Elijah is terrified and running for his life in this passage. Jezebel has vowed to take revenge on him for having killed the prophets of Baal, so he is justly afraid and flees into the wilderness. The prophet is clearly overwhelmed by his circumstances and at the end of his rope. He runs away to escape sure and certain death, yet we find him sitting under a tree and crying out for God to bring his life to an end. Elijah doesn\u2019t want to die at the hands of Jezebel, but at the same time he\u2019s not sure that he can go on living. \u201cIt is enough \u2026 take away my life,\u201d he says to God. Remember, this is the same Elijah who, in just the chapter before this, displays his awesome faith in the Almighty by calling down fire on Mount Carmel and vanquishing the false prophets of Baal. How could he go from such amazing, faith-filled triumph to such pathetic defeat and despair? Perhaps simply for this reason: he may be a prophet, but he remains a man and therefore weak, fearful and inconstant. Indeed, Elijah\u2019s sheer humanity is made obvious by the means procured by an angel to give him the strength to continue on in his journey, a cake and some water. Notice that God didn\u2019t give him any grand exhortations on why he needed to pull himself together and just have more faith. Instead, he sent him the basic necessities of life \u2013 food, water and a bit of companionship to keep him going.<\/p>\n\n
This selection from Psalm 34 goes well with the previous reading from 1 Kings. Like Elijah, the psalmist has faced terror and affliction at the hands of his enemies. The difference between the two passages is that, unlike the portion from 1 Kings, in this part of the psalm the one under adversity has been delivered from hardship and so we find him rejoicing in God\u2019s goodness. The psalmist writes that God hears the cries of the faithful and rescues them from all their troubles. Of course, we know that scripture also records times when God does not deliver people who are facing hardships, at least not right away. Elijah\u2019s story shows us this reality, as do various other portions of the Psalter (for example, Ps. 22, the Book of Job, etc.).<\/p>\n\n
The author of Ephesians seems to be asking us to do the impossible when he writes, \u201cbe imitators of God\u201d in 5:1. After all, how can we finite and fallen creatures ever presume to try to be like God, who is utterly above and beyond us mortals in every way? Do we dare think that we can be perfect, as our Father in heaven is perfect (see Matthew 5:48)?<\/p>\n\n
Well, we may not achieve perfect holiness in this world, but this passage from Ephesians gives us some practical hints on how we can begin trying to imitate God. First of all, we\u2019re told to choose truth over falsehood, keeping in mind that relationships that are healthy and holy must be founded on honesty and trust. Second, we\u2019re given permission to be angry, as long as we learn to release our anger in healthy ways, before too much time passes. After this, more instructions follow: do not steal; do honest work and share with the needy; do not speak evil; be kind and forgiving. In all these ways and more, we can truly be like God. As we seek to do so, let us place all our hope in Christ, who has made it possible for us to do the impossible, by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8).<\/p>\n\n
Jesus is making some very strong claims in this passage. He promises that anyone who comes to Him shall never be hungry or thirsty. He declares that anyone who has been drawn to Him will be raised on the last day. He asserts that whoever eats of His flesh, the living bread of heaven, will live forever. These are all very striking words and it is no wonder that his fellow Jews, and even the disciples, are scandalized by Jesus\u2019 teaching (see verses 41 and 60f).<\/p>\n\n
Obviously, this text requires a great deal of careful reflection. Salvation looks like bread, which is the Body of Christ broken for us; and wine, which is His Blood shed for us. Through these inestimable gifts, offered to us in the Eucharist, we are made partakers of the divine nature and assured of God\u2019s favor and goodness toward us, now and forever.<\/p>\n\n
An old hymn by Johann Franck, \u201cDeck thyself, my soul, with gladness,\u201d written in 1649, beautifully captures this great reality of Christ given to us in the Sacrament. Here are some of the hymn\u2019s final lines: \u201cFrom this supper let me measure, \/ Lord, how vast and deep love\u2019s treasure. \/ Through the gifts Thou here dost give me \/ As Thy guest in heaven receive me.\u201d<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
1 Kings 19:4-8 Elijah is terrified and running for his life in this passage. Jezebel has vowed to take revenge on him for having killed the prophets of Baal, so he is justly afraid and flees into the wilderness. The prophet is clearly overwhelmed by his circumstances and at the end of his rope. He…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":201221,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[23,52,33,1953],"tags":[337],"class_list":["post-766626","bible_study","type-bible_study","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bible-studies","category-sermons-that-work","category-the-season-after-pentecost","category-worship-and-prayer-menu","tag-proper-14b"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":23,"label":"Bible Studies"},{"value":52,"label":"Sermons That Work"},{"value":33,"label":"The Season After Pentecost"},{"value":1953,"label":"worship_and_prayer_menu"}],"post_tag":[{"value":337,"label":"Proper 14B"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":[],"comment_info":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible_study\/766626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible_study"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bible_study"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible_study\/766626\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":952114,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible_study\/766626\/revisions\/952114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=766626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=766626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=766626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}