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A Sermon by The Reverend Allen Michel
Nelson Cathedral
Sunday, 10 August 2008
Readings
1 Kings 19: 1 – 16
In this mornings reading from the first book of Kings, we are introduced to a man
at the end of his rope. Elijah was worn out! He couldn′t go any further.
He was exhausted.
He was scared, all he could think of was to flee and get away from the present
situation he was in.
He had fought the good fight.
He had battled against the false prophets of the court of Ahab the King
He had spoken against the idolatry fostered by Queen Jezebel.
He had performed his duties - he had lived up to his calling as a prophet.
And as a result he was condemned to die by those angry with him;
by those God had sent him to preach against.
And so he fled into the wilderness - alone - afraid - feeling sorry for himself.
The story continues with Elijah journeying on into the wilderness until he
comes to Mt Horeb, to the Mountain of God, to the place where God revealed
himself to Moses and to Israel in cloud and in fire: and there the Lord speaks to
Elijah and tells him that he is about to pass by, that he is about to show
himself to him.
Elijah goes out to the mouth of the cave where he has spent the night and looks
for the Lord in the strong wind that comes upon the mountain, and then in the
earthquake that shakes it, and in the fire that follows, but he does not find God
there.
But after the fire comes a still small voice - some translations call it a sheer
silence, - others a gentle whisper.
And in this still small voice within - in this inner silence - God visits Elijah.
Let us picture the story.
We have wind, earthquake and fire. All of these are busy, busy, busy things, and LOUD!
But God is not in them.
Have you ever felt like Elijah?
Have you ever felt that God is not listening to you, that no one is really
following God, that you are the only one left and even you cannot find God?
That you might as well give up?
Maybe it′s all the busyness, all the commotion in your life, all the hurry and
activities, all the “trying to cope”, all the work you do to make a good life,
that gets in the way of your living, that gets in the way of seeing what you need to
see, and hearing what you need to hear.
Sometimes we need to just stop and listen. To listen to the silence!
To look for God in the calm - instead of in the midst of activity.
That is what Elijah was led to do.
Elijah, in his exhaustion, in his fear, took time out.
He has managed to get away for a while from the activities that God had called
him to do; and in his fear and his pain, his loneliness and his hunger he calls out
to God and tells God of his weakness and then seeks God′s presence.
And God became present to him in the sheer silence within - and in that moment,
God equipped Elijah to once again go out and perform those things that God
wanted him to do, - he commissioned Elijah, and he assured Elijah that he was
not alone - that many faithful persons were still with him.
Sometimes that is what we need as Christians. We need to time out, to get in touch with God, to listen to the silence rather than to the noise and the activity that comes and goes about us.
We need to pause and to listen so that we might have the strength and the guidance we need
to do what we are called to do.
Think of the number of times that Jesus took time apart as in last week’s gospel
reading where he climbed to the mountain top and his transfiguration took place
and again in this mornings gospel story; where he would sends the disciples on
ahead of him while he paused to pray on a mountain side.
We read how he would prepare himself for his next round of activity by first going
away by himself to pray, by first going away to listen in the silence.
We all need that time of restoration.
It can be found in silence, in being apart - in being with God.
These times allow us to refocus, to refresh, to remember what is important and
what is not.
The meditation group which meets each Tuesday evening in the Chapel allow
time for people to come and spend time in silence, to meet God in the silence of
this place.
At the moment I am reading a little book by the present Archbishop of
Canterbury, Rowan Williams, called “Silence and Honey Cakes”, with the
subtitle “the wisdom of the desert fathers”.
Here is one of the stories in the book which I think really enforces what I am
talking about this morning.
One day, as Father Macarius was dismissing the morning service, he said to the
brothers, “flee brethren!”
One of the old monks asked him, “Where could we flee to, that is further away than this desert?”
Macarius put his finger to his lips and said “flee that.” And off he went to his cell,
shut the door and sat down.
Isn’t that a vivid picture? Can you see in your mind that slightly puzzled old monk
looking around the miles of sand and asking where there is left to run to,
and Marcarius’s immediate and eloquently simple gesture in reply that says
“Flee the sound of the noise of speech even the sound of your own voice so that
you may, in the silence, hear the voice of God.”
The call for you and me today is that when we have lost our way, when we don’t
know which way to turn, we have to get away from all that busyness in our lives.
Like Elijah we have to pause to listen to the silence, to the still small voice
within.
Then we can get on with our lives, to do what God is calling us to do – renewed in the knowledge and strength that he provides.
To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honour and glory forever and ever.
Amen.
The Reverend Allen Michel
This sermon was written and delivered by The Reverend Allen Michel at Nelson Cathedral, 10 August 2008
