of nerve for Elijah to beg that poor woman for a meal. Even though, during a long drought, she has only a bit of her food to give to her son, he still asks her to make a little cake for himself. It would be easier to understand if we heard the verse before this reading begins: God tells the prophet that he has “commanded a widow…to feed you.” (1Kgs 17:9)

Now the widow was not aware of this command. But she does as Elijah asked. That took even more faith than Elijah showed. She was afraid for herself and the boy. But she had enough faith to risk the last of her food to help someone else. She shows us that we are obeying God’s commands when we trust him. Most of those commands come not from a vision, but from someone’s cry for help.

I wonder how many good people have passed up a chance to do God’s will because they didn’t hear directly from God what to do. When you hear that a tornado destroyed a nearby neighborhood, do you hear God asking you to help? Do you hear God’s voice when you read in the bulletin that the food pantry is running low? When a storm knocks out the power on your block, do you think God is asking you to check on the elderly widow next door?

And if you do hear God calling in these examples, how do you respond? You can be like the rich people in the gospel and just give your ten percent. Or do you have the faith of the woman whose few cents were all that she had. It takes a lot of courage to trust God completely. Do you have what it takes?

Tom Schmidt