Take My Life or Let Me Be

Pastor Meyer's Sermon

Sunday, September 3, 2006

Elijah came to a broom tree and sat under it and prayed he might die. “I have had enough, Lord. Take my life.”

My Dear Friends in Christ, what is at the end of your rope? When you are frustrated, when you are disappointed and discouraged and depressed about life, when the bottom has been reached and your rope has run out, when your emotions have been drained and all of your perspective has been lost, what is there waiting for you?

Now think about that for a moment. What is there waiting for you when you are at the end of your rope? Is it fear? Fear of not knowing what's going to happen next? Maybe it's anxiety when you're not sure which course of action you should take. Or maybe it's loneliness if you feel like you're in this all by yourself.

I contend when we are at the end of our rope, when frustration and discouragement set in, the temptation for us is to fall into self pity. Now I'm not talking about pity, which is one of the noblest of emotions we can have. It is because of pity we are enabled to enter into the struggle of another person. It's because of pity we are able to say let's look at life in someone else's shoes. It is because of pity we can have compassion and care for someone. In fact, some people have said pity is the seed from which compassion sprouts. No, I'm talking about self-pity, that self-indulgent dwelling on one's own sorrow or sadness and it's almost like a reluctance or an inability to think about the needs of others because the focus is not on others. The focus is only on the self. And we can't see past our own selves, because we're only thinking about our own situation. And it might be because we are not happy with the way things are going. We would like for them to go in a different way. In fact, we expect for things to go in a different way.

Now being the father of three small children, I can't help but think about the rabbit from the Winnie the Pooh story. You remember Rabbit with the long ears and scraggly body and that nervous, energetic persona? When things weren't going his way or maybe when Tigger crashed into him again, what would he say? He would say, “Why does this always have to happen to me? Why, oh why, oh why?” When we are at the end of our ropes, it's easy for us to fall into that temptation, to wallow in self pity where we ask that question, “Why does that always have to happen to me?” Or in the words of Elijah, “I've had enough, Lord. Take my life.”

Now the wonderful thing about looking at the Old Testament and the people in the Old Testament is we get to see them for exactly who they are. They are live and real and fleshy, sinful human beings. Not only that, but we also get a chance to look at ourselves because, often times, when we're looking at the Old Testament people, we can't help but identify with them because they have similar habits and they have similar thoughts that we find ourselves doing and thinking. They have the same vulnerabilities as we do. And looking at the prophets and kings, we realize we are all vulnerable to thinking only about ourselves and wallowing in self pity.

And so it is here we see Elijah under the broom tree. Now, mind you, he is fresh off a great victory, not only for himself but also for the God of the Israelites. Elijah has been an eyewitness to God's power and His faithfulness. God has miraculously provided for Elijah during a famine by appointing raven to bring him meat and bread to eat. God sends Elijah to a town called Zarephath where there he was fed by a widow who only had a handful of flour in a jar that never ran out and had a little bit of oil in a jug that never ran dry. And when the widow's only son became ill and died, Elijah witnessed God working through him to raise this boy back to life. It's the first resurrection story in the bible.

And Elijah faces 450 prophets of Baal at Mt. Carmel in an effort to, once and for all, show who the real God is. And the true and living God took that sacrifice, even though it had been drenched by water three times, and burned it. And Elijah saw God answer his prayer when Elijah prayed for rain ending a three-and-a-half year drought. And what's more, the power of the Lord came over Elijah and Elijah took its cloak and tucked it in his belt and he outran King Ahab who was on chariots and horses. These are great times for the prophet, Elijah.

But despite all of the miracles, despite all of the great victories Elijah had, King Ahab and his Queen Jezebel wanted Elijah dead. Elijah becomes afraid, and he runs for his life. And then Elijah concludes everything he has done has been fruitless. It's been unimportant, and he loses his confidence in God. And so we see Elijah sitting under the broom tree wanting to die because things weren't going the way he would like for them to go. Things were not going the way he expected them to go. And because of that, Elijah felt God had abandoned him.

