Sunday, August 11, 2024

Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost
1 Kings 19:1-8
Psalm 34:1-8
Ephesians 4:17-5:2
John 6:35-51

Walk in love, even as Christ also loved us and gave himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling fragrance.

I like to watch some of the shows that investigate paranormal experiences. I like to watch the ones that approach these unusual occurrences from a scientific point of view. They use gizmos and gadgets, some created by the investigators, to “catch” evidence of the events. Even so, some of the evidence is questionable. Do the gadgets really work? How do we know, especially with the homemade ones, that they are really doing what they claim they are doing? They use equipment based on scientific theories, but sometimes those theories and the gadgets are unproven. Sometimes, however, their evidence seems to prove the anecdotal stories and experiences that led them to the investigation.

What I like most about some of the shows is that they approach their investigation from the point of view that nothing is paranormal. They try to debunk the stories, to give natural reasons for what has happened to those who experienced the unusual occurrence. The creators of one of the original shows were plumbers by trade, so they search for mechanical explanations for the seemingly unnatural experiences. Water that turns on by itself might indicate old plumbing. High electromagnetic fields can cause hallucinations and weird feelings. Loose pipes in the basement can make strange noises in the night. A neighbor’s remote control or wireless equipment can sometimes turn on televisions or change channels in other people’s houses. It is amazing how many homeowners have chemicals stored right next to the heating system, which blows dangerous fumes into the living areas. It is a relief for most of the clients to find out that they can stop the weird things happening in their homes or buildings just by fixing these mechanical and technological projects, but sometimes the evidence seems to overwhelmingly support that the experiences really are paranormal.

There is a term called “matrixing” that is used to describe the human mind’s natural tendency to find familiar shapes in complex shapes or colors. It is our brain trying to make something out of nothing, to explain what we see but don’t understand. Paranormal investigators are often shown pictures from people who have experienced something unusual who insist that they have caught something. “See the face?” they ask, but the investigator can point out how the face is simply the patterns, shadows, and shapes on the wall. Our personal experiences and the explanations can be self-caused because we go into a situation with a particular state of mind. We have heard there is something unusual happening, so our mind sees and hears unusual things. We see faces because we expect to see faces. We hear noises because we are listening for noises. This is why their scientific equipment is so important. The investigators will often see and hear the same thing as those who have asked them to investigate, but when those sights and noises are recorded and studied, they can see that their immediate response was a matrix of some sort.

In one episode, one investigator was taking photos from a balcony in a room as two other investigators were wandering in the room below. A white mist seemed to appear in the photos, occasionally moving around the investigators in the room. As the photographer mentioned this mist, the others said they could feel something move around them. They didn’t comment on feeling anything until the other investigator suggested there was something around them. Would they have felt if the photographer had never mentioned the mist seen in the photos? Or did they feel something because psychologically they were convinced by some supposed evidence that something was there? The team never used that experience as proof of activity in the building because it was never verified as paranormal.

We can easily convince ourselves that something is real even though it isn’t. How many people hear television commercials for pharmaceuticals that suddenly believe they are suffering from the disease that will be fixed by that drug? Hypochondria is a mental state that believes the body is ill when it really is not. The victim hears the symptoms of a disease and then seems to experience those same symptoms, convinced that they must be suffering from it. Paranoia is a thought process characterized by fear or anxiety and is necessarily always based on reality. This is rampant in our world today as we listen to news and social media.

Our eyes can see shadows just outside our line of vision which are not actually shadows but are really created by our minds. Our minds can play tricks on us, causing us to see things that aren’t there. We often hear things and think we are hearing one thing, but those sounds might actually have a completely different explanation. Some of the paranormal experiences are very real, but I question some of the feelings. The human imagination is too creative and since we do not completely understand our brains, we can often mistake our feelings for reality.

Elijah was afraid. He might have had very good reason to be afraid, but his fear affected his judgment. He ran away, wishing for God to end his life (take his life-breath) so that he would not die at the hand of Jezebel. He let his feelings take over and he stopped trusting in God’s protection and provision. He went to the desert to die, but God would not let him. God fed him and sent him on a journey that would remind him about God’s goodness. At the end of the journey, Elijah was ready to see his circumstances from God’s reality rather than through the impressions and feelings from his brain.

Our brains are incredible, but they can also be undependable. I am good at remembering memories from my childhood, but I can’t remember why I walked into the kitchen. I can never find my cell phone or car keys when I need them. I make lists for the grocery store and then forget to carry the list. I can usually remember some of the things, but I almost always end up forgetting to get something I need. I went to a specific store the other day because I needed something I could find there and not at another grocery store. I didn’t remember it until I had already loaded most of my objects on the conveyer belt. The girl hadn’t started my order, so I put everything back in my cart and went to get the item.

