When most of us think about giving, we think of giving out of our abundance.  We know we have been blessed, and we know we need to share some of our blessings with those who have less than we have.

          But what about giving when you have little or nothing to give?  What about giving when the wolf is at the door and you’re not sure where your next meal is coming from?

          There is a popular theology today that is often referred to as prosperity gospel.  If you watch Christian televangelists, you may have heard some of this sort of teaching.  It goes something like this.  They will tell you that you can’t outgive God.

           They will explain that if you give, God will bless you with more than you had before.  And since this is so, they will encourage you to give your money to them so that God will bless you with wealth.

          I do not subscribe to prosperity gospel, and I believe this teaching has been abused by leaders who want your money.  However, there is an element of truth to it.  The truth is that God does bless us, and when we give freely, it often seems like God blesses us even more. 

          There are three problems I see with prosperity gospel. 

One, it is often taught by preachers who are trying to get money for themselves, and they are using this teaching for their own benefit, often soliciting money from people who have very little. 

          There is a line they are stepping over.  While it is good and right for me as your pastor to encourage you to give, it is not right for me to manipulate you in any way.

          The reason I encourage you to give is that God wants you to give.  The Bible teaches us to give, and it is true that God blesses his people when they give.  The Bible has a lot to say about giving.

          The second reason I have a problem with prosperity gospel is that it teaches the wrong motive for giving.  It is not good to give so that you will be blessed with more. 

          It may be true that you will be blessed when you give, but your motive in giving should not be so that you will become rich.  Your motive for giving should be obedience to God and concern for those you give to.

          The third reason I disagree with the teachings of prosperity gospel is that it is an attempt to manipulate God.  It is saying, I will do this, and God will therefore do something for me.  God cannot be manipulated!

          We can certainly pray for God’s blessing, and we can even ask God to provide for our material needs.  Bur it is wrong to try to manipulate God.

          It is true that God does bless us when we give.  But God is not like a lucky slot machine, where you put your money in and more comes out. 

          What if you have little or no money?  Should you give it away so that God will bless you with more?  There may be times when God does ask a person to give his or her last penny.  Generally, however, I think God expects us to live responsibly, and that includes our use of money.  So if your rent is due tomorrow, it is usually not wise or prudent to put your rent money in the offering plate, and then wonder why God does not provide for you.

          Our scripture passage today tells a wonderful story about faith and giving.  In this story, God does ask a woman who has almost nothing left to share what little she has with the prophet, Elijah.

I Kings 17:

¹ Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, "As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word."

 ² Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah: ³ "Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. ⁴ You will drink from the brook, and I have ordered the ravens to feed you there."

 ⁵ So he did what the LORD had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there. ⁶ The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.

 ⁷ Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. ⁸ Then the word of the LORD came to him: ⁹ "Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food."

¹⁰ So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, "Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?" ¹¹ As she was going to get it, he called, "And bring me, please, a piece of bread."

 ¹² "As surely as the LORD your God lives," she replied, "I don't have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die."

 ¹³ Elijah said to her, "Don't be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small cake of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son.

¹⁴ For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the LORD gives rain on the land.' "

 ¹⁵ She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. ¹⁶ For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the LORD spoken by Elijah.

          The woman was a widow, who had a young son.  She had come to the end of her resources.  She had just a bit of flour and oil and no idea where any more would come from.

          So she was gathering sticks to build a fire and cook their last meal.  There was a famine in the land, and she had no way of getting more.  So when Elijah asks her for some bread, she tells him the hopelessness of her situation.

"I don't have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die."

          Elijah asks her to take this last meal that she has and prepare it and give it to him—then she and her son can have what is left.  He tells her that if she does what he says, her jar of flour will not be used up and her jug of oil will not run dry, until the famine ends.

          Notice he does not promise her flour and oil for life, but only until the famine ends.  Apparently when the famine ends, God will expect this woman and her son to take care of themselves.

          So the woman does what Elijah asks her to do, and her jar of flour is not used up and her jug of oil does not run dry, and she is able to provide food for Elijah and for herself and her son.

          In 1963, the Kingston Trio released a song called “Desert Pete.”  I don’t know whether or not the songwriter had ever heard this story about Elijah and the widow, but he certainly understood the concept.

Here are the words to the song:

Desert Pete

I was travelin' west to Buckskin on my way to a cattle run,
'cross a little cactus desert under a hot blistering sun.

I was thirsty down to my toenails, stopped to rest me on a stump, 
but I tell you I just couldn't believe it when I saw that water pump.

