Renewing the Mind
Burning Questions: Week 4
Sunday, July 24, 2022
Acts 16:23-34, 1 Kings 19:1-14, Philippians 4:6-8, Romans 12:2

He [Elijah] asked that he might die, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.” Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, “Get up and eat.” He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. He ate and drank and lay down again.
1 Kings 19:4b-6 (CEB)

Listen to this week’s sermon here:

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It has been said that we live in a suicidal culture. This is no surprise given the unprecedented level of collective trauma in our nation and world. Yet despite the alarming increase in mental illness and suicide, it seems the church, and to a slightly lesser degree our culture at large, still places a high degree of stigma and shame on those who desperately need mental and emotional care.

I have ministered to teenagers and young adults whose parents would not allow them to get needed medication for bipolar, ADHD, depression and other conditions because they didn’t believe such illnesses were real, despite medical diagnoses. Some were afraid for their parents to find out that they were on medication for fear of being kicked out of their home. Others simply refused to come to church and sit in worship next to a parent who blamed all of their problems on them despite not allowing them to get the help they needed.

Mental illness and suicide is a complicated issue that impacts an increasingly large percentage of our population and it is not going away. Perhaps instead of avoiding, judging, rationalizing, or trying to simply pray it away, we might take our cue from 1 Kings 19. When Elijah wanted to die, God simply cared for him. God let him rest. God fed him. God was fully present and engaged. Can the same be said of us by those who so often suffer in silence?

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Statistices on Suicide & Mental Illness

1 in 5 U.S. adults experience mental illness each year
1in 20 U.S. adults experience serious mental illness
1 in 6 U.S. youth aged 6-17 experience a mental health disorder each year
50% of all lifetime mental illness begins by age 14, and 75% by age 24
Suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death among people aged 10-34
Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the U.S.
The overall suicide rate in the U.S. has increased by 35% since 1999
46% of people who die by suicide had a diagnosed
mental health condition
90% of people who die by suicide had shown symptoms of a mental health condition, according to interviews with family, friends and medical professionals
Lesbian, gay and bisexual youth are 4x more likely to
attempt suicide than straight youth
Transgender adults are nearly 12x more likely to attempt suicide than the general population