Bethlehem Lutheran Church

Sermon series: Lessons from Elijah

07.25.10 8-00.mp3

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Our second Bible reading is from 1 Kings, chapter 19. We continue to follow the life of Elijah, a great prophet of the Lord. In the previous two chapters,

• Elijah brought about miracles through prayer,
• he confronted a powerful king and accused him of sin,
• and he dared to challenge the prophets of another god for a great showdown at Mt. Carmel.

Today’s reading takes another tone as Elijah is on the run for his life.

1 Kings 10:1-18

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord, Jesus Christ.

Early in my adult life, I took a job in downtown Minneapolis. I was new to the Twin Cities, I was fresh out of college, and this was my first full-time job. It was an exciting time of life. I was discovering a new place and experiencing independence like never before. I had a new circle of friends, I was earning my own living, and I found a church that I could call my own. Of all the things that were good in life, I really liked my job. It gave me a sense of purpose. I was learning new things, it provided a structure for me, and I felt like I was contributing to something that was beyond myself.

My job started out as entry level. I wasn’t sure that it warranted my college education, but that was ok. We were in the midst of a nasty recession, and I was glad to have work. I was also starting to see that all work has dignity. I worked hard, and over time, I got to take on new responsibilities.

I hadn’t quite learned how to multitask yet so I would get stressed out if there were too many things demanding my attention at one time. I wanted to stay on top of things so I started taking work home. This was a 9-to-5 job so that wasn’t really expected, but I did it anyway. I figured if I worked just a little harder, I’d be able to catch up. Surprise, surprise…I discovered that my work would take as much of me as I was willing to give! If I brought work home one night, I could bring it home two. Why not? I could even take it home on the weekend.

My workplace was going through a major change. We were merging with another organization based on the East Coast, and the new office would be in Chicago. We had numerous meetings in four different cities. I worried about a multitude of things:

• Who would take on responsibility for the things that I was currently handling?
• How would we merge two very different systems?
• What if I couldn’t handle everything that I needed to do?

If I just work harder, I thought again, maybe I can manage it. The concerns of my job took over my life, and before long, I was burned out. I started to cry for no reason. I felt sorry for myself, and I started to resent my work and my co-workers who didn’t seem to try as hard as I did. I started to feel like a lone ranger. Everyone around me could see it. I was fried to a crisp. I know that I wasn’t fun to be with because when the job ended, I went on a 3-month trip. I thought my boyfriend would be a little sad to see me go for so long, but when he dropped me off at the airport, he gave a quick wave, and did a little dance toward the car.

            I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one in this room who’s been down that road. Most of us have been on the path to burnout at least once. It might be a job or the tasks of parenting. It might be volunteer work, or it might be caring for an elderly parent or spouse. It could be the demands of being a student, or any combination of these. We know the feeling in ourselves, and we recognize it in other people, too. We get so busy, so wrapped up in what we’re doing that we lose balance in our lives. It’s not good for us. Maybe, just maybe, it’s why God gave us the gift of Sabbath.

Throughout the month of July, our sermon series has centered on the prophet Elijah from the Old Testament. We may wonder what in the world we have in common with one of God’s prophets who lived 3,000 years ago. Indeed, he lived so long ago, and his story is fantastic; God used him in some pretty powerful ways. But Elijah was an ordinary man that God used in extraordinary ways. Elijah had struggles like we do. Even though he was by all measures successful, he, too, struggled with feeling overloaded and overwhelmed. He, too, struggled with burnout – maybe even depression.

When we met Elijah in today’s Bible reading, he was running for his life. He had just challenged the prophets of Baal to a showdown at Mt. Carmel. You see the people of Israel had forgotten about God. They had turned their heads and looked away; they had turned toward another god (with a little ‘g’) that somehow appealed to them but didn’t bring them life. It was Elijah’s task to call them back to God. it was Elijah’s job to remind them that the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob loved them and longed for them. And so after three years of drought, Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal to a contest to see whose god could rain down fire from heaven. It was, of course, the Lord God who proved successful. Elijah then prayed for rain to come to the drought-stricken land, and it was so. Then – this is quite remarkable – Elijah ran a 17-mile distance, and he ran faster than the king’s chariot.

For Elijah, this turn of events brought the vengeance of Queen Jezebel. All of her prophets were killed at the end of the day. And so she issued a threat: “If I have not killed you by this time tomorrow, Elijah, let me die by the sword, as well.” So Elijah ran away in fear.

