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The Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost August 9, 2015

This Weekend's Readings (click each reading to view the passage)

1 Kings 19:4-8; Psalm 34:1-8; Ephesians 4:25-5:2; John 6:35, 41-51

Pr. Steve's Sermon - Continuing the Journey

Children's Sermon - Being an Angel

Thursday Evening VBS Program

Sermon Notes from Pastor Steve...

Have you ever felt like, in some part of your life, no matter what you do, you just can't win? You've tried and tried, but nothing seems to work. You've done all you can do, and you just feel like crawling into bed and giving up.

That's what Elijah - perhaps the greatest prophet of Israel - felt like in today's first reading. "It's enough; now, O LORD, take away my life because I'm no better than my ancestors." Then he curled up under a broom tree and went to sleep.

The interesting thing is that Elijah has actually been pretty successful at being better than his ancestors. What's happened just before today's reading has been a great personal and professional victory for him - defeating the false prophets of Baal... (cf. 1 Kings 18:18-40)

Unfortunately, this didn't impress everybody, especially Ahab, the King of Israel, and Jezebel his wife (two of the archetypal bad guys in the Old Testament.) So Jezebel, using one of the great threats in the Old Testament ("may the gods do so to me and more also if I don't kill you by tomorrow!") sets out to kill Elijah.

So Elijah goes on the run. He's not even sure where he's running to, but he knows now that even if he wins, he's gonna lose. So he lays down under the broom tree and tells God he's ready to give up now.

So God lets him sleep under the broom tree for a while. But at some point, he's suddenly awakened by an angel who tells him to get up and eat. And then the angel lets him go back to his nap before the angel wakes him up, telling him to eat again, so that the journey won't be too much for him.

Eat. Sleep. Hydrate. They're absolutely necessary biological functions that we all need for any kind of journey. Elijah really didn't need an angel to tell him that. You don't need the Pastor to tell you those things either!

But here's the really surprising thing that Elijah gets told when the angel wakes him up - God still has a journey for him to be on. Elijah may be ready to give up but God hasn't given up on Elijah. And in the end, the journey that Elijah is supposed to be on - indeed the journey that Elijah has been on for all of his life - is finally not about Elijah's winning or losing, but about being part of God's mission to draw people closer to God.

And the journey that Elijah is called to resume is a journey God blesses and strengthens by providing Elijah with:

A break when he needs it! - God understands how Elijah feels. So he lets him sleep for a while. God provides food and water that God knows Elijah needs. And in one sense, today's first reading stands in opposition to the idea that when we're on a mission from God, "spiritual strength" should be enough for us. God also knows and validates our need for basic things like food, water and rest...

Community - Elijah is out there all alone, and he feels alone. It's the big complaint he makes when he eventually reaches Horeb: "I alone am left!" To that, God promptly replies that he's not alone, and the journey that God sends him on involves a whole lot of other people that he's to work in partnership with. And knowing and feeling that he wasn't alone was part of the strength Elijah needed to continue the journey...

The reminder that the journey was bigger than Elijah - it really wasn't about Elijah winning or losing, or even knowing where the journey would take him. Indeed, when he gets to Horeb, the mount of God, the very first thing God asks him is, "What are you doing here?" Elijah isn't even sure where the journey is going to take him, but that's OK. The journey is finally God's journey that Elijah is simply called to be part of...

Sometimes, like Elijah, we're tempted to measure the journey of our lives by the numbers of wins and losses we feel we've had. We can feel like we're all alone trying to figure out what we're supposed to do and what God wants for us. And sometimes it can seem like the journey of faith is all about us and what we do with it.

But the journey of life and faith that God calls each of us on is also a journey which God blesses and strengthens by providing us with:

A break when we need it! Lots of us right now understand viscerally the need for a vacation, even from work that we really enjoy and find fulfilling; it helps us rest and recharge, and the story of Elijah is partly God's call not to burn out - that is, see such basic things as a nap and a vacation as legitimate gifts from God, and strength for the journey of life...

Community - so often, we too get stuck in our journey when we feel alone, even if we know intellectually that isn't the case. God calls us together to journey with one another so that even if none of us are quite sure where we're going or how we're going to get there (which was the case for Elijah and all of his companions), we can wrestle with the questions together and be God's guides and helpers for one another...

The reminder that our journey finally isn't about us, and doesn't depend upon us. Maybe the biggest thing Elijah learned was that his words and actions, even if he thought they didn't matter, could and would be used by God in ways he couldn't imagine. His job was just to be on the journey, and to let God work through him as he traveled on...

And really, that's our call as well. There are people who say that it's our job as Christians to figure out God's "purpose" for our lives. And by that, they mean that there's some secret, hidden thing we're supposed to figure out and accomplish.

But I think the message of Elijah is that God's call is simply to faithfully be about the journey of our lives. God's call is to be open to being God's hands and voice in the lives of others who need it. And God's reminder is that we haven't necessarily failed in the purpose of our journey when things don't work out the way we envision them.

And at those moments when we feel like curling up under the broom tree (or under the covers), God understands how we feel. And God may let us rest for a while. But in the end, God is also calling each of us to get up and receive the strength and blessing God is providing, so that our journey of life won't be too much for us, either.

Amen.