What Are You Doing Here?
1 Kings 19:1-15
One of my new favorite devotional books is titled: An Eclectic Almanac for the Faithful. And I have to admit, I only picked it up at first because of its intriguing title. However, it has become a storehouse of prayer fodder and ideas for contemplation. Take for instance this past Thursday’s installment about Jean-Baptist Marie Vianney. Vianney lived in France in the first half of the 19th century. The son of peasants, Vianney felt called by God to enter the priesthood, though many clergy did not believe that he held the proper level of education and abilities. Yet, eventually he was ordained and assigned to a remote village where even in isolation he became world renowned as a spiritual director. His child-like faith drew many people to his ministry and often he heard confessions for 18 hours a day! Yet, even in his success, some of his colleagues continued to view “him as ignorant, a charlatan and mentally deranged” prompting the bishop to declare: “I wish that all my clergy had a touch of the same madness!” At least three times in his career, Vianney was on the edge of burnout and sought rest and healing at a local monastery – and each time he was eventually persuaded to return to his parish – where after 40 years in ministry in the same remote parish he died. For his dedication and perseverance Jean-Baptist Marie Vianney has been declared the patron saint of parish priests and ministers.
The story of his life prompted the editor of the book to write the following prayer: "God, this has to be your doing – that a seminary misfit should become your choice as model for your clergy. Yet you need to clarify whether burnout is an official part of the job description. Amen." (Jones, W. Paul. An Eclectic Almanac for the Faithful. Upper Room Books, Nashville. 2006. page 275-276.)
I can tell you, that no where in any pastoral job description have I seen burnout as an official part of the job description! However, I can tell you from past personal experiences, as well as observation of other people in the offices of the Lord’s work, burnout sooner or later does become part of our ministry. And not just for clergy. Many of you gathered here today know the burnout experience! You’ve celebrated the times of passionate service to the Lord and you’ve experienced times of forced labor in the name of God. It’s okay! All of God’s servants have been there! Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Esther, Ruth, Paul, even Jesus sought a way out of doing God’s work. “Father, if it be your will, let this cup pass from me.”
Read the scriptures and time and again you will see God’s teachers and prophets passionately serve God in one chapter only to run away from God’s work in the next.
Today’s story of Elijah is no different. Now, we sort of jumped into the middle of Elijah’s story in today’s reading, so let’s back up and get a bigger picture of what’s happening. Elijah first comes on the scene back in 1 Kings, chapter 17 when he comes to speak to King Ahab. Now, Ahab is described as the one “who did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him.” Ahab did evil in the sight of the Lord, worshipped idols and built altars in Israel to Baal – the false God of Ahab’s wife, Jezebel. So, God sent Elijah with a message for Ahab – the message was that there would be not dew or rain for YEARS until the Lord spoke the word and once again sent rain upon Ahab’s kingdom. And so it was. There was no rain. There was a lot of Baal worshipping. And there was NOT much worshipping of the God of Israel. In fact, Jezebel (Ahab’s ‘lovely’ wife) killed all but 100 prophets of the Lord – so you can bet many feared professing their faith in God too loudly or too boldly. And still no rain fell.
Meanwhile, Elijah continued to do as God commanded. And miraculously a widow, her household and Elijah were fed. The widow’s son was raised from the dead. And the woman and her household professed their faith in God.
Eventually, Ahab and Elijah meet again. Ahab is still not ready to return his faith to the God of Israel. So there is a challenge set up. A challenge between the prophets of Baal and Elijah – to see whose God was more powerful. The prophets of Baal along with Baal were proved to be powerless as the God of Elijah brought fire to a water soaked altar. The people of Israel cried, “the Lord is God! The Lord is God!” and then they killed the prophets of Baal. And then God sent rain upon Israel and the drought was broken. All is well, right?
Well, no. That’s where we pick up today in chapter 19. Ahab told Jezebel all that had happened. Jezebel (who still professed her allegiance to and faith in Baal) sent a message to Elijah. Elijah ran for his life, hid under a broom tree, and there he prayed the prayer of burnout… “O Lord, enough is enough! I am done.”
He’d delivered God’s messages. He’d been the agent through which God performed miracles. Acts of Elijah’s faith and devotion had turned the people of Israel’s hearts back toward God. And what had he gotten? Another death threat. Another season of life on the run. And Elijah was done.
I’ve been there. Have you? Have you been at that place in your discipleship (in your journey with Christ) where you just feel like you can’t do it any longer? The place where you feel like you’re proclaiming a message of love, forgiveness and grace to stones that just don’t care? The place where you feel like you are the ONLY one doing the work of God? Have you been to that place where you crawl under the proverbial broom tree, pledge to give up your ministry and wait to die.
Have you been like Elijah? You’re out of energy. Your passion for the Lord is waning. You’re tired. And you declare that you… are… done.
Yep, most of us have. It’s the natural cycle of things. There are times we serve with energy, passion, imagination and love. And then there are times when we serve not out of desire and want, but because we feel we HAVE to. There are times we’re on fire for the Lord. And then there are times when we wonder if the Lord is even paying attention. There are mountain top experiences, and walks through the valley of the shadow of death. There are times where you don’t feel you can do enough. And there are times when enough is enough!
Elijah, he’s in a season of enough is enough and he’s ready to walk away from the Lord.
But God wasn’t yet finished. God heard Elijah’s cries from under the broom tree, and God answered Elijah’s burnout prayer, much in the same way God answers our burnout prayers, by saying, “You may THINK you’re done. But I, the Lord God, am not finished! And I’m not finished using you.”
