August 12, 2012 "Necessary Replenishment"

I Kings 19:4-8 John 6: 35, 41-51 There are those among us, who describe belief in God the Father, the Creator of all things. They reference climbing mountains, where you cannot see from rock cairn to rock cairn because of the fog, where the sounds of traffic and human life are lost in God's open air sanctuary, and you can hear as far as the eye can see. All around are evidences of God's presence, the scurrying of ground squirrels, the leaping of a fox, the smell of the pines. We take a boat out into the ocean, in awe at the majesty of whales surfacing, even breaching up out of the water. We stand outdoors in the dark and watch the Perseid meteor showers, with a dozen shooting stars an hour and we are certain, there is a God. There are those among us who have come through great adversity, a car accident, a cancer, a war, and who know personally the meaning of the lyrics “God saved a wretch like me.” There are those for whom Jesus is their personal savior, and that life event was a catharsis from which they never expected to survive. Actually they would tell you they did not survive, a part of them died and they now live differently in response to their Savior. The irony is that as Christians, most of us fall into one of these groups or the other, yet we claim to believe in The Trinity. The third person of God is the Spirit which sustains us, who blows upon us in the ordinary times in between. The Spirit who brooded over and blew upon the face of the deep. The Spirit who blew upon the disciples creating the early church. The spirit who replenishes and nourishes us and gives us strength far beyond our own. The Spirit who is not known as the Giver of the Law and Commandments, or who suffered on the Cross for our sins, but is the spirit most us encounter in daily life. When we are exhausted and burned-out, when it seems as though every circle of our lives is dealing with the same negativity and there is no where to escape. When we can no longer get in our own way, when we can no longer control our lives, the spirit comes to feed and nourish us, giving us healing as simple as sleep and warm bread, cold clear water. Our Old Testament Reading this day is probably strange to most of us, because it falls in between two very well known and amazing stories of faith. The first comes after the time of King David and King Solomon, when the Nation of Israel was divided between Israel and Judah. Ahab was King of Israel and Jezebel was his bride. As Queen, Jezebel has been on a personal crusade to tear down every Sanctuary to God in Israel, replacing them with her stuff, her altars for sacrifice to the Idols of Baal. In a bold act of faith and defiance, the Prophet Elijah declares a contest, winner take all, between worship of Idols and worship of God; a contest between the Queen's 500 Priests versus Elijah. Like the Olympics everyone turns out on Mount Carmel. The 500 Priests of the idol Baal go first, and nothing happens. They sacrifice a bull, and nothing happens. All 500 priests in their finest robes and greatest ornamentation begin whipping and beating themselves to get the attention of Baal by their screams and suffering, and nothing happens. Then it is Elijah's turn. Elijah sacrifices the offering and places the pieces on the altar to God. Elijah digs a trench around the altar, then pours bucket after bucket of water over the top of the sacrifice to God. He pours so much water over the top, the ground beneath is saturated and the trench over-flowing. Then calmly and quietly, Elijah prays to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, that all would know there is a God in Israel. Suddenly fire comes down from heaven consuming the offering and all the water. And having witnessed the power of God, the people believe. After which, Elijah has the 500 priests of Baal put to death. When Jezebel learns of what Elijah has done, she makes him an enemy of the State, by killing her priests Elijah has committed treason and must die. So Elijah runs from Mt. Carmel searching for the Cave in Mount Sinai the very cleft of rock where Moses witnessed God's glory pass. Elijah was desperate for some proof of God's existence, an earthquake, a fire, a flood, and all those things did happen, but God was not in any of them. Then God spoke to Elijah, in the still small voice, saying “What are you doing here Elijah?” which goes on to instruct all that Elijah and Elisha are to go ahead and do. In-between mountains is our passage this morning. It is unclear, whether Elijah is most scared of the Queen's threats against him, that he is a wanted man with a price on his head; or whether Elijah is frightened because when he commanded God to receive his offering, God did. The last two weeks we have become experts in every athletic competition... when the competitors leap from a 4” wide board completing a double backward summersault, we cry out “Stick-it” and ache when they stumble. When the volleyball players throw themselves in the sand to prevent the ball from touching ground, we feel it. But the story that rarely is told, is what happens after the event. What do you do after everything you have trained for throughout your life, what has consumed you for at least the last four years is done, and whether you are the best in the world, or you missed your opportunity, the goal is no longer there. What then? This passage actually has two parts. First describing what Elijah felt. He has gone down – south, away from Israel, into the wilderness. Everything about this passage speaks of isolation and depression, even the Broom Trees which ordinary grow in multiples as do Lilacs or Fruit trees, but this one stands alone. Elijah throws himself beneath the tree reminiscent of Jonah, when God did exactly what that prophet had expected. Elijah who called for the contest, who sacrificed the offering, who dug the trench, who poured water over the top, Elijah who called upon the name of God to receive the offering, suddenly is completely and totally passive. Depression is not weeping and wanting to do negative things, but the inability to get up, to follow through on any task, to be totally helpless. But it is at this point that the second half of the story comes, for the spirit of God does not leave Elijah. The spirit visits him, calling him to wake, eat, drink. Dealing with depression is not complex ideas and rational arguments, but necessary replenishments, knowing you are not alone. Not just once, but repeatedly going through the basic necessary replenishments. Life is not about monumental events! Life requires breathing. Swallowing. Eating, Drinking, Sleeping. This is why Jesus described himself as being the bread of life, one of the basic building blocks necessary for existence. Faith in God is not unavailable. Faith in God is as easy as eating bread, which in one form or another we have at every meal. There are few passages in all of Scripture which seem as exclusive as this. “No one comes to the Father, but by me.” However, no other faith describes God as personally and intimately as Father. Judaism describes coming to God through The Law. Islam by following the teachings. Buddhism by enlightenment. Only Christianity describes faith as intimately and personally as receiving Christ as nourishment for life, recognizing God as your parent who loves you. All any of us need in life is a little encouragement, a cup of cold water, a taste of fresh hot bread, to know that others care and support you. This is what the Yost Scholarship was intended to do. Never was it designed to pay for a full college education, but a gift to pay for books. In this morning's awards, the total amount is now expended, this scholarship was necessary replenishment to help those far from home to know others had gone before them and they are not alone.