Have you eaten? I hope you didn’t come on an empty stomach. Perhaps your stomach is full, but doesn’t your heart feel empty? Are your finances being filled as much as you need? Our church will likely feel emptier in the fall because many people visit Korea then. As we get older, the empty spaces in our lives increase. As teeth fall out one by one, the mouth becomes empty; as calcium leaves the bones, bone density empties; and as muscle leaves the body, the skin becomes crumbly. When children leave, the house becomes empty; when income decreases, the pockets become empty. If our life is a process of emptying a bowl of rice, most of our rice bowls are almost empty. What should we do with a life that keeps getting emptier? Still, everyone, you have done well to come to worship today. David confesses: “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows” (Psalm 23:5, NIV). Today’s worship is the table God has prepared for us. I bless you to be filled to overflowing at this table. I bless you so that you may confess, “My cup overflows.”
The widow of a member of the company of the prophets comes to Elisha. Her husband had died. When the husband’s place became empty in that woman’s life, everything became empty. There is no explanation as to why they fell into debt, but given the circumstances, it is clear that the husband’s death was the cause. Now, even her two sons are in a position where they must go into slavery because of the debt. It is, quite literally, becoming an empty house. How must the woman’s heart feel? Resentment fills the woman’s hollow heart. In the woman’s few words, one can feel a deep resentment seeping through every phrase. Can you see the resentment filled between the lines of her words? “Your servant my husband is dead” (2 Kings 4:1, NIV)—her resentment toward the husband who died first is deep. The nuance is: “Why did this man die so early and make me suffer like this?” But this man was “your servant.” It contains a heart that interrogates Elisha, asking if he shouldn’t feel some sense of responsibility. “And you know that your servant revered the Lord” (2 Kings 4:1, NIV)—moreover, my husband had great faith. So what? What’s the point of having great faith and being loyal? He only left debt and made the family suffer like this. Now my children are to be made slaves. It is a cynical expression filled with such resentment. It is the kind of resentment men who failed to look after their families while doing independence movements during the Japanese colonial period would have received. Independence is good, and patriotism is good, but you do it because you like it—what about us? Do you not understand this heart? Children who suffered like this later react very cynically when they hear the word “patriotism.” Even resentment toward God seeps through the woman’s words. “A creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves” (2 Kings 4:1, NIV). The creditor must have clearly been one of the neighbors. If the husband is dead, why not just give up on the debt? To take even the sons from a widow and make them slaves? The resentment toward the neighbor is sorrowful. This is the answer to the question of what is in the house: “Your servant has nothing there at all... except a small jar of olive oil” (2 Kings 4:2, NIV). What could a luckless woman like me have? A lament for her own lot is present, and rather than emphasizing that there is oil, there is resentment dwelling in the emphasis that there is “nothing at all.” The empty space does not just stay empty or in a vacuum. Emptiness does not remain just as emptiness. Resentment seeps in through every channel. Thus, every object and every event becomes a reason for resentment. An empty space not filled with grace is dangerous, because all kinds of negative emotions push their way in.
God is a God who fills. The God of creation is the one who created the world out of nothing and filled the empty world with the necessary contents. When the earth was formless and empty, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, He established order out of chaos and created harmony out of discord. He filled the empty space with the stars of heaven. He filled the sea with fish and the earth with all kinds of flora and fauna. Even now, God is the one who fills empty lives and makes them abundant. The image of the Lord who fills is introduced in many places in the Bible: the Lord filling empty cups at a wedding where the wine had run out; the Lord filling Peter’s empty boat and empty nets; the Lord filling the empty stomachs of a crowd of over five thousand with five loaves and two fish; the Lord filling the empty stomachs of over two million Israelites with manna and quail; the Lord filling the hollow soul of the woman at the well; the Lord filling the jar of flour and the jug of oil of the widow of Zarephath; and today, the Lord filling the empty jars of the widow. The Lord refilling with her sons the house that almost became empty. Ephesians 1:23 describes Jesus this way: “which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way” (NIV). Jesus Christ is the one who fills all things. If Jesus does not fill them, everything that exists in the universe collapses. That Lord delights in filling our empty vessels today as well. Hallelujah.
