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The Gospel of Matthew Bible Studies
The Gospel of Mark Bible Studies
The Book of Acts Bible Studies
January 2009
February 2009
March 2009
April 2009
May 2009
June 2009
July 2009
August 2009
September 2009
October 2009
November 2009
December 2009
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Time after Pentecost - Lectionary 19 (B) Text: 1 Kings 19:4-8 August 9, 2009 A few years ago I shared a story from Max Lucado’s book In the Eye of the Storm about a parakeet named “Chippy” – and I would like to share it with you again today. It goes like this… “Chippy the parakeet never saw it coming. One moment he was peacefully perched in his cage - the next he was sucked in, washed up, and blown over. The problems began when Chippy’s owner decided to clean Chippy’s cage with the vacuum cleaner. She removed the attachment from the end of the hose and stuck it in the cage. The phone rang and she turned to pick it up. She had barely said “hello” when – ZOOP – Chippy got sucked in! The bird owner gasped, put down the phone, turned off the vacuum, and opened the bag. There was Chippy – still alive! – but stunned. Since the bird was covered with dust and soot, she grabbed him and raced to the bathroom – turned on the faucet, and held Chippy under the running water. Then, realizing that Chippy was soaked and shivering, she did what any compassionate bird owner would do – she reached for the hair dryer and blasted the pet with hot air!! Poor Chippy never knew what hit him! A few days after the trauma, the reporter who had initially written about the event contacted Chippy’s owner to see how the bird was recovering. “Well”, she replied, “Chippy doesn’t sing much anymore. He just sits and stares into space.” It’s not hard to see why – sucked in, washed up, blown over. That’s enough to steal the song from the stoutest heart. Can YOU relate to Chippy? Most of us can.” That was the situation the prophet Elijah was in during today’s first reading – sucked in, washed up, and blown over. Just before this, he had had a contest with the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. Many of you may have heard of this story before – about how Elijah and Baal’s prophets (450 of them!) had each prepared a sacrifice to their god – and had then drenched them with water. Elijah’s challenge was that whoever’s god would burn up the sacrifice with fire from heaven would be acknowledged as the true God. The prophets of Baal had called upon the name of their god all day long with no result – but when Elijah called upon the name of the LORD, the LORD immediately sent down fire from heaven to consume his sacrifice! It was a tremendous victory for Elijah – and as a result, all of Baal’s prophets were killed. But this really didn’t solve anything for Elijah – it only made matters worse for him. Now those who opposed him and his message were enraged! JEZEBEL, the queen of Israel swore that she would have vengeance upon Elijah and have him killed within twenty-four hours. And so Elijah fled in fear for his life - and that is where we come to the events of today's first reading. Elijah by now was totally depressed – and he saw no purpose for going on. His contest with the prophets of Baal had taken every last bit of faith that he had – and it had not seemed to make any real difference. The miracle, as great as it had been, still had not brought the people back to God – it had only made his opponents hate him more. Sucked in, washed up, and blown over! How many of us have ever felt like that in our lives? How many of us have been in the depths of a major depression after we have had a conflict with someone; or after we have been fired or laid off from a job; or when we find ourselves way over head in debt; or when we have been given the devastating news that we or a loved one has been diagnosed with cancer or other terrible disease; or when we have gone through a divorce, or when a loved one has died. And I can go on and on. When experiences like these happen to us (and they do happen all the time!), we – like Chippy, and like Elijah – can feel sucked in, washed up, and blown over! When we are in the midst of these experiences and their immediate aftermath, we just don’t know what to do. We want to feel better, but we can’t. We want to have faith in God, but sometimes even that has been drained dry. We just feel totally bereft and without any hope. And yet, God does not leave us during these times. That is what today’s first reading is about. It tells us that after Elijah fell asleep in the midst of his depression, he was then woken up by an angel who told him to “Get up and eat.” He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. And after eating and drinking, he lay down and fell asleep again. Our scripture reading goes on to tell us that the angel of the LORD came a second time, touched him, and said, “Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you.” He got up, and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God. Let’s consider what this passage is telling us a little closer. First, it mentions that the angel gave Elijah a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. It wasn’t much – it certainly was not a culinary banquet – but it was a source of nourishment for Elijah. Actually, the real nourishment was not so much physical but spiritual. In the midst of his depression and despair, Elijah was assured that God was still with him and would somehow take care of him. Secondly, the passage tells us that this did not just happen once but at least two times – and it could have been more. It could have been three, four, five, or more times. God could have – and would have – provided the bread and water (and its spiritual equivalent) for Elijah as many times as was necessary to get him through this period of his life. And so God also does for us. Thirdly, the passage also tells us that Elijah then went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights. I think that this is more than just casual mention of a unit of time. In the Bible, “forty days and forty nights” is a term often used to describe times of crisis and testing. We know from the story of Noah and the ark that it rained “forty days and forty nights”. (Gen. 7:12) Moses remained on Mt. Sinai (also known as Mt. Horeb) “forty days and forty nights.” (Ex. 34:28) And of course Jesus himself was also tempted in the wilderness for “forty days and forty nights.” (Mt. 4:2) The point here in all of these references is that the periods of crisis and testing involved a long time! When Elijah was at the end of his rope and felt “sucked in, washed up, and blown over”, his healing did not happen in an instant. It took a long time. And so it does for us. But eventually, Elijah was led to Horeb (or Sinai) the mount of God – and that is where his healing took place. That is where his faith and spiritual strength as God’s prophet was renewed. It may have taken a long time, but Elijah was restored. In the same way, when we go through times when we are “sucked in, washed up, and blown over” God will be with us for as long as it takes. He will give us the strength that we need to make it through “one day at a time”. And eventually, God will lead us back to the source of our faith. For Elijah that was Mount Horeb, where God had given the law to Moses. For us it is Jesus Christ, our “bread of life” – who will give us the love, joy, and peace that we need. In a few moments from now, we will be baptizing Kerri Herman and her son Lucas. When I met with Kerri and her husband Jeff on Friday to talk with them about this, I mentioned an analogy about what baptism means – that it is like putting dirty clothes into the washing machine. And guess what – the clothes do not become instantly clean! No, they have to go through the wash cycle – being beaten about again and again and again. But in the end, we know that they will be clean. The same thing happens to us when we are baptized. We are put into “life’s washing machine!” – and it is not going to be easy all the time. There will be times when we – like Chippy and Elijah – will feel sucked in, washed out, and blown over. And these times may even seem to go on and on – forty days and nights and even more. But through it all, God through Jesus Christ will always be with us and give us what we need – day by day. And at the end, we know that we shall be perfectly renewed to know God’s love, and joy, and peace forever. Today let us remember that promise. Jesus says, “I am the bread of life” for you. “I am with you always.” “You are mine always.” “I will give you what you need day by day – no matter how long it takes – always.” Yes, even when we may feel “sucked in, washed up, and blown over.” Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ – our savior and our Lord – forever! Amen! -------------------- Pastor George Karres 418 W. Main St. Sidney, MT 59270
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