The Small Still Voice

June 22, 2019 A Small Still Voice 2nd Sunday After Pentecost Year C Object: A dish with water in it Boys and girls: How strong is water? Some of you probably think water is not very strong. It's gentle and soothing to swim in this time of year, isn't it? And it's true that if I stick my hand in this dish and scoop up some water and let it seep through my hand, the drops of water don't seem very strong. But suppose I let one tiny drop after another keep falling on one spot, how strong is it? Did you know that it could wear a hole in a mighty rock, drop by drop, over a number of years? How about the water that goes over Niagara Falls or over a dam? Enough water going in the same direction can turn mighty motors that can produce electricity to light great cities. Our lesson from the Bible is about a man named Elijah who forgot two important lessons: You can win great victories if like the drop of water falling on a rock you hang in there and keep trying. Don't give up. The other lesson he forgot is that you can also be victorious if you find other people to help you. Of course Elijah's greatest help came from God. That's where our greatest help comes from, too. We can even be more powerful than Niagara, because God is with us. Dynamic Preaching, Collected Sermons, by King Duncan 1 Kings 19:1-15 Common English Bible (CEB) Elijah runs to Mount Horeb 19 Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, how he had killed all Baal’s prophets with the sword. 2 Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah with this message: “May the gods do whatever they want to me if by this time tomorrow I haven’t made your life like the life of one of them.” 3 Elijah was terrified. He got up and ran for his life. He arrived at Beer-sheba in Judah and left his assistant there. 4 He himself went farther on into the desert a day’s journey. He finally sat down under a solitary broom bush. He longed for his own death: “It’s more than enough, LORD! Take my life because I’m no better than my ancestors.” 5 He lay down and slept under the solitary broom bush. Then suddenly a messenger tapped him and said to him, “Get up! Eat something!” 6 Elijah opened his eyes and saw flatbread baked on glowing coals and a jar of water right by his head. He ate and drank, and then went back to sleep. 7 The LORD’s messenger returned a second time and tapped him. “Get up!” the messenger said. “Eat something, because you have a difficult road ahead of you.” 8 Elijah got up, ate and drank, and went refreshed by that food for forty days and nights until he arrived at Horeb, God’s mountain. 9 There he went into a cave and spent the night. The LORD’s word came to him and said, “Why are you here, Elijah?” 10 Elijah replied, “I’ve been very passionate for the LORD God of heavenly forces because the Israelites have abandoned your covenant. They have torn down your altars, and they have murdered your prophets with the sword. I’m the only one left, and now they want to take my life too!” 11 The LORD said, “Go out and stand at the mountain before the LORD. The LORD is passing by.” A very strong wind tore through the mountains and broke apart the stones before the LORD. But the LORD wasn’t in the wind. After the wind, there was an earthquake. But the LORD wasn’t in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake, there was a fire. But the LORD wasn’t in the fire. After the fire, there was a sound. Thin. Quiet. 13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his coat. He went out and stood at the cave’s entrance. A voice came to him and said, “Why are you here, Elijah?” 14 He said, “I’ve been very passionate for the LORD God of heavenly forces because the Israelites have abandoned your covenant. They have torn down your altars, and they have murdered your prophets with the sword. I’m the only one left, and now they want to take my life too.” 15 The LORD said to him, “Go back through the desert to Damascus and anoint Hazael as king of Aram. Common English Bible (CEB) Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible So it is official, in May of this year, CNN reported that burnout is officially classified as a bonifide disease. The term burnout, breakdown has been around what seems like forever. Actually a phsychiatrist coined the phrase in an article in 1974, and it seems to have caught on like wildfire. Now the World Health Association says that burnout is not the same as depression or anxiety. Burnout is expressly defined as a work related issue. Burnout is a feeling of exhaustion,a callousness or carelessness of work. There are 5 stages of burnout – the honeymoon phase, when you are gungho about everything , and excited to work. But as reality sets in you get stressed out about problems, then you start to obsess about the stress all of the time, and then stress becomes a way of life, and then you get to the point where you can’t deal with anything. . A study back in 1993 (1) showed that people who work in the care industries, such as nurses and social workers and others who have frequent intense or emotionally charged interactions with others are especially susceptible to burnout. But burnout can affect workers in any field. Take prophets, for example. Since many prophets were commissioned with the idea that most of those to whom they prophesied were going to reject their message, burnout was practically part of the job description for being a prophet. (Stan Purdam) Our scripture for today is the story of the prophet Elijah and his bout with burnout. This biblical story happened thousands of years ago, Elijah experiences the classic symptoms of burnout. When I talk about a lot of scriptures, I say they are my favorite. But I love this one for so many reasons. But there are few stories in the bible as important as this one, with such a wonderful message of faith as this story. First of all Elijah is a really big deal to the Jewish faith. There are a handful of stories in the bible about him, but there are many other stories and legends about this man. Elijah – means I believe in God in Jah. The more I think about it, Elijah was an important prophet because Elijah was an important example of an ordinary man, who did extraordinary things for God. Today, we use Jesus as our example and say what would Jesus Do. But Jesus used Elijah as an example, as Jesus began his ministry – he would ask himself what would Elijah do. In this story Elijah runs out into the wilderness to find god, In the new testament, Jesus runs out into the wilderness to find God. Elijah is a prophet, Jesus is a prophet. They kill Jesus for being a prophet and telling the truth, they threaten Elijah’s life. That is part of a prophet’s job – to tell people what they really don’t want to hear –hence the chronic stress. But a prophet also helps people, is an example to people, listens to God, and does God’s work in the world. We are all called to do God’s work in the world. We