The Fourth Week of June
- Hannah Jones-Nelson
- 10 hours ago
- 7 min read
We Read…
Where is God in our passages for this week? How do we see God interacting with humanity in these four different readings? Elijah needed a nap and some food before he could be ready to encounter God in the whispers. The Psalmist cries out to God, wondering where God is but proclaiming that even in these questions, God is with them. Galatians shows us that God has done a powerful work, taking away the barriers that have existed between us. And Jesus performs a miracle before sending the man back into his community. Each interaction is different - in some, we find God in silence, while in others, we see God in big, obvious ways. All of these interactions reveal how God works in our lives! Sometimes it’s easy to spot when God is at work. Sometimes, though, it’s difficult to see if God is even listening or doing something new in our lives. It’s important to recognize that God can work amid any situation, no matter where we find ourselves.
1 Kings 19:1-15a
Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, how he had killed all Baal’s prophets with the sword. 2 Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah with this message: “May the gods do whatever they want to me if by this time tomorrow I haven’t made your life like the life of one of them.”
3 Elijah was terrified. He got up and ran for his life. He arrived at Beer-sheba in Judah and left his assistant there. 4 He himself went farther on into the desert a day’s journey. He finally sat down under a solitary broom bush. He longed for his own death: “It’s more than enough, Lord! Take my life because I’m no better than my ancestors.” 5 He lay down and slept under the solitary broom bush.
Then suddenly a messenger tapped him and said to him, “Get up! Eat something!” 6 Elijah opened his eyes and saw flatbread baked on glowing coals and a jar of water right by his head. He ate and drank, and then went back to sleep. 7 The Lord’s messenger returned a second time and tapped him. “Get up!” the messenger said. “Eat something because you have a difficult road ahead of you.” 8 Elijah got up, ate and drank, and went refreshed by that food for forty days and nights until he arrived at Horeb, God’s mountain. 9 There he went into a cave and spent the night.
The Lord’s word came to him and said, “Why are you here, Elijah?”
10 Elijah replied, “I’ve been very passionate for the Lord God of heavenly forces because the Israelites have abandoned your covenant. They have torn down your altars, and they have murdered your prophets with the sword. I’m the only one left, and now they want to take my life too!”
11 The Lord said, “Go out and stand at the mountain before the Lord. The Lord is passing by.” A very strong wind tore through the mountains and broke apart the stones before the Lord. But the Lord wasn’t in the wind. After the wind, there was an earthquake. But the Lord wasn’t in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake, there was a fire. But the Lord wasn’t in the fire. After the fire, there was a sound. Thin. Quiet. 13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his coat. He went out and stood at the cave’s entrance. A voice came to him and said, “Why are you here, Elijah?”
14 He said, “I’ve been very passionate for the Lord God of heavenly forces because the Israelites have abandoned your covenant. They have torn down your altars, and they have murdered your prophets with the sword. I’m the only one left, and now they want to take my life too.”
Psalm 42
1 Just like a deer that craves
streams of water,
my whole being craves you, God.
2 My whole being thirsts for God,
for the living God.
When will I come and see God’s face?
3 My tears have been my food
both day and night,
as people constantly questioned me,
“Where’s your God now?”
4 But I remember these things
as I bare my soul:
how I made my way
to the mighty one’s abode,
to God’s own house,
with joyous shouts
and thanksgiving songs—
a huge crowd celebrating the festival!
5 Why, I ask myself,
are you so depressed?
Why are you so upset inside?
Hope in God!
Because I will again give him thanks,
my saving presence and 6 my God.
My whole being is depressed.
That’s why I remember you
from the land of Jordan and Hermon,
from Mount Mizar.
7 Deep called to deep
at the noise of your waterfalls;
all your massive waves surged over me.
8 By day the Lord commands
his faithful love;
by night his song is with me—
a prayer to the God of my life.
9 I will say to God, my solid rock,
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why do I have to walk around,
sad, oppressed by enemies?”
10 With my bones crushed,
my foes make fun of me,
constantly questioning me:
“Where’s your God now?”
11 Why, I ask myself, are you so depressed?
Why are you so upset inside?
Hope in God!
Because I will again give him thanks,
my saving presence and my God.
