I Kings begins the story of the prophet Elijah for us this season. Today's story is particularly strange. Elijah, a Jewish prophet, is told by God to go live in Sidon, the heart of the religious and economic rivalry with Israel in the region. He is not told to condemn anyone there or teach anything, but simply to live there, supported by a widow whom the Lord would show him, trusting that the Lord would provide for them all.
Where have you or your congregation been called to go and simply live, trusting in God's provision? Does the neighborhood around your church building seem strange or even in enmity with the congregation? Are there places in your larger community you may be called — places that seem antithetical to your presence unless you were to go there to offer correction? Rather than illustrating or enacting the biblical characters, consider using projection, artwork, and sound clips of these places to suggest the connections between Elijah's call then and what may be your call now.
There's another angle in this story as well — that of the widow and her son. Is your calling now more like Elijah's, or more like the widow and her son? What is it like to take in someone who comes from your religious and economic rival, especially when you barely have enough to support yourself and your family? Are there stories of times when you or your congregation have taken in strangers who may be rivals or even enemies? What did you stand to lose, but God restored, when you did this? Consider illustrating the second part of the story, if you read it, with images and sounds from such stories.
Galatians may be hard to illustrate. You might think about doing the old movie thing with an image of the map of the ancient world and moving marks indicating Paul's journeys, but that wouldn't really be to the point of this text. Paul's point here is to establish that the gospel he preached in Galatia, and so the way of life he taught them, came directly from Jesus, and not from second- or third-hand sources, while the way of life that others who came later have commended (one based on a stricter interpretation of Jewish Christianity) cannot make that claim. Paul wants these people to live fully into the freedom they have been given in Christ, and not, as he says later, to fall back into slavery to legalisms or mere rituality. He wants them to know the same immediate relationship with Jesus Christ that he has, a relationship that does not require mediation by other religious practices.
What images or sounds communicate, "I'm the real deal" (without sounding arrogant) and "I am saying this for YOUR good, not to exalt myself!" in your congregation and community?
Luke shares some common themes with I Kings. A widow loses her only son, and a prophet restores him. This widow's son, however, was an adult, and so was caring for her. She has lost her only means of support. Her own livelihood and life itself were at stake.
Jesus had compassion. He told the woman not to weep (which must have seemed strange and perhaps insulting or painful to her!). He told her adult son to rise (which must have seemed ludicrous to all). All were filled with fear and glorified God.
How does your congregation show compassion when someone loses their means of support — whether a child or a job? How do you say "Don't weep" in a way that really makes sense in that moment — because what you're about to do is provide support again, as ludicrous as that may seem to some? Illustrate this biblical story with images, sounds, or audio clips of people telling those stories about Christ's compassion alive and active in your midst.