St. Thomas' Episcopal Church, Reidsville, NC: Sermon: "Elijah and the Angel"; The Rev. Dr. Vicki L. Smith

Tenth Sunday after Pentecost - August 9, 2009

This morning we heard a little bit of the story of Elijah—one of the primary prophets of the Old Testament. He was THE MAN. In the name of God, he raised the dead; he defeated the prophets of Baal by bringing down fire from heaven; he was consistently a fervent and fierce defender of God, so fervent that he put himself in danger. He was the MAN.

And then we read today’s story. Elijah has been brought low. He was being chased by Jezebel, who sought to kill him for his criticism of Ahab. He was tired, depressed and discouraged. He went out into the desert, found a lonely broom tree, crawled under it and asked to die. He had simply had enough. Every generation is supposed to do better than the previous one, but it hadn’t worked out that way for Elijah. He had been critical of everyone in sight—rulers, the people, even his ancestors, and now he felt that he was no better than they were. He had sunk so low he even had thoughts of suicide.

Though Elijah lived 800 years before Christ, it seems like he could be living right down the street today. So many of us are or have been like him--- strong, vibrant, capable and then something happens, and we’re brought low. It might be job loss or the loss of a loved one; it might be retirement from a meaningful career, or simply the loss of youth to aging. Sometimes, we want to join Elijah under that broom tree, despairing of what we have become and grieving the loss of what has gone. As successful as we may be, no one is immune from times of depression, discouragement and darkness. Chances are that sometime in our lives, maybe even now, we will be sitting with Elijah, despairing under that broom tree.

That’s why it is so important that we look at this story carefully. We need to be reminded that even though he has crawled off by himself, God still saw Elijah. No matter how far he went, Elijah was always in God’s sight. No matter how far we go, or how deeply we sink, we are never out of God’s sight. God knows where we are, physically, emotionally and spiritually, all the time.

And when we need it, God sends us an angel. God sent an angel to Elijah, bringing him food, and more importantly, hope. The angel presents the food very straightforwardly—“Get up and eat,” the angel says, “otherwise the journey will be too much for you.” Get up and eat, so you that can move forward.

Notice that the angel doesn’t try to talk Elijah out of his feelings. The angel doesn’t say “There, there it’ll all be fine.” The angel doesn’t make false promises or offer empty consolation. Even more importantly, the angel doesn’t criticize Elijah and tell him to count his blessings and just get over himself. By simply offering food and care, the angel acknowledges and accepts Elijah’s grief. He (I guess the angel was a he) simply comes to Elijah, where he is, bringing food for sustenance, and with it the care that Elijah needs and God sends.

When we are sitting under our broom tree, God sends angels to us too, bringing us what we need. God sends us the care we need through the hands of loved ones, neighbors, even strangers. And sometimes, sometimes, God sends us to be angels for one another.

I remember many years ago, when Kevin and I were moving from Philadelphia to Akron Ohio. The day the movers came, they were to pack up our two bedroom apartment, we would stay with friends that night, and the next morning we and our furniture would head off. Would that it had worked that way. The mover who arrived at our house was clearly a rookie, and the problems escalated from there. It was a nightmare. At 8pm, while they were still packing our little apartment, I went to Nancy’s, where we were to stay that night. I don’t recall that she even said much, she simply sat me at her kitchen table and gently brought me a plate of spaghetti. I felt so cared for and so loved, from a simple plate of food. Nancy was God’s angel to me that night.

Perhaps you have similar stories, either of having been an angel for someone else or receiving God’s grace through the hands of another. When we sit under a broom tree, despairing and sad, God sends his angels, not to talk us out of our feelings, but simply to care for us, to feed us, to help us stand up and resume life’s journey.

Because like Elijah, like all God’s people, we are on a journey. We are on life’s journey and ultimately we must resume it. It’s ok to sit under the broom tree for awhile but we can’t build a house there. The losses and sorrows of life are real, and God would never discount them—God know that sometimes we need to sit under that broom tree.

But God also knows that at some point, we have to get up and resume our lives. To help us do so, God sends his angels to care for us, to give us the strength we need to get up and keep going. And the care the angels offer, it’s powerful stuff. The bible tells us that Elijah traveled 40 days and 40 nights on the strength of what the angel gave him. On the strength of the angel’s care, we too can travel. We can pick up our lives and resume our journeys, with the care God’s angels give us.

These angels don’t have wings or halos and they don’t glow in the dark. What they do is share the love of God and reach out with God’s care so that everyone will have the strength to get up from under the broom tree and journey on. Angels sent by God—we may receive them; we may be them; either case is a gift from God to help us journey on in our lives.

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