Year A
1 Kings 19:9-18
Psalm 85:8-13
Romans 10:5-15
Matthew 14:22-33<\/p>\n\n\n\n
May the words of my mouth\u2026 O God\u2026 speak your Truth\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the beginning of this chapter of 1Kings\u2026 Jezebel sends a messenger to Elijah\u2026 telling him that she intends to kill him that very day\u2026 Elijah has just killed the 450 prophets of Ba\u2019al at Mount Carmel\u2026 perhaps even the 400 prophets of the goddess Asherah\u2026 and understandably\u2026 the threat of his own death frightens him\u2026 so he sets out on a journey to save himself\u2026 but by the time he gets to Beer-Sheba\u2026 his lust for life seems to have faded\u2026 so leaving his servant behind\u2026 he journeys for a day into the wilderness\u2026 finally collapsing beneath a broom tree\u2026 and there he prays that God will take his life\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And an angel comes\u2026 and brings him some bread that was baked on hot stones\u2026 and a jar of water\u2026 and touches him\u2026 and encourages him to eat and drink\u2026 and he does\u2026 and he falls asleep again\u2026 and the angel comes a second time\u2026 and touches him again\u2026 and encourages him to eat again\u2026 since as the angel says\u2026 otherwise the journey will be too much for you<\/em>\u2026 the angel is referring to Elijah\u2019s forty day journey to Mt. Horeb\u2026 also known as Mt. Sinai\u2026 and when he arrives\u2026 he enters a cave and spends the night there\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then the Word of God came and asked\u2026 What are you doing here\u2026 Elijah<\/em>\u2026 now what\u2019s odd to me about this passage\u2026 is that God asks Elijah the same question\u2026 also twice\u2026 almost as a test\u2026 and each time\u2026 Elijah offers the exact same answer\u2026 after the first time\u2026 a great wind splits mountains\u2026 there\u2019s an earthquake\u2026 and fire\u2026 but it\u2019s only when Elijah hears the sound of sheer silence\u2026 that he wraps his face in his mantle\u2026 and goes out to the entrance of the cave\u2026 he senses<\/em> something\u2026 but it doesn\u2019t seem that Elijah catches on fully\u2026 I wonder if he realizes that God can be fully apprehended in the silence\u2026 he\u2019s somehow not quite there yet\u2026 because God commands him on his return to Damascus\u2026 to not only anoint Hazael as King over Aram\u2026 and Jehu as King over Israel\u2026 but to anoint Elisha\u2026 as his replacement\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wendell Meyer\u2026 retired Rector of St. John\u2019s Episcopal Church in N. Berwick, ME\u2026 writes\u2026 despite his fear and self-denigration\u2026 Elijah is actually at the pinnacle of his prophetic career\u2026 a status that\u2019s reflected by the parallels between this account\u2026 and the story of Moses and his divine revelation on Mt. Sinai\u2026 but even after Elijah has encountered the presence of God in the sound of sheer silence\u2026 his experience doesn\u2019t move or change him\u2026 his heart remains anchored in feelings of desolation\u2026 and yet\u2026 God continues to use him\u2026 Elijah continues to prophesy to the rulers and people of Israel\u2026 demonstrating and exercising God\u2019s will and God\u2019s power\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n God\u2019s power has just been demonstrated in the feeding of the more than 5,000\u2026 remember\u2026 Jesus was trying to get away by himself\u2026 in a boat\u2026 to mourn the murder of his cousin John the Baptist\u2026 but as Mitzi Smith\u2026 New Testament Professor at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Ga\u2026 writes\u2026 Jesus momentarily sacrificed self-care\u2026 to attend to the crowds\u2026 the disciples urge Jesus to dismiss them\u2026 presuming that they all have the means and the ability to trek into the city to buy food\u2026 this won\u2019t be the first time the disciples urge Jesus to send folks packing\u2026 but perhaps it\u2019s because\u2026 in this case\u2026 his inner circle sensed that he needed to tend to himself\u2026 needed time to be alone and relax<\/em>\u2026 though as soon as everyone had been fed\u2026 and the twelve baskets of leftovers had been collected\u2026 the Gospel says\u2026 Immediately<\/em>\u2026 Jesus made the disciples get in the boat and go to the other side\u2026 while he remained behind like a good deacon and dismissed everyone\u2026 I can almost imagine him saying to them\u2026 let\u2019s get out of here before anyone else arrives\u2026 and then he returned to what he intended to do before the feeding\u2026 he went up the mountain by himself to pray\u2026 to take care of himself\u2026 but listen to the timing of the text\u2026 when evening came\u2026 he was there alone\u2026 but the boat was <\/em>already<\/em> being battered by the waves\u2026 and was far from land<\/em>\u2026 and we don\u2019t know how early it was\u2026 as far as I can make out from the Greek\u2026 it says\u2026 at the fourth watch of the night\u2026 Jesus came walking out on the sea towards them\u2026 and they