I took it to be a mirage at first. It'll fool a thirsty man.
Then I saw a note stuck in a bakin' powder can.
"This pump is old," the note began, "but she works. So give 'er a try. 
I put a new sucker washer in 'er. You may find the leather dry.

Chorus:
You've got to prime the pump. You must have faith and believe.
You've got to give of yourself 'fore you're worthy to receive.
Drink all the water you can hold. Wash your face, cool your feet.
But leave the bottle full for others. Thank you kindly, Desert Pete.

Yeah, you'll have to prime the pump, work that handle like there's a fire. 
Under that rock you'll find some water I left in a bitters jar. 
Now there's just enough to prime it with, so don't you go drinkin' first. 
You just pour it in and pump like mad, buddy, you'll quench your thirst.

Chorus

Well, I found that jar, and I tell you, nothin' was ever prettier to my eye 
and I was tempted strong to drink it 'cause that pump looked mighty dry, 
but the note went on, "Have faith, my friend, there's water down below.
You've got to give until you get. I'm the one who ought to know.

So I poured in the jar and started pumpin' and I heard a beautiful sound 
of water bubblin' 'n' splashin' up out of that hole in the ground. 
I took off my shoes and I drunk my fill of that cool refreshin' treat. 
I thanked the Lord, and I thanked the pump, and I thanked old Desert Pete.

          Sometimes we are tempted to hang tightly to what we have for fear of being left with nothing.  In the story we read from I Kings, the woman must have thought twice before she gave what little she had to Elijah, the prophet.

          And in the song about the old pump, that thirsty person wandering in the desert had a choice to make.  He could drink the water left in the jar—or he could follow Desert Pete’s instructions, and use all of the water to prime the pump, believing that desert Pete was right and the pump would work.

          We as a church have sometimes felt that the wolf is at the door.  Our attendance has dwindled over the past ten to twenty years.  Because we are small, our finances are challenging.

          There is a temptation to hang on tightly to what we have.  But I believe God is calling us to open our hands and generously give of what we have.

          This month, as we take our world missions offering, it might be tempting for us to say, “No, I will keep all my gifts for this church—certainly we need it more than they do.”  But God calls us to give generously.

          Many older churches across this nation are dwindling and dying.  It is natural for us to fear that we will be the next to die.  In yesterday’s Seattle Times, there was a picture of a church on the front page.  That beautiful old church, on Capitol Hill, is being converted into condominiums.  Another church, on Queen Anne, is being torn down.  It is sad.

          But I had to laugh when I read what one of the neighbors of that church said.  He said that some of the neighbors want to preserve the building, but others fear the effects a potential new use could have on traffic, parking, and noise.  Then he said, “This building has been a perfect neighbor—almost nobody uses it and it’s beautiful to look at.”

          Not long ago, our neighbors might have said the same thing about this church.  We were also the perfect neighbor—our building is also beautiful to look at, and this church was empty most of the time.

          Today, this church is a busy, bustling place most of the time.  That is because we have opened our hearts and our building to groups who need space.

          We still have many choices to make.  We can choose to circle the wagons around and hunker down and try to hang on to what little we have.  Or we can open ourselves and our building and share as much as we can.

          If we give what we can give, we are like the thirsty man who poured that last bit of precious water into the pump.  We are like the widow woman who took her last bit of flour and oil and prepared bread for Elijah.

          The man found that the water came gushing out of the pump and he had more than enough to drink.  And the woman discovered that the flour in her jar and oil in her jug were enough to last throughout the time of drought.

          It is as we give whatever we have, even when we see ourselves as needy, that we prepare our hearts to receive God’s blessings.

          The choice is ours.  We can cling to the past; we can close ourselves to newcomers and treat them with suspicion; we can worry about having more people in the building.  Or we can remember that God is always doing a new thing.  We can pray for his will to be done.

          We can open ourselves to whoever God brings our way and treat them as brothers and sisters in Christ.  We can joyfully share our building with those who need a place to meet.

          Not because we are trying to manipulate God and force him to bless us, but because we are acting out of obedience to God and love of our neighbors.

Prayer:

Lord, sometimes we are so afraid.  We cling so tenaciously to what we have, for hear of losing it.  God, set our troubled hearts at peace.  Remind us that everything we have is a gift from you.  Remind us that you know our needs and you want to bless us in every way.  Help us to truly trust in you to take care of us.  Give us hearts that are generous and open and loving.  May this be a place where every stranger is welcomed and loved, where we give out of grateful hearts, and where we look with joy and hope to see what you will do here in our church.     Amen.