Sadly, one of the things that we often forget is God’s faithfulness. We lift up Elijah as a great prophet of God; and rightly so because he was. However, his story is a good reminder for us. We aren’t much different. We are willing to do God’s will, but we also get frightened by the threats of our enemies. As they joke, they say we are paranoid, but that doesn’t mean the threat is not real. Yet, God has promised to be with us, to guide and protect us. We fail. We run and hide. We forget that we are called to trust in His faithfulness. That’s what is so great about this story. God didn’t give up on Elijah. The life of a prophet is not easy; Elijah’s life was no exception. He had to do hard things. He had to face evil and destroy it. He had to go against the rulers of the day, to speak God's truth at a time when the people were following false gods and accepting false religion. The people of Israel, including King Ahab, were worshipping Baal. They, like so many before and after, thought it best to cover all their bases because they didn’t trust God. They worshipped both God and false gods. Elijah called the prophets and the people together. He asked them how long they would divide their loyalties. See, we can't worship both God and the false gods. We have to choose.

Elijah suggested that they hold a competition. There were four hundred and fifty prophets for the false gods and Elijah was the only one for the true God. Surely so many prophets could make a miracle happen, right? The prophets of Baal made their sacrifice first, but when they called on their gods there was no response. Elijah prepared his bull, placed it on the altar, and surrounded the altar with wood, as expected. Then he covered the wood with so much water that it would be impossible to burn. He called on God who sent a fire from heaven that not only roasted the bull but burned everything from the wood to the rocks and soil and every drop of water. It was obvious that God was real.

It wasn’t so obvious to Jezebel, Ahab’s wife. Well, it probably was, but it didn’t matter to her. She was willing to follow false worship because it suited her. Those prophets served her needs and desires, while Elijah did not. To her, the one speaking the truth was wrong because he wasn’t willing to cater to her whims. She became extremely angry with Elijah because he ordered the people to kill the false prophets. This caused Jezebel to threaten Elijah. He ran away in fear.

Despite the positive response from the people, Elijah knew that their hearts were fickle. They might believe that the LORD is God, but how long would it last, particularly if Jezebel succeeded? The prophets of Baal were defeated, but it would not be long before they people turned away from God. They would see or hear something that would seem good to their minds. Elijah thought he failed. He thought he was no better than all the other prophets of God. He just wanted to die. God would not let him. Though Elijah fled to the wilderness, God provide for him and led him on the right path. He gave Elijah a second chance.

God does more than give us second chances. He has patience with us when we are afraid or think we failed or run and hide. He encourages us and gives us all we need to do the work He is calling us to do. He knew what Elijah was feeling; He doesn’t ignore our fears or doubts. He knows what we see and hear, but like those paranormal investigators, He shows us the truth. He doesn’t assume that we are lazy or rebellious. He takes us by the hand and patiently leads us to the place He wants us to go. It would be much easier for Him to abandon us, to get someone else to do the work or to simply do it Himself. He doesn’t. He helps us to be faithful to our calling.

One of my favorite scripture passages is the story that follows today’s verses. Elijah went to where God commanded him and met Him on the mountain. In that story we learn that God does not always scream and shout, but that He comes to us as a whisper. Today’s passage is equally important because we see that He gives us all we need as we journey through this world on our way to do His Work. Elijah wanted to die, but God still had work for him to do, so He provided the strength and then whispered His grace into Elijah’s life. Elijah went on to do what God was calling him to do. God gave Elijah food for the journey and rest. He does so for us, too.

That’s where Jesus has been leading us over the past few Sundays in the Gospel lessons. First Jesus gave the people food to eat as a sign of His authority, and then He told them that the work of God is to believe in Him. They asked for a sign, refusing to accept the one He had already given. They pointed to Moses, but Jesus reminded them that the manna that they ate was not given to the by Moses, but by God Himself, and that they ate that bread and died anyway. He told them to eat the real bread from heaven. When they asked for it always, He said, “I am the Bread of Life.” If we eat this bread, we will never die.

In today’s passage Jesus points to their unbelief. “I have told you all this but you don’t believe. I AM who I say I AM.” Jesus was clearly identifying Himself with God. This upset the Jews because they recognized the words and considered it blasphemous. The conversation didn’t get any better, because Jesus told them that He is the Bread that comes down from heaven and if they eat of it, they will live forever. The final words were so far out of their comfort zone that it turned many away from following Jesus. “I am the living bread which came down out of heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever: yea and the bread which I will give is my flesh, for the life of the world.” Jesus words in next week’s text will be even worse. We have made God fit into a box of our own creation. In other words, we have decided what God likes and what God doesn’t like, what God means when He says what He says. We have made Him into our image. I don’t just mean you and me; I mean all human beings. We have always defined God according to our own biases and cultural preferences. We think God loves the things that we love. We think God hates the things we hate. We are certain that God is fighting all our battles for us, and that God is on our side of every debate.

We do not realize how we spin the words to mean what we want them to mean. We don’t realize that God has a wider view of the world than we do and so we expect that He will do what He does from our point of view. The box in which we have captured God might be beautiful. It might be good. It might be right. It might be biblical. But the box in which others have put their version of the God of heaven and earth might just be beautiful, good, right, and biblical. How can this be, we wonder? Can it really be both ways? We won’t fully understand the God who is our Creator, our Provider and our Redeemer. They have a purpose just as we have a purpose. We cannot fully comprehend the love God has not only for us and those like us, but also for the others, even our enemies.

