The Widow's Oil

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You know, uh sometimes God gives you a little bit of a revelation as to what he's doing.

Now, God knows that I'm going to be giving this message on March the 10th of 2024, but I didn't know that.

But God showed me that I would be here delivering your sermon today through a series of events that led me to be the preacher when I was not supposed to preach.

I'm going to give you guys a little bit of a glimpse into church operations.

Last November we had a big staff meeting.

We do it once a year and we set the calendar.

We're going to do extravaganza here and harvest jam and this event and that event.

And then Pastor Rick gives the preaching schedule.

And a lot of times when Pastor Rick gives the preaching schedule, us underpastors get assignments like Spring Forward Day.

And sometimes the underpastors get the chance to delve into some of the more obscure topics of the Bible.

For example, last year, Pastor Eli, in his first ever sermon to CCW, explored Joshua and his treaty with the Gibeonites.

If you're not familiar with that, don't worry, because he wasn't either.

And so this year at our November staff meeting, some four months ago, Pastor Rick assigned Eli March the 10th.

And knowing what Eli had done with the Gibeonites, I went to 2 Kings just to see what he was going to be preaching.

Maybe Jeroboam or the Moabites or King Og.

I don't even know if that's a king.

But when I got to 2 Kings chapter 4, it was this story.

2 Kings 4 · chapter mention

And some eight years ago, God began working on me about this widow and her oil.

And I said, Rick, man, can I please preach?

And Eli was good with it.

So he gets Palm Sunday.

And I'm here today.

That's not all though, because on February the 3rd, I was in my recliner about 4 o'clock Sunday afternoon, kind of, oh, Saturday, one-eyeing the Stantford basketball game.

And I get a text from Rick that says, I may need you on standby tomorrow.

And I said, standby to preach?

And he said, Yes.

And so I went upstairs and started getting this ready.

And within about 30 minutes, I said, Rick, I've got the Wit of Soil, it's about ready.

And I'm excited to preach tomorrow.

And Rick called me and said, I'm healed.

One hour.

So if you take the word coincidence out of your vocabulary, I believe that I'm supposed to be here today in this place, and I believe you are too.

And I thank God for showing me that.

So let's go.

If you've been coming the last few weeks, I think you've heard from the stand series that you're ready, you've seen from the stand series that God is working here.

God is moving here, God is speaking here.

And if you're here today, I would imagine you're looking for a word, an encouragement, a conviction from the Lord.

I hope that you are, because it's been happening.

God is in this place.

So let's read the passage, 2 Kings chapter 4, verses 1 through 7.

2 Kings 4:1–7

A certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, Your servant, my husband, is dead.

And you know that your servant feared the Lord.

And the creditor is coming to take my two sons to be his slaves.

So Elisha said to her, What shall I do for you?

Tell me, what do you have in the house?

And she said, Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.

And then he said, Go borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbors, empty vessels.

Do not gather just a few.

And when you have come in, you shall shut the door behind you and your sons, then pour into all those vessels and set aside the full ones.

So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons, who brought the vessels to her, and she poured it out.

Now it came to pass when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, Bring me another vessel.

And he said to her, There is not another vessel.

So the oil ceased.

And then she came and told the man of God, and he said, Go sell the oil and pay your debt, and you and your sons live on the rest.

Let's pray.

Father God, I thank you that you are an all-knowing, all-powerful, perfect, and holy God.

And I thank you that you love us enough that you talk to us, Lord.

And God, I thank you for what I know you're going to do here today, and I thank you for what you're already doing here, even right now.

I pray, God, that if there's only one person who gets only one word, that's the word from you today, that it will be loud and clear to them.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

As a little bit of background on this passage, I want to identify some characters.

First of all, we see Elisha.

Elisha is the mentee of Elijah.

And last week they were walking together, and Elisha went up, the mantle fell, Elisha picked the mantle up, and he parted the Jordan, as I recall.

So Elisha is kind of set up as the man of God at this time.

He's taken the mantle.

We still use that phrase sometimes today.

In more of 2 Kings chapter 2, you see him doing some miraculous things.

