(Today service of Holy Communion was recorded and is in process of editing. I'll send it along as soon as I receive it.)
St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church
Aylmer, Ontario
August 8, 2021
The Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost
St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church
448 Talbot Street West
Aylmer, Ontario N5H 1L1
1 Kings 19:4-8
4But he himself went a day’s journey into the
wilderness, and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he
might die: “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no
better than my ancestors.” 5Then he lay down under the broom
tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, “Get up
and eat.” 6He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on
hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and lay down again. 7The
angel of the Lord came a second time, touched him, and said, “Get up
and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you.” 8He
got up, and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food forty days
and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God.
Psalm 34: 1-8
1I will bless the Lord at all times; his
praise shall continually be in my mouth.
2My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the
humble hear and be glad.
3O magnify the Lord with me, and let us
exalt his name together.
4I sought the Lord, and he answered me, and
delivered me from all my fears.
5Look to him, and be radiant; so your faces shall
never be ashamed.
6This poor soul cried, and was heard by
the Lord, and was saved from every trouble.
7The angel of the Lord encamps around those
who fear him, and delivers them.
8O taste and see that the Lord is good;
happy are those who take refuge in him.
Ephesians
4:25-5:2
25So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our
neighbors, for we are members of one another. 26Be angry but do
not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27and do not
make room for the devil. 28Thieves must give up stealing;
rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have
something to share with the needy. 29Let no evil talk come out
of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so
that your words may give grace to those who hear. 30And do not
grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the
day of redemption. 31Put away from you all bitterness and wrath
and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, 32and
be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ
has forgiven you.
5Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, 2and
live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant
offering and sacrifice to God.
John
6:35, 41-51
35Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever
comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be
thirsty. 41Then the Jews began to complain about him because he
said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42They were
saying, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?
How can he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” 43Jesus
answered them, “Do not complain among yourselves. 44No one can
come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person
up on the last day. 45It is written in the prophets, ‘And they
shall all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father
comes to me. 46Not that anyone has seen the Father except the
one who is from God; he has seen the Father. 47Very truly, I
tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48I am the bread
of life. 49Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and
they died. 50This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so
that one may eat of it and not die. 51I am the living bread
that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and
the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you.
·
We
start today with the story about the prophet Elijah, the model for all the
prophets of Israel. He feels defeated and is on the run from the forces of Ahab
and Jezebel after Elijah had destroyed the false prophets and the worship of
Baal. He has a price on his head and thinks he’s failed. Elijah is sick of it
and asks the Lord to let him die: It
is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my
ancestors. Instead, God
sends and angel twice, each time with words of encouragement, a jug of water,
and a hearth cake. The prophet bounced back and travelled on to the mount of God,
Mount Horeb.
·
This had become one of my favourite stories because
of small interpretation of it I found on the Internet and actually used for one
of my devotionals.
·
It goes like this… What God gave the prophet – some
water, some bread, some rest, some encouragement – allowed him continue his
ministry. Elijah ate, drank, and slept to wake up and see that things were not
as bad as he thought. The lesson: Never underestimate the spiritual power
of a nap and a snack!
·
When we gather together like this or even when we
gather for the stay-at-home YouTube services, we come and take a short time away
from the usual cares of life. At its best, the worship service takes us away from
those things and refreshes us for the continued journey of our lives. At its
best, the worship service, and in fact all prayer, doesn’t take those concerns
or worries away but lets us lay them down before the Lord for at least a little
while, knowing we’ll have to take them up again, although now with a refreshed
spirit.
·
We can see our lives as a journey, even as a
pilgrimage. Many people do. In the Bible, the Hebrews moved from slavery to
freedom and a promised land even though it took them a long time and tried
their patience… and God’s as well. The Gospels tell of Jesus’ travels in Judea
and Galilee, ending in Jerusalem. The Acts of the Apostles show the travels of
Paul from the centre of faith, Jerusalem, to the centre of worldly power, Rome.
·
Many of us have travelled great distances to be
where we are right now. For quite a few, the journey has been one from death to
life with a lot of fear added along the way. For others, the journey has been
inside, which is no less exhausting, No matter where we started, where we’ve
been, and what we’ve seen on the way, the journey of our lives continues.
·
The angel told Elijah Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you.
This is our commission as well. We are to eat and journey on. A real question
would be to ask “What are we to eat for this life journey?”
·
Jesus answers that question, telling us I am the living bread that came down from
heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will
give for the life of the world is my flesh. Our faith permits us to
eat. Our sacrament of the altar, bread and wine, embodies Jesus’ words and has
us participate in faith through the act of eating. I think this goes beyond the
symbolic and its okay if people don’t agree with me. What remains are the words
of Christ. The bread he gives for the life of the world – and continues to give
- is his flesh, the whole of his own life. John’s use of those words goes beyond
what we think it means and takes us into the area of mystery or that which can
only be grasped by faith.
·
Jesus himself is our bread for the journey. He
himself is “our daily bread” to use the words of the Lord’s Prayer in a
somewhat different way. It is him we need every day and it is him we hunger
for. Our deepest hunger can only be fulfilled by Jesus, once we know who he is
and in that, recognize who we are.
·
It’s more than we could ask for and yet that is what
is given. This is what we need for our journey, both alone and together.
Sometimes it will take the form of a nap and a snack, but no matter what shape
it takes…
Get up
and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you.
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