August 12, 2018 Text: 1 Kings 19:1-8
Dear Friends in Christ,
Have you ever heard of these two women – Elisabeth Lammerhirt and Margarethe Lindemann? They married, bore children and kept house. They lived hard-working and rather ordinary lives. Like women of their day they didn’t write books or poetry or build cathedrals. You probably don’t know who they are. Yet, without them, you wouldn’t be a Lutheran, and you wouldn’t sing many of the hymns that you love.
You see, Elisabeth was the mother of Johann Sebastian Bach; Margarethe, the mother of Martin Luther. They didn’t know their sons would change the world. Elisabeth died when Bach was nine years old. Margarethe didn’t know what would become of her son until late in life. They thought all their hard work, sacrifice and love wouldn’t amount to much. They were wrong.
Elijah in our text for this morning thought he was a failure. He didn’t see that the Lord would bless his hard work and sacrifice. Like the prophet we can become discouraged with our lives. The Lord of life helps us to see this day that we too are blessed.
“DISCOURAGED? BE ENCOURAGED THROUGH CHRIST”
Elijah thought his work had been rewarded. The 450 prophets of Baal had been slaughtered and the three-year drought was over. It was going to rain. But it didn’t work out that way. Jezebel was not repentant, but angry. She threatened to kill Elijah. The people had forsaken God’s covenant, broken down his altars. Elijah thought he was alone. He crawled under a tree, and asked God to take his life.
Do you ever want to crawl under a tree because of your discouragement? We pray. We attend worship regularly. We volunteer. We give a portion of our income. But the congregation may not grow at a pace we think it should. Sometimes the finances can be tight and there is always something that needs to be fixed. It can leave us frustrated. And we ask, “why bother?”
What we forget is that we can’t make the congregation grow by our own efforts. Our energy is not endless. Both people inside and outside the church are sinners. God does not call us to be successful, but to be faithful. It is Jesus who saves. It is the Holy Spirit who calls us by the Gospel and enlightens us with his gifts. He calls us to hear God’s Word, to love our neighbors, to witness about Jesus and to cherish the Sacraments He gives us.
Think of how discouraged you can get when you try to change a person. A spouse, a child, a grandchild, a friend, a co-worker, a neighbor. Your efforts may help but the person needs to make the changes needed. And more than that they and us always need the leading of Christ in our discouragement.
This is what the Lord did with Elijah. God had fed the people in the desert with the manna and God the Son would feed 5,000 in the wilderness. So now God feeds his prophet. God did not grant his prayer to die. Instead, the angel of the Lord, the Son of God came to him and brought him bread and water. This meal and subsequent meals gave the prophet the strength to go on. God would later tell Elijah that he was not alone and his work was not in vain.
Jesus comes to you and I in the same way. Our discouragements are many but we cast our cares upon Him. He took our sins upon himself and bore them all to the cross, where he died the death we deserved and paid all the debts we owed for them. He won for us there forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation.
And I think you also know the other way we are encouraged like Elijah. God feeds us not just bread and water, but his own body and blood in the bread and wine of his Supper. This assures us that Jesus is with us personally. We are refreshed and can move forward in the strength of the Lord.
Elijah did that for forty days and forty nights. The number forty is often used in Scripture for a period of testing, judgment, preparation and discipline. The great flood lasted forty days and nights. Moses spent forty days on Horeb, while God gave him the Ten Commandments. The people of Israel spent forty years in the wilderness. God gave Nineveh forty days to repent. Jesus wandered in the desert and fasted for forty days prior to his temptation by the devil.
Where have you had your forty days and nights? Are you living through them now? The testing, the discipline, the discouragement. Be encouraged through Christ Jesus your Lord and Savior. In all of the situations listed above, the people came out on the other end of it better off and blessed. The Lord rose spent forty days and nights among his people and ascended to heaven. Because of this we are not alone as the Lord looks after us.
God has called you to labor for His Kingdom. He encourages your sacrifice and your gifts. Come out from under the tree, there is work to do.
Amen.