2 Kings 2 · chapter mention

He heals some water, okay?

And then he's going down the street, and some rowdy teenagers, 42 of them, the Bible tells me, are making fun of Elisha, calling him baldhead.

So Elisha calls two female bears from down the hill to come and maul the 42 teens.

That's in the Bible, 2 Kings 2, 24 through 25.

You can't make it up.

So we have Elisha is the man of God.

And also this wife that we come to is a wife of the sons of the prophets.

You may not have heard it last week, but several times during this event between Elijah and Elisha, we see the sons of the prophets.

The sons of the prophets are the ones who come out and say, Don't you know today your master will be taken?

And then again, don't you know today your master will be taken?

One group of them was in Bethel, the other group of them was in Jericho.

When the Jordan parted, the sons of the prophets were there.

And when Elisha picked up the mantle, the sons of the prophets said, It looks like the spirit of Elijah has fallen on Elisha.

So, sons of the prophets are operating all around the areas at this time.

There are different groups of them, and they have some seeing power.

They have some prophecy.

They also have some stranger power.

In 1 Kings chapter 20, verse 35, one of the sons of the prophets told his friend to hit him.

1 Kings 20:35

And his friend said, I'm not going to hit you.

And the son of the prophet said, Well, since you've disobeyed the word of the Lord, a lion will eat you as soon as you depart from me.

Man walked away, ate up by a lion.

These are powerful guys, they're faithful guys, they're dedicated servants of the Lord.

And as we come to 2 Kings chapter 4, we meet a widow, but not just any widow.

2 Kings 4 · chapter mention

It is a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets.

And her husband has died, and she has her two sons, and she had a husband who was faithful, and he was a dedicated servant.

And I imagine when he died, people may have said, Man, there's a lot of people who probably deserve to die a lot more than this guy.

There was probably people who said, Man, he died so young.

And he left his wife and kids.

And the widow, when we meet her, despite the fact that her husband was a dedicated, faithful servant, she's not living her best life.

Point one today, faithful people suffer.

Jesus made us a lot of promises.

He said that we would have rest if we come to him.

He said that he would be with us where we go.

He promised that he would love us.

But I can't find where he ever said, follow me, and everything's gonna be easy and great.

In fact, in John 16, 33, he kind of says the opposite.

He says, These things I've told you that in me you may have peace.

In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer.

I've overcome the world.

There's a lot of people who are looking for peace in the world.

All different kinds of things.

But Jesus says, only in me there's going to be peace.

The world is tribulation.

Search for your peace in him.

He's not the only one, though.

Paul told the Romans in Romans 5 3, glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance and perseverance, character.

And character, hope.

James, Jesus' half-brother, he basically started out his little book with, Hey, how you doing?

Count it all joy when you fall into trials of various kinds, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.

Peter, yeah, 1 Peter 4.13.

Beloved, don't think it strange concerning the fiery trial which has been sent, but instead rejoice to the extent you participate in Christ's sufferings.

When his glory is revealed, you'll be glad with exceeding joy.

Jesus, Paul, James, Peter all have one message.

The same.

Now, the theme of the New Testament is love, but when you start going past that, suffering for Christ is kind of right up there.

One of the strangest verses and the hardest for me to grasp is Philippians 1.29, where Paul says, it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for his sake.

It's been granted like a privilege to suffer for Jesus.

That's not a good sales pitch.

Come to Jesus, suffer tribulation, fiery trials, and rejoice.

In fact, count it all joy because it's a privilege.

You'll develop patience and perseverance and character.

I don't know about you, but that's not how I approach my trials and tribulations.

And if I did, you would stay away from me.

You would say, Dave's a nut, guys.

He's in big trouble and he's not trying to get out of it.

Kids don't go near him because he says he's working on character or something.

And we we'll do that at the house.

But it's what we're told to do.

And we're supposed to work towards it.

And let's be honest, you can't control the trial.

Except sometimes you can control the trial when you do something stupid.

But but you can't always control the trial, but you can always control what your perspective over the trial is.

