Last week while I was at Fort Wilderness speaking at one of their weeklong family camps, I also had the opportunity to share a devotional with their summer staff. Their theme for the summer is “After the Fire,” and is drawn from 1 Kings 19, where Elijah meets with God. It is after the wind, the earthquake, and the fire that Elijah hears the still, small voice of God.
I was given the theme of “community,” and shaped a brief devotional around the concept of “Ministry in Community.” I’m sharing my notes for that devotional below in hopes it might be an encouragement to others. Feel free to share this with others to whom you think this might be encouraging.
After Elijah experienced a “mountain top” of ministry—victory over the prophets of Baal through God’s miraculous intervention—it was quickly followed by a “valley” of trouble—Queen Jezebel threatening his life. Amidst the exhaustion of the mountain top and the valley, Elijah fled to Mount Horeb.
It was there at Mount Horeb that Elijah met with God. But first Elijah needed to move through his despair (1 Kings 19:4) to rest and refreshment (19:5-9), and then from rest and refreshment into recovery and recalibration in God’s presence (19:10-18).
Along with many other things, amidst all this, God is teaching Elijah about his need for others. And that is what I’d like to focus in on today, as this week’s theme for staff devotions is on community.
I’d like to explore three very simple points about community and ministry, and they are:
- When we are worn out (even burned out) – we need others
- When we think we’re the only one doing it (feeling all alone) – we need others
- When we want to be fruitful (or productive) – we need others
When we are worn out – we need others
Let’s return to the Elijah story to look at that first point: when we are worn out – we need others. Remember the high of ministry that Elijah experienced? He has just been a key part of a dramatic revival in his land of people turning away from idols and toward God. He had given everything he had to that task and seen God work wonders in answer to prayer.
But afterwards things did not quite go as he would have hoped. People did turn toward God, but Queen Jezebel threatened his life and the ruling class turned against him. And it was as a result of his exhaustion from ministry work and the opposition that he faced in high places that Elijah turned tail and ran to a place where he could find God. Along the way God met with Elijah, provided for Elijah, and even sent ravens as ministers unto Elijah. When he was worn out—even burned out—Elijah needed others. And the first “other” that Elijah needed was God.
I’m sure everyone in this room in one way or another could relate to Elijah. Perhaps you are worn out. Perhaps you have had amazing ministry successes this past week or two. Perhaps others have had frustrations and what seem like ministry failures or roadblocks. Perhaps there has been opposition you did not expect. This is all normal and part of our lives and the work of God. It is an opportunity to push us back to God and living in utter dependence upon God.
You are not alone in this. Think of Jesus. Before Jesus went to the Cross He was under great pressure. He asked His disciples to be with Him, first at the meal in the upper room. Then, after Judas the betrayer’s departure, across the valley in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus asked them to stay and pray with Him because He was under such great pressure. When He was worn out, Jesus needed others. And so, he asked His disciples to be with Him while He called out to the Father.
Perhaps we can learn from Elijah and Jesus. When we are worn out, we also need others. We need others to listen to us. We need others to pray for us. We need to be that sort of person for others.
Practice:
- Daily solitude time with God first, and then time together with others
When we think we’re the only one doing it – we need others
But here is a second point. There are times when we feel like we’re the only one doing it, really serving God. In his exhaustion and running, Elijah arrived at Mount Horeb and met with God. That is what this summer’s theme verse is all about. But after the fire, Elijah came with his prepared speech and offered it to God. Listen to that speech:
“I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” (1 Kings 19:14, my emphasis)
Elijah thought he was the only one that was still committed to God. I’m the only one left. Elijah was a little disillusioned. Where was everyone else at? Why weren’t they there at Mount Carmel with him or afterwards there to defend him? Elijah was disillusioned.
Disillusionment is normal. We see others stumble and fall. We find that others we looked up to are not perfect. We will experience disillusionment sometimes even with ourselves. But we cannot stay there. Otherwise, disillusionment leads to pride or self-pity.
What we need is to have our illusions taken away, just as the word says. Let me tell you about one of my favorite people, Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Bonhoeffer lived in Germany during the era of World War II when the Nazis controlled the country. He was a strong believer and knew he had to do something to stand against the extremes of that time. And so, he was part of a small cluster of believers who stood against the pervasive hatred of the Nazis and the confusion of the German Church at that time to build a church that confessed only Jesus as Lord and trained pastors through a small seminary for Gospel-centered ministry. Bonhoeffer writes about these things in his classic books, The Cost of Discipleship and Life Together. Bonhoeffer aimed for something more biblical but also was aware of the power of idealism and disillusionment that could lead to pride or self-pity. He knew there were times we needed to be jostled out of thinking we’re the only ones really serving God. He writes:
“Just as surely as God desires to lead us to a knowledge of genuine Christian fellowship, so surely must we be overwhelmed by a great disillusionment with others, with Christians in general, and, if we are fortunate, with ourselves. By sheer grace, God will not permit us to live even for a brief period in a dream world….Every human wish dream that is injected into the Christian community is a hindrance to genuine community and must be banished if genuine community is to survive. He who loves his dream of a community more than the Christian community itself becomes a destroyer of the latter, even though his personal intentions may be ever so honest and earnest and sacrificial.”[1]
And so, God reminds Elijah that he is not the only one and he is not truly alone. “Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal” (19:18).
Perhaps we can learn from Elijah and Bonhoeffers. When we feel we are the only ones, even when we’re disillusioned, we also need others. We need others to listen to us. We need others to pray for us.
Practice:
- Reaching out to others and cultivating God-centered relationships
When we want to be fruitful (Productive) – we need others
Return to the Elijah story for one last key idea. When we want to be fruitful – we need others. Look how God sends Elijah out to invite others into the work of God, most notably a new apprentice, Elisha. Ministry that endures and is fruitful involves relationships.
This same theme carries forward in the life of the Apostle Paul, who always worked with others. Whether it was his two primary ministry partners, Barnabas and Silas, or a cohort of young apprentices that he worked with—Timothy, Sopater, Aristarchus, Secundus, Gaius, Tychicus, and Trophimus (Acts 20:4)—Paul rarely ministered alone. Perhaps Paul learned this from Jesus, who gathered the twelve apostles around Him and sent them out to do the same sort of things He did. Regardless, ministry that is fruitful and endures involves relationships.
Perhaps we can learn from Elijah and Paul. When we really want to have fruitful work or ministry, we also need others. We need others to listen to us.
Practices:
- inviting and empowering
- delegating
When we are worn out (even burned out) – we need others.
When we think we’re the only one doing it (feeling all alone) – we need others.
When we want to be fruitful (or productive) – we need others.
[1] Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together, trans. John W. Doberstein (New York: Harper & Row, 1954), 26-27, my emphasis.
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Matthew Erickson 