I Kings 19:4-9 Psalm 34:1-8 Ephesians 4:25-5:2 John 6:35, 41-51
Well-being
The tears of Tom Daley, the withdrawal of Simone Biles from her first gymnastic event, the early exit of Naomi Osaka, who said “I feel like my attitude wasn’t that great because I don’t really know how to cope with that pressure” the disappointment of Bianca Walkden in the Taekwondo (“I gave my soul”) — competitive sporting events are often emotional affairs…
Church Times, 30 July 2021 https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2021/30-july/comment/leader-comment/leader-comment-mental-strength-at-the-olympics?utm_campaign=Church%20Times%20RSS%20Daily%20bulletin%202.0&utm_source=emailCampaign&utm_content=&utm_medium=email
Several athletes and footballers have recently, taken time out to safeguard their mental health, which no doubt will encourage many others to take time to consider their own well-being. It is important as we begin to move out of lock-down that there is time and space to consider the impact of the completely different way of life which has turned our understanding and knowledge of how the world is, upside down. And if mental health is important, well-being of the spiritual variety is no less vital, and probably could do with a check-up now and then.
Dealing with fear
The story of Elijah deals with two issues and it may be worth reading the whole of chapters 18 and 19 again. Elijah faced fear and despair. Elijah had been convinced of the commandments that God had given to Moses and the challenge was to establish once and for all the words of the first commandment: You shall have no other gods before me (Exodus 20:3; Deuteronomy 5:7) as a maxim for the people. As ever, the prophet spoke truth to power in the court of Ahab, but the real power in the Kingdom lay not with the king but with his wife, Jezebel. She was famed for being a worshipper of Baal, so when we read in chapter 18 of the great contest between Elijah and the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, Elijah’s claims that Yahweh was the true God, challenged the queen herself.
You might assume that having previously experienced God’s steadfast love in a period of drought, and then God’s almighty power in consuming an offering where the gift and the altar were water-drenched, Elijah would be on a spiritual high. Yet far from being uplifted by these amazing signs of God’s presence, Elijah seems to be terrified by the threats made against him by Jezebel, and he picked up his robes and ran for his life. And in fairness there was probably sound reasoning in this particular response!
Dealing with despair
When we encountered Elijah in the reading this morning it is at the moment, when out in the desert, Elijah is so low that he prays, ‘It is enough: now O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.’ (19:4). The Scripture invites us to contemplate Elijah’s emotional state as he so depressed that he asked to die; he is not in a good place and lay down under a tree and waited for the end. For some this story will have a deep resonance, for others, it might be hard to contemplate such depths of despair. Yet contrary to what some would have you believe, down through the ages, many of the saints of God have wrestled with such anguish.
Spiritual sustenance
But on this occasion, God did not answer Elijah’s prayer in the way he was expecting, in fact the scripture records that ultimately Elijah did not die but was out walking with Elisha one day when something God took him home: As they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them, and Elijah ascended in a whirlwind into heaven. 2 Kings 2:11
But that is a story for another day; here God simply provided for Elijah’s needs, and the bread from heaven on this occasion sustained him on his onward journey. The Psalmist picked up this thought, with the reminder that God encamps around those who honour God and rescues them from danger. Yet God has a funny sense of humour. There is a disappointment for those who were hoping for a few verses about smiting wrong-doers this week. Instead we have this Psalm with its intriguing sub-title, A Psalm of David when he pretended madness before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed.
It looks as though there is a typo as David had fled the rages of King Saul and was living with the Philistines, but at the time the account of this event in 1 Samuel 21:10-15 says that the king is Achish, and Abimelech is the priest. Nevertheless, this Psalm is good for our well-being with its focus on the praise of God and this wonderful invitation: Find out for yourself how good the Lord is. Happy are those who find safety with God. 34:6-8
Taste and see
So how do we move on, what sustains us on life’s journey? The answer that we heard in John’s Gospel takes the ‘taste and see’ motif and points us towards Jesus: Jesus said, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in my will never be thirsty. (John 6:35)
John chapter 6 has probably been the focus for several Sundays, and for good reason, as it has so much beneficial teaching about our relationship with God. But again, it is really helpful to know the background. Everyone around Jesus thought they knew everything about him – they made assumptions and jumped to the wrong conclusions! And they even complained about Jesus, so Jesus corrected them – stop murmuring, he says, and look at what you have before you. He wanted to lead them on into a deeper relationship with God, which is something that all disciples must surely hunger and thirst after. The greatest gift of all is to receive the living bread from heaven, which is Jesus himself. I like the way that the imagery used is within the everyday experience of all: we come to Jesus and our hunger is satiated and we believe and our thirst is quenched. Yet it is so much deeper and richer, because as the wonderful ‘I am’ sayings in John’s Gospel lead us onward, the recognition of Christ as living water, gushing up to eternal life is powerful: God chooses, through the power of the Holy Spirit to dwell within in us (John 4:14).
Just as Jesus came to give himself as an outpouring of love, so we are invited into a new way of life that reflects this love. Had we more time to read the letter to Ephesus, we would have learned about becoming imitators of God. And here is the answer to the lack of verses about smiting evil-doers; God will deal with them in God’s good time. Ephesians 5:3-14 is clear about those who have chosen ‘bitterness, passion, and anger; shouting or insults, and hateful feelings of any sort’ (4:31), for them, there is no inheritance in God’s kingdom.
And if you do occasionally let anger get the better of you, Paul encourages that we put it right before sunset! It is a recognition of our humanity and of God’s grace.
Worship at home 