"Bread for the Journey" (1 Kings 19:4-8)

 1. Spreading Lies

Good morning. My name is Danny Bradfield. My pronouns are he/him/his, and I’m pastor of Bixby Knolls Christian Church.

It is good to be with you today. Yesterday I had the opportunity to share a little bit about Bixby Knolls Christian Church with about 80 people from all over North America - Disciples who chose to participate in the workshop I helped lead at yesterday’s Virtual Gathering. They wanted to hear how we used the Covenant Curriculum in our congregation - how I turned it into a sermon series, and I must confess: I couldn’t help but brag a little about all of you, and the wonderful love and support you show to one another and to me, and the way you all work together to figure out ways we can bring wholeness to our community and our world.

In addition to all that, you all constantly seek out God’s truth, and do what you can to represent that truth to the world. Not everyone is like that. For example: Queen Jezebel, and her team of false prophets.

Queen Jezebel is in the background of today’s Bible story, and she was a promoter of lies. She found lies useful to her and her quest for power; so she didn’t care about the truth. She only cared about what would benefit her.

She recruited a team of false prophets, numbering in the hundreds, to promote and peddle her lies. These false prophets cared more about the prestige and power they gained by being associated with Jezebel than they cared about speaking the truth. As long as they broadcast the queen’s lies, they stayed in her good favor. So that is what they did. 

They continued spreading the queen’s lies. Perhaps there were times when they thought the lies were the truth, but even when they knew that they were lies, they stood by those lies, because they wanted to remain in good standing with the queen.

There was only one prophet who stood for the truth. Elijah. In a great showdown, Elijah demonstrated clearly and unequivocally that he spoke the truth, and that all the queen’s prophets were speaking lies. That showdown was a great victory for truth.

2. Under the Broom Tree

But speaking the truth can have consequences; the queen was furious, and she vowed to have Elijah killed if it was the last thing she did.

So Elijah was forced to flee and hide. Elijah fled into the desert. Away from civilization. And he was exhausted, and terrified, and starving; and ready to give up. Ready to die.

He lay down in the shade of a broom tree and waited for death to come. Death did not come, but sleep did. 

After awhile - the Bible doesn’t say how long - a messenger, an angel of God, arrived and jostled Elijah awake. “Wake up,” the angel said; “and here’s something to eat.” 

And the angel gave Elijah a piece of naan and some water.

Then Elijah slept a little more, and then he ate a little more... 

And then, it was time to go. And Elijah was refreshed by his nap and by the food he ate. His strength was renewed. And he went. 

The journey continued to be difficult, and Elijah’s promotion of the truth would continue to be challenging… but Elijah no longer wished to die. Now he was ready to live. Ready to face the challenges that lay ahead. Ready to continue proclaiming the truth.

3. A Time for Rest

Last week’s scripture from Ecclesiastes talked about how there is a time and a season for everything... 

Today’s scripture tells us that there is a time for action, but also a time for rest; a time to work hard on behalf of God’s truth; and a time to restore our own souls and receive the nourishment we need.

Elijah was ready to die. But after a nap and some food, he was ready to continue, ready to carry on the work to which God had called him.

It’s not weakness that led Elijah to stop and rest under that broom tree. It’s not selfishness that led Elijah to stop and rest under that broom tree. It was weariness. Physical weariness. Mental weariness. Complete exhaustion and total fatigue. He was spent.

I make a point of mentioning this only because of Simone Biles. When she pulled out of Olympic competition, there were some who called her selfish and weak. People who have never stood atop a balance beam in their life, people who had never flown off the vault while the world watched, came down hard on her, condemning what they called her weakness and selfishness.

But not one single Olympic gymnast criticized her. Because they knew… they knew of the pressure, the stress, the difficulty and the challenges… they knew the physical and mental toll that being an Olympic champion endures.

And they knew that Simone Biles was doing what she needed to do to care for herself, and care for her teammates and fellow athletes. And they knew that it took great bravery and courage to say: I can’t do this right now. I need to take care of myself.

Can you imagine if some of Queen Jezebel’s false prophets had been watching Elijah, spying on him from a distance, when he sat down under that broom tree? What ridicule Elijah would have faced? Can’t you imagine those false prophets saying things about Elijah similar to what some have said about Simone Biles?

But the only one who did see Elijah was God; and God knew. God knew the toll that being a prophet of the truth had taken on Elijah. God knew that Elijah needed some rest and some food if he was going to continue on; that Elijah needed a break.

4. Caring for Heart, Soul, Body, Mind

God calls on each of us to speak the truth. But speaking the truth can be hard. There are times - many times - when I keep the truth sealed up inside me, because I just don’t have the energy to get into it with people who insist on lies. People who have fallen victim to conspiracy theories and pseudotruth, or who insist on spreading conspiracy theories and pseudotruth.

It doesn’t matter how gently or lovingly or persuasively I speak the truth; some people just don’t want to hear it. To engage in conversation with them would be just too exhausting. So I keep it to myself.

