PROPERS: 12 PENTECOST, YEAR B
TEXT: 1 KINGS 19:4-8
PREACHED AT TRINITY, MOBILE, ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 11, 2024.
ONE SENTENCE: The wonder of God’s movement is recounted again and again in the stories of faith history.
Three weeks ago, I participated in the ordination and consecration of the Reverend Dr. Dorothy Wells Sanders as the XI Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi.
It was a remarkable day for a number of reasons. A fresh start for my home diocese. New leadership. And the consecration of the first African American woman as the Bishop of Mississippi.
More than a thousand people participated in the joyous service. For me, one of the high points, was the sermon by the Reverend Teresa Frye Brown, Bandy Professor of Preaching at Candler School of Theology in Atlanta.
Dr. Frye Brown’s sermon got me thinking. Those reflections have ruminated and rattled through my mind in the past three weeks. I wonder: Do we sometimes lose sight of the forest because we are focused on the trees?
Our lectionary is partially responsible. Each week, we focus on particular passages of scripture. And the cycle repeats every three years. Today we are focusing on Proper 14, Year B.
Part of the responsibility of our limited vision is the ease with which we hear these passages. We dismiss them as soon as we walk out the door of the church.
I have long contended that the story of scripture is much greater than the sum of its combined parts. While we may focus on a single story… a parable… or pericope, we lose sight of the truth that flows through the recollections of 66 books – beginning with Genesis and ending with Revelation.
Dr. Frye Brown reminded me of that fact. She said we need to remember that throughout history, God has done amazing things.
Today we focus on a brief passage having to do with the Old Testament prophet Elijah. It is said that Elijah is the second greatest figure of the Old Testament – second only to Moses.
We have a tiny fragment of Elijah’s story today; the miraculous appearance of a cake of bread and a jar of water – brought to him in the wilderness by the hands of an angel.
That’s profound enough. But reviewing the whole span of Elijah’s ministry, we see him bringing about the surprising work of God again and again. He does so against all odds and all enemies – bringing judgement and new life in his wake.
He is finally taken up to heaven outside of Jericho by fiery horses as his successor cries out, “My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and their horsemen!”
That’s just the story of Elijah. Read it and be amazed. But over the thousands of pages of scripture we see again and again God’s surprising movement through history. The creation of the world, however it came to be. The gift of a child to an old man and woman and the birth of a covenant. The first Passover in bondage in Egypt. The liberation of a captive people. The stunning scene of the Red Sea divided so the Hebrews can go through on dry land.
The gift of manna in the wilderness – a story we heard last week. A young boy slaying a mighty warrior with a slingshot and a rock. On and on. Daniel facing lions. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego walking through a furnace without being singed.
And that’s just a portion of the first 39 books of scripture. Look at the stories of the last 27 books – the New Testament. A miraculous birth. A young rabbi raising the dead. Turning water into wine. Feeding 5,000 people with five barley loaves and two fish. Calming the sea in a storm. Casting demons into a herd of swine. Standing silent before the power of Rome… going to his death… and rising from the grave.
And that does not even touch the wonderful stories of Paul, the greatest Christian missionary.
The 21st Century mind might dispute these and say they are not true or that they never really happened. Fair enough.
But think of this: These stories reflect the way people for 4,000 years have experienced the God we worship today. They have told and written these stories again and again… around campfires… with other searchers… in synagogues… and in churches over the millennia.
Who are we to question the truth which flows through these ancient stories?
Instead, we should anticipate that same God’s movement in our own lives.
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