And it takes a strong and mature person to rejoice in trials and tribulations and to count it joy.

In fact, even Jesus had trouble.

He said, Oh Father, if it is possible, take this cup from me.

When you come to Christ, it's not always sunshine and rainbows and happy music playing in the background.

And don't try to force it.

And don't lie to yourself about it.

Sometimes it can be really hard to rejoice.

We see this widow here, and things aren't good for her.

And she's not joyfully exclaiming how great everything is.

In fact, she cries out to Elisha, hoping to get some help.

Point two today for you is ask for help.

Let me tell you, I want your help.

I love help.

Help is a great thing.

You find out so much about people when you work with them.

Many hands make light work of all jobs.

Teamwork makes the dream work.

I know all about teams and rallying the troops, and I would just about not rather do it than to have to ask you for your help.

There's no INT, but there's one right dead in the middle of pride.

And man, I've got a ton of that stuff.

I'm like a big two-year-old.

I want to do it by myself, and I don't want you to touch it.

And if I have to, I'm not going to ask.

And if it gets too hard, I'll just go find something else that I can do.

The Bible's pretty clear about that too.

Ecclesiastes 4 9, all the way down to 12.

I mean, you know it.

Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their labor.

If one falls, one will lift his companion up, but woe to him who is alone when he falls.

He has no one to help him up.

Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm, but how can one be warm?

Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him.

And a threefold cord is not easily broken.

I can just almost quote it, but still, I want to do it on my own.

And I'm going to tell you why.

So everybody can say, How did Dave do that?

Look at what Dave did.

Bible talks about that too.

Rick preached it last week.

Philippians 2, 3.

Let nothing be done through selfish ambition and conceit, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than himself.

But you know what?

That's not what I learned in school.

That wasn't the motto at the Roper House, come home work time.

That's not the system.

The system is study hard, do your best, compete, make the highest grade that you can.

If you can't hack it, that's a sign of weakness.

Teamwork did not make the dream work in my algebra 2 class.

I promise.

I know.

You get help from a friend in school, it's called cheating.

Class rank, GPA, ACT, SAT, done none of that jive would let nothing be done through selfish ambition and conceit.

The message today is not about the education system, but I want to tell you that it creates a you versus the world mentality, even Christian schools.

And I was pretty good at school.

And so I struggle mightily to ask for help because I don't want to admit that I can't.

The widow in the story here, I think she has the same problem.

We pick her up, she's at the very end of her rope.

How long has she been trying to do it on her own?

Her husband died, she's depleted all of her resources, she's borrowed money, she can't repay the debt, and the creditor's coming to take her sons.

Some of that sounds pretty familiar, probably.

This didn't happen overnight.

And finally, when there's nothing else to do, the widow seeks the Lord.

We're not created to do it alone.

God created a body of believers, and he's given us gifts and talents and abilities.

And in 1 Peter 4 10, we're instructed as each has received a gift, minister it to one another as good stewards of the grace of God.

Ask for help from your body, from your pastor.

Beat down pride and admit you can't do it, Dave.

One day a guy here, Brandon Mignelle, told me this: don't rob God's people of the chance to minister to you.

Stuck with me.

Number three, Rick said this at the serve team meeting this morning without knowing I was going to preach it.

Use what you have.

The widow cries out to Elisha and she tells him what's wrong.

But if you look closely and carefully, that four-letter word, H-E-L-P, does not come out of her mouth.

She's asking for help without asking for help.

I think there's a lot of people in this world today who are asking for help without asking for help.

Man, be attentive to those people because it can be really hard sometimes to ask.

Elisha responds to this cry out, this plea with two questions.

The first thing he asks the widow is, What shall I do for you?

And second, before she even says anything, he says, Tell me what do you have in the house.

And the widow says, Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.

Do you know what that means?

That means she has something in the house.

Hear me today, CCW.

There's something in the house.

Each and every one of you here today, if you know Jesus, you've got something in the house.

You may not think it's enough.

You may not like what you have.

You might think no one wants what you have, or you might wish you have what someone else has, but you have something.