It is interesting to watch the comment sections on the social media of paranormal investigators. There is always someone who disagrees about the natural or scientific outcome of their investigator. “Of course that was a ghost. I can see it, can’t you?” This inevitably leads to arguments and Our faith doesn’t stand on pretty and popular things. It stands on the truth of God which is hard for us to accept. The idea of eating the flesh and drinking the blood of Christ is, quite frankly, not very pleasant to consider. Yet this gift, this sacrament of Holy Communion is the bread God gives us to strengthen us for the journey. It is to this meal that we should run when we are feeling frightened and frustrated, when we think we have failed, when we simply want to die. It is through the body and blood of Christ that God helps us to be faithful to our calling.

This is too hard for the world to accept. The world does not want to experience God as He has revealed Himself, they would rather experience a god of their choosing. That’s why we so easily turn to the false gods and believe the false prophets. Elijah had just done a most incredible thing. Through Him God revealed His power and defeated the prophets of Baal. Jezebel threatened revenge and Elijah was tired of it all. He ran away and asked God to let him die. He knew that the people would turn away eventually and thought he was a failure.

But God did not give Elijah what he wanted; He fed Elijah and then sent Him on a journey. He sent Elijah to a place where He revealed Himself more fully and through that encounter Elijah had the strength to continue God’s work in this world. He does the same for us in the Eucharist. It is hard to accept, but it is at the Table that God assures us of His faithfulness. He will do what He has promised He will do, and we can know this each time we eat of the bread and drink from the cup that is the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. In this strength we can live as God wants us to live.

That’s what Paul was talking about in today’s Epistle lesson. In this week’s passage, Paul seems to be making a list of things we have to do. At the very least, it is a list of things we should not do. We should not lie, but we should tell the truth. If we are angry, we should not sin, or we will give the devil a foothold. We should not steal but should work hard for our living. We should not speak with a wicked tongue but should speak in a way that will edify and build up the body of Christ. Yet, this is not a passage about works. It is a passage about our response to the work of Christ.

Paul’s call to the Christian is not about doing good works, but rather living the life that God has called us to live. “Be imitators of God and walk in love.” This is eternal life in this world, living in the presence of God daily. We are called to become more than just a copy, but to be part of the kingdom of God that has extended over time and space. Our relationship with God is not some disconnected affiliation, but we are joined together by the living bread of heaven. Paul gives us some direction to help us live in our relationships with God and each other. These are not commands of how we should act to gain the kingdom; the Jews tried it that way and they never saw God. They saw what they wanted to see and missed the truth of Jesus.

Paul encourages us to share the bread of heaven by living as God would have us live: free from falsehood and anger, gaining good things in a right way and speaking encouraging words. We are to rid ourselves of negative feelings that grow into unhealthy action. Paul shows the difference, “Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, outcry, and slander be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving each other, just as God also in Christ forgave you.” In this way God perpetuates the bread of heaven, as He reveals Himself through our lives so that others might know Him and be saved.

Paul writes that we should not give place to the devil. This means seeing the world as it is, seeing God as He is, seeing Jesus as the great I AM. Paul shows us how one thing can be made into something that it is not. It is alright to be angry, and sometimes it is justified. Anger helps us to deal with aspects of our life, spurring us to action when things are not just and right and true. Jesus got angry and He dealt with it. But Paul reminds us not to let the sun go down on our anger. This means not looking at the situation with our undependable minds and hearts. By doing so, we open the door to allow the devil into our anger which will cause us to make bad judgments.

The bottom line is this: we aren’t any different than those who have passed through this world from the beginning of time. We aren’t any different than Elijah who wanted to control the end of his life because he did not know how to deal with those who threatened his ministry and his life. We are just like the Ephesians who let disagreements disrupt the Christian unity of the fellowship of believers. The Jews in this week’s Gospel lesson wanted to make Jesus king, to make Him an earthly ruler without any spiritual consequences. They would be as fickle as the people in Elijah’s day.

They were not willing to hear the things that Jesus had to say to them. They were shocked by His teaching. They, and we, are just like Jezebel, looking for our wants and desires to be satisfied. It was fine when Jesus was willing to give them everything they thought they needed, but they could not accept the shocking and radical idea that Jesus is the bread of life. After all, He was asking them to eat the bread, and then He told them He was the bread. We react to His words in much the same way. We see what we want to see and hear what we want to hear. We want Jesus to be what we want Him to be and interpret His words to say what we want Him to say.

What does Jesus say that we don’t want to hear? What is Jesus calling us to hear and believe that doesn’t fit into our tidy idea about God and His Kingdom? How is He prodding us to look beyond what we know and understand? Where is He showing us mercy and grace and asking us to be His hands and His heart? To whom is He sending us to love as He loved us? He didn’t come to fit into our box. He came to show us what it is like to live in God’s kingdom and to die so that we can do so. It is a shocking image of God that Jesus gave to us. Even though we have the benefit of the Holy Spirit and the faith He gives, we still try to make Jesus into the Messiah we want rather than the Messiah He is.