By the time we meet Elijah today, he has become completely discouraged. Let’s look at some of the details of the story and see if they remind us of our own stories:

1. Elijah has just come through a period of great spiritual success. Wow, wonderful things have happened! But as far as we know, he’s been at a nonstop pace, and he hasn’t taken a break.

• Have showdown with the prophets at Mt. Carmel – check
• Pray fervently for rain – check
• Run 17 miles, and run faster than the king’s chariot – check
• Run away from the queen – travel 100 miles to do so – check

Have you ever felt closer to God because you were busy? I’m afraid it doesn’t work that way. Being busy all the time doesn’t lead us toward God but away from God.

Barbara Brown Taylor is one of my favorite authors, and she describes a similar time in her life this way: “My tiredness was so deep that it had seeped into my bones. I was out more nights than I was home. No matter how many new day planners I bought, none of them told me when I had done enough. If I spent enough time (doing one thing), then I neglected (doing another). If I put enough thought into (one obligation), I was less likely to be (attentive to some other detail that needed my focus)….I knew where God’s fire was burning, but I could not get to it. I knew how to pray…, but by the time I got home each night it was all I could do to pay the bills and go to bed. I pecked God on the check the same way I did my husband, (drying up inside for want of making love).” (Leaving Church, p. 98-99.)

1. Next thing: When Elijah gets to the wilderness, his attitude is rather negative. “I just want to die, Lord,” he says. “Let me die.” And when God speaks to him and asks what he’s doing there, Elijah becomes defensive. “I have been so dutiful, God. I alone have stuck it out ‘til the end. I am the only one who has remained faithful to you.” Can you hear it? Elijah has become a lone ranger.

So what happens to Elijah in the wilderness? First of all, Elijah lay down under a broom tree, and he fell asleep. Sleep! It’s a marvelous thing! Often, it’s what we need, too. There’s healing power in sleep and in rest.

            Next, Elijah went to the Mountain of God to seek the Lord. Barbara Brown Taylor, writes again, “I know plenty of people who find God in books, in buildings and even in other people. I have found God in all of these places, too, but the most reliable meeting place for me has always been creation.” (p.79) Elijah sought God in the wilderness of creation. He traveled 40 days and nights in the wilderness to get to the mountain. And there God came to him – not with fanfare or announcement or fierceness. All those things were there in wind and earthquake and fire, but God did not come in the power or terror of those things. No, God came in the sound of sheer silence. What is that anyway? It’s a whisper that’s so quiet, it grabs your attention, and you lean in to listen. It’s a whisper that is so intimate that you know it is a voice that’s speaking to you.

            The voice of the Lord spoke to Elijah and asked him a second time, “What are you doing here? Here is not where you belong.” Elijah got all defensive again and said, “I’ve been working so hard for you, God, and I’m the only one left. No one else cares. No one else tries. And now they’re trying to kill me.” And God said, “Go back where you came from; there’s more for you to do; carry on.” God gave Elijah some specific instructions, and then God added, “You’re not the only one. There are 7,000 more. There’s no need to be the lone ranger.”

            Can you hear it? Often our lives are too cluttered with busyness and chatter to hear the sound of sheer silence. But sometimes there are circumstances that force us into a wilderness, into a spiritual desert, an emptiness. It may be illness or grief, or the shattering of a relationship, or the loss of a job. After the storm, after the earthquake and fire, when there’s nothing left but emptiness, comes a still small voice in sheer silence. Can you hear it? It says, “Carry on.” Life may be transformed in the wilderness, and things may no longer be the same, but the voice says, “I am with you. Keep going.”

It’s been more than 20 years now since I had my first experience with burnout. I went to the mountains, too, to a retreat center, and there I found healing. I didn’t hear God’s voice speak to me in grandiose ways, but I heard it through quiet conversations with people, through walks in the woods, prayer and worship. “Go back where you came from. There’s more to do. Carry on. God will be with you.”

When Jesus came to this world, he came to do the work of Elijah. He came to bring people back to God, and in Jesus the work was complete. In Jesus’ life and ministry, there were numerous cacophonous events – miracles, healings and political unrest – but in the end, God’s voice was heard in the silence of the cross. Jesus emptied himself and gave up everything, even his life. And God said to you, “I love you. Carry on.” Can you hear it? “I love you. Carry on.”

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