Sunday, February 22, 2009 
Scripture reading: 1 Kings 19:1-9
19Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2Then 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.’ 3Then 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.
4 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.’ 5Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, ‘Get up and eat.’ 6He 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. 7The 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.’ 8He 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. 9At that place he came to a cave, and spent the night there.
Sermon Title: "A TEXT FOR OUR TIME" Sunday, February 22, 2009
PASTOR HUDSON: Today's text is the
story about the very famous event of the 450 prophets
from Israel and their struggle to where they finally
reached the point that they just gave up.
Have you ever had an event or crisis that had
that kind of power over you? While in the midst of
your crisis someone tells you there's going to be a
better tomorrow, but yet you are so completely
deflated emotionally and spiritually everything looks
bleak and grim.
Like we're seeing in this text today, when we
need something more from God than a message saying,
boy, hope everything goes well, God always has a
tendency to come to the rescue. There is a real
spiritual image in this text about food. Not just
food, but spiritual food. The reason I'm pointing
this out is because there were two meals that
sustained hunger for 40 days.
When life kicks the stuffing out of us, if we're
not regularly feasting at the banquet table of Christ,
regularly practicing our faith, we are not going to
have anything to replenish or sustain us in the midst
of that crisis.
Now to me that says two things. Number one, God
knows we need rest. He gives us that rest. Some of
the most restful times come as we enter the presence
of the Lord. He also gives us spiritual food which is
the bread of life he imparts to us through the
relationship we have with him. If we do not keep that
relationship central and key, we will not have what we
need to sustain us.
When you feel like life has kicked the stuffing
out of you, you're down, cynical, negative about life
in general or whatever it is, those are indications
you need to find a place where God can give you rest,
give you the power to perform.
How do we do that? We give each other permission
to be less than perfect. It's amazing how intolerant
we can be of each other. I find all too often church
individuals actually become part of the process of
depleting and depressing each other, and maybe in some
cases becomes the one person that causes someone to
say I'm out of here.
In addition to being more tolerant of one
another, we need to be more tolerant of ourselves.
You don't have to be a superman or super woman. Rest
and communion are a part of our relationship with God.
In the name of the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit, amen.