Jesus told a parable in Matthew chapter 25 about the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 25 · chapter mention

And he said, The kingdom of heaven is like a master who went on a far journey, and he had three servants, and one of them he gave five talents, one of them he gave two talents, one of them he gave one talent.

As the story goes, when the master returned, the servant who had five talents added five to it.

The servant who had two talents added two to his, and the servant who had one talent buried and hid his talent and gave it back to the master.

Well, to the first two servants, Jesus said, Well done, my good and faithful servant.

You've been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many.

Enter into the joy of the Lord.

But to the last servant who hid his talent, Jesus said he was a wicked and lazy servant.

And he took that talent away and he cast the servant into darkness.

Couple things below the surface of this parable.

Number one, every servant got something.

Nobody got a zero.

Because God made you, and God doesn't make zeros.

And if you're a Christian here today, you've got exactly what God gave you, and it's valuable, and you are too.

The question is, are you gonna use what you've got?

Why don't we use what we've got?

Number one, we don't value what God gave us.

We believe we're not enough.

We don't think we have enough.

We don't respect the gifts that the Creator gave us.

So what do we do?

We hide our talents and abilities.

Another reason we don't use what we have is we're so focused on what everybody else has that we get jealous and bitter.

I don't have what fill in the blank has.

I don't have enough money.

I'm not strong enough to do that.

I can't speak well enough to do that.

Me lead a children's ministry.

I don't know anything about fill in whatever blank, but I can tell you who would be really good at it.

It's not a biblical saying, but it's one worth repeating.

Comparison will steal your joy.

Don't be worried about what everybody else has.

That just keeps you from using what you have.

The second principle under the surface of the parable of the talents when the master reconciled the accounts, the servant who started with two worked his whole life and finished with four, which was less than the servant who started with five had at the beginning.

But they both pleased the master.

And he said the same thing to both of them, and they both got the same reward.

Don't be looking around at what everybody else has.

Just look at what you have.

Last summer, Lee and Kelly Hibbs invited me to go to Mission Serve in Mobile.

It's part of the old World Changers group where you go to a neighborhood and roof and paint houses and looking for opportunities to share Christ with people while you're there.

Fifteen people from this church went down to Mission Serve.

And we got there, and Lee had told me, we're gonna leave this picture up for a minute.

Lee had told me that I could go for free if I would agree to lead a crew.

And I told Lee that I would lead a paint crew.

And Lee told me, No, you don't want to lead a paint crew.

You want to lead a roofing crew.

And I explained to him that never, ever, ever, ever, ever, in my 44 years.

On the planet, had I ever nailed down or taken up even a single shingle on a roof.

Well, Lee told me that he could teach me how to do it in 15 minutes in the Home Depot parking lot.

Now let me tell you this.

I've been on some roofs before.

And generally an eight to ten foot ladder I can tackle, especially getting up.

But getting down sometimes I'm a little bit nervous.

One time when I was about seven years old, I climbed up the ladder with my next door neighbor, July, had my shorts on, and I became stuck on top of that house.

And his grandfather had to come and rescue me to get my foot on the first wrong of that ladder.

Later on, he rescued me from the little teeth on the top of a chain link fence.

I got stuck a lot as a kid.

Lots of rescue opportunities.

But with Lee's assurance, I agreed to go to Mobile and be a roofing construction captain, and I was scared, so I did what you do when you're scared.

I YouTube.

And on YouTube I found a video of a man who was roofing a doghouse.

And that gave me some pointers.

And then I Googled up some of these terms that I kept hearing thrown around so flippantly, like uh drip edge, ridge vent, three-tab and architectural and fire and ice shield.

Don't know what that means?

Don't worry.

I didn't either.

But we were going to Mobile and I was committed to being a captain.

So we got down there and we have a picture on Saturday night before we go out to roof on Monday.

I hope the picture can come back.

But on Saturday night, we have our team come around into this old church where we were staying.

And I had recruited Brooke Morgan, who's in the back.

She's a college graduate.

I know that she's roofed a house before.

Her dad is Dennis.