thought they were seeing a ghost\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n And this is my favorite part\u2026 he says\u2026 take heart\u2026 do not be afraid\u2026 it is I<\/em>\u2026 and last part\u2026 this\u2026 it is I<\/em>\u2026 in the Greek is\u2026 I AM\u2026 it\u2019s the same way Jesus identifies himself in John\u2019s Gospel when he says\u2026 I am the Bread of Life (John 6:35-48)\u2026 I am the Light of the World (John 8:12 and 9:5)\u2026 I am the Gate (John 10:7)\u2026 I am the Good Shepherd (10:11-14)\u2026 I am the Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25)\u2026 I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6)\u2026 and I am the True Vine (John 15:1-5)\u2026 and it\u2019s the same response Moses got when he asked\u2026 If I come to the Israelites and say to them\u2026 the God of your ancestors has sent me to you\u2026 and they ask me\u2026 what is his name\u2026 what shall I say to them\u2026 and God said to Moses\u2026 I AM WHO I AM\u2026 and further\u2026 you shall say to the Israelites\u2026 I AM has sent me to you\u2026 the Ground of Being\u2026 the sheer silence\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pastor Martin Billmeier writes\u2026 It\u2019s so hard to have faith when the storm is swirling\u2026 when what\u2019s happening is what we don\u2019t want to happen\u2026 we can begin to doubt God\u2019s goodness\u2026 when he\u2019s sinking in the water\u2026 Peter definitely does not want what is happening to him to happen\u2026 but what does Peter do\u2026 he turns to Jesus\u2026 we waste a lot of time\u2026 he wrote\u2026 finding someone to blame for our troubles\u2026 God\u2026 another person or group\u2026 or ourselves\u2026 maybe the only thing we really need to do when trouble arises\u2026 is take it to Jesus\u2026 and center ourselves in Christ\u2026 and then act\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n As the earth rotates\u2026 the ground at the equator\u2026 moves at roughly 1,000 miles per hour\u2026 while the ground at the north and south poles hardly moves at all\u2026 in a hurricane\u2026 the winds on the outside edges are the most ferocious\u2026 they have the farthest to go\u2026 and they go the fastest\u2026 while in the center\u2026 in the eye\u2026 there is a stillness\u2026 and a groundedness\u2026 which cannot be shaken\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n We have much chaos in our lives right now\u2026 there are storms blowing us around\u2026 knocking us off balance\u2026 and it may even feel like we\u2019re sinking and drowning\u2026 but I wonder how can we see past wind\u2026 and earthquake\u2026 and fire\u2026 and pandemic\u2026 and racism\u2026 and a contentious election cycle\u2026 when we\u2019re most afraid\u2026 and find that still silent place where we can trust God\u2026 where we can see past all the clamoring for attention\u2026 and become more established in faith\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n And let me point out\u2026 in today\u2019s Gospel\u2026 Jesus doesn\u2019t say\u2026 you of <\/em>no<\/em> faith<\/em>\u2026 he says\u2026 you of <\/em>little<\/em> faith<\/em>\u2026 and in Matthew 17:20 Jesus says\u2026 if you have faith the size of a mustard seed\u2026 you will say to this mountain\u2026 move from here to there\u2026 and it will move\u2026 and it\u2019s to these disciples of little faith that Jesus entrusts the Kingdom\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n The issues and circumstances which we\u2019re being faced with these days\u2026 seem like a chaotic storm of storms\u2026 but the I AM WHO I AM\u2026 whose center is everywhere\u2026 and whose circumference is nowhere\u2026 resides deep within us\u2026 and this is why Jesus is not only a steward of the mystery\u2026 but an organizer of the chaos in our lives\u2026 and we are invited to move ever closer to the silence in every storm we encounter\u2026 and remain unshakable\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Year A 1 Kings 19:9-18 Psalm 85:8-13 Romans 10:5-15 Matthew 14:22-33 May the words of my mouth\u2026 O God\u2026 speak your Truth\u2026 At the beginning of this chapter of 1Kings\u2026 Jezebel sends a messenger to Elijah\u2026 telling him that she intends to kill him that very day\u2026 Elijah has just killed the 450 prophets of Ba\u2019al at Mount Carmel\u2026 perhaps even the 400 prophets of the goddess Asherah\u2026 and understandably\u2026 the threat of his own death frightens him\u2026 so he sets out on a journey to save himself\u2026 but by the time he gets to Beer-Sheba\u2026 his lust for life seems to have faded\u2026 so leaving his servant behind\u2026 he journeys for a day into the wilderness\u2026 finally collapsing beneath a broom tree\u2026 and there he prays that God will take his life\u2026 And an angel comes\u2026 and brings him some bread that was baked on hot stones\u2026 and a jar of water\u2026 and touches him\u2026 and encourages him to eat and drink\u2026 and he does\u2026 and he falls asleep again\u2026 and the angel comes a second time\u2026 and touches him again\u2026 and encourages him to eat