I know I shouldn’t avoid speaking the truth. But I also know that rest is sometimes necessary. I know that caring for one’s heart, soul, mind, and body, is important. And I’m trying to do better at caring for my heart, soul, mind, and body, because I know that only when I am at my healthiest will I be able to speak God’s truth to the world. Only when my physical and mental and emotional and spiritual needs are met, will I be able to be the person God is calling me to be.

I believe that the church is a place that nurtures one’s heart, soul, mind, and body. The church is a place that helps a person become whole. By speaking the truth, Elijah was doing what he could to bring wholeness to the people; life to the people. But when Elijah’s own being was broken, when his own heart, soul, mind, and body were less than whole, God intervened to make sure that Elijah received the emotional, spiritual, mental, and physical nourishment he needed.

5. Rest for the Weary

Because that’s what God does. God provides rest to those who are tired. God provides food to those who are hungry. God takes those who are desperate, and gives them hope. God takes those who are broken, and makes them  whole again.

Sometimes, we in the church do just the opposite. Our message fills people with fear and anxiety. Our message tears people apart, instead of making them whole. 

And sometimes, preachers who preach such messages do so because they themselves are feeling conflicted, or insecure; or they are wrestling with their own issues that they haven’t yet fully resolved. 

Or, they’re trying too hard to be a preacher that is beholden to the message of politicians, or the message of the culture, instead of the message of Jesus.

Or, maybe they themselves just need a rest. And some nourishment.

We are called to preach the truth. We are called to be the best we can be, and fulfill the purpose for which God created us. But God doesn’t want us to kill ourselves doing so. Even Jesus didn’t die because he wore himself out. When he needed rest, he sought a quiet place. When he needed nourishment, he ate. 

So, as we seek to be a movement for wholeness in a fragmented world, we need to remember that wholeness is for us as well. And taking care of our own physical health, our own mental health, our own spiritual health, our own emotional health, is necessary if we are going to be all that we can be.

It’s not selfish. It’s not weak. It’s receiving the necessary nourishment that will allow us to continue on the journey.

An Environment for Listening (Jeremiah 1:4-10)

Last Tuesday, I spent the evening of my birthday attending an orientation and training session for adults who are willing to serve as merit badge counselors for boy scouts. In order to earn merit badges, scouts need to contact and work with a registered merit badge counselor.

There are approximately 120 merit badges that scouts can earn, on a variety of topics such as: camping, first aid, robotics, automotive maintenance, space exploration, and golf. Just to name a few.

(Contrary to popular belief, boy scouts do not have an “assisting the elderly” badge. Only Wilderness Explorers have that.)

The merit badge I signed up to counsel is called Environmental Science. It is one of the merit badges that are required to become an Eagle Scout, which means it is one of the most popular merit badges to earn. Among the requirements to earn the Environmental Science merit badge is one that requires scouts to spend some time observing nature.

Believe it or not, for many scouts, this is the hardest requirement of all. Other merit badges require scouts to do things like build and launch a rocket, lash poles together with rope to build a tower, swim 150 yards, hike twenty miles in one day, or describe the advantages and disadvantages of investing in stocks, mutual funds, life insurance, CDs or savings accounts.

But this particular merit badge, the Environmental Science merit badge, requires scouts to sit still for an extended length of time in a natural environment, using their senses to quietly observe what’s around them.

It doesn’t get much harder than that.

Can you imagine it? At our most recent Chi-Rho gathering, I had the two middle schoolers who were present sit quietly and discover how many different sounds they could hear. I had read recently about how important it is to a life of prayer to simply notice what’s around us, wherever we may be. The author whose book I was reading wondered what would have happened if Moses was too lost in his own thoughts or too distracted to notice what was going on in his environment, or if he was too focused on getting his sheep to whatever pasture he was leading them, too focused on the destination, not paying attention to the journey. Would he have missed the burning bush, not noticing that strange sight that was off to the side?

I asked the Chi-Rho kids to sit quietly, and listen. I wanted to create an environment that, I hoped, would be conducive to prayer—and prayer, I believe, is as much about listening as it is about speaking. So we sat in silence, and afterward, they reported that, in the silence, they heard cars and motorcycles in the street; they heard voices from downstairs; they heard the building creak; and they even heard the fluorescent lights in the room, buzzing softly. I was impressed by that. How often do any of us notice these sounds that are all around us?

On the other hand, the time of quiet didn’t last long. The silence lasted a total of one minute, fifteen seconds. One minute and fifteen seconds was as long as the kids could sit still and listen, doing nothing, ignoring their cell phones, keeping quiet in order to hear the sounds around them.

Kids just aren’t used to periods of quiet these days. In fact, most adults aren’t, either. I just read about a woman who got a new GPS for her car, one that gives audio driving directions. According to what I read, she was able to choose the voice she wanted, so she chose a soothing male voice. Then she programmed her GPS to help her get to places she didn’t know how to get to.

However, she soon started using her GPS to get to places that she did know how to get to, like her own home. Why? Because she liked hearing that soothing male voice. She didn’t like the silence. She didn’t like being left along with her own thoughts.

