September 3, 2025

Today's Reading: 1 Kings 19:1-21

Daily Lectionary: 1 Kings 19:1-21; 1 Kings 20:1-22:53; Ephesians 3:1-21

“And the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched [Elijah] and said, ‘Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.’” (1 Kings 19:7)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

On the run from the enraged Queen Jezebel, Elijah went as far as he could go. But it wasn’t far enough. Exhausted in the wilderness, alone and having no food, that was the least of the prophet’s problems. For if Queen Jezebel’s army caught up to him, Elijah was a dead man. And his own power and strength could not save him.

This is your problem, too. In the wilderness of this life, you also cannot go the whole way by your own power and strength. Relying on your own abilities gets you into the middle of a wilderness, exhausted and all alone. Do not think too highly of your strength. See how little ability you have to keep God’s Commandments perfectly. To make things worse, the threat of certain death for your sins looms over you as well. You cannot overcome your own mortality. Your own power and strength cannot save you.

Elijah was spared when God sent an angelic messenger with a word of grace. That word was, “Arise and eat.” This is truly a word of God’s grace, because it promised and gave to Elijah what he had not deserved. This Word brought Elijah a heaven-sent food. It was bread from heaven, a new manna for a new wilderness journey. Elijah ate, not just once but twice. In other words, God gave Elijah this word of grace and this heavenly bread, again and again, because it gave him strength, hope, and life that he did not have.

You also are like Elijah. All you can rely on is God’s Word of grace in Christ Jesus. His cross has won salvation for all sinners. His empty tomb has defeated your death. Now, His gracious Word carries to you the life and salvation His cross won. Here is life for you! You are not alone anymore, because through faith, God mystically joins you to Him. You no longer have to rely on your own power and strength, for you have God’s gracious promise in Jesus. Even better, God’s Word of grace directs you to arise and eat a new food from heaven in the Sacrament of the Altar. Arise and eat, again and again. In the Body and Blood of Jesus, there is strength, hope, and life for you. The journey is too great for you, but not if you go by the strength of this new heavenly manna.

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

My Lord, You here have led me To this most holy place And with Yourself have fed me The treasures of Your grace; For You have freely given What earth could never buy, The bread of life from heaven That now I shall not die. (LSB 642:2)

Rev. Robert Mayes, pastor at Immanuel Lutheran Church and Zion St. John Lutheran Church, Beemer and Wisner, NE.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, KY.

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