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Redford Aldersgate
United Methodist Church
Sermon
(Following the hymn: "Be
Still My Soul") Some times it’s easier to sing about stilling our
soul than it is to do it. Especially when there is a sickness in our
soul. By soul, I mean the part of us that longs for a relationship with
God. Like the song we sang for a Prayer Chorus: As the deer pants for
the water, so my soul longs after you. You alone are my heart’s desire
and I long to worship you. All of us are born with a desire to be in
relationship with God. There are people who have deprived themselves of
that relationship for so long that their soul seems to have withered
away and they say they have no need for God. But most of us ... I would
be so bold as to say that all of us here, because we wouldn’t be here if
there wasn’t some kind of desire to have God in our lives ... So, all of
us here have a soul which desires to be in relationship with God. But
there are times in all of our lives when we develop a sickness in our
soul. That sickness comes for various reasons, but it leaves us feeling
alone and we wonder if there is any hope.
Maybe
the sickness comes when we’ve had serious relationship problems, or
things aren’t going well at work, or perhaps we’re struggling with
physical illness or the loss of a loved one. There are various reasons
why our souls begin to get sick. Sometimes it even comes for no reason
that we can put our finger on. But the result is that we feel alone and
separated from God. It feels like God is way out there someplace and we
are in a deep dark hole far away from God. It happens to even the most
dedicated and faithful people as well as those who don’t take God very
seriously. It happens even to great prophets. But there is Good News.
God is there to help us out of that deep hole
.
A great example of that is in today’s scripture.
The scripture is from the Old Testament book of 1 Kings. The main
character is the Prophet Elijah. Israel is in one of those periods when
most of the people have turned away from God. Ahab is King and he is
married to a woman named Jezebel. Any of you know any girls named
Jezebel? Probably not. We don’t tend to name girls Jezebel, but it used
to be a name people called women who weren’t very nice. Well, people did
that because this Jezebel wasn’t very nice. She’s the reason the name
got such a bad reputation. Anyway, Elijah has been trying to bring the
people of Israel back to God. Everything he has said and done has come
to pass. He predicted a drought and there was a drought. Today’s
scripture follows an exciting encounter he had with 450 prophets of
Baal. Baal was the god of fertility worshiped by the Canaanites. Elijah
wanted the people to know that some statue was not God, so he challenged
the 450 Baal prophets to a contest. He had them put a bull on a big pile
of wood and he did the same with another pile of wood.
Here’s a picture of the worship setting about 9 years ago when we acted
out the story during worship. We didn’t put cut up pieces of bull on the
piles of wood, but it gave you the idea. Then he had the 450 prophets of
Baal pray to their god to send down fire from heaven to light the wood.
They prayed and prayed and shouted and chanted and danced around the
altar all morning and into the afternoon. I remember Bob had all the
kids and some of the adults up here, chanting and shouting and dancing
around the altar. But nothing happened. There was no fire from heaven.
Then Elijah had the people come around his altar. He even had them soak
it with water to make it even harder to ignite. I can’t remember what we
did to act out that part. I don’t think I let them pour water on the
altar, I suspect we just pretended that part. Then Elijah prayed saying:
O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known this day that
you are God in Israel, that I am your servant, and that I have done all
these things at your bidding. Answer me, O Lord, answer me, so that this
people may know that you, O Lord are God and that you have turned their
hearts back. In our little play, I had someone on cue plug in a fan with
crepe paper and ribbon tied to it along with a red light in the middle
of the wood . Immediately, the crepe paper and the ribbon began
flickering in the breeze and it looked like fire. The kids were amazed.
But that was just a little glimmer of the amazement the prophets of Baal
felt as they saw fire... real fire, not a fake fire like I had ... come
down and consume not only the wood and the bull but the rocks as well.
It must have been a powerful sight, because the people rose up and
chased the 450 prophets of Baal down to the river and killed them. It
was a great success for Elijah! Elijah was feeling great and confident
as he confronted the King and then he prayed that the drought would end.
Everything happed as Elijah had said. The King told his wife, Jezebel
all about it. You would think that she would have been afraid and turned
to God, but instead, she got really angry and threatened to kill Elijah.
Now you would think that Elijah would have been brave. Look at all that
had happened. He was a huge success. God was right behind him, but ...
it is a big BUT ... But somehow Jezebel’s threat got to him. Here were
all these positive things that were happening, but one threat ... now
granted she was the Queen and had a lot of power ... but he had God, the
creator of the universe on his side... But Jezebel threatened him and it
frightened him. It frightened him so badly that he ran away and hid. He
even went into a depression so deep that he prayed to die. He was
feeling like he was in a deep hole and everything and everyone was
against him.
