Friends,
My sincere thanks to my colleagues at Peace who have been sharing weekly reflections with our congregation. It is a blessing to have these men and their pastoral experience as part of our church family. My thanks to Pastors Dale Koehneke, Gary Boerges, Joel Nickel, Ken Ollek, Paul Doellinger, Rob Bjornstad, and Ed Brandt, all of whom have posted contributions to our "Portals of Peace." Now it's my turn in the rotation.
But first, I want to confess my sin of "ripping off" the title of our blog from the long running and well-known publication "Portals of Prayer." That publication has been around all my life, and all of yours too. The first edition of "Portals of Prayer" came out in Lent 1937, over 80 years ago! For those not familiar with it, "Portals of Prayer" is published quarterly by Concordia Publishing House (CPH) and has a circulation of over 900,000 each quarter. Each edition contains a collection of one-page devotions based on a Bible passage and concluding with a short prayer. Copies are available for free at Peace. There is a large print edition available and a Spanish language edition called Portales de Oración. Let me know if you would like one of these.
This Sunday, August 9, is the 10th Sunday after Pentecost. The first reading is an episode from the life of Elijah the prophet found in 1 Kings 19:9-18. Fearing for his life because of the threat of the heathen Queen Jezebel, Elijah has fled to the mountain of God out in the wilderness and hidden in a cave. There the Word of the Lord comes to him asking, "What are you doing, Elijah?"
Elijah responds by telling God what a wonderful prophet he has been, and how victimized he feels. He says, “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.” We almost want to say, "Poor Elijah!"
But the Lord responds by telling Elijah to come out of his cave and go stand at its mouth. In what follows Elijah only senses the presence of the Lord in still sheer silence.
Elijah was propelled by fear to run away and hide. Is that happening today? Human beings are by nature fearful because they have a deep inherent desire to be in control. Elijah senses things are out of his control. Fear is the normal response of sinful human beings to the realization that they are not truly in control. Elijah's fear was overcome not by hiding in the cave, nor by a succession of divine fireworks (a great wind, and earthquake, and a fire) but in the sheer still silence of the presence of the Lord.
Maybe when we find ourselves facing fear and worry, we should remember that God's presence, bringing courage, calm, and peace, comes in in the sheer stillness of our prayers. Let us pray: God of the still sheer silence, come to us in times of terror, or agonizing worry, and make us sense that you are with us and that we are always in your presence. In Jesus' name. Amen.
In Christ,
Pastor Joe Hughes