What are you doing Here?

         "What am I doing here", is a perennial question that a person of faith confronts throughout life. I found myself asking myself this question as I embarked on a journey from Kansas City to Erie. The conclusion to the sermon that was preached over a year ago was very revealing.

         In verse nineteen of chapter 18 in the book of I Kings God gives Elijah a vision that said there was more work to do as he left behind what had been done of Mount Carmel. God placed on my heart the burden that arose out of the text, "Gary: I have something more for you to do and there are people in Erie that are waiting for you to come and some wonderful people that you would not meet otherwise. And guess what, God was right and I have no regrets and I believe Elijah would say the same. I was in particular reminded of this as I listened the words of a Cantata soloist sing about how far Jesus had come-it was worth the cost!!

         On August 13th of last year, the same day I preach here today, I presumed I would go to Massachusetts rather than Erie. I had my bags packed and ready to go It seemed logical to go back to a familiar place where I might preach all that I had learned since I left forty years ago. God had a better plan.

         "I will break this sermon into three lessons. There is the power of place, presence and purpose in discerning the response to God's question about where and what I will do next.

I. God takes us to places we would have never expected to go. This is the essence of faith.

1. Consider Abraham and Sarah having children at an age many consider to be the end of the road.
2. Consider Joseph who was thrown into a pit to be forgotten about by his brothers. Eventually he will go to Egypt where he will save people from
3. Consider Moses who was in the courts of Egypt, a prince, an undercover hero who would be sent by God to set the people of Israel free.
4. Consider Jesus, our savior who set us free. He was sent to die and yet through Jesus we know eternal life.

         Elijah is thrust into a wilderness place so that the king of Israel, in the name of false gods of Baal and Ashteroth, in order that his life be spared. False religion speaks about the threat of death that hangs around anyone who does not believe the same. It is as if to say "I know what is right", and you must be wrong because the king wants you dead. You are the cause of the famine not us. You are the one who is powerless and foolish and not us. Elijah and other faithful wait for the response of the only true God "Yahweh" to these false claims. Elijah's name says God is Yahweh. God knows what to do and say in the midst of crisis even if we do not.

         We know this wilderness place too. In this place we find out what our faith means. We are cast into a place of sickness, a hospital, in the throes of addiction and depression with the threat you will never leave alive, at the mercy of people that say they know what it means to believe in God and we do not.

          I wondered about this as my dad abused me as he dealt with his demon alcohol. I wondered about this as I came into contact at work with a Satanist. Coworkers said to hide my faith from him. That I could not do. Over time of dealing with his abuse he would ask me how I could believe in God? I shared for the same reason he could not believe I could. God loves the world including him and faces me with the adventure of learning more and more about what can not separate us from God.

          False gods preach our death. Who will set us free? Who will set free the people we love? Elijah felt lonely in the cave of refuge where God had him hidden. I had tried many years to bring my father to faith and felt guilty because of it. Instead of being committed to a death/shame filled oblivion we are invited to be more and more committed to Christ, who wants something better for us and others. In the end just before death my dad came to know God. Yet we can not know this apart from entering the place God has for us we could not know only God could set us free.

II. Shortly after the gods of death are demolished, Elijah became depressed to the extent he wanted to die. Who will be with us and others when the God of deliverance seems so far away.

         Soon after Elijah defeats the murderous priests of Jezebel, he hears Jezebel say that his life will be like the priests that he killed. Elijah is cast into despair: after all that has been done,... what is the point? God greets his with a question that slowly but surely brings him back to life. "What are you doing here"? God does not take away the pain and suffering. Instead he is with Elijah for as long as it takes him to hear the message. We are met in a similar way throughout our life. Then we with Elijah can know, that it is not in the threat of being burnt up in fire, being blown away by the might wind of the opinions of others or earthquake of needing to be shaken up. It is in the still small voice. It is the breath of God in stillness that puts us back on our feet. Finally all God has said and done make sense. There is no greater gift that God gives than the time it takes for us to heal.

         I knew the message of learning what it meant to be a caring presence in the initial meeting with my future wife Sharon Sullivan. I had been dating another woman for the space of a year. She challenged me to meet with another woman and determine whether our relationship was meant to be. Soon after I met Sharon and we had our first encounter at Bob Evans. Her story challenged me. In the land of Erie Pennsylvania she met a Baptist who had studied to be a minister. He died of a terminal illness within the first year of their marriage. I knew that God wanted me to be with her in the same way that Michael had been with her before his life was ended. Wasn't this the message of the gospel, to love those who might not know love otherwise? And this not just for a day, rather for as long as it takes to hear the message that might set us free. God loves us always despite ourselves.

III. What are you doing here? is the question that follows us in unexpected places, people and purposes. It is the question that comes to Elijah, each of us and the church.

         Elijah waits in the fire, the earthquake and mighty wind. God is not there, God is in the still small voice waiting for a response from those are willing to call themselves God's people.
         I recall being paged at the outset of my on call vigil at St. Luke's hospital. The family was threatening damage, all because they were about to lose someone they cared about and there pastor was nowhere to be found. I remember most of all how things became silent as I entered the room. I was with person who needed comforting, I listened to questions that asked where God was as they suffered. I was ushered into the room of their daughter and held her hand, they had even bought her Christmas presents. How could this be happening to their little girl? I Prayed and soon after was dismissed after their minister arrived feeling exhausted. I would see them the next day. They met me as they were leaving the hospital and for whatever reason they were no longer in despair. Their daughter did not live and yet they found a reason to be alive. They thanked me for being there and left.

         In verse nineteen Elijah hears the still small voice. He is to be a teacher to Elisha, to work with a king and see for himself the seven thousand prophets who were faithful to Yahweh's message.

         "Make no mistake just as there were waiting for me, there are people waiting and wanting to meet you. People you do not even know exist. I come all the way from Kansas city and you come from Wesleyville. God has a plan. Elijah is told of people he will meet and work with God has a plan for us all, do not ever forget that. What are you doing here?, as individuals and as a church. It can be tempting to merely survive as if your last days were ahead, After all hasn't God already worked miracles in our lives? I know I was prepared to die, when I thought I knew no one, until I realized that I knew God and God knew me!! God has a voice for us to share.

Conclusion: God is redeemer. God rules. You are here because sees in you wisdom and power the world needs. I thought of this as I listened to a U tube video that describes the relationship between a father and son who at one point was given up on because of a disability. The story of the Hoyts is a lesson for us God is a redeemer and this is a story we share with a waiting world.