Proper 14B, August 9, 2015

Poor Elijah is surely in a bad place today. He had received the message that
Jezebel, his adversary, is seeking his life because he has successfully challenged the
prophets of the Cananite god Baal. He did signs which demonstrated the power of
the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel. This angered those opposed to Elijah, so he
fled for his life. He traveled a days journey into the wilderness. When we meet up
with him, Elijah has settled under a solitary broom tree and has announced that he
is done. Done with all of it. Done not only with his ministry but also done with his
life. He says, It is too much; now, Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than
my ancestors.
Then he lies down and sleeps under the bush, but his sleep is interrupted by
the touch of an angel who commands him to rise and eat. God is not done with
Elijah. And he lets Elijah know this by sending him a meal, a cake of bread baked
over embers and a jar of water.
After Elijah eats and drinks, he lies down again, and once again, an angel
touches him and commands him to rise and eat. The angel explains the reason why
Elijah must eat, because the way is too much for you. Strengthened by the food, he
traveled 40 days and nights until he reached Mount Horab, where God gave Moses
the 10 Commandments.
Elijah was under a solitary white broom tree. The white broom tree was used
for kindling in cooking stoves and coals were made from its roots, trunks and
branches. It is indigenous to the Middle East, North Africa, and possibility Sicily.
In Israel it is widespread in deserts. It is most beautiful between January and April,
when it is covered with a myriad of white flowers, with a honey fragrance. The
broom tree symbolizes renewal. A restoration of vigor and a new freshness. Elijah
certainly needed renewal. If the bush was blooming, Elijah would have seen
thousands of tiny white blooms and smelled a soothing scent.

The white broom tree is similar to the Scotch broom, which is an invasive
plant growing in Humboldt County. But the branches of the white broom are longer
and more flexible than the Scotch broom, forming an erect dense bush 3 to 12 feet
tall. In many desert regions it is the only bush that affords any shade.
God speaks to us through plants. After all, God created all things, including
plants. Think of the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden. Think of Moses
encountering the burning bush. Think of Jesus appreciating the beauty of the lilies
of the field.
Under the broom tree is where we learn what may be the very important
lesson for the journey of life. That is because it is there where most of us truly live.
It is there where we also have the hardest time surrendering our wills to the will of
God. Under the broom tree we learn how to hear the voice of God in those difficult
times in our own lives. When we reach the ends of ourselves, we find the beginning
of authentic faith.
What Elijah receives are practical, tangible provisions that enable him to go
in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights. What is given is sufficient
and strengthening. In the Gospel for today Jesus identifies himself as the living
bread that came down from heaven. The bread of Jesus gives us strength for the
journeys in our lives, however difficult they may be. The bread given by the
Eucharistic minister is called the viaticum, the Latin word meaning food for the
journey.
God will provide the strength each of us needs. God will provide food for our
journey. God will provide all we need to make our lifes journey. God provides his
Word and the sacraments and especially other people who come into our lives to
minister to us, to give us food and drink when we need it, to encourage us in our
faith, to be with us when we feel tired and discouraged. And God may be calling you
to do that to a brother or sister, to be an angel to another.

God is not done with you or with me, or with our beloved Christ Church. Let
us take rest under the broom tree, and affirm that the way is not too much for us,
because God provides the bread and water for our journey. Amen.
The Rev. Dr. Susan Armstrong