And then God did for Elijah what God does for us. He allowed Elijah to rest. He provided nourishment. And he gave Elijah some space.
The scriptures don’t tell us how long Elijah slept under that tree. We don’t know if his season of rest was a night or a week or even longer. But we know that God sent an angel to minister to Elijah during this time of respite. And it was the second time the angel brought food to Elijah, that Elijah ate it and then arose and traveled… where? To the mountain of God.
Notice, God did not make Elijah return to work before Elijah was ready. God allowed Elijah ample time to rest and rejuvenate. God allowed Elijah space enough to examine his life and his calling. And God even allowed Elijah to make the choice to where he would travel.
And Elijah, frustrated and scared as he was, burned out on ministry as he was, chose by his own volition to travel in the strength of the Lord to the place where God was waiting for him. Elijah could have picked himself up from under that broom tree and gone ANYWHERE! And he chose to go closer to God.
There is a shift in the feeling of the story here. Elijah is no longer running away from his enemies. He is no longer fearing his life. But rather, he is traveling with faith and strength in the Lord toward the mountain of God. For forty days and forty nights he traveled on his journey. And arriving at Horeb, he found a cave where he could rest.
And this time, God (not an angel) came to Elijah and asked, “What are you doing here?”
Now, this question always strikes me as odd because depending on how you read it, this question can mean many different things:
“WHAT are you doing here?” Sounds like: This is my holy mountain! Get off of my holy mountain!
So, I don’t think that’s how God asked the question.
Maybe it was , “What are YOU doing here?” A question of shock and awe… Of all the people in the world, you are the last one I thought I would see here on my mountain, Elijah! You were finished with me and ready to die! So why did YOU come here?
That’s a possibility, but I really think that this is what God said to Elijah:
“What are you doing HERE?” Why did you come to my mountain? Why when you could have gone ANYWHERE in the world, why did you choose to come HERE to my holy mountain?
To which, veiled in Elijah’s response, is the answer we share with Elijah – which is: because when we don’t know where else to turn, we know we can turn and RE-turn to God. When we are tired and frustrated and burned-out in life, we can find peace in the presence of God.
Elijah hiding under that broom tree was very human. He was scared, tired, angry, frustrated, finished with doing God’s work and the way he expressed it was in a desire to be done with everything. A desire to die. But that’s not really what he wanted in his core.
Like us, when we are burned out of living this chaotic life, when we are scared, tired, angry, frustrated, just feeling finished with everything … death is not really what most of us want. At those lowest points in our lives what our soul truly desires and what we truly need is to be filled. To be filled by God. To be filled with the Holy Spirit. To be filled with the love, forgiveness and grace of Christ.
What has happened to Elijah in this passage, and what happens to us throughout our lives, is sometimes we give and give and give ourselves to others and to the Lord, but we don’t allow ourselves to be filled by the Lord.
Elijah didn’t really want to die… he just needed to be refilled. And so, after some much needed sulking and rest, he went to the place where he knew he would be filled. He went into the presence of God. “What are you doing HERE Elijah?”
“I am here because all the other children have forsaken you, they have destroyed your altars, killed your prophets, and now they are seeking to kill me. I am here, because I need your strength and power to get me through.”
And so God gave Elijah that strength and power. God filled Elijah not through the wind or the earthquake or the fire, but in a still small voice that came an spoke reassuringly to him. God filled Elijah by giving him rest and nourishment. And then not until Elijah was rejuvenated, refreshed and restored did God send him back to work in the name of the Lord.
So I now pose the question to each of you: What are you doing HERE?
Why did you decide to get up this morning and come HERE to this house of worship and prayer?
Did you come out of habit?
Did you come seeking peace and rest?
Did you come to give praise and glory to your Lord and God?
Did you come bringing an emptiness that is longing to be filled?
What are you doing HERE this morning? With a few exceptions most of you chose to come HERE. You did not choose the golf course, or another place of worship, or to stay in bed or sit on the deck reading the paper, or to enjoy the last Sunday before school starts. You chose to come HERE. Why?
What are you seeking by being here in the presence of the Lord?
That’s not a question that I can answer for you. It might even be that you can’t answer that question – I’m not sure Elijah knew why he left the broom tree and went to the mountain of the Lord. And yet I think it’s good for us to examine our lives and ask ourselves and each other. What are we doing HERE?
Even if you are “just” here, because this is where you go every Sunday morning, know that God is meeting you here. And even on those days when you are come out of habit - or because your spouse or your parent makes you – know that God is speaking a message to you. God in planting the seeds in you that one day will grow into a harvest. No one can come into the presence of God and not be filled by God in some way. You may not at this time recognize all that God is giving you and all the ways that God through the Word read and proclaimed is filling you – but know that being HERE gives God the opportunity to plant his message in your heart.
Why are you HERE? What are you seeking from the Lord? What needs need to be met? What brokenness needs to be healed? What emptiness needs to be filled? What sorrow needs to be redeemed?
Whatever your reason for being here… know and be assured that God is glorified by you being here.
And then know and be assured, that God will indeed meet your every need. God will give rest to those who are weary. God will give joy to those who sorrow. God will bring life to those who feel lifeless. God will provide power to those who feel powerless. God will restore those who feel marginalized.
And when the time is right, God will send each of us refreshed, renewed, rejuvenated and equipped into the world to continue on in proclaiming the truth of salvation through Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
