Struggle Meals and God's Grace

The First Reading 1 Kings 17:1-16

A reading from the First Book of Kings.

Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.” The word of the Lord came to him, saying, “Go from here and turn eastward, and hide yourself by the Wadi Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. You shall drink from the wadi, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” So he went and did according to the word of the Lord; he went and lived by the Wadi Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the wadi. But after a while the wadi dried up because there was no rain in the land. Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “Go now to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and live there, for I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” So he set out and went to Zarephath. When he came to the gate of the town, a widow was there gathering sticks; he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, so that I may drink.” As she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” But she said, “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 said to her, “Do not be afraid; go and do as you have said, but first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son. For thus says the Lord the God of Israel: The jar of meal will not be emptied and the jug of oil will not fail until the day that the Lord sends rain on the earth.” She went and did as Elijah said, so that she as well as he and her household ate for many days. The jar of meal was not emptied, neither did the jug of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah.

Reader: The word of the Lord. All: Thanks be to God.

Sermon: The Rev. Dr. Maryann Amor

Have you ever heard the term “struggle meal”?

I hadn’t — until I came across an article online about how both “struggle meals” and Hamburger Helper are trending. The article explained that one in four Canadians now face food insecurity. An Angus Reid poll found that 42% of households say their food budget is “difficult” or “very difficult” to manage. Foods that were household staples in the 80s and 90s — Hamburger Helper, ramen noodles, mac and cheese — are making a comeback, not because of nostalgia, but because they’re affordable. People have started experimenting with cheap ways to make these meals taste better or seem fancier than they actually are. That’s what a “struggle meal” is.

Elaine Power, a professor at Queen’s University who studies poverty and food, comments, “The cute videos [of people sharing struggle meal recipes online] give a bit of comfort that [nobody is] alone, but it’s also a symptom of a growing problem — that people really can’t afford the food they need because incomes haven’t kept up with prices.”

Hearing that so many in our western world are struggling to eat properly doesn’t always evoke a strong response. When we go through our own rough patches, we might think, “I shouldn’t be upset about my little problem — I don’t have a terrible illness, I don’t live in an impoverished country, etc.” It’s easy to downplay our local or personal struggles because we know others have it worse. And while it’s true that our experience with food in Canada differs from places where even clean water or a single meal is hard to come by, that doesn’t mean our struggles are less real. The person eating mac and cheese for supper every night faces a different hardship, but it’s still hardship. It’s all relative.

The growing popularity of “struggle meals” reminds us that even in Canada, access to basic necessities can be precarious. Wherever we live, whatever we do for work, we all share the same need for food. We all invest time, money, and energy into finding it, because without it we die. That primal need connects every human being on this planet.

The good news is that, wherever we are, whatever we face, we are also connected by God’s boundless compassion — a God who, throughout scripture, shows deep concern for those who are hungry.

We see this clearly in today’s reading from 1 Kings 17, a story that may not be all that familiar. Elijah has just told the king that God is sending a drought upon the land, and then he flees to a wadi — a riverbed that only holds water during the rainy season. While he is there, God provides for him: the ravens bring him bread and meat, and the wadi gives him water. But when the wadi dries up, God sends him to Zarephath, where he meets a widow preparing what might be called her final “struggle meal” — a small cake of bread for herself and her son before they die of hunger.

Elijah tells her to make the food he needs before feeding herself and her son, saying, “The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.” She does what he says, and her small supply does not run out.

In these two episodes, God transforms those whom society might overlook into givers of life. The raven — an unclean bird — becomes the prophet’s provider. The widow, one of the most vulnerable in society, becomes the one who feeds him. Elijah’s life, his ability to eat, depends not on wealth or status, but on trust — trust in God’s ability to take scarcity and make it enough.

Today we mark World Food Day, created by the United Nations in 1979 to promote awareness of hunger and action for the future of food, people, and the planet. Our reading from 1 Kings speaks directly to this. It reminds us that no matter where we live or what our struggles with food may be, we are called to trust that God can take anyone — even us — and make us sources of nourishment and hope for others. God can use us, can work through us, and through the many organizations that bring food to those in need: Canadian Foodgrains Bank, the Salvation Army, Helping Hands, so many others. All of them are human-run programs through which God provides food, transforming even our small donations — a box of Kraft Dinner, a few school snacks — into life for others.

Maybe “struggle meals” themselves are a kind of gift from God, as weird as that sounds — they are small, humble things that still sustain life.

When we give, when we share, when we advocate for fairer food systems, we participate with God is being providers to others…with God we know that what we offer, even just a little bit, will be enough, because God is involved.

And that promise matters here at home, too. If we — or anyone in our community — fall on hard times, we can take heart knowing that God’s care flows through human hands, through our hands. Through the food gift cards at our church, through our regular support of organisations in our city.

In a world where too many must choose between rent and groceries, or where a bag of rice can mean the difference between hunger and hope, 1 Kings 17 calls us not to turn away, but to act. To remember that God’s provision is not some abstract, pie in the sky concept, but it takes shape in how we live, how we give, and how we trust.

So whether it’s a field of grain on the prairies, a donation to a food bank, or a shared meal at your own table, each act of generosity becomes part of God’s ongoing promise: “The jar of meal shall not be emptied, and the jug of oil shall not fail.”