Scary Stories

The Rev. Joseph Winston

June 10, 2007

Sermon

Grace and peace are gifts for you from God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.1
During this time of the year, many boys and girls go off to summer camp.
Some of these youth are involved in either boy or girl scouts.2 This means that
they normally spend several nights in one of the many scout facilities around the
nation. Others might take vacations with their family. For them, a camping trip
could mean a visit to a favorite area in Texas or a trip to someplace new.
No matter if you go into the great outdoors with the scouts or your family, a
shared ritual at all these activities seems to involve the telling scary stories around
the campfire. When the sky finally darkens and the fire starts to die down, people
start sharing frightening tales.
1
Romans 1:7, 1 Corinthians 1:3, 2 Corinthians 1:2, Galatians 1:3, Ephesians 1:2, Philippians
1:2, 2 Thessalonians 1:2, Philemon 1:3
2
For the last year that I could find statistics, there were almost 5.6 million boys and girls
involved in scouting.

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 The routine for these types of stories is well known. You need to start with a
plausible situation, toss in a bit of the unexpected, and then scare your audience.
This formula has produced many classic tales that have been handed down from
generation to generation. Maybe you have heard stories that involved dead Con-
federate soldiers marching on to reinforce Lee’s troops at Appomattox, the house
at the end of the lane that was built over an abandoned cemetery, or the one about
the murder victim who unsuccessfully tries year after year to return home on the
night of their death.
While this type of story told in the dark of night frightens us, the fear factor
is diminished because we know deep in our hearts that these tales are made up.
They are nothing more then figments of our overactive imagination.
The lesson from first Kings strikes at the innermost parts of our hearts because
we know that this story is completely true.
From what we have before us, it seems that scary story about the prophet
Elijah, the unnamed widow, and her young child starts out fairly normally. But
this is not the case. Just a few verses earlier, the prophet tells the evil King Ahab
that God is sending a drought. No rain, not even dew, would fall until God lifted
the curse. This change in the weather brought by God was extremely significant
for all involved because King Ahab worships Baal, the lord of the heaven who
brought rain, thunder, fertility, and agriculture. By withholding all moisture, God
is engaging in a cosmic battle between God and Baal that will determine who
Israel worships.
The prophet Elijah is one of the foot troops in the this war and needs to be

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protected. God sends Elijah off to hide by a wet weather creek. There the ravens
feed him.
Fear falls upon the whole land as crops fail and water sources dry up. After a
while, even the creek that supplied Elijah with water stopped flowing. Because of
this, God commands Elijah to go Zarephath, an industrial town on the Phoenician
coast whose name in Hebrew means metalworking shop. There he is to live with
a widow who from all appearances is neither a Jew nor a follower of God.
Somewhere outside the city, in the area that is no-man’s land, the prophet
finds a woman gathering sticks for her last meal. She must do the entire work of
the family since she has no husband and her son is too young to work. Breaking
through the cultural norms, Elijah speaks to the unnamed woman and he asks the
enemy, a worshiper of Baal, to bring him a drink. As she goes to find a precious
glass of water, Elijah adds a ridiculous request. Please bring me a bit of bread.
For the widow, the cold hard facts of the drought brought by God and King
Ahab’s rule have added up to one harsh reality. Her family is starving to death and
she knows that they will surely die. She has nothing to share and by the all the
rules of God, Elijah should be providing her with food. She then does something
that most of us cannot even grasp. She talks to the stranger and exposes her heart
to him when she tells Elijah that she has only one meal left and then she and her
son will die.
In the midst of the drought and the stench of starvation, the prophet replies
with these strange words, “Do not be afraid.” God will provide us what we need.
This utterance pierces the woman’s heart. Without fully knowing what was to

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come and in the face of all logic, she divides her food three ways. God’s Word
comes true and this blended family has enough to eat for many days.
Tragedy strikes once again, when the widow’s young child dies. Now she is
truly alone in the world. The last member of her family is dead and she now has
the face the future without any social net.
The story now takes an unexpected turn. After taking the dead child from his
mother’s arms, Elijah brings the body to the prophet’s room. He cries out to God,
“Why? Why does death visit this house?” In some strange ritual, he places his
body on top the the corpse and then calls out to God, “Let him live.” After the
third repetition of this routine, the child is given life.
Finally, our text for the day ends with the widow confessing that Elijah faith-
fully serves the Lord.
On the surface and visible for all to see are many frightening aspects of our
lesson from first Kings. The most obvious example has to be the drought. The
weather, which we depend on for our daily life, had turned hostile to life itself.
The lack of water caused the failure of crops, the death of animals, and ultimately
the death of men, women, and children. We live in an area of the world that too
much water often threatens us. The river can overflow its banks, a storm from
the Gulf can drown us, and we know what it looks like when the leave breaks.
Second, the Phoenician widow brings into clear focus what it means to live on
the sharp edge of life where even one false move means death for either you or
your loved ones. If she had mistakenly trusted a charlatan, she would have killed
herself and her child. All around us are people that still live on this thin razor’s