He's a construction guru.

And I said, well, at least me and Brooke can get started on this thing, and we'll figure the rest out.

And then Brooke brought her friend, and her friend's like a country girl, and you want country folks a lot of times to roof houses.

So we're holding up our sign and it says Team Charlie.

And I'm looking at all these like 11, 12-year-olds running around.

Nothing bad about 11, 12-year-olds, but I was like, I don't even know what I'm doing.

How am I gonna do 11?

First guy shows up.

I said, Hey, I'm Dave.

He said, Hey, I'm Cale.

I said, How old are you?

19.

Just graduated college, studying engineering.

You ever roofed a house before?

Yeah, about three or four times.

I've been to Mission Servic the last three or four years.

Next guy shows up in the picture, big, tall, curly headed guy.

He just graduated high school, lives on a farm, roofed a house the last three summers at Mission Serve.

Then the little guy in the Hawaiian shirt shows up and I said, Hey, and he's really quiet.

He said, Hey.

And I said, What's your name?

Colin.

I said, Have you ever roofed a house before?

And he said, one of the sweetest things that I may have heard the whole week.

I said, How many houses have you roofed?

And he said, I don't know.

Well, let me just tell you, old Dave Roper knew exactly how many houses he had roofed standing right there.

And I still know how many.

And if you ever go to roof a house, you want to get you somebody who doesn't know how many they've roofed.

And then there's a tall guy in the middle.

His name's Logan Masters.

He is a factory supervisor in South Georgia, 38 years old, and he comes up and he's on the team.

And I said, Have you ever roofed a house?

Yeah, I put one on my aunt's house this past spring.

And I said, Have you ever done any more?

He said, Yeah, I used to come to mission serve when I was a kid.

And Logan told me, I just didn't feel qualified to lead a crew.

I had a loaded deck.

And you know what I had to do?

I had to look at all of this talent that God put around me, and I have to tell him, look, guys, I've got no idea what I'm doing, but I'm gonna be your leader.

And I may not know how to roof a house, but I know how to make sure materials get there, and I know how to keep things moving, and I know how to have fun while we're doing it, and I know how to talk and listen to people, and I know how to pray and tell people about Jesus.

That was my widow's oil.

Work started on Monday and it rained every day and it was hot, but we got to pray with the lady in the house and we prayed with people who were walking up and down the street, because in these neighborhoods there's not much construction.

And I got to talk to these guys and these girls individually about life transitions they're having and going from high school to college and going from college into the workforce.

And on Thursday, about two o'clock, my team called me up on the roof and gave me the honor and privilege, they were insistent, that I nail the last nail in the last shingle that went on that house.

And it was the only one that I put in the whole week long.

But you know what?

We worshiped and we joked and we went out to eat and we played together and we hung out, and there's a kid from here named Philip who went with us, and on Wednesday night, he prayed to receive Christ.

And we met fellow believers from all over.

And item number one on the Roper Kids list of things to do this summer is go to mission serve.

On the way up I-65 on Saturday, me and Ella were driving in my truck, and I was overwhelmed with emotion.

How I had been able to be the leader of a team to do something I could never do myself, because that's not me.

In a soft, still voice, God said, Dave, my grace is sufficient for you.

For my strength is made perfect in weakness.

You may not think what you have is enough, but my God, who I serve, He is enough.

And He has given me exactly what I need to do what He has for me to do.

I just have to use what I have.

The widow has nothing but a jar of oil.

But you know what?

She's got a jar of oil.

Let's see what Elisha tells her to do with it.

Point four, do the work.

Let's look at verses three and four again.

Elisha said, Go borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbors, empty vessels.

Do not gather just a few.

And when you have come in, you shall shut the door behind you and your sons, and then pour it into all those vessels and set aside the full ones.

I don't know exactly what the widow was hoping for when she went to the man of the Lord, but she got an instruction to do some work.

I'm here to tell you today that Jesus died for your sins.

It's a debt you can't pay by yourself, and he rose again, that you can live forever with him if you just call on his name.

We're saved by grace and not through faith.