How many people do you know who leave the TV on when they aren’t really watching it, or who leave the radio on when they aren’t really listening? It drives me crazy when I’m carpooling with someone somewhere, and they have the radio on to some news station, but the volume is low—too low to really hear what’s being said. If it’s a long drive, the station may fade to static—and they don’t even notice! After all, they didn’t really turn the radio on to listen to the news; they turned it on just so they’d have some noise, just so they wouldn’t have to endure the silence. And so they don’t even notice when it fades to static.

Kids these days (I know, using a phrase like that makes me sound old—but I did have a birthday last week) don’t have just radios and TVs. They also have computers and video games and cell phones that do a hundred different things. Their world, I think it’s safe to say, is almost never silent.

When Elijah met God on Mt. Horeb, he encountered a powerful wind, a wind so strong it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks. A tornado, perhaps. But, the scripture says, the Lord was not in the wind.

After the wind there was a mighty earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire.

After the fire, there was a sound of sheer silence.

And in the silence was the voice of God.

God’s voice is not always easy to hear. It’s not always a big, thundering, booming voice. I know a lot of people who believe that God has spoken to them, but not one of them has described God’s voice as sounding like that. Usually, God is heard in the silence.

In a world where noise is everywhere, God’s voice can be hard to hear. One of the most important things a church can do, especially for its children and youth, is provide an environment in which God’s voice can be heard.

In addition to being hard to hear, God’s voice can also be hard to recognize; especially if one is not used to hearing it.

The Bible says that in the days of Samuel, the word of the Lord was rare. I wonder why. If I were to make a guess, I would say that perhaps it was because it was a noisy time in history, and people just weren’t listening very well.

One person who did experience silence, and thus was able to listen, was Samuel. The fact that, at night, he actually slept in the temple probably helped him find times of silence. I imagine the temple to be a rather quiet place at night. But even so, when God called, Samuel did not recognize that it was God’s voice he was hearing.

Fortunately, Samuel had the old priest Eli to help him realize that the voice he was hearing was, in fact, the voice of the Lord. The environment in which Samuel found himself was perfect for hearing God’s call. He had times of instruction, periods of silence, and the guidance of a mentor who was able to share with Samuel his knowledge and wisdom.

I think that the prophet Jeremiah was also raised in an environment that allowed him to listen for the voice of the Lord. Jeremiah’s father was a priest, and everything I’ve read suggests that Jeremiah’s childhood took place in an environment that had all the right ingredients to make listening for God possible.

Growing up, Jeremiah must have known he was a child of God. Like Samuel, he knew from a very young age that he was called to be and do something special. He was instructed in the ancient wisdom, and was given the time and the silence necessary for one to listen and hear the voice of the Lord. And when that voice did come, he recognized it. He was surprised to hear it at such a young age, but still, he heard it. And he responded, and became one of the great Jewish prophets of old.

One of the most important things we can do as a church is to nurture our children and youth, to provide them with an environment in which God can be heard. I give thanks every time I see our children come up for the children’s moment; and when they go tromping out of here to Sunday school and Worship and Wonder, passing right by me on their way out, I really do count my blessings.

And as the teachers herd them along, hushing them and getting them out the door, I give thanks for those who work with our children: Scheri and Sandy, who sacrifice their worship time to be with our children; and Christine, our nursery attendant; and Barbara, who leads the Heavenly halos; and David and Margo, who assist me with the older youth; and others who step in to lead the children’s moment or assist our Christian Education committee. These folks do an excellent job creating an environment in which our young people are nurtured. I encourage you to express your gratitude to these folks next time you see them.

It never bothers me when the children take too long to get out the door, because it just gives me extra time to be thankful, extra time to count my blessings. Likewise, it never bothers me when a baby cries softly during worship, or when an antsy toddler is roaming the aisles as I preach. I just count another blessing, and move on as best I can.

But I will tell you what does bother me. When I was a scout, the Environmental Science merit badge requirement was to spend eight hours observing nature, in four two-hour increments. Granted, at the time, it sure did seem like a colossal waste of time, especially at summer camp, where more exciting activities like archery and swimming and sailing awaited.

But I know now that time spent like that is not only beneficial when it comes to developing an awareness of one’s environment; it is also beneficial when it comes to developing an awareness of God’s Spirit. And to this day, I often find myself looking for opportunities to spend some time quietly observing the world around me, listening for God.

However, in the years since I was a scout, those eight hours of observing nature have been reduced to two hours; two hours, spread over six twenty-minute increments. That by itself isn’t so bad, I guess; a necessary concession to the noisy, fast-paced world in which we live, I suppose. But the worst thing is that, for this requirement, scouts are now given a choice between two options; the other option has no time requirement at all.

Opportunities to listen for God, to listen for God’s call, are becoming quite rare. As a result, it is becoming increasingly rare for people of all ages—but especially young people—to hear the word of the Lord. Now, more than ever, it is vitally important for the church to do all it can to provide our young people with an environment in which God’s voice can be heard.