Sermon for the Tenth Sunday after Pentecost
Lectionary 19  Proper 14
August 9, 2009
Preached at Camp Calumet
Texts:  1 Kings 19:4-8; Psalm 34:1-8; Ephesians 4:25-5:2; John 35, 41-51

Is this the best summer ever at Calumet? 
Are you having a great time?

You have travelled a couple of hours,
A half of day
Or maybe even a full day into this wilderness called Calumet.

Maybe you came yesterday or even this morning,
Maybe last week or at the beginning of the summer

You have come to Calumet for any number of reasons.
Only you know why you are here,
And what this very special place means to you. 

You may have come for all the fun activities
Or to see your friends from last summer,
Or your favorite counselor again. 

You may have come for a family vacation
Or even a chance to feel closer to God.

Maybe you’ve come with a group for a family reunion
Or with several families who enjoy spending time together.

You may have come only for the worship service this morning
To hear what God has to say to you. 

And only you know what you left behind,
Or perhaps even what you are trying to escape.

Maybe you’ve left your best friend,
Or your family,
Or even your dog at home
And are missing them dreadfully.

However, on the other hand,
Maybe you’ve left a bad peer group situation
Or even a bully at home
And you are glad that you have escaped.

You may have left unfinished work at home
And perhaps the details are nagging at you.

Or maybe you are relieved
That for a few days or a few weeks
You don’t have to worry
About the bullies, the job stresses
Or even a tough family situation. 

You have come to this beautiful setting,
God’s own wilderness
And for just a few days or a few weeks,
Praying that God will be doing something different in your life.

In the Old Testament lesson we heard this morning.
Elijah went off to the wilderness too.
A different kind of wilderness, a desert type wilderness,
But an escape for him also.

He journeyed for a day to reach this wilderness.
In reality that means he probably went 8 to 15 miles,
But it took him far from his home.

Elijah had been having a tough time with Queen Jezebel
Who worshipped a god call Baal.

Elijah had trumped all of the Queen’s prophets
In the first ever bake-off contest,
When the God of Israel showed God’s power,
By starting a sacrifice fire with soaking wet wood with no match.

(There are a lot of campers here this summer,
Who have prayed for that same power!!!) 

Now after God won the bake-off against Baal,
Elijah killed all the prophets of Baal,
Making Queen Jezebel more than a little angry
And she proceeded to issued a death warrant against Elijah.

Elijah, in a combination of escape and despair
Runs off to a neighboring country,
And takes his day journey into the wilderness. 

Once in the wilderness
He plunks himself down under a broom tree
And declares to God,
“I’m done.
Take my life,
I should be dead and buried with my ancestors.” 
And then in sheer exhaustion,
He falls asleep under that tree.

I’ll bet that many of you here
Have had some kind of experience
That left you feeling much like Elijah
After he received Jezebel’s death threat.

Maybe you had a day when all of your friends at school
Ganged up on you.
You came home,
Dropped your books on the table,
And said, “I’m never going back to school again.
I don’t ever want to o see those kids again.
If I show up tomorrow, they will kill me.”  

Or maybe you are taking a really difficult class,
One that you need to complete your program.
You’ve just taken a big test.
Even though you studied hard
The questions seemed like they were from a different book,
And you know you bombed the test. 
You leave class
And you say “I’m doomed,
I might as well drop out of school.” 

Or perhaps you have just made a presentation to your new boss.
You could tell from his facial expressions
And the tone of voice when he asked questions.
That he didn’t agree with the direction you have been taking.
You have this sinking feeling
That not only are the next months going to be difficult
But you are worried that your job is in jeopardy. 

Or maybe you are totally stressed out
From trying to get all the things done at home.
Your kids need help with homework and carpooling to activities.
The committees you are on have placed demands on you
And your elderly parents now needs you to shop for them
And take them to the doctors.

You feel like there is not enough of you to go around.
You really want to crawl into a hole and pull a cover over you.
In any of these situations
And any other exhausting, debilitating ones
That you find yourself in,
There is a temptation to say
“I’m done Lord, I can’t go on.
Just take me away some place.
Get me out of this life.”

When Elijah reached this point
We don’t know if he really wanted to die
Or if he just wanted God to change his job description.

In any event, God did not take him away or let him die.
Instead God cooked him dinner.

When Elijah woke up
He smelt warm fresh bread cooking behind his head
And had a cool drink placed by his side
By an angel sent from God.

He ate and drank
And immediately went back to sleep.
At this point, he must have been more tired than hungry.

God let him rest,
But then sent that angel back a second time.
This time the angel told
Sit up and eat and drink.
You need strength for your journey. 

After strengthening him,
The angel told Elijah to go to God’s mountain
Where he would receive additional coaching
On what to do next.

God did not abandon Elijah,
But God did provide the means
For him to come out of his depression. 

Now if we look at your situation,
You have journeyed some distance
Into this wilderness we call Calumet.

Perhaps there is something from home that is stressing you out
Something that you need to escape from
Something you don’t know how to handle.

My own family has been coming to Calumet for over 20 years now.
In the years before I was called to be a pastor,
I often arrived bringing burdens from my corporate job
Or worries about some aspect of our family life. 

In the weeks leading up to our departure for Calumet
I would say to myself,
I only have to make it for two more weeks
And then I’ll be at Calumet and somehow it will be better. 

You, too have come here,
Seeking something, perhaps wanting relief from something.
And God is devising some means to strengthen you during your time here.

Maybe Wade and Jan’s excellent cooking
Will give you some relief from day to day chores.

Maybe in the mellow time around the campfire
God will help you put some perspective
Into a situation that is troubling you.

Maybe the chance to make new friends at camp
Will give you an alternative to the problems with friends at home.

Maybe at camp you will find new interests
And different ideas for your studies or after school activities at home. 

Maybe in evening devos, morning devotions or a Bible study,
God will provide strength for your journey
Or a new path in your life. 

God did not abandon Elijah
Once he had made that trip into the wilderness
And God has no intention of abandoning you
Now that you have arrived at your wilderness destination. 

God has many ways of reaching us
And removing the things that weigh us down. 

God sent Jesus to us so that we could see and experience
The power of God’s intervention in our lives.

God tells us in the Gospel of John
That Jesus is the bread of life,
The bread come down from heaven.
It is through Jesus
That we experience God’s power in our lives.

Jesus as bread is sustenance for our daily lives.
We experience this bread through hearing God’s Word,
Being strengthened in Holy Communion,
And by the supporting presence of others in our Christian communities. 

God wants you to experience rest, relaxation and new perspectives
During your time at Calumet.
God wants you to be strengthened and refreshed.

In a few moments, you will come to the Table
To receive one part of that strengthening,
The bread that is God’s son Jesus.

Other aspects of God’s strengthening
Will come to you during your time here. 

God wants you to come to Calumet
And then leave refreshed
For your life back home.

God has work for you to do,
But now in the cycle of life
God is intervening to provide you with a refreshing break.

Eat the bread of life,
Drink the wine of communion,
Enjoy the wilderness,
Make new friends,
And go back into the world,
Knowing that God is with you.

Amen