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edge. One missed day at work, one fewer hand in the fields, or one less house
cleaned means difficult decisions must be made. Do we pay the rent, feed the
children, or purchase your medicine? Each of us know in one way or another the
universal fear of having a loved one die. This is the third fear that we all share.
When a younger sibling dies before an older brother or sister, if a child dies before
their parents, or a grandchild before their grandparents we feel that life has been
upended. Throughout the rest of our lives, this pain never quite leaves us. Every
holiday, every special occasion, and every time that we want to talk with them all
remind us that a loved one is gone.
Deep below the all of these fears is the scary part of the story that most of us do
not like to talk about. What happens when God does not answer our prayers? Or
to be even more blunt, “Why was Elijah’s prayer answered when ours was not?”
On the one hand, we have those people who know exactly the reason why God
says “No!” to our prayers. In their way of thinking, we have not done enough.
That is why God is denying our request. For them, it might be that we have have
not lead a life pleasing to God or that our faith is not strong enough. The message
that they would have us believe is that God will continue to say no until we change
our life.
On the other hand, there is a group of people who believe that God does not
or cannot listen to prayer. Their way of thinking is just as stark as the first group.
In their minds, God cannot be bothered to intervene in our little problems because
God has better things to do. The logical extreme of this idea is that God completely
ignores our prayers. It might be that God is too busy or it even could be that God

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does not exist.
Someplace between these two extremes of needing to work harder and a deaf
God, we hear a lot of answers that are meant to make us feel better. You know
the ones that I am talking about. These responses normally take the form of, “God
needs them more than you do.” or “God needed another angel.”
As Lutherans, we disagree with all of the previous answers. In the first case,
no one ever can “do enough” to make God love them. We trust that God is a
loving Father and will do what is best for us. Next, we take seriously the entire
life of Jesus. Here we had a perfect man (Hebrews 5:9.). Despite His lack of sin
and His earnest request for the cup to pass from Him, Jesus still suffered and died
(Matthew 26:39, 42; Mark 14:16; Luke 22:42.). Christ’s example is the final proof
that disproves the idea that God only says “No” to those people who have not done
enough. In the second example, where people think that God ignores us, we trust
in the words of Jesus. He has told us that God is like a loving Father who will give
us what we need (Matthew 7:8-11; Luke 11:9-13.). Even more importantly, we
have Christ’s life that shows us the depth God’s love for you and for me. For the
people that offer us meaningless words, just remember that they are hurting also
and are just looking for some reason to a question that we cannot answer.
This final statement of “I do not know.” is the hardest response to give and in
reality it is most accurate answer that we can give one another when God fails to
give us an acceptable reply to our prayers.
The phrase “I do not know.” is not one of resignation that God is powerless
to change the world. We believe that God raised His Son to life and this is a

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judgement for the entire world. All who believe in Him will be given a life like
His (Romans 6:4-11; 1 John 3:2.). Neither is this answer a cold hearted acceptance
of the current state of affairs. God has put us in charge of the world and in the
final analysis we are responsible for what happens here on earth (Genesis 1:26.).
Instead, we when say “I do not know.” it admits the truth that we are limited
creatures who do not know what God has in mind (1 Corinthians 13:12.).
Unfortunately, the very scary story that we see daily is not the answer of “I
do not know.” but instead the actions in our lives that show we do not trust God.
Before us today we have three wonderful examples of trust. Elijah trusted God’s
Word and moved to Zarephath. The widow listened to God and brought Elijah
both food and water. These deeds of Elijah and the widow show what is possible
when we follow God’s Word. Think what of what might of happened if either of
these people said no to God. Elijah, the widow, and the boy would have starved to
death.
The grace present in the widow’s house several thousand years ago can also
be found amoung us today. Just like her, an enemy of God, we have been accepted
just as we are. This love of God for you and me can be clearly seen in the loaf of
bread that we have before us.
The miracles that are happening here in this loaf of bread are almost too many
to mention. At the table before us, Christ is here with us today. He is present in the
bread.3 Not only that, at the same time that He is here, Jesus is at the right hand
of the Father and He is also with all the others throughout space and time that
3
Large Catechism Fifth Part, 8; ?,

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are eating this bread with us.4 The results of this simple meal of bread and wine
are absolutely amazing. In the words of Luther, this loaf of bread that eat together
“guides us through death into eternal life.”5
Is not that exactly what happened in the widow’s house so many years ago?
God provided the bread to her and because of the bread, the woman lived, and
finally came to faith.
As you and your family go off into the summer, do not forget the ritual of
telling stories around the campfire. Maybe in addition to the normal scary tales
you can add another story to your repertoire about the loaf of bread that never
ends.
Just one more frightening tale before we go. We also live in a time of drought.
However, it is not the shortage of water that comes about due to lack of rain upon
the land. Instead in our county and country, we have a dryness of the body, mind,
and spirit. All around us are family, friends, and neighbors that are not associated
with any faith at all. These men, woman, and children have never received God’s
life giving waters of forgiveness found in baptism. They are literally dying from
the lack of water and this is frightening them.
But that is not all, these same people are hungry for the Word from God that
tells them of radical acceptance. No matter how much they eat, they can never
4
For more information see 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 where Paul teaches that Christ is in heaven,
Christ is the Eucharist, and Christ is the church, which is “assembled around them.” ?, . This
statement is based on work the “groundbreaking” work by John A. T. Robinson, in ?, . ?, . Other
examples of how Christ is at multiple places in the Eucharistic meal include: Galatians 6:17; 1
Corinthians 5:3; 9:27; 15:44; 10:17; 11:29.
5
?, .

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satisfy their hunger and this scares them. No one has told that God loves them just
as they are nor has anyone informed them that God wants to give them a free meal
of the finest bread and the best wine at the Lord’s Table.
We, like that unnamed widow in today’s lesson from First Kings, all know that
this church is down to our last handful of meal and final cup of oil. If you listen
hard enough you can hear this dire news being spoken. When our meager supplies
finally run out, we will close our doors. Pray that God sends us enough meal and
oil to last until the rain of the Spirit spreads God’s life saving water across this
parched land.
“The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, keep your hearts and
minds through Christ Jesus.”6

6
Philippians 4:7.