1 Kings 19.1-4 [5-7] 8-15a
Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, ‘So may the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life like the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.’ Then he was afraid; he got up and fled for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which belongs to Judah; he left his servant there.
But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die: ‘It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.’ Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, ‘Get up and eat.’ He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and lay down again. The angel of the Lord came a second time, touched him, and said, ‘Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you.’ He got up, and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food for forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God. At that place he came to a cave, and spent the night there.
Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’ He answered, ‘I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.’
He said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.’ Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’ He answered, ‘I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.’ Then the Lord said to him, ‘Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael as king over Aram.
Luke 8.26-39
Then they arrived at the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. As he stepped out on land, a man of the city who had demons met him. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he did not live in a house but in the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he fell down before him and shouted at the top of his voice, ‘What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me’— for Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many times it had seized him; he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the wilds.) Jesus then asked him, ‘What is your name?’ He said, ‘Legion’; for many demons had entered him. They begged him not to order them to go back into the abyss.
Now there on the hillside a large herd of swine was feeding; and the demons begged Jesus to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.
When the swineherds saw what had happened, they ran off and told it in the city and in the country. Then people came out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. Those who had seen it told them how the one who had been possessed by demons had been healed. Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them; for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him; but Jesus sent him away, saying, ‘Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.’ So he went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him.
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Until recently, I always had a problem with the idea of God in Christ dying for our sins, perhaps not intellectually but emotionally. I sat through sermon after sermon as I grew up hearing that, ‘Christ died to set us free from sin, from our sin.’ Now growing up as a goodie-two-shoes and almost never putting a foot wrong, what was it that I could have done that makes me so guilty and subject to the just judgement of God. This took me many years to really think through and only through really sitting and looking at myself and looking at what I am actually like as a person, made me realise that the traditional judeo-christian idea that there is indeed darkness in all of us, is pretty self-evident. What really brought it to light for me was when I became a parent.
Now, I have only been a parent for about four and a half years, not long I know, but long enough to experience the ups and downs of life as a Dad, as a Father. I have already experienced my buttons being pushed so many times that the idea that ‘I’m alright really, its those horrible, nasty people ‘over there’ that need judgement’ becomes laughable; we are all guilty in some way or other, of doing wrong.
But I want to turn away from myself for now and turn towards the regard I have for my children, at least not when they’re driving me up the wall (which, admittedly isn’t as much as it used to be). What I find myself feeling and thinking, is that ‘I want the best for my children’, I want to care for my children. I love my children, from the bottom of my heart. Yes I have to teach them what is right and what is wrong. And indeed I have to discipline them at times, if I didn’t do that then I wouldn’t be being a responsible parent. But I do know this, I would do anything to protect them, anything so that they can life full lives, protect them from dangers as much as I am able. And if a time ever came of mortal peril, I that I should have the courage to save them and allow myself to perish.
As many of us are no doubt aware and have experienced, whether we have our own children or not, when we see children suffering, a kind of ‘parental instinct’ comes from us a ‘deep insight’ that says ‘this is not how it should be, and I, we, are going to do something about it. As I was reflecting on this I realised that God the Father feels about all of us the same way, as a good father who cares for his children. It was only when I became a parent, and as I pour my love and my life into my children, that I realised that God does the same for me, caring for me, upholding me, strengthening me, restoring me. Our heavenly father will go to any lengths imaginable to bring him back to himself, because he cares for us.
When true care a shown, a person’s deepest needs are met, sometimes these are fundamental needs, the needs for safety and security, the need for purpose and direction. But sometimes it’s as simple as eating and drinking. Whatever it is, God is interested in it and he wants to ensure that his people have their needs met.
In the story from Kings, we find Elijah, exhausted in the wilderness. Prior to this is the great story where 450 prophets of the God Baal and the single prophet of THE LORD, Elijah, are pitted against each other to see who is the true God. Sacrificial bulls are prepared, and the prophets of Baal attempt to call down fire from the heavens for the sacrifice to be burned. They do this for hours and hours, but no fire comes. They’re shouting and screaming and cutting themselves, but nothing happens, and exhaust themselves.
Elijah on the other hand, after asking them to pour water on the sacrifice three times, prays quietly and there is a rush of flame from the heavens and the sacrifice is burned. And Isaiah turns to the people and tells them to kill the prophets of Baal, which they do. Now, Jezebel the ruler of the people isn’t happy about this and she pursues Elijah and he has to go into the wilderness. He’s worn out and exhausted. He says,
“‘It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.’ Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep.” Elijah is all ready to give up and lie down and die, but God knows what he needs, and he attends to them. His Father provides food and drink for him saying ‘get up and eat,’ ‘get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you.’ But not only this, he gives him a new task, a new purpose to complete. Something to focus his mind and energies on for the next stage of his life.
There is much more one can say and this passage isn’t strictly about the care of God or his compassion, but we can see it in the story almost as an aside. God cares for Elijah’s needs, both physical, psychological and spiritual.
And it’s the same thing in our passage from the gospel passage from today. The familiar story of a deranged demon infested man who doesn’t live in a home, rather amongst the tombs, he’s naked and not of sound mind. He is even chained, but would regularly break loose causing havoc. These days we would probably say that he has a serious mental health illness, but that doesn’t mean that there is no potential evil spiritual activity happening in this story either. Either way he is obviously the outcast, ostracised from society due to his strangeness, and presumably, the danger he poses.
We know that there are people like this in the world, where minds and psyches have been so battered by life that they are barely able to socialise, for them everything in life is an enemy or something to be feared. It doesn’t take too long for any of us to get to that point either, a few hard knocks here and there without good people to support us, and we can quickly spiral down into the darkness of a living hell which no doubt was what this man was experiencing.
And when Jesus heals him, by driving the demons into the pigs which run into the waters and drown, he is healed. He is clothed, he is in his right mind once again. He has been restored, truly restored, he now has a sound mind once again.
This is what a good Father does, a good father wants the best for his children, and he acts to bring that about. He wants them to live! Not merely exist. Jesus says, I have come to give them life so that they may have it to the full. Elijah is exhausted, and God the Father provides for his needs. In the New Testament, Jesus the Son, who on earth to do the will of his father does the same work, bringing restoration where it is lacking.
He cares for their needs. He wants the best for him. I think this is what Christians mean when we talk about love. We are talking about the wellness and wellbeing of ‘the other’ and working to ensure that that happens.
We are all battered and bruised by life, things get difficult, does anybody care? Our heavenly father does, he loves can cares for us all. There is an amazing passage in first Peter 5:7 where he says ‘you can cast all your cares on Him because you know He cares for you.’ How true that is, and how much we need to know that as we travel through life. This Father’s day as we celebrate fathers and father figures, remember, our heavenly father is always watching over us, ready to catch us when we fall, ready to pick us up again when we mess up, ready to encourage us when we feel discouraged, and when we gaze upon his face, he is smiling back at us.
Amen.
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