We can be critical of Elijah because it seems like he should have been
much stronger especially after such a huge success, but let me ask you a
question. Have you ever done something that everyone raved about and
thought was great ... everyone that is except one or two people. And
those one or two people say something negative. You go home and what
comments do you think about? Do you think about the many, many
compliments you received, or do you think about the one or two negative
comments you got? I see some nods. You know what I’m talking about don’t
you. We’ve all been there, done that. Elijah had a lot going for him,
but Jezebel was against him and that’s all he could think about. He felt
very distant. So he ran away. Actually he walked for 40 days and 40
nights until he got to Mount Horab or Mount Sinai as we most frequently
hear it called - the mountain of God ... the mountain where Moses
received the 10 Commandments. Anyway on the mountain, this happened.
1 Kings 19:11-13
God wasn’t in the great wind or the earthquake or the fire but God was
in the sound of “sheer silence.” Elijah heard God in the silence and was
renewed and went on with his mission. What lessons can we learn from
Elijah’s experience that will help us realize the ways that God wants to
heal us from all sickness ... including sickness of the soul ... as our
bulletin cover suggests?
First of all, I hope that you will go away from this service realizing
that you are not the only one who ever has dark nights of the soul. They
happen, even to the most devout person. Even Elijah, the great prophet
had them, so when we are in one of those deep dark holes, even though it
feels like we are alone, know that lots of people have been there
before. While that’s a helpful insight, it’s not really something that
will help you get out of it. So let’s look at what Elijah did. He went
to a holy place... a place where God had been revealed before.
He went to Mt. Horab or Mt. Sinai. Where are the holy places in your
life? Where have you encountered God before? It’s good to go back there
... or to a place where you know others have encountered God.
In our new Bible Study - about following the Prayer Paths of Jesus -
which will begin this Monday Evening and Tuesday Morning, the first week
suggest that Jesus often went away to “lonely places to pray.” As part
of our exercises we are asked to think about places we have gone on a
retreat and how God was there. There have been many places for me. One
of my favorites is the retreat center at Lake Huron. It’s great to have
places that you go away to, but it’s even more important to have places
that are close by where you can go frequently and you don’t have to make
big plans or an effort to get there. Now Elijah walked for 40 days and
40 nights, but how about having somewhere you can walk in 40 minutes or
40 seconds. When we lived in Monroe, we were only a block from the
Raisin River. I used to love to get up before the rest of the family and
walk down to the river and watch the water go by. It was a great way to
start the day. I had many encounters with God at that river. But here in
the city, it’s not quite as easy to get to a river or maybe even when we
go to Heinz Park or somewhere like that, we might not feel as
comfortable and safe being by ourselves. So here, I’ve
come to love the spring, summer and fall mornings on my back porch. In
the winter time, I have to move to my chair in the living room or
another chair I have in the basement. I used to have a fountain going
and some meditative pictures in the basement in a meditation area.. It’s
kind of fallen into disrepair at the present time because I haven’t
quite moved down there yet, because the Christmas tree is still up, but
soon the Christmas tree will be down and I’ll need to clean up my
basement meditation center.
While it’s great to have a place at home, it’s even nicer to have
somewhere away from the house. It makes it seem more like a retreat. One
place that I have come to love very much is our Upper Room Prayer Room
here at the church. It, too, has fallen into disrepair recently because
we didn’t have anyone in charge of it. But, I am pleased to say that
Diana Command has decided to take this on as a project. Even before she
gets it like she’d like it, you are still free to go up there and
experience the solitude and peace that can be found there. There are 6
stations that have suggestions for prayer. But my favorite one is in the
chair in the middle of the room. Here’s a picture of Rick Higgins
showing you how it is done. This is a really “tough” kind of prayer, but
you all can do it. It is called relaxation. The instructions are that
you are to sit in the chair for at least 10 minutes and LET GOD LOVE
YOU. That’s an idea I got when I read a book about prayer in which an
older woman was describing how she prayed. She closed by saying, when I
run out of things to say, I just sit and let God love me. That was a
whole new concept of prayer for me. I had always tried to fill up my
prayer time with words. But when I just began to sit and relax and let
God love me, it was amazing the experience I had. This is a great chair.
It’s one of the most comfortable chairs I’ve ever found. When you sit in
it, you can just sense loving arms around you. It’s great. Try it,
you’ll like it. It’s easy. It’s free. It’s not far away. And it’s very
safe. Plus, it’s a place where people have encountered God before. It is
a holy place.
There was one day I was feeling down and I went up there to pray. When I
was at one of the centers, I happened to read a prayer someone had
written. It was a child’s writing and it was a prayer for me. I can’t
tell you what that meant to me that day when I was feeling low and like
things weren’t going so well. To sit and read a prayer a child had
written for me was a truly holy moment. It might not be as earth
shattering as Moses up on Mt. Sinai, but it was holy just the same. So
follow Elijah’s example go to a holy place and then wait for God.
