Go and Share

Then the word of the LORD came to him, “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.” And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” And she said, “As the LORD your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die.” And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son. For thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the LORD sends rain upon the earth.’” And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days. The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the LORD that he spoke by Elijah.
(1 Kings 17:8-16 ESV)
Elijah was a man on the run, being persecuted by Ahab and Jezebel for his faithfulness to God. But God did not want him running and hiding and having a pitty party for himself. He wanted him to go and share.  Not matter what is happening to God's people, he wants us to continue to share with others. He does not want us to become self-consumed.  We need to be prepared, be ready to live that way even in the hard times.  We need to be looking out for one another.

Start out Sharing...

The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, “This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you. Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers' houses, a lamb for a household. And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb. (Exodus 12:1-4 ESV)
A New Year. A time when we make commitments to all sorts of changes. As the people of Israel set out of the land of slavery toward the promised land, the celebration of Passover was to be an annual reminder of where they had come from, and what is important. The first thing they are told to do is share. If their family was too small to consume the whole lamb in one sitting, they were to share one with a neighboring family. This is by no means an exception to the rule, a rarity. Think how much left-over turkey most households have at Thanksgiving, when having lots of family and friends over. Sharing was the plan. The back-up plan was to burn what was left. Sad to say, in our society, we often choose the back-up plan to the main one. We choose wasting over sharing. It takes planning and preparation to share. That's what God wants us to do: intentionally share. Not be forced into it, or drop a few coins in the bucket. Prepare to share. Think about ways this year you can share.

Why bother saving?

So when the famine had spread over all the land, Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe in the land of Egypt. Moreover, all the earth came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain, because the famine was severe over all the earth.
(Genesis 41:56-57 ESV)
We Americans are rotten savers.  We live disposable lives. We live for the moment. That can and will be a problem.  There are times when we need to save. Not hoard, but save.  Especially as followers of Christ- not just for ourselves, but to share with others.  Savers are wise.  Savers work hard and store up for the unexpected and even more so for the inevitable.  The famine was going to happen.  Joseph knew it and he did something about it.  And he made sure Egypt had enough to share.  Do we?

Get Ready to Make Room

Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits. Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above, and set the door of the ark in its side. Make it with lower, second, and third decks. For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die. But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you. And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female. Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground, according to its kind, two of every sort shall come in to you to keep them alive. Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten, and store it up. It shall serve as food for you and for them.” Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him. (Genesis 6:14-22 ESV)
We often view God's plan with very selfish lenses.  We think of "What's going to happen to me?" God wants us to make some extra room - to share the salvation He provides.  Obviously, many of us are not so selfish that we would not include our family in our preparations, but do we go beyond that?  Noah's instructions went far beyond safe transportation and a year's worth of boxed lunches.  He was to look for what things would be like after the disaster, after the immediate threat, when God replenished the earth.  And to be sure, he could have squeezed in a repentant sinner or two.  When you think about potential disaster, are your thoughts totally self-preservation? Is there any room for thought on how to share with others?

In the Event of Suffering for Christ

Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil.
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,
I Peter 3:13-18 ESV)
Peter saw persecution, suffering for one's faith in Christ, as a very real possibility.  We need to be ready for it.  We are ready by being unafraid and unashamed to share His name.  We prepare by making sure we experience suffering not for any wrong we have done, but only because we are His.  We do so by respecting others and not acting like religious snobs.  Since Christ suffered as the  Righteous One for unrighteous sinners, we as His followers should pursue righteousness and not whine about suffering.

Red Ribbon in Suffering

Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?
(2 Corinthians 11:24-29 ESV)
Paul knew what it was to suffer for the cause of Christ.  Besides physical and emotional persecution, he bore the burden of the many churches God had used him to establish.  He felt responsible for every believer in those churches.  When they were attacked, he felt attacked.  Yet, he would rightly and willingly admit that what he faced was nothing compared to what Christ faced on our behalf, for our sin. How little true suffering we face for our faith.  Many across the globe are facing mistreatment which approaches Paul's level; we endure little. May we be ready to speak, stand, suffer that others know what He has done for them.

How to be persecuted... Tell the Truth

And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen. But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. Then they secretly instigated men who said, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council, and they set up false witnesses who said, “This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law, for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us.” And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel.
(Acts 6:8-15 ESV)
Stephen had a reputation for speaking and acting boldly for Christ.  He was no bully; he just allowed the Holy Spirit to work through him.  This brought great resistance. There was nothing about his words, actions or character that allowed them to attack him personally; he "looked like an angel."  As the account goes on, he proceeds to tell the truth, and the bottom line is: they had rejected and killed the Messiah, an innocent man.  This truth was more than they could bear, and Stephen became the first recorded martyr of the church.  This set up a long chain of persecution.  Being first is not always where you want to be; for your sake or for others.  But Stephen was... for telling and living the truth. May we not be ashamed or afraid of the Truth.