Finding God in quiet service
A sermon for August 13, 2006
1 Kings19:4-8
Today’s Old Testament lesson is a short, funny little reading about Elijah. It is an ‘in-between’ reading. It doesn’t tell you where he’s coming from and why he is so depressed. It tells you that he is going on a long journey but it doesn’t tell you where he’s going or why or how long it’s going to take. All we get is that he is depressed and that he would just as soon lie down and never wake up again.
It is situated between two of his more famous events. The first is his “success” on
Elijah returned to
Elijah now wants to convince the people of the land that they need to return to the worship of Yahweh. So he challenged the prophets of Baal to a “duel.” The duel is not one where they face each other with guns, but where they face each other with the power of their God.
This ‘duel’ takes place before
King Ahab and the people of
They built two altars up on top of
This is where Elijah made his mistake. He began to make fun of them and to taunt them. “Shout louder. Maybe he’s asleep.” And when the day was done and it was time for the evening sacrifice, Elijah allowed himself the luxury of “showing off.” He built up his altar, laid the wood and arranged the bull. He dug a trench around the whole thing and then hadthe people standing around to go get jars of water. He had them pour water on the wood and the sacrifice – three times – until the water began to run off into the trench.
The prophets of Baal were laughing now because there was no way the wood would burn because it was so wet. But Elijah took it all in stride. At the time of the sacrifice – he raised his voice to heaven and prayed, “Yahweh, Elohim – Lord God – let it be known that you are God and I am your servant.”
And fire rained and the wood and the bull and even the altar were consumed in flame. The people were convinced and the King was convinced. The people began to cry out, “The Lord, he is God.” Now that is said in reverse order in the Hebrew language, so it comes out, “Elohim Yahweh.” That’s sort of the long version of Elijah’s name.
Now that he’d won the contest, Elijah had the people seize the prophets of Baal and had them put to death. (These days the most you would hear is probably a not too subtle “Ha-Ha” – or an “I told you so!”)
Well, King Ahab went back home and told Jezebel what had happened and she really got mad. She threatened to kill Elijah before a day had gone by. So Elijah ran away and he feels like a failure because he was not able to turn the hearts of all the people.
You see, he thought that when he had done this great feat, everyone in the land would change immediately and be ready to worship Yahweh. Sure the ones who saw his feat were impressed, but demonstrations like that don’t furnish the depth of conviction that changes the hearts of the masses.
He felt like a failure because – 1) the people still didn’t believe, 2) all the other prophets were dead, and 3) he was the only one left. What Elijah had to learn was that time and education were the needed elements to change the culture and the worship back to the one true God.
He sat down under the only tree for miles around and asked God to take his life. He laid down ready to die. And God, rather than condemning him, gives him what he needs to sustain life. God was getting ready to send Elijah on a journey – a long journey and he gave him food to sustain him during his trip.
The trip will take 40 days (and 40 night) – down into the
Sinai Peninsula and on down to
The first trip there
was a lot of light and thunder and a great show of power from God. Then when Moses came down the mountain with
the original tablets the people had reverted back to worshiping the golden
calf. Moses got so mad he threw down the
tablets and broke them.
So then Moses had to
make two more tablets of stone and go back up the mountain; this time with out
the pyrotechnics and the theatrics. This
time he came back down the mountain and began to educate the people about what
it means to follow Yahweh. They had to
stay in the desert for 40 years learning what it meant to be the people of God.
Elijah journeyed in faithfulness and when he got up on the mountain, he was told to listen for the Lord and to come out and stand before the Lord. You remember there was a mighty wind (more like a tornado), an earthquake, and a fire – and Elijah knew that God was not in the earthquake or the wind or the fire.
It was when he heard the sound of sheer silence that he came out to face God. He was told that he had to go back – he had to face what was coming, but he was also assured that God would take care of him and that he didn’t have to do it alone. He was to anoint two kings to rule and anoint Elisha to succeed him. Because Elijah acted cocky and arrogant, he faced some tough times.
Our lesson from Ephesians talks about the dos and don’ts of relationships with people. “Speak truth to your neighbor. Be angry, but don’t sin. Build others up. Put away bitterness and be kind to one another.”
Even when you know that you are right, don’t allow
yourself to become cocky or arrogant.
Always be humble before your God and with the people. Follow the example of some of the greatest
saints – Francis of Assisi, Theresa of Calcutta, Julian of
I thought a great example of humble service was seen here and across the street on Friday. I walked into one classroom and the teacher was alone. I asked her if she needed help and her answer was, “I thought there were going to be women to help. I don’t need any heavy lifting.” I convinced her that men – guys – could do the kind of work she needed done.
As I walked in the classrooms, and saw big hulking men sitting in chairs made for 6 year olds, cutting out letters and other things to go on walls. I saw them putting together notebooks and boxes for children to use when school starts. I saw men and women both putting posters on the walls and setting up tables and chairs, and shelving books in the library. I saw teachers and volunteers talking and sharing and crying together.
I watched I saw people being imitators of God – being kind to one another, tenderhearted and forgiving. I saw volunteers, both from here and from the Open Door Mission, living in love and sharing what they could give to help their neighbors. I saw the sacrifice of a humble heart and relationships forming.
Our collect this morning says, “Grant us the spirit to think and do always those things that are right, and enable us to live according to your will.” I saw God’s plan for his world on Friday - not in glory, not in the fighting going on in the world, not in the world of commerce or in the government – but right here in Eastwood - people helping people in the name of Christ.
This kind of service has its own reward – and it’s not the kind of tangible reward that so much of the world wants – it’s the reward of knowing that you’ve helped someone, the reward of touching lives and knowing that it will be remembered.
C. S. Lewis wrote a little book called “The Great Divorce” and in it is a character – a little old woman who is heralded GREAT in heaven by all the people who remembered her. She had done no GREAT thing – only hundreds of tiny acts of kindness to all the people she met. Life is a journey, and a tough on at that – and its up to us to help each other along.
I remember a day driving down the road and seeing a handicapped woman on a scooter who had overturned and lost her load of groceries. Sam stopped the car, got out and started directing traffic while our son, Andrew and I got out to help upright the scooter and reload the packages that had fallen out and help her back on. There was no conversation about who would do what or how to do it – we just got out and did what needed to be done.
My mother used to say, “God helps those who help themselves.” But I think she got it wrong – I think God helps those who take the time to help others. Amen.