A sermon by the Rev. Guillermo A. Arboleda, written for and delivered at All Saints' Episcopal Church, Tybee Island, GA, on Sunday, August 11, 2024, the 12th Sunday after Pentecost (RCL Proper 14, Year B).
Primary Bible Reading
1 Kings 19:4-8
4 But [Elijah] 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.” 5 Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, “Get up and eat.” 6 He 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. 7 The angel of the Lord came a second time, touched him, and said, “Get up and eat, or the journey will be too much for you.” 8 He 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.
Take Naps and Eat Food!
By the Rev. Guillermo A. Arboleda, Program Manager for New Starts, ELCA
On Thursday morning, my wife left home for work as she usually does. But a couple minutes later, I got a phone call. Something is wrong with the car. The front driver side tire doesn’t feel right. I hear something clicking and clacking. I’m coming home to switch cars. Can you look at it and see what’s up? So I look at the car, check the tire pressure, and sure enough, that front left tire is low. No problem. We have a pump. A few minutes later, the tire pressure is right where it needs to be. It’s all good. I am not the handiest of men, but this time, Superhusband saved the day.
Cut to Friday morning. I’m pulled over on the shoulder of I-16, and now I’m calling her. Honey, I think I figured out what was wrong with the tire… An hour or so after swapping out the flat tire for the spare and slowly making my way home, I discovered the culprit. A rusty, two-inch nail that perfectly pierced the rubber and allowed the air to escape.
Naturally, on a Friday after a tropical storm, it seems like every mechanic in Chatham County is booked solid. I’m feverishly googling solutions, looking up tire models, trying to find somewhere I can buy the tire, even if I have to install it myself, until our regular mechanic can balance it and work his magic next week. I’m floundering, hitting a wall everywhere I turn. Out of stock. No appointments available. We only sell tires in sets of four. Out of stock. At this point, I’m getting nervous that I won’t be able to make it here to Tybee Island on Sunday. I’m worried that I’ll damage the All Wheel Drive Subaru with the smaller spare tire. After my fifth sigh or grunt of frustration, Rev. Kelly gently asks me to call our mechanic again and ask for advice, and I lose it. I am crestfallen. I wanted to do this all by myself. I’m smart and resourceful, and I didn’t want anyone’s help.
In the middle of my meltdown, if you had checked my emotional temperature, it might have sounded something like Elijah’s: “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors” (1 Kings 19:4). Then an angel appeared, in the form of my extremely patient wife. And the angel asked me, “Guillermo, have you had lunch yet today?” (After eating, I spoke to my mechanic, who ordered the replacement tire for installation on Monday, and my friend agreed to lend me his truck for Sunday morning. It all turned out fine!)
This short reading from Elijah is one that I always find very funny. God’s chosen prophet Elijah is on the run from the king and queen of Israel. Elijah embarrassed the prophets of their false god Baal in a contest against the LORD God of Israel (1 Kings 18). Elijah ended that incident by violently lashing out at Baal’s prophets and slaughtering many of them. (Not great!) So, Elijah is a fugitive wanted for murder, wandering in the desert to escape the authorities. He is depressed to the point of feeling suicidal. He has lost all sense of hope and purpose. He wants to give up completely. And what does God think he needs? Two naps and two meals. Sleep and food. That’s all. They are game changers. So simple, but so necessary. There is a reason why my generation coined the slang terms “hangry” – meaning “angry because you’re hungry” – and “slangry” – meaning “angry because you’re sleepy.”
On Friday, I was so distracted by my circumstances that I neglected my own physical needs. And that physical neglect made it so that I was emotionally and spiritually unstable. I acted and reacted rashly, trying to do everything all at once instead of taking my time, one step at a time, and asking for help, remembering that I am not alone!
Part of why Elijah became so depressed is because he thought that he was alone. Just a few verses later, Elijah tells God, “I alone am left” as a zealous worshiper of the LORD (1 Kings 19:10, 14). He thinks that everyone else in Israel has abandoned their God and turned to idols, that no one else can understand what he is going through, that he is the only faithful one left. But after God gives Elijah instructions for his next mission, God informs him that there are “seven thousand” more people in Israel who are steadfast in their love for the Lord their God (19:18). He could have asked for help. He has God and he had people who would have stood with him. But instead he wore himself out doing it alone and got so down in the dumps that he nearly harmed himself.
This is an admittedly strange Bible story. It’s not always easy to pull a moral out of every passage of scripture. At least half of the time, the Bible tells us about people doing the wrong thing, showing us what not to do. So we have to be thoughtful and discerning. For instance, we should not imitate Elijah when he attacked and killed people who worship other gods!
But there are real takeaways. Today, as I read this passage, I see myself in Elijah’s pride, his stubbornness, and his failure to trust in God to provide. Elijah thinks everything rests on his shoulders, but it doesn’t. Elijah thinks that his way is the only way, but it’s not. Elijah thinks he has to do it all himself, but God will do some heavy lifting for him. God gives Elijah time to sleep and sends him freshly-baked bread and clean water. Attending to his physical needs clears Elijah’s head, puts an end to his “hanger”, and gets him ready to listen to what God wants to tell him once he arrives at Mount Horeb. Remember that the greatest commandment is to love God and to love your neighbor as yourself. Elijah reminds us that loving yourself includes getting adequate sleep and nutritious food!
For us today, we need to be careful not to put so much pressure on ourselves. We have to let go of the prideful voice that tells us that we have to be independent and figure things out alone or else we’re not competent or dignified or lovable. We have to let go of the stubbornness that refuses to ask people for help when we are in need. We have to let go of the things that block us from trusting in God’s ability to provide. We have to let go of the many lies we tell ourselves or that society tells us. We are not and never have been independent. We are God’s beloved creatures, which means that we are fundamentally interdependent. We live in a web of dependence with one another and all of us depend on God.
As we receive the bread of life today, remember that God sustains us with grace for our earthly journeys. Jesus Christ our Savior gives us his flesh and blood to make us one with him. The Holy Spirit dwells in each of us and calls us to pray and to listen for the divine voice. God places us in communities where we can find what we need from others as well, loving our neighbors as ourselves. By God’s grace, we have food to eat, water to drink, and places to lay our heads to rest. And if we don’t, the Church is here to help us find them and find somewhere to belong. God is good. God provides. How can we learn to trust in God more and more each day? How can we learn to lean on each other more and more each day? How can we learn to love ourselves more and more each day? Amen.
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