Now Elijah isn't the only one who complained to God about this. Moses protested that leading Israel was just too much for him to do alone, and Jonah felt God had left him twisting in the wind when God let Nineveh off the hook. And Jeremiah complained about the fact he had no say in the career choice God made for him. And all Elijah could do was think about himself. And in his perspective, things didn't seem to be fair. Sure, he had witnessed all of these great powers and faithfulness of God but he ends up running for his life. Elijah becomes so focused on himself and his own expectations that he ends up shutting out God and falling into deep despair.

Now the question for us is don't we find ourselves doing the same thing? Sometimes we get so focused in on ourselves and our own expectations and what we would like to see in life that we are not able to look elsewhere. We look at ourselves and where we think we can find hope and where we can find power and where we can find strength or goodness or even our self value and we are disappointed because we don't find what we're looking for, so then we head off to our own broom tree, whatever that broom tree may be. Maybe it's being a workaholic so we can somehow find our own power and our own strength, our own value. Or maybe that broom tree is the bottle. Or maybe it's sex. Or maybe that broom tree is drug use. Or maybe we try to search for deliverance in power trips. Or maybe some of us end up whining and complaining where we wallow in self pity, “Why does this always have to happen to me? Why, oh why, oh why? I've had enough, Lord. Take my life.”

But our true and living God doesn't leave us there under our broom trees, just like He didn't for Elijah. What did He do for Elijah? We read, “All at once, an angel touched him and said, ‘Get up and eat.' He looked around and there by his head was a cake of bread baked over hot coals and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again. The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, ‘Get up and eat for the journey is too much for you.' So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled 40 days and 40 nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God .” God didn't leave Elijah under that broom tree alone. No, we see a loving God who is always willing to be there for us. We see God starting to help Elijah to start focusing from himself to God. And how does He do that? First, for Elijah, God touches him and, using His Word, gets his attention. And just like Elijah with us, we have been touched by God in our baptism. When the water combined with the words floods over our heads, we are touched. And it is through that touch that enables us to start to shift our focus from ourselves to God.

God also knows our journey is tough and our journey is sometimes just too much for us. So He encourages us with the promise “I will never leave you nor will I forsake you.” And we see, despite Elijah's self pity, despite his desire to die, God never leaves him. And that is a wonderful encouragement for us during times of frustration and disappointment when we are at the end of our ropes.

And God desires to give us food and strength for our journey. He provided bread and water, which strengthened Elijah so he could set out on foot for 40 days and 40 nights and get to Horeb, the mountain of God . And God provides us with Jesus, the bread of life. We are fed and nourished by His body and blood as food and drink given and shed for our forgiveness in which we receive strength for the remainder of our journey. God turned us outward toward Him and, just like Elijah, God will never leave us turned inward on ourselves because He turned outward to us. He does that by proving just how focused He is on us. He points us to another tree where He sent his Son, Jesus, to hang on that tree in our place and God did not abandon us. No, He abandoned His own Son on that tree, this made obvious by Jesus crying out on the cross, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” And as in the death and the resurrection of Jesus that sends power over us has been destroyed, we are free, we are victorious, we are powerful, we are safe, and we have reason to live because God is present. God is our power. It is through God we receive our self worth, and it is God who loves us. And hearing this draws our eyes to Him away from ourselves.

So, My Friends, there will be times where we just want to say, “Enough is enough,” when we feel frustrated, when we feel disappointed and discouraged and depressed about life, when the bottom has been reached and the rope has run out. And in those times, instead of sitting in the shadow of your own broom tree, sit in the shadow of the tree of life where Jesus has died for you. And then gaze at the shadow of the empty tomb where Jesus was raised from the dead. Because, My Friends, God is waiting for you when you're at the end of your rope. And God speaks to us. He says, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” And strengthened by that food God provides, we are prepared to continue our journey. Amen.

Copyright 2006 Gloria Dei Lutheran Church