Not of by grace and faith, not of ourselves.

Salvation's the free gift of God.

It's not by works.

That comes from Ephesians 2, 8 and 9.

But the very next verse says we're created in Christ for good works.

Jesus paid the price for your sins.

There's nothing you can do to earn that.

But I really believe that your greatest blessing this side of heaven might be just the other side of a little bit of work.

There's a lot of examples in the Bible of God doing miracles, but the people still having to put in to get the fullness of the blessing.

One of my favorites comes from Exodus 14, where God parts the Red Sea and saves the children of Israel from the Egyptians and Pharaoh.

But they still had to walk across.

Good couple miles, I think.

He could have just miracled them over there.

But they had to walk.

And knowing the children of Israel, I bet some of them had something to say about it.

But God has created us to do work.

So the widow in the story takes an inventory of what she has, and then Elisha tells the widow to go and borrow empty vessels, and not just a few, and bring them into the house.

As we think about vessels, there's a few definitions.

One is a boat or ship.

Garth Brooks says, I will sail my vessel until the river runs dry.

Another definition of a vessel is a hollow container.

And another definition of a vessel in the Bible, from Jeremiah all the way through New Testament, is people.

2 Corinthians 4.7, we hold this treasure in earthen vessels.

2 Timothy 2.21, if a man cleanses himself, he's a vessel to honor.

1 Peter 3.7, husbands honor your wife as the weaker vessel.

In the Bible, vessels means people.

So CCW.

Go gather the empty vessels.

And don't just get a few.

Get the big and the small and the medium-sized vessels.

The ugly and the pretty and the rusty and the shiny vessels.

Get those that are polished and the dirty ones and the stinky, chipped, and cracked vessels.

Get those that are broken and those that are close by and those that are far away.

Go get the gold and silver and bronze vessels, the white, black, red, yellow, purple, and multicolored vessels.

Go into the highways and hedges and compel them to come into the house that they may be filled, says the Lord.

It doesn't take a whole lot of special skill to gather up vessels.

But they're probably not going to come by themselves.

Use what you have.

And you all have something.

Be in the vessel gathering business.

The second thing, fill them up.

Elisha tells the widow to pour into the vessels.

And the widow does it.

Her sons go and get vessels, and they bring one to her.

Interestingly enough, she doesn't count her sons as resources.

Your children can be resources if you train them up.

Teach them that's what they're supposed to be.

Her sons bring a vessel, and the widow fills it up and sets it to the side.

And then another vessel, and she fills it up and sets it to the side.

I imagine the first two or three pours took a whole lot of faith.

Because she thought she was going to run out of oil.

But then God did something amazing in the life of the widow, and the oil didn't run out.

I think that's how faith works sometimes.

You step out and it's kind of like, eh, I'm not sure.

And then God does something amazing.

But then a lot of times the new wears off.

And God has done the amazing thing, and you're living in faith, but you just got to keep doing the work.

Pouring and pouring and pouring and just keep filling up the vessels.

I don't think it's any coincidence that the widow in the story has oil.

She might have just as well had barley or flour or something like that, but she has oil.

We see a lot of oil in the Bible.

In Exodus chapter 30, God gave Moses a recipe to make oil to anoint Aaron and his sons as priests for service.

Exodus 30 · chapter mention

People still anoint with oil sometimes today, but since Jesus has died and risen again, we are priests and ministers.

And 1 John 2.20 tells us that we have an anointing from the Holy One, the Holy Spirit.

So, like the Old Testament priests were anointed with oil for works and service, we're anointed with the Holy Spirit.

The widow didn't have much, but she had oil.

And you may be here today and you may not have much.

But if you love Jesus and have accepted him as your Lord and Savior, you've got the Holy Spirit.

Go get the vessels and fill them up.

Now you can't pour the Holy Spirit into anybody.

Only God can do that.

But you know what you can pour in?

Fruit.

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control.

Can you see it, CCW?

A church house full of fruit-filled vessels.

How beautiful would it be?

All kinds of vessels of shapes and sizes and colors and conditions.

