God is with you! God is for you!

+ In the Name of Jesus +
God is with you! God is for you!
1 Kings 19:9-18
Pentecost 11 (Pr 14A)
August 13, 2023

1. Elijah had a problem. And it wasn’t the problem he thought he had. We know the problem that was on his mind… we heard Elijah recite this short paragraph twice: “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.” Because he says it twice, that tells me that these are the thoughts that were spinning in Elijah’s mind, even when the words weren’t on his lips. But that wasn’t Elijah’s real problem. Elijah’s real problem was far worse. To understand Elijah’s problem, we need to look at the context of this account.
2. Over three years earlier, Elijah went into the palace of King Ahab—the wicked king who led the northern tribes in the worship of Baal. Baal was the false god who was supposed to be the “sky father” who was in charge of the rain. Elijah told Ahab, “As surely as the Lord lives, … there will be no dew or rain during the coming years, except at my word” (1 Kings 17:1). God gave Elijah food and water out in the desert—and when that dried up, God told him to go up to the north, just out of the country, and he stayed with a widow in Zarephath, and God provided for them for the rest of the drought.
3. Then, after three years, God sent Elijah to Ahab again. “If the Lord is God, follow him. If Baal is God, follow him.” And he invited the 450 prophets of Baal to a contest on Mt. Carmel. “We will prepare offerings, but not light the fire. Then you will call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the LORD. The god who answers with fire, he is God.” So they went to Mt. Carmel. The prophets of Baal called out. They shouted. They danced. They cut themselves. …and nothing happened. All day they did that, and nothing happened. Elijah mocked them. “Maybe he’s in deep thought or on a journey.” “Maybe he’s asleep and will wake up.” …nothing. Elijah prepared his altar and offering, and then he soaked everything with water. And then he prayed a short prayer. “Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel.” And then “FOOM!” the fire fell from heaven on Elijah’s altar and consumed it all. And then Elijah defeated all the prophets of Baal. Ahab and Jezebel continued to make threats against Elijah.
4. Elijah fled. He headed south, as far as he could go, to Mt. Horeb. (Not the Mt. Horeb near Madison, but the mountain where God had given Israel his law—also called Mt. Sinai.) And that’s where our lesson today began… with Elijah’s sad cry: “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.” What had Elijah just experienced? In Elijah’s life and ministry we see things that hadn’t happened since the time of Moses. Elijah’s bold preaching to the king was just like Moses, telling the Pharaoh “This is what the Lord says, ‘Let my people go.’” At the time of Moses, there were ten plagues to convince the king to yield to God. At the time of Elijah there was one long plague, a three year drought. At the time of Moses, Israel was fed with was manna from heaven and they drank water from a rock. Elijah was fed by the ravens and a spring didn’t dry up. At the time of Moses there was a pillar of fire that showed God’s presence. At the time of Elijah there was fire from heaven that showed the Lord was the true God in Israel. Elijah was never alone. God was there, working through Elijah, working for Elijah. Working mightily! Visibly! “What are you doing here, Elijah?” And God tells Elijah, “No. Your work isn’t a total loss.” “I have preserved in Israel seven thousand whose knees have not bent to Baal and whose lips have not kissed him.” But God understands Elijah and tells him, “Go anoint Elisha as prophet in your place.”
5. And that takes us to the context after this account. Elijah anoints Elisha, and then on their way to the place where Elijah will catch his ride to heaven in the chariot of fire, they pass through the village of Bethel, and they meet a company of prophets—probably like a seminary for men, trained to teach the law of God. And then they go to Jericho, and there is another company of prophets—another seminary. And then they go on to the Jordan, and there is another company of prophets—and there we are told there were fifty who came out to meet them. Was Elijah really “the only one left”? There were still some. Elijah was so focused on his work, he thought he was the only one left. [1] He wasn’t. God was there all the time. God’s people were being upheld by God—through the work and preaching of Elijah. God was with him. God was for him. But God knew Elijah was tired.
6. Peter had a problem. And it wasn’t the problem he thought he had. We know the problem that was on his mind. Jesus had just fed the 5,000. Jesus went up to the hills to be alone. He sent his disciples across the lake in their boat. And then early in the morning, Jesus walked out to them on the lake in the middle of a storm. Peter saw this and must have thought, “Wow! That is so cool! I have to try it!” and said, “Lord, if it’s you, tell me to come to you on the water.” “Come,” he said.” And Peter took a few steps out of the boat, saw the wind and waves, and began to sink. And then we’re told Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. That tells us how far away Jesus was. Arm’s length! Two or three feet! Peter was afraid, but Jesus was right there, two or three feet away. Jesus had healed many, fed a crowd of thousands, is walking out to the disciples on the water—and Peter is afraid. His problem was the same as Elijah’s. “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”
7. Elijah was tired and said, “I can’t do this anymore.” He was thinking of his own strength. Peter looked at the wind and waves and thought, “I can’t do this!” He was thinking of his own strength, too. Faith isn’t inner strength. It’s plugging into God’s strength. It is drawing strength from the life-giving message that God is our Savior.
8. The Roman Christians were about to go through horrible persecutions. The emperor Nero was about to give them his worst—and six years before all that happened, Paul wrote to them and said, “You are more than conquerors through Christ.” “Trouble, hardship, nakedness, danger and sword can’t take anything from you!” “If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” Elijah had a promise. Peter saw fulfillment. We have both. We have God’s forgiveness and love in Christ—forgiveness even for our doubts. Like Elijah, we see the condition of the world and society and get depressed. God is working through his people. He is still with you and for you. Like Peter we get distracted by the problems at hand. Jesus has given us his promise, “Surely I am with you always.” And he is as close to us as a prayer. Do not doubt. He is still with you and for you.

Amen.

[1] Elisha must have learned something from this because later we see him interacting with the company of the sons of the prophets.