Faith is being filled by the Lord. People without faith constantly try to fill themselves with the world. However, the tragedy of life is that it cannot be filled. Let us quote Jeremiah 2:13: “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water” (NIV). The attempt to fill oneself with anything other than God is entirely like pouring water into a bottomless pot. No matter how much effort is made, it cannot be filled. A life that God does not fill is just an empty cup, an empty vessel, an empty house, an empty boat. There was a movie made in 2001 called “Hi! Dharma! (Dalmaya Nolja).” It is a well-made comedy movie starring Park Shin-yang and Jung Jin-young. Even though it is a comedy, it has a quite deep resonance. The story goes like this: Park Shin-yang is a gangster and Jung Jin-young is a monk. A gang of thugs loses a street fight and hides in a temple. The head monk allows the gang to stay at the temple. Jung Jin-young and the other monks are displeased. Thus, a serious conflict arises between the gangsters and the monks. Then the head monk presents a problem. Whichever side solves this problem first gets their way. The problem is to fill a bottomless jar with water. Even if you place the jar on a boat and pour water, it all drains out; even if you block it roughly with shoes and pour, it doesn’t fill; no matter how fast you bring water and pour, you can’t keep up with the speed at which it drains. The monks come up with a trick: one monk gets into the jar instead of water and says, “All the principles of the world are like water; when you come to realize it, am I not also water?” The head monk says, “What nonsense.” Both teams try all sorts of methods, and at the last moment, Park Shin-yang throws the bottomless pot into the spring. Finally, the answer was found. The jar sank into the spring, and the inside of the jar was filled to the brim with water. Eventually, the gangsters get to stay at the temple. Later, Park Shin-yang asks the head monk, “Why are you so kind to us? Without any nagging like, ‘Live a good life’ or ‘Turn over a new leaf’?” Then the head monk, played by actor Kim In-mun, says this: “Are you that curious? Then, what were you thinking when you were pouring water into that bottomless pot to fill it?” “That was just... I just threw the jar into the water.” “I also simply threw you bottomless ones into my heart.”
I apologize for using a movie with a Buddhist theme as an example, but I brought it as an illustration because fragments of truth can exist there too. In John 6:16-21, after the miracle of the five loaves and two fish, Jesus goes to pray while the disciples take a boat toward Capernaum; at night, a strong wind and waves arise, and they are seized with fear. It is written that when Jesus walked toward them and got into the boat, the storm stopped, and “immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading” (John 6:21, NIV). Only when our lives are filled with Jesus can we safely reach the destination we were heading for. If we have received the Lord, we must clearly know what kind of person Jesus is, who has filled me from within. Saying that I receive the Lord is the same as saying I go into the Lord. It is me, like a bottomless jar, being submerged in the ocean that is Jesus. When that happens, Jesus is also filled within me. We have a limitation of trying to understand only within the physical laws we possess. We think that if I received Jesus, Jesus is only inside me. Therefore, we think of the principle of the fullness of the Holy Spirit only as the logic of the Holy Spirit who is in me filling me up. Consequently, people feel uncomfortable with praises like “Holy Spirit, come and fill me.” The concept of calling in the Holy Spirit, who is already in me, from somewhere outside is uncomfortable. But think about it. How could the one who created the universe be only within me? Mark chapter 4 records the story of Jesus calming the storm. Jesus and his disciples were in the boat together. A fierce storm arose. The disciples were terrified, but Jesus slept peacefully even in the midst of the storm. The disciples wake Jesus up: “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” (Mark 4:38, NIV). Two perceptions of reality were wrong: they were not about to drown, and it wasn’t that Jesus wasn’t caring for them. Jesus rebukes the wind and also rebukes the disciples. The disciples, in fear, whispered to one another: “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!” (Mark 4:41, NIV). Who is he? The Lord is continuously teaching the disciples who Jesus is. We must know who the Jesus who dwells in me is. Who is he? The Lord is the one who fills everything in every way. In other words, He is the one who fills me abundantly from within. Furthermore, He is the one who holds the universe while granting life to all things in it. Amen.
Looking at the case of the woman, being filled can be an event that happens in an instant, but there is also a process. Perhaps the process of being filled is more important than the being filled itself. Elisha tells her to go to her neighbors and borrow empty jars. It is not an easy thing for someone who has nothing to borrow something. She likely had already borrowed a lot. But he tells her to borrow again. It is difficult even to open one’s mouth due to shame and a sense of inferiority. Moreover, to borrow “empty” jars. In an empty house, it would be helpful if jars filled with something came in; what meaning is there in empty jars in an empty house? The woman must have struggled with these seemingly meaningless, uncomfortable, and cumbersome words. Elisha instructs: “Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few” (2 Kings 4:3, NIV). The prophet spoke these words keeping in mind that most people would go to a few easygoing people and borrow just a handful of jars. He intentionally tells her to go to “all” neighbors and borrow “many.” The woman obeyed. The neighbors must have thought: “Empty jars? What for?” “Empty jars” implies something was acquired to put in them, but wasn’t it the case that nothing was going to happen in that house? Still, since they were empty jars, they showed kindness, assuming they might not get them back. The jars were gathered in the measure of faith and obedience. Let’s ask a question here: Why did Elisha make such a cumbersome and uncomfortable request? If the purpose was to give a lot of oil, would there have been a need to choose such a cumbersome method? Wouldn’t it have been much more effective, safe, and convenient to just let the oil keep flowing from the jar the widow already had? Like a goose that lays golden eggs. In fact, wouldn’t Elisha have known that Elijah had blessed the widow of Zarephath’s jug of oil and jar of flour in that way? Could he not have done just as his mentor did?
