August 13, 2023
Our Old Testament reading is the story of when the Prophet Elijah experienced God’s presence just when he needed it the most. He was probably at the lowest point in his faith at the time because he was running for his life.
Jezebel, the wife of King Ahab wanted him captured and killed because Elijah had dared to stand up to them because they had been worshipping the gods of the Canaanite religion rather than the God of Israel.
Our scripture reading begins with Elijah exhausted from running and he comes upon a broom tree to rest for a while. A broom tree is a symbol of loneliness because it thrives best in isolated areas where the land is very dry and where there isn’t a whole lot of growth and vegetation around it.
This is where Elijah finds himself under this tree. He is thoroughly spent. He has been faithful in living out his calling as God’s prophet, but that calling has come with a heavy price. Elijah, now hungry, weak, and dejected, tells God that he just wants to die.
One of the things that I have learned during my years of pastoral ministry is that it’s OK and a healthy thing to admit to yourself and to God when you have reached that point where you feel spiritually depleted, empty, and tired. I think that’s hard to admit for some of us because we also believe that our faith can help get us through any situation. And while that’s true, it doesn’t mean that we need to pretend that everything is OK.
The road to emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual healing and renewal can begin when we give ourselves permission to say that we’re not OK. This is what the prophet Elijah is doing here in our scripture reading where he reaches his breaking point.
Elijah tells God that he can’t do this anymore and he then falls asleep under that broom tree. I love beautifully worded and well thought out prayers, but I also love prayers that are spontaneous and quickly get to the point. “I just can’t do this anymore, God,” Elijah prays.
But notice that it was soon after this prayer that Elijah’s healing began. We are told that as Elijah was sleeping under that broom tree, an angel of the Lord touched him and gave him something to eat. Sometimes the burdens we carry can consume us so much that we forget to take time to take care of ourselves.
The angel of the Lord then appeared a second time and encouraged Elijah to get up and resume his journey. And notice that we are told that after Elijah ate and drank, that he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God.
By telling us this little detail about 40 days and 40 nights, the biblical writer is reminding us of another of God’s servants who long before Elijah, also spent 40 days and 40 nights on Mt. Horeb and that person was Moses.
And so, in addition to the Lord providing Elijah with food and drink to regain his strength, we are reminded of Moses who the Lord had strengthened as well in leading God’s people through the wilderness and into the Promised Land.
Life can be hard and sometimes the burdens that we carry can become too much. Like Elijah, we too can reach a point along our faith journey where we are depleted, tired, and discouraged. But the good news of our faith is that God is more than able to renew our strength.
In the church I was serving a couple of years ago, there was a Sunday where I didn’t think that I would be able to lead the worship services that morning. In all of my years of pastoral ministry, this had never happened to me where I felt that emotionally drained and tired.
For the past couple of months leading up to that Sunday, I had been carrying a personal burden that had taken its toll. It was one of those burdens where you do what you can in the situation and you pray about it over and over again, but nothing seemed to be helping. I was feeling very empty and depleted.
The weight of that burden on my shoulders was so heavy. I was praying over and over again for God to give me strength just to make it through that Sunday morning. One of my church members who was there early, greeted me. He knew me well and he could tell that I wasn’t myself and he asked me if I was OK.
At first, I simply said, “Hi, and that everything was OK,” which is what many of us typically do. We like to keep our cards close to the chest so to speak when it comes to sharing our feelings. We say that we’re OK when we’re not really Ok.
But this time was different because I couldn’t hold back the tears. I knelt down on the floor and as I was crying, he kept saying to me, “It’s OK. I’m here for you. It’s OK.” After several minutes and hearing him say, “It’s OK. I’m here for you,” it was like this huge weight was lifted from my shoulders. The burden didn’t go away, but the weight of it that I had been carrying on my shoulders did, because thanks to this angel sent from God, I placed it at the foot of the cross.
After spending the next half hour composing myself and wiping away the tears, I was able to then lead the worship services that morning because I felt a peace that passes all understanding. Thank God for the angels that the Lord sends our way, just when we need them the most.
