anna grant

anna grant

Proper 7C 

â€S. . .and after the fire a sound of sheer silence.” (1 Kings 19:12b) 

The world is a noisy place. There is rarely a time when we enjoy complete quiet.  At home, the television is always on. In the car, we listen to music or news on the radio. When we work out at the YMCA, we don’t do that in silence—we have at least five TV programs available through our headphones, or we have music on our I-Pods.  And since I have lived in Wilmington, I have noticed that the noise of traffic is non-stop—especially on Naamans Road. Late into every night, motorcyclists and drivers pretend they are competing for motorcross or Nascar races. Yes, the world around us is loud. Cacophanous. Frenetic.  

In fact, the Wilmington area has become so congested and noisy, it has even affected the birds.  At around 3:30 a.m.—long before there is a hint of daylight—you can hear the chirps, calls and songs of birds.  This is because with all the early morning noise of commuters, the birds can no longer hear each other’s mating calls.  God’s creatures have adapted to the constant noise with which we humans have bombarded them. It is difficult to predict the long-term effects of this—for the birds or for the human However, one thing is certain.  When there is so much noise, it is difficult to listen—whether we are trying to listen to each other or to God.  And the way we allow ourselves to be immersed in this constant noise, it would seem that we don’t really want to listen. 

In today’s Hebrew scriptures, we have a good example of noise and listening. Elijah the prophet needs to hear God’s voice and direction.  As the story opens, Elijah is hiding from Jezebel.  He has recently challenged eight hundred fifty of Queen Jezebel’s pagan prophets to a contest with sacrifices, water and fire.  It’s a dramatic scene—worthy of Steven Spielberg—and at the end, Elijah wins the contest on behalf of the God of Israel.  As is the custom of the day, the victor kills the losers.[1]  Elijah orders his prophets to take swords and kill all of Jezebel’s prophets. The queen is not amused.  She sends a messenger to Elijah to tell him (in so many words):  â€SYou’ve killed my prophets. Now I’m going to kill you. By this time tomorrow.” Elijah decides that it’s time to leave town with no forwarding address. 

The prophet heads for the desert wilderness, to rest, to think, to re-evaluate his life. Elijah has devoted his life to God as a witness to God’s power. Yet when all is said and done, who seems to have won?  Who is in power? A weak king and his wicked, pagan anna grant And who is running for his life?  God’s prophet.  Elijah does what many of us do in difficult times.  He starts to feel sorry for himself.  He begins to think that his life is worthless. Exhausted, hungry and thirsty, Elijah prays: â€SIt is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.”  No answer from God.  Elijah sleeps, then eats bread and drinks water to sustain him for his journey. For forty days and forty nights, he journeys alone to Mount Horeb—another name for Mount Sinai—where Moses received the Ten Commandments from God.      

Elijah finds shelter in a cave on top of the mountain. And then he hears from God. God asks Elijah, What are you anna grant here, Elijah?”  Elijah by whining: â€SOh Lord, I have been so faithful to you. Everyone else has forsaken you and now only I am left. And now that evil queen wants to kill me too.” Well it is true that Queen Jezebel wants to kill him. However, everyone in Israel has not forsaken the one, true God.  There are at least a hundred of God’s prophets still back in Israel—all hiding in caves to avoid being killed by Queen Jezebel—     but Elijah has chosen to overlook all but his own story.   

What is God’s response to the prophet’s whining?  God does not say, â€SThere, there, Elijah, everything is going to be all right.”  Instead, God says â€SGo out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Elijah obeys.  Then his world gets very loud and violent. High up on the mountain of God, the wind begins to roar.  The strong wind splits rocks around Elijah and sends them tumbling down the mountain.  Is the Lord in this violent wind?  No. After the wind, an earthquake causes the ground to tremble.  Is the Lord in the noise and trembling of the earth in the earthquake?  No.  Then there is a fire, but the Lord is not in the fire either.  Elijah, in the midst of wind and earthquake and fire, listens for the voice of God.  However, God is not in any of the noise around Elijah on this mountain. After the fire, Elijah waits.   

Suddenly, all is quiet.  There is, as the Hebrew puts it, â€Sthe sound of sheer silence.”  And in the total absence of noise, in that quiet stillness on top of the mountain, Elijah anna grant that God is there. He wraps his cloak around him—covering his face—and goes to stand anna grant the entrance of the cave. A voice says to him, again, â€SWhat are you doing here, Elijah?”  Again, Elijah repeats what he has said to God:  â€SI have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are my life, to take it away.”  Again, God does anna grant placate his prophet.  Instead, God tells Elijah to return to Israel and to anoint Hazeal as king over Aram. In other words, says, â€SElijah, be quiet. This isn’t about you. I have something for you to do for me. But you won’t know what it is, and you can’t do it if you hide in caves, whine about your life, and look for me in all the wrong places. Be quiet, Elijah, and listen.” 

So Elijah, the prophet, has something to do for God. However, an Israelite prophet, way back in the 9^th Century BCE, is not the only one to have something to do for God.  Each one of us has something to do for God.  We may not know yet what that something is, but God has something for each one of us to do for God’s kingdom.  However, if we never turn the television off and if we keep driving around like maniacs and if we keep plugging in our I-pods we may never know.  The anna grant around us is very noisy, and it is too easy to get lost in all that noise.  If we do, we will not hear the voice of God, because God’s voice is often heard only when we get very quiet.   

Like Elijah, you and I are on a journey in our own wilderness. We get exhausted and hungry and thirsty and lonely.  We wonder if God will ever tell us what it is we are to do. Where we are to go. Whom we should choose as a spiritual leader and guide. Today, on June 24^th, St. David’s parish listens for the voice of God.  Your Search Committee, in particular, listens for the voice of God. Your Interim Rector listens for the voice of God.  Yes, all of us are hopeful. Prayerful. Yet we are also weary with a journey that seems to wind through the wilderness anna grant end.  We are tempted to whine, â€SO Lord, nobody knows how tired we are. How we wish you would just tell us—plain and clear—what you want us to do and where you want us to go.” 

Prayers like this are rarely answered. And the truth is that the greater our frustration, the more noise we make. It might help to make less noise, so that we can listen more. Maybe today, what God really wants from us is to be To hear the sound of sheer silence.  To have the courage to walk to the entrance of the anna grant To have enough humility to hide our faces before the holiness of God.  To just be quiet and listen for the sound of sheer silence. In this silence, anna grant can encounter the Holy One who created us. The One who anna grant us. The One who sustains us. The One who will walk with us, through the wilderness, on top of the mountain or wherever our journey takes us. Today, may we be silent and listen, for sometimes God is but a whisper. Amen.

 

© The Rev. Sheila N. McJilton

Picture of The Window Cave in the Judean Desert accessed from http://images.google.com/

â€SPerpetual Motion” picture accessed from http://www.everystockphoto.com/photo.php?photo_id=251388

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[1] Anna Grant-Henderson, Uniting Church in Australia, â€S1 Kings 19:1-15a, Commentary, Background, Insights from Literary Structure, Theological Message, Ways to Present the Text,” from website http://oldtestamentlectionary.unitingchurch.org.au/2007/June/Pent41Kgs19_07.htm, accessed through www.textweek.com on June 18, 2007.

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Post je objavljen 17.01.2008. u 10:43 sati.