The Ninth Sunday after Trinity
9th August 2009 9:00am &
11:45am
Preacher: The Dean
Readings: 1 Kings 19:4-8, Ephesians 4:25-5:2,
John 6:35, 41-51
A Good
Thoroughbred Horse and Sufficient Supplies
“The
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.’ He got up and ate and drank
then he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights.” (1 Kings19:7)
The Old Testament reading of this
morning tells us that Elijah had been through many vicissitudes of life and was
totally worn out. In the beginning of the text, we can read that he begged God
to let him die, saying, “It is enough; now O Lord, take away my life.”
(1 Kings 19:4) Is it possible that even God's prophet would ask for death? Can
someone with such strong faith be so near despair? Did he not believe that God
was an almighty Lord who could save him from all misfortune? Is there a time
when even a thoroughbred horse can run no longer?
Shortly before this time Elijah had
gained a magnificent victory over the prophets of Baal. He had called upon God
to send down fire to consume the sacrificial bull. God answered his prayer and
also his prayer to send rain to nourish the earth after a devastating drought
of three years. He also had put to the sword all 450 prophets of Baal. Nevertheless
he cried out, “I, even I only, am left a prophet of the Lord.”
(1 Kings 18:22)
Yes, Elijah had tasted the joy of
success and had the rich experience of communing directly with God. Before all
the people, he had raised his hands in prayer and obtained God's promises.
Though surely he had given glory to God, who could deny that some glory also
resounded to him as one of God's chosen ones?
But none of this helped him avoid the
wrath of Queen Jezebel who worshipped Baal and sought to kill him. He thought he
would become a fugitive for life. He came near to despair and so he asked God
to allow him to die.
There is a Chinese proverb, “No sorrow
is greater than the death of the heart.”
Actually many of the saints and heroes of Scripture and the
Church, in times of great difficulty, also have experienced this feeling of
“death of the heart.” .
Even such a devoted person as Elijah
had this experience of helplessness. He said, “It is enough; now O Lord,
take away my life.”
We as ordinary
people, having lived a life of hardship, may thoroughly understood how true it
is that we cannot hold on to our ability to the end of our life, and neither
can we hold on to our strength. As we grow older, we understand too that there
are many limitations in life. Our lives and activities, the space in which we
move, all have their limitations. This is ‘fate’ and fate by its very essence
limits life.
Haven't we sometimes seen psychologists
who have saved many people from committing suicide, eventually committing
suicide themselves? At times we may have seen famous people in society who
behind the public adulation and glamour, have broken families, incompatible
marriages, uncontrollable delinquent children. Perhaps we have experienced how
difficult it is to walk even one step when we are seriously ill. Or when in
great pain, for example from an abscessed tooth, wish we could die to avoid
further discomfort. If even prophets, ‘God's chosen ones,’ can desire death,
how about ourselves? When we feel we have reached the limit of our endurance so
that we are weary of life itself, what does it all matter?
But with God, there is always hope of
change. This is what is meant by the gospel reading of today in which Jesus
said to five thousand people who are fed by him. According to John 6:49-50,
Jesus says, “Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.
This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and
not die.”
If we read again the Old Testament
reading this morning in the light of the Gospel one, we may have a new insight
to understand why God told Elijah to get up and eat, or the journey
will be too much for him…”
Yes, death is not the solution to our
problems. So ‘You must eat!’ Eat what? You must eat the food God gives you.
Relying on that food, Elijah was able to walk forty days and forty nights!
“I am the bread of life”,
Jesus said. “Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, but
they died. They could not go very far. But “this
is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not
die.” (Jn 6: 48-50).
What is this bread? “I am
the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will
live forever.”(Jn 6:51) This is the food that will help us
travel along life’s journey, through all of life's struggles, all our
tribulations, unto the very end.
All of us are created by God, each of
us and all men and women are like thoroughbred horses, for the all-good and
almighty God does not create useless creatures! We can walk, we can run, even a
thousand miles. But without sufficient food, how can we run that far?
When Elijah asked for God’s help, God
does not abandon him in time of despair. He accompanies him and prepares him
food so that he may recover his strength. However, he does not exempt him from
the test, does not stop him from going on with his hard journey, and does not
send his angels to transport him miraculously. Elijah has to keep walking
farther and farther into the desert with all its danger and difficulties.
God acts the same way with us. He may
not solve our earthly problem directly because he does not take our place. When
we are tired, he does not oppress us, he shows us the way and provides the food
that renews our vigour. What is this food?
In the gospel reading, Jesus has just
identified himself with the bread of life. He has compared manna to the true
bread from heaven. The food of the people of
Why do we not more often eat of this
‘Bread of Life’ so we can walk ‘the thousand miles’, and in one breath ‘walk
for forty days and forty nights,’ until we reach the eternal shore?