That God intervention was the beginning of some much needed healing in my life. Not only did God provide me with the right person at the right time, but God also led me in the weeks to come, to receive support from a couple of other trusted angels who continue to offer me confidential prayer support and encouragement along the way.
Elijah was able to continue his journey with God because of his prayer where he admitted to God that he wasn’t OK, and because of an angel that the Lord sent to him to help him regain his strength and receive some much needed encouragement. But our scripture reading doesn’t end there.
Renewed and strengthened, Elijah continues his 40-day/40-night journey, and he arrives at Mt. Horeb where he finds temporary lodging in a cave. And this is where the Lord tells Elijah to come out of the cave because he was going to reveal himself to him.
God first sends a mighty wind, but surprisingly, God wasn’t present in the wind. The Lord then sends a powerful earthquake, but God wasn’t in the earthquake either. Then, the Lord sends a fire, but the Lord wasn’t in the fire.
It wasn’t until the Lord sends sheer silence, that Elijah was able to hear the Lord’s soft whisper. It is often in the silence that we are able to hear God and know that God is present with us. As I thought about this, I was thinking how difficult this is for us to do in our culture. We live in a very busy and noisy world. It’s not easy for us to spend time in silence.
I’m reminded of Queen Elizabeth’s funeral last September, almost a year ago now. I watched different parts of that funeral and at one point in the service, the Anglican Priest called upon everyone to observe two minutes of silence.
It was such a powerful moment even with me watching all of this on TV. When is the world ever silent for two minutes?
During the two minutes of silence in honor of Queen Elizabeth, the video camera included the large crowd of people outside of Westminster Abbey and it was such a powerful moment to see all of these people observing a time of silence at the same time.
That historic moment made me realize that it is possible for us to be silent. We just need to include it more into our lives.
It’s in the silence that we are better able to hear God’s quiet whisper.
In his book The Road Less Travelled, Christian author and psychiatrist, Dr. Scott Peck talks about the importance of spending every day in silence. He says that it’s when we spend time in silence, that we are able to give our minds and our souls time to catch up with the events of the day. Silence gives us the opportunity to pray and think.
Scott Peck shares how his daily routine is to spend 2 hours a day in just being silent. Two hours a day! It’s hard for me to spend 5 minutes in silence, let alone 2 hours!
And he says that when you spend time in prolonged silence, you begin to think about how you could have handled a situation in a more constructive way. He also says that spending time in silence is what helps us to think of better ways of handling a difficult situation that we may be facing. Spending time in silence is what helps us to not make impulsive and short-sighted decisions. And it also helps us to experience God’s presence in a very real way.
One of the things that I cherish most about my personal schedule is my Monday sermon planning time. I refer to these days as my Mondays with Jesus. I begin these days in prayer, inviting God to help me to listen to what God wants to say through me.
Sometimes it takes me a while before I’m able to shake loose from the noise of our busy world and the many thoughts, worries, and to-do list items that are filling my head. I have found that practicing the spiritual discipline of silence is one of the most challenging parts in living out my faith. I like to be doing things and I can be a very impatient person. But silence teaches me to slow down, to get in touch with my feelings, and to be open to God’s presence.
It’s always been kind of funny to me that we refer to people in my profession as “preachers.” “You should come and hear our preacher,” we say.
Maybe instead of being called, “preachers,” we should be known more as “listeners” because that’s really what we pastors are called to do. We’re called to be good listeners, so that we can hear what God wants to say through us. We can’t preach effectively when we don’t take time to listen for God’s voice. Talking is the easy part. Listening… that’s the challenging part.
I’m thankful to God for sending us angels just when we need them the most. These angels remind us to take care of ourselves especially when we are feeling weak and discouraged. They remind us that it’s OK to not be OK because we’re human. They invite us to lay the burdens that are too heavy for us to carry and to lay them at the foot of the cross. They encourage us to observe moments of silence so that we can allow our hearts and our minds to catch up from the busy events of our day. And those angels always point us to God who is the source of our strength and our hope.
Thank God for angels who watch over us all day and all night.
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