again\u2026 since as the angel says\u2026 otherwise the journey will be too much for you\u2026 the angel is referring to Elijah\u2019s forty day journey to Mt. Horeb\u2026 also known as Mt. Sinai\u2026 and when he arrives\u2026 he enters a cave and spends the night there\u2026 Then the Word of God came and asked\u2026 What are you doing here\u2026 Elijah\u2026 now what\u2019s odd to me about this passage\u2026 is that God asks Elijah the same question\u2026 also twice\u2026 almost as a test\u2026 and each time\u2026 Elijah offers the exact same answer\u2026 after the first time\u2026 a great wind splits mountains\u2026 there\u2019s an earthquake\u2026 and fire\u2026 but it\u2019s only when Elijah hears the sound of sheer silence\u2026 that he wraps his face in his mantle\u2026 and goes out to the entrance of the cave\u2026 he senses something\u2026 but it doesn\u2019t seem that Elijah catches on fully\u2026 I wonder if he realizes that God can be fully apprehended in the silence\u2026 he\u2019s somehow not quite there yet\u2026 because God commands him on his return to Damascus\u2026 to not only anoint Hazael as King over Aram\u2026 and Jehu as King over Israel\u2026 but to anoint Elisha\u2026 as his replacement\u2026 Wendell Meyer\u2026 retired Rector of St. John\u2019s Episcopal Church in N. Berwick, ME\u2026 writes\u2026 despite his fear and self-denigration\u2026 Elijah is actually at the pinnacle of his prophetic career\u2026 a status that\u2019s reflected by the parallels between this account\u2026 and the story of Moses and his divine revelation on Mt. Sinai\u2026 but even after Elijah has encountered the presence of God in the sound of sheer silence\u2026 his experience doesn\u2019t move or change him\u2026 his heart remains anchored in feelings of desolation\u2026 and yet\u2026 God continues to use him\u2026 Elijah continues to prophesy to the rulers and people of Israel\u2026 demonstrating and exercising God\u2019s will and God\u2019s power\u2026 God\u2019s power has just been demonstrated in the feeding of the more than 5,000\u2026 remember\u2026 Jesus was trying to get away by himself\u2026 in a boat\u2026 to mourn the murder of his cousin John the Baptist\u2026 but as Mitzi Smith\u2026 New Testament Professor at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Ga\u2026 writes\u2026 Jesus momentarily sacrificed self-care\u2026 to attend to the crowds\u2026 the disciples urge Jesus to dismiss them\u2026 presuming that they all have the means and the ability to trek into the city to buy food\u2026 this won\u2019t be the first time the disciples urge Jesus to send folks packing\u2026 but perhaps it\u2019s because\u2026 in this case\u2026 his inner circle sensed that he needed to tend to himself\u2026 needed time to be alone and relax\u2026 though as soon as everyone had been fed\u2026 and the twelve baskets of leftovers had been collected\u2026 the Gospel says\u2026 Immediately\u2026 Jesus made the disciples get in the boat and go to the other side\u2026 while he remained behind like a good deacon and dismissed everyone\u2026 I can almost imagine him saying to them\u2026 let\u2019s get out of here before anyone else arrives\u2026 and then he returned to what he intended to do before the feeding\u2026 he went up the mountain by himself to pray\u2026 to take care of himself\u2026 but listen to the timing of the text\u2026 when evening came\u2026 he was there alone\u2026 but the boat was already being battered by the waves\u2026 and was far from land\u2026 and we don\u2019t know how early it was\u2026 as far as I can make out from the Greek\u2026 it says\u2026 at the fourth watch of the night\u2026 Jesus came walking out on the sea towards them\u2026 and they thought they were seeing a ghost\u2026 And this is my favorite part\u2026 he says\u2026 take heart\u2026 do not be afraid\u2026 it is I\u2026 and last part\u2026 this\u2026 it is I\u2026 in the Greek is\u2026 I AM\u2026 it\u2019s the same way Jesus identifies himself in John\u2019s Gospel when he says\u2026 I am the Bread of Life (John 6:35-48)\u2026 I am the Light of the World (John 8:12 and 9:5)\u2026 I am the Gate (John 10:7)\u2026 I am the Good Shepherd (10:11-14)\u2026 I am the Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25)\u2026 I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6)\u2026 and I am the True Vine (John 15:1-5)\u2026 and it\u2019s the same response Moses got when he asked\u2026 If I come to the Israelites and say to them\u2026 the God of your ancestors has sent me to you\u2026 and they ask me\u2026 what is his name\u2026 what shall I say to them\u2026 and God said to Moses\u2026 I AM WHO I AM\u2026 and further\u2026 you shall say to the Israelites\u2026 I AM has sent me to you\u2026 the Ground of Being\u2026 the sheer silence\u2026 Pastor Martin Billmeier writes\u2026 It\u2019s so hard to have faith when the storm is swirling\u2026 when what\u2019s happening is what we don\u2019t want to happen\u2026 we can begin to doubt God\u2019s goodness\u2026 when he\u2019s sinking in the water\u2026 Peter definitely does not want what 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