HOVER

3rd Sunday after Epiphany

January 20, 2019

1 Kings 19:8-13; Luke 4:1-13

Drawn In: Week 2

(an outline)

I'm part of the bridge between Gen X and Millenials - "xenial." Sometimes I identify with Gen X, sometimes with Millenial. An article came out at the beginning of this month on BuzzFeed called "How Millenials Became the Burnout Generation" - written by a millenial. I identified with a lot of it, especially about optimization. A couple days later a response by a millenial pastor came out on Ministry Matters website - "What Can the Church Do for the Burned Out Generation?" The church is guilty, too - ex: ashes to go on Ash Wednesday; our new evening service --> we try to make the church easy to engage with. BUT the truth is that the work of discipleship is slow. It takes time to build relationships. Transformation can't be optimized - it just is - can't rush. The change we want in our church/community/world can't be optimized. There's no easy fix or magic bullet or class to take. Instead we're at the second wave of being drawn in - hover.

What comes to mind when you hear the word 'hover'?

In the Bible, it's in the second verse - Gen. 1:2 

verse 1 - "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth"

verse 2 - "The earth was a formless void and the Spirit of God hovered over the waters."

Before God acted, spoke, or began creating, God hovered.

Hovering is not optimized time because it takes waiting and patience. It is the deep breath before diving into a project, when you've got all your materials out and you pause before starting. I do it at the beginning of a sermon. It's soul-searching, which is what Elijah and Jesus both do in today's Scriptures.

Before today's passage, Elijah had been through a lot. King Ahab and Queen Jezebel had killed all the other prophets; Elijah was the last one left. He has a major showdown against the prophets of Baal, which he wins by a landslide. Jezebel threatens Elijah's life and he runs away. He's grieving, overwhelmed, scared, unsure, and burned out. God provides food for his journey, some rest, and time for hovering as he listens for God to pass by in the small, still voice. Then, after that time, then God tells Elijah to go back and God gives him a helper, Elisha.

Our Gospel passage was Jesus at the beginning of his ministry. He's been baptized by John in the Jordan and the Spirit leads him out into the wilderness for 40 days. This is a time of soul searching for Jesus and figuring out what his priorities are. Satan offers him food, because Jesus is hungry, but Jesus says, "One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God." Satan offers him power over the world, and Jesus has to realize he already has this and says, "Worship God only and serve only God." Finally, Satan tempts him by saying, "Throw yourself down and the angels will catch you," quoting scripture. But Jesus says "Do not put God to the test." Satan offers short cuts and easy ways out. Satan wants you to rush things that can't or shouldn't be rushed. Jesus hovers, and says no.

What one thing do you need to focus on now? Get rid of your never-ending to-do list; not only millenials have those. Stop optimizing. Not only millenials do that, it's become society-wide. Stop optimizing. Hover. Don't rush. Hone in on one thing. Take time this week to do that. Pause. 

Anonymous Quote: "Practice the pause. When in doubt, pause. When angry, pause. When tired, pause. When stressed, pause. And when you pause, pray.”