Historic First Lutheran Church of Pasadena

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

“What brings you satisfaction in life?”

Because I have had time to think about that question while writing this sermon, while you’re thinking about your answers to that question, I can tell you three things that bring me satisfaction in life:

1) A thick, juicy Porterhouse or New York or T-Bone Steak, done medium rare, layered with onions and green peppers and mushrooms, with a generous helping of A-1. To the dismay of my doctor, a chicken breast or pork chop just doesn’t even come close.

2) Receiving my quarterly investment statement and seeing that I am actually worth even a few hundred dollars more than I was worth last quarter.

3) Arriving home in the afternoon and hearing my 14 ½ -year-old dog barking. As annoying as her bark can become at times, when I hear her barking when I arrive home it means one more day I don’t have to deal with the inevitable.

“What brings you satisfaction in life?”

Probably an even easier question for most of us to answer is “With what in your life are you today dissatisfied?” Maybe the answer to that question is your job or your income level or your Social Security benefits or the current value of your 401(k) or an annoying member of your family or circle of friends. With what in your life are you today dissatisfied?

As I visit with people on a daily, weekly, monthly and yearly basis, I hear lots of their concerns, lots of their complaints, lots of their dissatisfaction. I can sympathize with many of them. I can empathize with all of them. But one complaint I hear repeatedly, that causes me great concern, concerns their spirituality. Sometimes that complaint is vocalized very openly. Sometimes that complaint is just a feeling I get from visiting with people, something that’s not stated, but something that is very obvious.

Such spiritual dissatisfaction is probably exactly what was experienced by the prophet Elijah. He tried his best to be the best spokesman he could be for God – that, after all, is what a prophet is supposed to be – a simple communicator of the Words of God given to him and commanded to him to proclaim to others. There came a point in his life, however, when, despite his best efforts, he was ready to simply give up. He was frustrated. He was dissatisfied. He was probably even angry. Elijah’s exact words were, “I’ve had enough, Lord.” That’s when he found himself under that tree in Beersheba. In his own mind, Elijah had decided to just settle there and waste away. Does that sound familiar?

But God had other plans. God sent an angel to Elijah to communicate with him that no matter how he felt at that moment, his task was not yet completed and that he had to eat and drink what the Lord had provided for him. Elijah, tired from his journey and tired from his experience, didn’t argue. He had nothing within himself with which to argue, so he rose, he ate, he drank, he lay down again. Knowing that wouldn’t suffice for what the Lord still had in mind for him, the angel tapped him on the shoulder again: “Get up and eat some more. The Lord has big plans for you.” That was all it took. Elijah’s spiritual dissatisfaction faded. He had found what had been missing. He found that he needed what the Lord was providing him there and then and what He promised to continue to provide, day in and day out. Relying upon the Lord and refreshed by what the Lord had done for him, Elijah set out on a journey of forty days and forty nights until he experienced God Himself on His mountain.

There’s a lesson there for you and for me. The lesson is that God always meet us right where we are, just as we are. He doesn’t question us. He doesn’t criticize us. He doesn’t rebuke us, even though in our moments of spiritual dissatisfaction we probably deserve all of that. God instead knows exactly what we need and He provides it. Spiritual satisfaction is found when we receive those gifts God desires to bestow upon us.

It was Jesus Who declared, “I am the Bread of Life. He who comes to me will never go hungry and he who believes in Me will never be thirsty” [John 6:35]. You’ve got to admit that sounds pretty good all by itself, but then add to that these words, “For My Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life and I will raise him up at the Last Day” [John 6:40]. What you get with Jesus is not just a temporary satisfaction, something that passes within a few hours like that thick, juicy Porterhouse steak. God doesn’t play that type of bait-and-switch game. What you get with Jesus is a satisfaction here and now and a satisfaction that never again leaves us hungry or thirsty in life.

That’s due to the very nature of that great gift we receive from God. God is not just any ordinary giver. He’s not one of those types of people that hears there’s something wrong and runs to the local Hallmark store and quickly selects the cheapest card that seems to summarize what He thinks we need to hear, something we’ll look at quickly and then set aside. No, God knows us better than that. He knows us intimately. He knows when we finally get to the point of turning to Him – which for many of us is often the last resort – we’re really beat up and we’re desperately in need of something that no one else can provide.

So God so loved the world – you and me – that He gave His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, that whoever gets that message from Him – maybe that tapping on the shoulder like Elijah did, or maybe that much more dramatic reception of the message like the thief on the cross next to Jesus – will receive life – eternal life – will receive spiritual satisfaction. Don’t think that Jesus suffered and died and rose again to give us a quick fix. Jesus suffered and died and rose again to meet us in our deepest darkest times of need, to provide us a solution unattainable from anyone else, unattainable in any other way besides Him providing it for us.

That’s why what we do here week after week is so important. This is no ordinary place. What goes on within these walls is no ordinary event. What we hear are no ordinary words. What we receive is not just ordinary food. Here we find spiritual satisfaction. Here God meets us. Here God fellowships with us. Here He receives our complaints and dissatisfactions. He not only receives them, but He takes them from us and instead gives us what He knows we need, eternal stuff that doesn’t ever leave us hungry or thirsty.

So again I ask you, “With what in your life are you today dissatisfied?” Whatever it is, however much dissatisfaction you’re feeling, God is here. God is here for you. He is here to again meet you right where you are, just as you are, and send you out of here once again today refreshed, rejuvenated, satisfied.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Pastor Christopher Schaar
Historic First Lutheran Church of Pasadena