In the late 1940’s Dr. Roy Burkhart was Senior Minister of the First Community Church in Columbus, Ohio, and what Time Magazine called "the whirring dynamo of the growing community-church movement." He was the architect of a merger of churches which became the International Council of Community Churches, of which The Church in Aurora is a charter member. His foundational role in that merger required a lot of travel and face-to-face negotiations, some of which arose at a moment’s notice without allowing time for an airline reservation. Fortunate for Dr. Burkhart, a member of his congregation was a CEO of Ross Laboratories and arranged for the company’s corporate airplane, a Twin Beech, to fly Dr. Burkhart to such hastily arranged meetings. The Chief Pilot of that airplane was my father.

The cabin of a Twin Beech in those days was not pressurized, which often precluded flying over bad weather. On a trip transporting Dr. Burkhart to a last-minute meeting the weather was bad taking off and getting worse the further the plane traveled toward its destination. My father, the consummate corporate pilot with an impeccable record of safety, suggested turning around and heading for home when the destination airport radioed that it was "socked in"—meaning closed to air traffic.

Dr. Burkhart asked if there was enough fuel to continue to the destination and still turn back if the situation on the ground remained unchanged. My father reported there was sufficient fuel but not much of a chance for a change. But he continued on until the plane arrived over the airport and a hole developed in the overcast sky revealing the runways below. My father received clearance to drop the Twin Beech through the hole and land on the ground. As Dad was helping the passengers exit a rather small door in the fuselage, he remarked to Dr. Burkhart that he had never before seen such a thing. Dr. Burkhart replied with a wink, "Remember Fred, the Lord provides for his own."

Perhaps the incident was nothing more than a meaningful coincidence, but it made an impression upon my father, who was not in the habit of making things up, and the story has henceforth been handed down in my family. "The Lord Provides for His Own" is the title of our message for this morning. We don’t always know how he does it, but in his mysterious and miraculous way he does it according to the biblical witness. We will certainly find that to be the case in our text for today.

There we find an Old Testament prophet named Elijah who is navigating through his own stretch of stormy weather. The King of Israel, named Ahab, has been turned astray to worship false gods by his wife, named Jezebel, and most of the country has followed his lead. It is not a particularly popular to be a prophet of Lord Almighty, especially since Elijah has prophesied about a several-year drought and famine which has already started to come upon the land because of its sin. Indeed, already the brooks are beginning to dry up for lack of rain.

So the Lord directs Elijah to flee his homeland for another country near the Mediterranean Coast where he can lie low for the time being. There he will meet a Gentile widow who will provide him with food. This is an odd prospect since widowhood in that time and place was a sure ticket to poverty. Only men could engage in gainful employment. Wives who had lost their husbands were out of luck and consigned to begging for the food they needed--and that their fatherless children needed. This is why widows and orphans are singled out in the Bible for special consideration. They hardly had enough for themselves much less anyone else.

This was the case for the widow that Elijah eventually meets at the gate to the town where the Lord had sent him. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, "Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?" As she was going to get it, he called, "And bring me, please, a piece of bread." "As surely as the Lord your God lives," she replied, "I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die" (Verses 10-12).

When times are tough, they are especially tough for the down and out. This poor widow is down to her last handful of flour. When it is gone she expects to starve with her son. And what does the prophet tell her to do? Give him some of it. Elijah said to her, "Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small cake of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day of the Lord gives rain on the land’" (Verses 13-14).

The woman has already testified that the God of Elijah lives. Now, finding hope in an otherwise hopeless situation, she obeys the prophet based upon his assurance that "The Lord Provides for His Own." She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah (Verses 15-16).

"The Lord Provides for His Own," even when "His Own" happens to be a Gentile widow. How did he do it? We do not know, anymore than we know how a hole in the clouds allowed Dr. Burkhart to do the Lord’s work. When I sought an early release from the Air Force to attend seminary, a Major tried to talk me out of it. He said, "You are an officer making good pay. How are you going to give that up and pay for tuition and room and board and books and everything else? I remember sitting there thinking, "I don’t have an answer for this guy. I have no idea how I am going to do it."

But I felt the Lord leading me to seminary and so I followed in faith, and guess what? After three years of bills being high and funds being low, I still don’t know how he made it happen—but he did. He led me through the wilderness of uncertainty to the Promised Land where I learned to be a Pastor and I met my wife and we had a daughter and then a son and life has been rich and full. I couldn’t have designed a richer and fuller life if I tried.

"The Lord Provides for His Own," and that includes our confirmands if they take their vows seriously and give themselves to the Lord. And that includes our graduating seniors who couldn’t have picked a worse year to graduate according to what I have read in the news. I read that 2009 was the absolute worst year for a student to graduate if he or she wanted to land a job—until 2010 rolled around and it became the worst year yet. It’s tough out there, and it is especially tough if you are a high school or college graduate. The unemployment rate for that age range is closer to 20% than it is to 10%.

Congratulations! I mean that. As I have already told your parents, I believe this Great Recession is fashioning you into the next greatest generation of Americans, just as the Great Depression fashioned its children and youth into the Greatest Generation. You are learning the value of fruitful labor. You are learning to live a cut below your means instead of above. I believe that you are going to discover the next "big thing" that saves this world from the mess my spoiled generation is leaving you.

But I don’t believe you are going to do it on your own. The value in learning the hard lesson that you cannot depend entirely upon yourselves is that you must depend upon one another and you must depend upon that something greater than yourselves that we call God. "The Lord Provides for His Own" even when his own cannot provide for themselves. Whether you are a widow in the days of Elijah or a traveling pastor in the middle of the last century or a young person facing these uncertain times today "The Lord Provides for His Own."

We don’t know how he does it, but the longer we are around, the more we know that he does. Some of those who have been around the longest are in nursing homes. Some of them may not be able to walk, and some of them may not be able to talk. But most all of them can sing, and one of their favorite hymns is "God Will Take Care of You." When you are widowed, "God Will Take Care of You." When your body and mind begin to fail, "God Will Take Care of You." When you take your last breath and your life on earth is over, "God Will Take Care of You." "The Lord Provides for His Own."