Sermon for July 28, 2024: Let Them Eat based upon 2 Kings 4:42-44

2 Kings 4:42-44 Elisha Feeds One Hundred

A man came from Baal-shalishah, bringing food from the first fruits to the man of God: twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain in his sack. Elisha said, ‘Give it to the people and let them eat.’ But his servant said, ‘How can I set this before a hundred people?’ So he repeated, ‘Give it to the people and let them eat, for thus says the Lord, “They shall eat and have some left.” ’ He set it before them, they ate, and had some left, according to the word of the Lord.

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     The last time I preached on this passage from 2nd Kings, I asked some folks what they would do if they had to suddenly feed a bunch of people. The answers ranged from “order a bunch of pizza” to “buy out all of the pasta and sauce at the local convenience store” to cooking up giant buckets of chili and pots of lentils and roasting veggies and garbanzo beans. Feeding hungry people is a vital part of scripture, both in the Hebrew Bible and the Gospels. Today’s reading is about a time when a prophet, Elisha needed to feed a bunch of people. In doing so, he showed them something important about how God’s love works in the world.

     We are continuing to work our way through introductions to ancient biblical prophets. In a summer when there is so much political upheaval in our country, it seems wise to pay attention to those whom God directed to offer corrections to their own nations. The scholar Walter Brueggemann argues that the books of First and Second Kings are books that offer theological interpretations of Israel’s history from the time of Solomon’s reign over a united Judah and Israel through the eventual return to a separate northern and southern kingdom into the time of Judah’s defeat by Babylon. Elisha, the prophet in today’s reading tasked with feeding 100 people, was from the northern kingdom and successor to the prophet Elijah. In his description of Elisha, Dennis Bratcher describes the former farmer as “a man of wisdom and worker of miracles both on behalf of his nation in times of crisis and in the lives of individuals in time of need.” Miracles weren’t just for showing off. They were for showing people something about the nature of their God.

     If you are the prophet Elisha, and a group of a hundred people is sitting in front of you, people who are living in the midst of a famine, as the 100 people in this story are, you know that they need to be fed. And, because you are a prophet, you want to remind people of the love and compassion of God. Everything you do is an attempt to reconnect people with their covenant with God. That’s how the scholar Dora Mbwayesango describes Elisha’s work: reconnecting the people to their covenant with God. In such a case, if people are hungry, the most appropriate use of your God-given prophetic powers is to feed those hungry people.

     Importantly, though, he doesn’t do this miracle alone. Because he is a prophet and known to be close to God, a stranger brought Elisha an extravagant gift as an offering to God: twenty loaves of barley and many fresh ears of grain. Dr. Mbwayesango said that kind of offering is usually made to a priest at a sanctuary. This offering is also far more than was asked to be given to a priest (Leviticus 23:10-14). Elisha, who follows a caring and powerful God, knows what to do with extra, unexpected food: Share it. Even with the extra food, the other people in the story are pretty sure it won’t feed all 100 people. Elisha’s servant even worries that the people will fight over what little there is.

     While we know that scarcity can inspire people to all manner of conflict, Elisha was sure there would be enough food and told the servant, “Give it to the people and let them eat, for thus says the Lord, ‘they shall eat and have some left.’” Thankfully even though he was worried, the servant put out the food. And, all the people came. All the people ate. And, just like Elisha knew would happen, there was some left over.

     In just a few short verses, we get a lovely example of how the God we encounter in scripture is involved in the world. First, we have empowered people ready to respond to needs that they observe. God tasked Elisha with tending to the people. When Elisha paid attention to the people around him, it was clear how he could serve them. Second, we have faithful people who follow the best of their traditions, in this case, a man bringing food to a priest, even in times of famine. In challenging times, it is good to remain grounded in your values, and carry on traditions that are meaningful and useful. Sharing food with the priest ended up being both. Third, we have an example of a person who, despite having reasonable fears, chooses to act in the most faithful way possible. Though the servant was concerned that they wouldn’t have enough and that the people would respond to what they lacked with violence, in the end, he trusted Elisha and did what he asked. He didn’t allow his fear to stop him from trying to help those who needed it. May we all have an Elisha who won’t allow our fear to overwhelm our ability to be generous with what God has provided us.
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     The Divine creates and nurtures life in occasions like this, and connects us to one another by allowing us a part in this creative and loving work. This story from 2nd Kings shows us what covenant is all about: remembering the promises we’ve made to love our neighbors, working together for God’s purposes in this world, sharing our abundance, refusing to allow fear to stop us from helping each other, and, possibly most importantly, remembering how God has empowered us to be a part of the covenant. In writing about this text, Casey Thornburgh Sigmon notes that “God does not act unilaterally without human collaboration to bring life from death.” We do not have to see suffering and ignore it because none of us can address it by ourselves. Every day, the Spirit brings us the people and resources we need to take care of each other. May we hear the voice of the prophets that remind us that we are not in this world alone, and may we remember that the God who loved us into existence is with us when we extend that love, in concrete ways, to those who need it most.

Resources consulted while writing this sermon:
Walter Brueggemann, An Introduction to the Old Testament: The Canon and Christian Imagination (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2003)
Dennis R. Bratcher, "Elisha," HarperCollins Bible Dictionary, ed. Paul Achtemeier  et al (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1996)
Casey Thornburgh Sigmon: https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-17-2/commentary-on-2-kings-442-44-5
Dora Mbwayesango: https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-17-2/commentary-on-2-kings-442-44
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