Community Church Sermons
June 24, 2007
Pentecost
4
Psalm 42:1-11
1 Kings 19:1-18
Dr. R. Tim Meadows
Listen to this Sermon!
Am I alone? I think so. I am scared. I wonder when they will be here to get me? I wonder what they plan to do with me? I wonder how God will help me or if God really cares at all? I wonder if I will hear from God? How I will hear from God? How all of this will eventually end?
This dialogue though imaginative must be close to the internal dialogue that was occurring with Elijah in our second reading today, as he fled from the forces of the queen who sought to destroy him. The dialogue however, could just as likely have come from one of us in moments when we feel alone. When life has taken a nasty or threatening turn. When the outcome of whatever we face is uncertain, but we cannot imagine how it could be anything positive. Why do we often feel so alone and lonely at critical moments in our journey of life?
I. Like Elijah, We Feel Alone When The Tasks Of Life Are Demanding: When we face things that ask a lot of us, and take a lot out of us, the drain of the experience can bring loneliness. We feel as if no one understands or cares, and we are not certain life can ever go forward again. We cry out to God, and to anyone else who will listen, and then we wait in the silence hoping for an answer.
II. Like Elijah, We Feel Alone When The Tasks Of Life Provoke the Anger Of Others: When we do things that make others angry, even good things, we find ourselves looking for friends who seem to have disappeared. The sense of isolation can be overwhelming. The hope that others may see what I am doing as good quickly dissipates. At this point, I am left friendless and frustrated, committed to a direction, I am no longer sure I want to pursue.
III. Like Elijah, We Feel Alone When God Does Not Come To Us, In The Ways We Expect: The sense of God’s presence can sustain us in the difficulties of life, but when God does not come as we expect, we lose even that as a source of hope in the midst of our darkness. Doesn’t God understand what I need? Doesn’t God want me to have hope? Doesn’t God promise to be with me, even in the deepest darkness?
If Elijah’s story or ours were to end at this point, it would be discouraging. The good news is that Elijah’s did not, and ours does not have to either. In the end of Elijah’s story, we take hope from the fact that:
1. God Shows Up: In a still, quiet, and unexpected way, God’s presence is made known to Elijah. God makes the prophet keenly aware that he is cared for and always will be by the supreme presence of the universe. God shows up for us, too. Like Elijah, we are prone to miss God, because while we look for some awesome intervention, God is quietly, steadily, moving through life with us. Don’t miss the presence of God!
2. Others Will Stand With Us: In the midst of our isolation and fear, like Elijah, we often miss the presence of the crowd around us. We fail to see their steadfastness. We do not hear their words of encouragement. We miss their stories of sacrifice. But, if we choose to listen, we hear all those things, and we are reminded that there is a community from which to draw strength and hope. Don’t miss the community of support around you!
3. Our Faithfulness Will Be Recognized And Rewarded: Like Elijah, our difficult journeys can often distract us from the fact that God never asks for an empty sacrifice. The blessings and difficulties of our lives are given for our benefit and the benefit of others. It is true, that sometimes in life “stuff just happens” however, difficulties endured can always result in goodness for us and for others. Don’t miss the goodness that results from enduring life’s difficult journeys!
Am I alone? No, indeed! God and others are here with me in this journey of life, and will be with me until the end! Amen.