SUNDAY, JUNE 22 2025 - THE SOUND OF SILENCE
June 22, 2025
Deborah Laforet
“The Sound of Silence”
Let us pray. May the words from my lips and the meditations of my heart be guided by your Spirit and be words of wisdom for this day. Amen. Once a month, I do a ‘float.’ For those of you who don’t know what that is, here is an explanation from the website of GoFloat Studios: Inside a private float cabin, you’ll lie in warm Epsom salt-infused water, so dense you effortlessly float to the surface. With no lights, no sounds, and zero distractions, your body and mind finally have permission to let go. Just one float can help shift you out of stress mode and into deep calm. You can float for one hour, 90 minutes, or, if you’re really in need, two hours. I always do two hours. This is a time out of my busy life that I create for myself to get away from all distractions, all the lights, sounds, and smells of this world, and just simply be. I love it, and I’ve been doing it for six years. Until I can move to a place where there isn’t constant noise and activity all around me, this is one way I can decompress and give my brain a rest. Tomorrow, I’m heading to Killbear Provincial Park for a few days, for the same reasons. I will be on a non-electrical site, away from the noise of giant RVs, and I’m going during a time when there are fewer people. And I’m going alone. We live in a world of constant distractions, especially now with our phones attached to our hips, talking devices in our homes, and nonstop content from social media and streaming sites. We can be on our devices for hours and not even realize it. I’ve been with several people who are surprised to sit down and realize it’s the first time they’ve relaxed, with a friend or a book, or with nature. We get so wrapped up in the distractions that we think it’s normal, and we have no idea what it’s doing to our minds, our bodies, and our spirits. 2 of 6 You can hear all of this, any day of the week from health professionals. As a faith community, I want to talk about this from a spiritual lens. We are physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual beings. It’s all important and all need balance. In our story today, we hear of Elijah, who has given all that he has to the mission of God. He has followed God’s commands. He has stood up to the unjust rulers, Ahab and Jezebel. He has been an advocate for people who have been dealt with unjustly by these current rulers. In our current world, we might call him a social justice warrior. Strong, articulate, justice-minded, and ready to put other’s needs ahead of his own. We all know though, that putting other’s needs ahead of our own, can lead to resentment, exhaustion, and burn out. For Elijah, this finally comes when the ruler, Jezebel, is fed up by Elijah’s tactics, and threatens to kill him. Elijah flees, and as we hear, he’s done. He has done everything asked of him, and he is ready to quit. He says, “It is enough; now, O God, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.” Then he lay down under a broom tree and fell asleep, probably a sleep of exhaustion and burn out. Does this feel familiar for anyone? Then we read an angel touches him. The angel encourages Elijah to get up and eat. He does and then lays down again. A second time, an angel comes and encourages him again to eat and drink. The bible then tells us he then walks for forty days and forty nights to Mount Horeb. This might sound extraordinary considering we’re talking about a person who is burnt out, and wanting to die. What’s going on here? You might remember the story of Jesus, walking into the desert for forty days and forty nights, after his baptism, and just before his three year ministry. This was a time of discernment for him, and a time of preparation for the next phase of his life. Forty is a sacred number. It may not be an actual detail about the number of days he walked. It’s more symbolic of what this time meant for him, time away, time to discern, time to prepare, and a time for himself. 3 of 6 Same for Elijah. He walked towards Mount Horeb, tired, burnt out, not knowing what was next for him. This was a time of discernment. It was a time of rest. He was away from the stress of his work, the threat of death from Jezebel, and the constant pressure that is asked of a social justice warrior. He needed space. He needed renewal. When he gets to Mount Horeb, he finds a cave and spends the night. God finds him there and asks why Elijah is there. Elijah tells God that he has been working so hard, trying to make a difference, trying to do God’s will, and the result is that his life is being threatened and he feels desperate and alone. God tells Elijah to go up the mountain and that God will soon pass by. We read the following: Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces, but God was not in the wind, and after the wind an earthquake, but God was not in the earthquake, and after the earthquake a fire, but God was not in the fire, and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Now, we know that the Holy surrounds us, in the great winds, the breaking rocks, the earthquakes, the fires, but it’s not often where we experience the Holy. We are often reacting to these types of events. The folks north of us, fighting fires and fleeing from them are not feeling the calming presence of God. It’s in the sound of silence, away from distractions, away from the chaos of this world, that we can hear the divine, and even then, it takes time and patience, as our mind also works on being silent. Last week, I told you that the leaders of this church are taking a sabbatical. The past couple of years have been a lot of work and a lot of stress, and although no one has threatened to kill us, there have been times we have felt like fleeing. It’s time for rest. You’ll notice at the end of this story, God’s words to Elijah are, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus.” Because you see, Elijah’s work isn’t done yet. God promises that Elijah will 4 of 6 not be alone, that an individual will be found to be Elijah's companion and partner in this work, but God does not say the work is done, great job, be on your way. Unfortunately, we live in a world that is hurting, where people are abused, where society can be more a harmful to people than helpful. Many people are crying out. So many people need justice and compassion. This is the work God calls us to do, as Christians, as followers of Jesus. Sometimes it can be rewarding and renewing and can fill our souls with such joy and love, but other times, it can feel like it is sucking you dry and can feel never-ending, which is why we need sabbath. It’s one of the first commandments God gives to Moses. Honour the sabbath. This might be once a week, but it can also be a period of time. We need rest; we need forty days and nights in the desert, and the sound of silence. Next year will be one filled with different emotions for this church community. It will be our last year in this building. We will be packing, deciding what comes and what gets left behind. We will be celebrating ‘lasts’ in this space - last bazaar, last variety show, last camp, and we will be saying goodbye to this space and to this home, on which this church community has lived, and worked, and played for the past seventy years. We will also be visioning, planning for a new future, imagining a new way of being church, and listening to the Spirit to guide us in our call to serve this community. We will need all of you to be part of this work, and we will need you well and rested. This summer is an intentional break. All work can wait until September. We will also need to be aware of our own energy and the energy of others as we move forward, checking in with one another, relieving one another, and cheering each other on. This is already a community that is blessed with healthy relationships, with compassion and love to share and to spare. May we continue in that spirit, and may God pass by us when we take those times of silence, and may God continue to call us into the work of the Spirit in our community. May it be so. Amen. 5 of 6 1 Kings 19:1-15 (Introduce yourself. - Do not move or tap microphone.) In our story today, we will hear about the prophet Elijah, one of the major prophets of our Hebrew Scriptures. At this time in our story, Elijah has been fighting against the current rulers, Ahab and Jezebel, who had turned away from the Hebrew god and used their power for their own benefit, hurting many. After a major confrontation, Jezebel threatens to kill Elijah, and Elijah, exhausted and full of despair, runs away. I am reading from the first book of Kings, chapter, 19, verses 1 to 15. Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life like the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.” 3 Then [Elijah] was afraid; he got up and fled for his life and came to Beer-sheba, which belongs to Judah; he left his servant there. 4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.”5 Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, “Get up and eat.” 6 He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. He ate and drank and lay down again. 7 The angel of the Lord came a second time, touched him, and said, “Get up and eat, or the journey will be too much for you.” 8 He got up and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God. 9 At that place he came to a cave and spent the night there. Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 10 He answered, “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.” 11 He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind, and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake, 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire, and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. 13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 14 He answered, “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 6 of 6 with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.” 15 Then the Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus.” May the Spirit guide our understanding of this sacred scripture