Earthen vessels carrying the treasure of the excellence that's the power of God.

Vessels that are hard-pressed but not crushed.

Perplexed but not in despair.

Persecuted but not forsaken.

Struck down but not destroyed.

Oh, can you see it?

You got the power to get them here.

Lastly, vessel filling and care.

Or care and maintenance.

Excuse me.

Vessel care and maintenance.

The thing about filling a vessel is you can't just dump into it and expect that it's all going to work out.

Some vessels have a great big wide mouth.

And you can pour into them and it's all fine.

They're ready to receive.

But other vessels, they have a little bitty narrow opening.

And if you just dump, it's going to make a big mess, and not much is going to get in the vessel.

You know what you got to do?

You got to pick them up, hold them close, take time, and pay attention.

And then you can fill them up.

There's other vessels you're going to find out there, and they're all closed up.

And you got to open them up before you can get anything in them.

And sometimes it's so hard to get one open.

I mean, you've got to get some help.

There's one thing I know about opening a vessel, though.

You can't do it without touching it.

You're going to find vessels that are dirty, nasty, disgusting.

You might have to get your hands dirty.

And you may try to get the vessel washed up, but don't make being getting clean a requirement to get full.

You can still fill up a dirty vessel.

Some vessels are cracked or chipped, and they might cut you while you're filling them.

Sometimes they may even cut you after they get full.

Even if you're just trying to pick them up, they may hurt you.

Some vessels are painted up and beautiful.

But when you start pouring into them, you find out that they've got holes and fractures that are hidden.

That only start appearing when they start getting full.

And there's other vessels that are dropped and fallen.

And they're just shattered, laying there all to pieces.

And you wonder, can they ever be valuable again?

They just look so broken.

How could they ever be useful?

And you have to decide whether or not you're going to throw the vessel out or put forth the time and effort to try to help pick up the pieces and put it back together.

Let me tell you, it's really easy to break a vessel.

And it's really easy to throw one out.

But it takes a lot of time and effort and headache and hard work to gather up and put pieces back together.

If you do repair a vessel, though, oh, if you do repair a vessel and you fill the cracks with what's in you, you might just be amazed at how beautiful a thing a repaired vessel can be.

Back to our widow.

Her sons bring a vessel, she fills it up, they bring another, fills it up, she says, bring me another.

And finally, the boys say, There aren't any other vessels.

And then the oil stopped.

Hear me, church.

There's still plenty of vessels out there, and we're not out of oil.

Go get them and fill them up.

The widow reports back to Elisha and she has an Acts 420 story, but she can't wait to speak of what she's seen and heard.

And Elisha tells her to sell the vessels and pay her debt and live on.

And that's where the analogy kind of breaks down.

But hear me, you've got a debt you can't repay.

But we do have vessels we can gather and fill and repair and work on.

And if we do it, I just believe we're gonna keep living on.

You guys stand to your feet.

If you would bow your head and close your eyes.

And my prayer for you today is that God will show you just one vessel that you're supposed to be gathering and filling.

Can you picture just one vessel?

Is it a nice, shiny, pretty vessel?

Or is it an old, dirty, and tarnished vessel?

Is it chipped so that it hurts to touch it?

Or is it a shattered one that's in need of serious repair?

Is the vessel closed up and you've been working to break the seal?

Can you come up with just one in the highways and the hedges?

I pray that you can.

And if not, ask God to show you.

Picture that vessel.

What does it look like?

Where is it right now?

Who's it with?

What's it doing?

How in the world can you ever reach it?

The Bible tells us in James chapter 1, verse 5 if any lacks wisdom, ask God who gives liberally without reproach.

James 1:5

And it will be given.

So right here, right now, with the vessel in your mind, will you ask God to give you wisdom regarding that vessel?

God give me wisdom and three things regarding that wisdom.

God, give me the right approach to take for the vessel you've shown me.

And God give me a glaring opportunity to make that approach with the vessel you've shown me.

And finally, God give me the courage to take the chance that you give me.

Pray for wisdom for approach, opportunity, and courage.

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