Psalm 43
1 Establish justice for me, God!
Argue my case against ungodly people!
Rescue me from the dishonest
and unjust!
2 Because you are my God,
my protective fortress!
Why have you rejected me?
Why do I have to walk around,
sad, oppressed by enemies?
3 Send your light and truth—
those will guide me!
Let them bring me
to your holy mountain,
to your dwelling place.
4 Let me come to God’s altar—
let me come to God, my joy, my delight—
then I will give you thanks with the lyre,
God, my God!
5 Why, I ask myself, are you so depressed?
Why are you so upset inside?
Hope in God!
Because I will again give him thanks,
my saving presence and my God.
Galatians 3:23-29
23 Before faith came, we were guarded under the Law, locked up until faith that was coming would be revealed, 24 so that the Law became our custodian until Christ so that we might be made righteous by faith.
25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a custodian.
26 You are all God’s children through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 All of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek; there is neither slave nor free; nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 Now if you belong to Christ, then indeed you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to the promise.
Luke 8:26-39
26 Jesus and his disciples sailed to the Gerasenes’ land, which is across the lake from Galilee. 27 As soon as Jesus got out of the boat, a certain man met him. The man was from the city and was possessed by demons. For a long time, he had lived among the tombs, naked and homeless. 28 When he saw Jesus, he shrieked and fell down before him. Then he shouted, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don’t torture me!” 29 He said this because Jesus had already commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had taken possession of him, so he would be bound with leg irons and chains and placed under guard. But he would break his restraints, and the demon would force him into the wilderness.
30 Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”
“Legion,” he replied, because many demons had entered him. 31 They pleaded with him not to order them to go back into the abyss. 32 A large herd of pigs was feeding on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into the pigs. Jesus gave them permission, 33 and the demons left the man and entered the pigs. The herd rushed down the cliff into the lake and drowned.
34 When those who tended the pigs saw what happened, they ran away and told the story in the city and in the countryside. 35 People came to see what had happened. They came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone. He was sitting at Jesus’ feet, fully dressed and completely sane. They were filled with awe. 36 Those people who had actually seen what had happened told them how the demon-possessed man had been delivered. 37 Then everyone gathered from the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave their area because they were overcome with fear. So he got into the boat and returned across the lake. 38 The man from whom the demons had gone begged to come along with Jesus as one of his disciples. Jesus sent him away, saying, 39 “Return home and tell the story of what God has done for you.” So he went throughout the city proclaiming what Jesus had done for him.
We Think…
What stands out to you in these verses? Does anything confuse you or not make sense? How do these verses compare to your own experience in life or the church?
What are you considering? What questions come to mind?
Why did the angel give Elijah something to eat?
What does Paul mean when he says that we are all one in Christ?
The people in Luke 8 were filled with awe but also afraid of Jesus. Why do you think they were fearful? Why did their fear drive them away from Jesus instead of toward him?
We Feel…
What emotions are you experiencing today? How are you making space for these feelings?
Where have you seen God today or this week? What is pointing you to God (maybe it is something in creation, a friend or adult that cares for you)?
What has God made new in your life? In your heart?
When have you heard God in the whispers of your life?
What is the story that you are called to share, like the man in Luke 8?
We Believe…
We believe that even when it’s hard to hear or see God, God is with us. Sometimes we experience God in big and powerful ways (like at a retreat, camp, revival), but sometimes, maybe even most times, in the everyday, mundane, ordinary moments, we don’t feel that same fire. And that’s okay! Just like Elijah experiences in 1 Kings 19, God doesn’t always speak in the loudest way. God often talks to us in quiet whispers, in the encouragement from others, and in the Bible passage we choose to read that day. How are you making time to sit in the quiet and let God speak to you?
We Practice…
In Luke 8, the man pleaded with Jesus to follow him, but Jesus tells him to return home and to share his story. Sometimes it can be tempting to want to just stay in the presence of Jesus at a camp or retreat, but we’re called to go back home, back out into the world, and to share what God has done in our hearts and lives. This week, practice sharing your story with someone else. What has God done for you? What is God teaching you? Tell this to someone in your life, maybe even someone that you haven’t talked to about your faith with before.
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