When all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another one.” But he replied, “There is not a jar left.” Then the oil stopped flowing. – 2 Kings 4:6

Today’s Scripture Reading (November 4, 2016): 2 Kings 4

Modern historians struggle with whether or not there was such a man as Lao-Tzu (the father of Taoism.) He is not alone; there are a number of religious founders who have fallen into the same uncertainty when evaluated under contemporary eyes. Maybe it is the volume of their work or the sudden change in a point of view that makes us question whether that person could actually exist. Even though the crucifixion of Jesus and the sudden existence of his followers in the First century is well attested to by history – even outside of the Bible - there are still those who question whether or not he was a real person. As far as Lao-Tzu is concerned, for some the body of work that is attributed to him is believed to have originated from a community of like-minded people in the sixth century B.C.E. And, to be honest, the real Lao-Tzu (if indeed he did exist) would probably not have it any other way. One of the sayings attributed to Lao-Tzu is that “A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.” The fact that we now question his existence must mean that he lead his people well.

And it seems that Elisha worked under the same understanding. There is no doubt that the miracle in this passage is Elisha’s. But all the way through this story and others, Elisha just instructs. It is the widow who does all the work. She gathers the jars together, borrowed from her neighbors. She is the owner of the oil. She pours the oil into the jars. The resulting oil is only limited by the amount of faith of the woman – as seen in the number of jars that she ultimately obtains. And when the work is done, the selling of the oil and the paying of her debts is left up to her. Elisha gave her the advice and blessed the oil, but the widow did all of the work. And in the end what she produced, outside of the miracle itself, was a product of her faith and her sweat equity.

It still is. We may want a politician to fix things, but the reality is that there is very little that they can do. The conditions of our lives are often decided more by our own drive and our own desires than it is about what the leader of the land declares. We have to do it. We have to take control of our appetites and decide to do things right. It will not be some politician that will provide the miracle that we need. That will come from God. It will be poured out on us by the measure of our faith and our sweat. Nothing will be wasted because we have reached the end of our faith, the oil will stop running, just as it did for the widow who cried out to Elisha.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 Kings 5