1 Kings 17:1-16

Ravens, Famine, Refugees & Aid

Ravens a lovely story about the way God provides for those who obey and trust. It might also be that it is a story about the way the whole of creation  combines to God's will - the birds and the prophet all under God's command. But a more rational explanation of the story is that ravens is a way of describing Bedouin type desert dwellers - And so at the heart of this story is a reminder that we are to feed those who come into our land seeking food, and welcome the stranger in our midst. 

Famine continues to be a problem for millions of Africans - Sudan, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Niger the worst affected at the moment http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/africa/2006/africa_food_crisis/default.stm

drought continues to be a problem, but the biggest cause is political mismanagement, conflict and trading restrictions which make it very difficult for a nation to work itself out of crisis. 

Closer to home many people who have managed to escape the African famines and conflicts come here seeking a welcome and a fresh start and are left facing famine as benefits ard withheld and they are not allowed legal work. Hence our harvest gifts will go towards helping to feed those who can only survive through such aid, we can be the ravens for those facing famine in Rochdale today. 

Generous Widow, Bread of life

How difficult a decision was it for the widow - does she feed herself and her son their final meal or share it with this strange man, trusting his strange promise? 

She shares and her generosity is rewarded - as it is so often. Generosity breed generosity and a willingness to share what little we have will mean that others will share with us. The biblical view is that a community will starve or feast together - so a good harvest meant that everyone benefits a poor harvest means that everyone struggles. In our culture we can buy our way out of a poor harvest - but that will leave others far away and out of sight to suffer. We celebrate a generous God and we can only do that through our own generosity.

How much do we love bread? We have brought a whole selection of breads today to feast upon and enjoy -  for Elijah and the widow's family it was about survival, the difference between death and life. We also talk about bread in spiritual terms - of Jesus as the bread of life - for in following Jesus there is not just the staple for living or the difference between death and life - but a variety of tastes, experiences, adventures spread out on the table for us just waiting to be shared.