When the widow approaches the prophet Elisha in 2 Kings 4:1-7, she is desperate not only to feed her two children but to save them from being sold into slavery – seemingly her only option to pay off a debt that has come due. Elisha asks what she has in her house. The woman finds a jar of oil. Elisha then asks her to borrow empty vessels, and not just a few, from her neighbors. Elisha tells her to start pouring oil from her own jar into the borrowed ones. The woman pours and pours, until she runs out of jars. Now she can sell the oil, pay her debts, and feed her family.
Some might point to the woman’s own agency in the story, as she put forth effort to help alleviate her poverty. But the more powerful truth is that she couldn’t do it on her own. The widow needed the help of her community. She gathered jars from neighbors. She received help from Elisha. Her family’s nourishment was a community effort. God’s love was enacted collectively to alleviate hunger and sustain well-being.
This message is from “We do it together,” by Lisa A. Smith in the April 2021 Gather magazine.
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