Photo by Cristina Glebova on Unsplash
Jeremiah 1:4-10; Luke 4:21-30
Do you like to feed the birds or watch them out your window? Stuart Dahlquist and his wife like to do this too. Every day they would leave a dish of dried cat food by the back door for a family of crows, a mated pair and their two yearlings. One day when Stuart was by his back door, he noticed a sprig of pine with a soda pop tab gently threaded onto it right near the dish he filled with cat food for the birds. What a curious find! The next day, Stuart was astonished to find another pine sprig just like it, also with a soda pop tab threaded onto it. Finding two of these sprigs two days in a row did not seem like an accident, so Stuart and his wife decided to take a walk around their neighborhood to look for an explanation. Maybe some neighborhood kids had made a bunch of these and left them at other houses. Who knows? When Stuart and his wife couldn’t find any other explanation, they decided the crows must have left them at the backdoor as gifts.
We may not be able to prove that the birds left these particular gifts for Stuart, but bird researchers say it wouldn’t surprise them. John Marzluff, a conservation ecologist and author who wrote a book called Gifts of the Crow, says “gifting” behavior among crows and other birds in the corvid family has been observed for a long time. These birds, who have brains more similar in size to small monkeys than to other birds, are highly intelligent and have been known to leave shiny treasures for the humans who feed them. In fact, crows and other birds in the corvid family prefer to leave these kinds of gifts for humans they have established a relationship with rather than with strangers. These smart birds can build tools, learn to count, and recognize human faces–especially the humans who feed them and spend time around them. I have observed this myself as the blue jays my grandma feeds will peck at her back door to let her know they are out of peanuts. [1]
If crows and other corvids are so smart, and if they form positive relationships with humans, why are they not always as beloved as other birds? I suspect some of it is that corvids are not always the prettiest birds. Crows, ravens, and certain kinds of magpies aren’t brightly colored. Their inquisitive eyes can make you feel like you’re being watched. Their beaks are large and curved, and they are bigger than finches and other beloved birds. But, I think one of the main reasons they aren’t as popular among people is because they tend to be scavengers. Their scavenging habits don’t always please our refined sensitivities. In other words, it’s kinda gross. Scavengers consume things that might have diseases, which means that scavengers aren’t the safest things for humans to eat. I suspect this is one of the reasons why ravens were included on the list of birds and animals that were unclean according to Jewish dietary laws.
Last week’s lectionary reading explored the story of Jesus reading from the scroll of Isaiah in the presence of the people at the synagogue. This week’s reading picks up where that one left off, and although this passage doesn’t mention crows or ravens, it does give a nod to an Old Testament story that does. Jesus reads from the scroll of Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Astonishingly, after he read these words, he told the people that the words had been fulfilled in their hearing. They were amazed, and Luke says that everyone spoke well of Jesus. This carpenter’s son from a small village had some incredible learning, and I think the people were pretty proud to say that he was their hometown boy.
Jesus hears their praise, but rather than eat it up and allow it to boost his ego, he refers to two stories from the Old Testament. The story of the healing of Naaman the Syrian military general, and the story of Elijah and the widow at Zarephath. Jesus mentions these two stories as examples of the faith of outsiders. When the people heard Jesus say this, they were enraged and they tried to throw him off of a cliff. Miraculously, Jesus was able to pass through the angry mob and find his way to safety.
So that we can better understand the reaction of the crowd to Jesus’s words, let’s take a closer look at one of these stories: the story of Elijah and the widow at Zarephath from 1 Kings 17. At the beginning of 1 Kings 17, the prophet Elijah brings a message to wicked King Ahab from the Lord. There would be a drought in the land. After bringing the message, Elijah goes out to the wilderness to hide, and while he’s there, God commands ravens to bring Elijah bread and meat morning and night. Elijah receives his water from the wadi – the wilderness river channel that only has water during the rainy season – and he receives his food from ravens, from birds that were considered unclean.
Eventually, the water in the wadi dries up because of the drought, so the spirit of the Lord instructs Elijah to go to the town of Zarephath–a town outside of Israel. The Lord tells Elijah that a widow in this town will feed him. When Elijah makes it to the town, he finds a widow collecting sticks at the city gate. He asks her for water, and she heads away to get it. As she leaves, Elijah asks her for a small cake of bread as well. Her response to his request is heartbreaking. She says, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a jug; I am now gathering a couple of sticks, so that I may go home and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.” Elijah promises her that if she makes him a small cake of bread, God will make sure she and her son are protected. She does what he asks because she believes him, and her small amount of flour and oil lasts until rain once again falls on the land.
When Elijah was no longer safe with his people because of King Ahab’s threats, God used the unclean ravens to feed him. When the water in the land dried up, God fed Elijah through the generosity of a foreign widow who did not even have enough for herself and her son. God protected Elijah and God blessed the widow who had great faith. Can you imagine being down to your last bit of bread, and still being willing to share it with a hungry person? I can only hope to have a sliver of that much faith in my own life. The faith and generosity of the widow at Zarephath moves me and encourages me in my own journey with God.
So, why does it make Jesus’s audience so angry when he reminds them of this story? Jesus tells them that they only like what he’s telling them because they think he will soon do miracles for them just like he’s done in other places. They want to be proud of having a hometown boy who became something spectacular. They were focused on themselves and what Jesus could do for them, rather than on what God was doing in the world–what God wanted them to do in the world. Jesus tells them, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s hometown.” He hadn’t come there to say all the right words and do some impressive miracles to earn popularity. He came to bring them the message of God’s kingdom coming into the world. God’s kingdom brings with it miracles, yes, but it also requires us to take action. Jesus fulfilled the words of Isaiah, but he also called us to be people who care about the poor, the oppressed, and the prisoner. Jesus’s words require us to reflect on our lives and how they might need to change. In the long run, this is very good news, but at first, it can be hard to hear.
We have gathered here in worship to celebrate the amazing things God is doing in this place. We have also gathered here to be encouraged. Sometimes we feel like Elijah, like we don’t fit anywhere, and we find ourselves on the outside of all the action. But while we’re there, God provides for us through unexpected kindnesses, unexpected blessings. Just like Elijah was fed by the ravens and the poor widow, God feeds and nourishes us.
We have also gathered here to be challenged. The challenge before us this morning is this: Somewhere in our neighborhoods and in this community, there are people who are overlooked. They are people who have struggled against difficulties in life. They are people who are quiet. They are people who go without notice. We are being challenged this morning to notice and listen to these people. What is happening in their lives? What are their struggles? What would happen if we paid attention and asked what God might want us to do? Sometimes I wonder if Elijah was surprised to find out that the widow who would feed him was one meal away from starvation herself. I wonder if he found it strange that God chose a non-Israelite, poor, widowed woman to be the one who rescued him. And yet God told him to look for her, and when Elijah found her he was blessed.
Today, I hope you’ll pause for a moment and look around. Listen to the birds and watch their habits. Maybe start a relationship with a bird or two. And allow yourself to be curious about who lives near you, the people whose paths you cross. I suspect that each of these people are gifts, lovingly placed here by God.
[1] https://www.estuarymagazine.com/2020/06/the-many-gifts-of-a-crow/