Maybe God’s voice will come to you like it did to Moses with fire and
thunder and brilliance, or maybe it will be like it was for Elijah ...
in the silence. God speaks to people in different ways. Perhaps it will
be a nudging in your heart ... or an uneasy feeling ... or a peaceful
feeling ... maybe it will come by reading something someone else has
written ... there are many, many ways God speaks to us. Keep your mind
and heart open to the possibilities... in the holy places ... and in
every day places. During Lent, we are going to be looking at another one
of John Ortberg’s books called “God is Closer than You Think.” During
that study we will discover lots of ways we need to be open to God
everywhere.
A month or so ago I used an example of a writing I received in e-mail.
Elijah’s experience reminded me of it again. I think it’s worth
repeating. The man whispered, “God, speak to me” and a meadowlark sang.
But the man did not hear. So the man yelled, “God speak to me” and the
thunder rolled across the sky,. But the man did not listen. The man
looked around and said, “God let me see you.” And a star shined
brightly. But the man did not see. And, the man shouted, “God show me a
miracle.” and a life was born. But, the man did not notice. So, the man
cried out in despair, “Touch me God, and let me know you are here.”
Whereupon, God reached down and touched the man. But the man brushed the
butterfly away and walked on. Certainly nature is full of examples of
God’s love. This e-mail reminds us that God often speaks through nature.
As we sang in our opening Hymn “This Is My Father’s World”... He speaks
in all that’s fair. In the rustling grass I hear him pass. He speaks to
me everywhere. Are we open to the many ways God tries to speak to us?
This e-ail reminds us of what Elijah knew ... and that is God often
speaks to us through nature.
Someone once told me of an experience she had had as she going through a
difficult time after the death of her husband. She was out for a walk
when she noticed a butterfly on a bush right beside the walk. She stood
and watched it for quite some time. As she watched it, a peace came over
her. The next day, she took the walk again and again the butterfly was
there. The same was true the third day as well. On the third day, though
as she watched, the butterfly flew up and landed on her shoulder and
then flew away. As she told me about she was so excited. She said it was
as though her husband was saying, “I’m o.k.” . Her heart was lifted from
the despair she had felt. I believe it was God’s way of assuring her
that life goes on and that we are all in God’s hands. She often sees
butterflies now. And especially when she sees a Monarch butterfly, it
fills her with a peace that goes beyond our understanding. She saw God
at work in a very special way. If we open the eyes of our heart, God
will send little signs, little nudgings, or maybe a big something to let
us know that we are loved and cared for.
That certainly doesn’t mean life will be easy, it just means that we can
go through the difficult times and still be able to declare: It is Well
With My Soul. Our last hymn is an old hymn that is one of my favorites.
I always liked to sing it as a child because it had this neat echo in
the chorus. But as I grew older and especially as I learned of the story
behind the writing of this song, it has grown even more special to me.
For this song was written by a man named Horatio Spafford in 1873. He
had been a very successful lawyer in Chicago. But the great Chicago fire
of 1871 consumed all of his real estate investments and he lost his
life’s savings.
Two years later, he planned a vacation in Europe to help cheer up his
wife. Right before they left to go on the ship, he was unexpected
detained because of business, but his family went ahead and he was to
follow in a few days. However, on the way, the ship his wife and 4
daughters were on was hit by an iron vessel and sank in 12 minutes. His
unconscious wife was rescued but his 4 daughters drowned. When she
reached England, she cabled her husband this message: Saved alone, what
shall I do?” Immediately, he left to go get his wife. When the ship came
close to the place where his daughters drowned, he wrote a letter to his
sister-in-law telling her that they had passed over where the children
had drowned, yet he knew they were not there because they were safe in
God’s arms. Then he wrote the words to the song we will sing: It is Well
with My Soul.
How is it with your soul? ... the part of you that longs for a
relationship with God ... How is that relationship with God? Is it
strong enough to get you through those rough times when everything seems
to go wrong like it did for Horatio Spafford? If it’s not, then know
that God is wanting to take any sickness of your soul away. Yes, there
will certainly be times when there is sickness in our soul. But like our
worship setting suggests, the light of Christ will bring healing. When
we are feeling like we are in a deep hole, far away from God, just
knowing that others have been in that hole before may help a little. But
let’s follow Elijah’s lead, let’s go to a holy place and open our hearts
to what ever sign God wants to give us, from the sound of stillness to a
note someone has written to a butterfly to a beautiful song... God is
closer than we might think. God is reaching out to us. We, too can say:
It is well with my soul!
It is my hope that you will experience an awareness of God’s presence
right here and right now as we have the wonderful privilege of having
Stacey Mason with us today. Her presence here was especially meant to be
a birthday present for Ralph Wigle but I know her presence is a gift to
all of us. Let us open our hearts as she sings our prayer: “You Raise Me
Up.” !