are all called to have a relationship with the creator. I really think Elijah is so important, because there is a part of Elijah inside of each of us. you know that World Health Organization says that burnout is only work related, but I think that burnout is also very common amongst God’s people. Burnout is faith related as well, that is why this story is so important. ! Kings 18 and 19 are two parallel lessons, which may or may not have happened chronologically. Elijah is this strong determined figure who comes out of the middle of nowhere, with no back story. But he comes on the scene determined to show the love of God both to those in need and even to those in power. In chapter 18 he challenges the kings wife – Jezebl to a dual that his God is stronger than her God. Elijah wins the battle, by killing 400 prophets of another God. but now Elijah is afraid for his life and he runs. He runs and hides in a cave. That pattern of starting out gungho and determined, and then starting to realize the stress of what you are doing starts to set in. Elijah retreats – he is so discouraged that he just wants to die. The angels come to feed him and nourish him. I love this story – because the story tells itself. One preacher says that the cause of burnout are unrealized expectations, traumatic events, worry, poor decisions, lonliness, negative self talk – negative prayers – It is all here in this story. God ask Elijah – what are you doing here – and all Elijah can do is complain and think negative. He doesn’t even answer God’s question – but whines- I have been zelous for the Lord, I have been doing all I can, no one listens, they are out to get me, I am a failure, I cant do this , I am all alone……unrealized expectations, tramatic events, worry, poor decisions, lonliness, negative self talk – negative prayers. Elijah has it all. God never responds one way or another, he gives Elijah no advice, no sympathy. He simply ask Elijah one more time – what are you doing here. It is Elijah who goes off on this quest to find the real God – the god of the fire – like the one who appeared to Moses. The god of loud noises and big things. shipwrecked man prays to God to save him. A boat approaches, but the man tells it to go away because God will save him. The boat leaves. A second boat arrives, and the man sends it away, saying God will save him. The man dies of exposure. When he gets to heaven, he complains to God for not saving him when he prayed. God tells the man he sent two boats to save him but the man sent them away." Elijah looked in all of the places he heard God would be – and found nothing. Until he was able to calm down and find God in the still small voice. The Greek says a thin whisper, or a light murmuring sound.- I like to call it a God whisper. It is that moment in life, not so much when God speaks, but when your spirit is quiet enough to listen. In his book Directions, author James Hamilton shares this insight about listening to God: Before refrigerators, people used icehouses to preserve their food. Icehouses had thick walls, no windows and a tightly fitted door. In winter, when streams and lakes were frozen, large blocks of ice were cut, hauled to the icehouses and covered with sawdust. Often the ice would last well into the summer. One man lost a valuable watch while working in an icehouse. He searched diligently for it, carefully raking through the sawdust, but didn't find it. His fellow workers also looked, but their efforts, too, proved futile. A small boy who heard about the fruitless search slipped into the icehouse during the noon hour and soon emerged with the watch. Amazed, the men asked him how he found it. "I closed the door," the boy replied, "lay down in the sawdust, and kept very still. Soon I heard the watch ticking." Elijah is still stuck in his burnout – his complaining, unrealized expectations, tramatic events, worry, poor decisions, lonliness, negative self talk – negative prayers God speaks to Elijah one more time. First of all he tells Elijah that he is not alone – there are 7000 other prophets just like him. But I love it, in the end he tells Elijah to go back to the desert and get back to work. In other words get over it and move on. He doesn’t stop elijah’s complaining, but he doesn’t acknowledge it either. But after it is all over Elijah is able to renew his own spirit. He is able to continue in his calling, rather than giving in to his burnout. But this time as he goes out and continues his ministry – he is not only restored, with a new purpose. But he has the confidence and skills to change the world, instead of allowing the world to change him, and his meaning and purpose. Faithful living can be hard, draining, thankless work. It can burn even the most determined person out. I am convinced that in life, we all have a Jezebel to face – that one challenge that will take every ounce of strength that we have. Burnout is okay – sometimes it forces us to take the much needed break to regroup. Pastor Jim Erwin gives this 7 fold prescription to renewed faith based in Elijah’s experience – sleep and nourishment, accept help from the angels, feel free to vent your frustations, listen to God’s small still voice, renew your purpose, be reassured that what you are doing is right, and finally find some friends – those 7000 others who just like you are zealous for the Lord – they are out there. Burnout is real – we don’t need to don’t need the world health organization to tell us that – all we need to do is come to church a couple of Sundays and be with God’s people. But the good news for us is that the demons of despair don’t have the final word. God’s still small voice still speaks. I have just one more story to share – in 1952 composer John Cage wrote a song called 4 minutes 33 seconds. – it is a song written in three parts. But in each part instead of playing, the musician is forced to sit and listen – for 4 minutes and 33 seconds. Where in your life can you go to find God – a place in your life where you can be fed by the angels and hear God’s voice speaking to you. So many times in our life we seek God in the miracles, in the extraordinary , in far away places. When God is present right here in our ordinary lives. Let us pray…. Amen. Additional illustrations… Have you heard about the cell phone ringtone that junior high and high school kids are using to keep teachers from discovering that they are using their cell phones in school? The pitch of this ringtone, called the "mosquito tone," is too high for people over 25 to hear. So the kids can still send and receive text messages during class without the teacher knowing. The mosquito tone was first developed in Great Britain to irritate teenagers who were loitering around convenience stores and keeping customers away by their loud and obnoxious behavior…Some kid simply figured out how to use that sound as his cell phone's ringtone and—voilà—kids are downloading it by the millions.