God is always one who delights in giving us what we truly need, beyond what we want. When the paralytic was carried before Jesus lying on a mat, what he wanted was to be freed from his illness, but the Lord proclaimed what the man truly needed: the forgiveness of sins. He is doing the same thing here. What would have happened if He had just made the oil keep flowing from the oil jar? She would have paid off the debt by selling the oil, but the woman’s heart would not have been healed. Every time a jar borrowed from a neighbor was filled with oil, the woman’s heart must have been filled too. “Whose house’s jar is this?” “Oh, that’s right; that household once gave me this jar filled with pancakes.” “I newly remember how deliciously my two children, who were crying because they were hungry, ate them.” “Thanks to that house, this much oil is being filled again.” The resentment toward the neighbor would have been pushed out, and a thankful heart would have been filled. In the text, it says twice that she shut the door after borrowing the jars. It is emphasized. In the scene of the miracle, there were only the woman and her two sons. Only the family of three came to share the secret of faith. Likely, after this, whenever they faced difficulties, the woman and her two sons would have encouraged each other by telling the memories of that day. Now, the two sons were no longer just beings occupying the house but became partners in faith who filled the woman’s emptiness. And decisively, if oil had flowed incessantly from the oil jar, the oil jar would have been treated as if it were God. With the security of thinking that having the oil jar was enough, her longing for God would have inevitably been diluted. As she filled the jars with oil, the woman’s heart must have been filled and filled again with God’s grace. It would have been confessed so clearly that it was not the oil jar, but God, who filled me. The oil in the jars would disappear once sold and used anyway, but as long as there was faith, God’s grace would have constantly filled the woman’s life. The woman thought she only needed money to pay off the debt, but God did not fill her money jar; He filled her entire life. He made gratitude and joy abound in the place where resentment had been full.
The neighbors who lent the empty jars would have suddenly discovered that the woman had changed. Her circumstances had changed, but more than anything, her attitude toward her neighbors had changed. She was no longer prickly as before, and her resentful way of speaking had disappeared. A heart of sincere gratitude was contained in her attitude toward her neighbors. She became kind and relaxed. The servility was gone, and she became confident. Her shriveled and wrinkled heart was spread wide open. A life that contains Jesus is a spread-open life. As one becomes filled with Jesus, everything that was wrinkled, shrunken, and twisted is spread out—just as blowing hot air into a crumpled can makes it expand and spread out again. It spreads toward God, toward neighbors, and toward oneself. I bless your lives to be filled with Jesus and, at the same time, to be spread wide open.
When you are full of the Lord, everything else is filled. It means it’s not that we need the Lord AND something else to fill ourselves with this and that. Faith is a life of expressing that Jesus after being filled with Him. After being filled with Jesus, a doctor expresses Jesus through medical skill, and an athlete expresses Jesus through a game. Professionals manifest Jesus through various occupations. Then our professions all become the widow’s oil jars. Our workplaces and businesses will constantly sustain us. We lived for a month on a salary; the money ran out, but after a month, the salary comes again. It is the miracle of another jar of oil being created. We are thankful to God, but also thankful to the employer who gave us the workplace. We lived for a day by doing business; the money ran out, but by doing business for another day, money to live on for another day is created. We are thankful to God, but also thankful to the customers who visited. The oil keeps coming out without running dry. A life filled with Jesus is like a jar of oil where all occupations and livelihoods are constantly supplied. Just as everything was filled for the widow when her empty jars were filled, everything in our lives is filled if we are only filled with Jesus.
Finally, if we quote Ephesians 1:23 properly again, it goes like this: “which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way” (NIV). As I said, Jesus is the one who fills everything in every way. He is the one who fills me abundantly from within. But it says that the church is what is full of Him. A community in a state of being completely filled with Jesus Himself—that is the church. Once, Pastor Eom said something like this in a sermon: that he had imagined that 10, 20, or 30 years from now, our Gruteogi Church members would pass away one by one, and after conducting the funeral service for the very last person and sending them all off, he might close the doors of this chapel with his own hands. I teared up when I heard those words then. And then, an image flashed through my mind: in traditional old American churches, the church backyard was a cemetery. People who used to worship inside the chapel would, over time, move from inside the chapel to the chapel’s backyard. A movie-like scene where the chapel doors close after the very last person has moved came to mind. So it felt more real, but rather than a sad emotion, it was a heart of gratitude. Fortunately, Pastor Eom is younger than me, so he will be the one to send me off. I was very thankful that there was someone to send me off like that. And I felt that we are a community that worships together and lives together until the very end. With this feeling, I was truly grateful and thankful for each and every one of our fellow believers. And ultimately, since we are not moving to the church backyard but going to heaven, I couldn’t help but be thankful. Of course, it would be even more thankful if young people suddenly flocked in and the church transformed into a bustling one with second and third generations, but it’s okay even if that doesn’t happen. It’s okay even if empty seats inevitably keep increasing. At that time, we should not look at the empty seats, but at the Lord who is within us and among us. If we are the church, regardless of whether the numbers are large or small, we are full of the Lord. Even if the terms “empty house,” “empty vessel,” or “empty chapel” are valid, the term “empty church” is not, because it is an oxymoron. The concept of “fullness” is already included in the word “church,” because the church is the fullness of Him who fills everything in every way. Every time we gather, let us see not the visible empty seats, but the Lord who is full among us. And I pray that there will be grace to be filled with Him during every worship service. Amen.