Sermon for the Fifth Sunday after Trinity - 1 Kg 19:11-21

                                                                                                Trinity 5

                                                                                                1 Kg 19:11-21

                                                                                                7/12/20

            If you were putting together a list of the greatest prophets of the Old Testament, there is no doubt about who is number one – and the answer may surprise you.  The greatest prophet was Moses.  Unlike many “top ten lists,” this is not a matter of opinion.  Deuteronomy chapter 34 tells us: “And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, none like him for all the signs and the wonders that the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, 

and for all the mighty power and all the great deeds of terror that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.”

            Confirmation of this is found in the fact that Moses said, “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers--it is to him you shall listen.”  God promised to raise up a prophet like Moses, and Peter preaching in the book of Acts tells us that that Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of this promise. And of course it is Moses who appears with Jesus at the transfiguration of our Lord.

            When we look to the number two ranking, it’s not hard to make the case that Elijah must be ranked there.  True, he was not a writing prophet like Isaiah. But Elijah’s mighty deeds stand out, just behind those of Moses.  In fact, Elijah’s miracles served as a model for what Jesus Christ would do in his own ministry.  Elisha, the assistant and successor whom we hear about in our text this morning went on to do similar miracles.  But having received a double portion of Elijah’s spirit his ministry was always seen in relation to Elijah his mentor.

            Elijah is the only prophet who did not die.  Instead, he was taken up by God in a whirlwind.  Along with Moses, the other Old Testament figure who appears with Jesus at the transfiguration is Elijah.  And Elijah is singled out by the prophet Malachi a key figure in God’s end time action when he wrote: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes.”

            Elijah lived and worked in the ninth century B.C. in the northern kingdom of Israel. The nation had split into the southern kingdom of Judah and the northern kingdom of Israel.  From the start, Israel was led by kings who promoted false gods and idolatry because they didn’t want the people to be drawn to the temple which was located in Judah.

            But things had been taken to a whole new level by King Ahab.  He had married, Jezebel, the daughter of the king of Sidon. This was a great move because it united Israel with Sidon which was port city on the Mediterranean Sea. Trade flourished and the economy rocked.

            But Jezebel was a committed follower of the false god Baal, and she prompted this god in Israel.  Ahab and Jezebel were a one, two punch of paganism, and 1 Kings tells us, “Ahab did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him.”

            So first Elijah announced that Yahweh was sending a drought.  And then he called for a showdown with prophets of Baal and Asherah at Mt Carmel.  While they failed to entice their gods to do anything, Elijah’s prayer called down fire that burned up the sacrifice, the altar, and the water with which it has been soaked.  The people responded, “Yahweh, he is God; Yahweh, he is God.” And Elijah ordered the pagan prophets who were misleading Israel to be killed. 

            What an exhilarating moment it must have been for Elijah!  He had experienced an incredible victory provided by God.  But when Jezebel learned about what had happened to the prophets of Baal she sent this message to Elijah, “So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.” She told Elijah that he was a dead man walking. Elijah knew that Jezebel did not make idle threats. She was a powerful woman and filled with rage.

            So Elijah fled into the wilderness.  It seemed as if all that he had done had made no difference at all.  He said, “It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”  He asked to die.  And only after twice being encouraged by an angel to eat and drink, did Elijah take nourishment and journey on to Mt.Horeb – also known as Mt. Sinai – the mountain of God.  He went to the place where Yahweh had brought Israel into the covenant through the ministry of Moses.

            Elijah was staying in a cave, and we learn in our text that the word of the Lord came to him asking: “What are you doing here, Elijah?" The prophet replied, “I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” 

            God told Elijah to come out of the cave and stand on the mountain.  There followed a strong wind that broke rocks, and an earthquake, and a fire.  Yet we are told that Yahweh was not in any of these.  Instead there was a sound of a soft whisper, and Yahweh asked again, “What are you doing here Elijah?” Elijah repeated his description of what had happened, and how he alone was left.

            So Yahweh replied to Elijah: “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria. And Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel, and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place. And the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha put to death. Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”

            In our text today, we see a towering figure of the Old Testament reduced to despair and hopelessness.  No doubt he was experiencing what we today would call depression. And in Elijah’s experience we find much with which we can sympathize and relate. 

            We know the feeling of being worn down after living with all of the consequences of Covid-19 month after month.  We wonder when life will return to normal – and if it ever will.  We know the sense of powerlessness as again and again we hear that family, friends, acquaintances – and even we ourselves – have been diagnosed with cancer.  We look around at a culture that has lost its mind – a culture that says a boy is “really” a girl; a culture where homosexual relationships and even marriage are celebrated; a culture that shows increasing antagonism towards Christ’s Church.

            It is easy to feel pessimism, doubt, and even despair.  Yet we need to recognize that such feelings are the devil at work.  He does not want us to fear, love and trust in God above all things.  He wants us to turn away from God and look only at the circumstances. For when we do so; when we doubt God; when we cease to trust God fully, then we have stumbled into sin.

            In our text, God did not come to Elijah in a mighty wind that broke rocks, or fire, or an earthquake. Instead he called Elijah through a small whisper. That’s not how we would expect God to work.  After all, this is Yahweh, the creator of the heavens and the earth.  He can do anything.  If we had that kind of power, we would certainly act in overwhelming ways.  But God is God, and we are not.  And he acts in ways that we often would not expect.

            In our text, God provides two piece of information to Elijah that address his current state of mind – his despair and hopelessness.  I am going to take them up in reverse order.  Twice Elijah had said, “I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.”

            Elijah declared that all of Israel was unfaithful, and that only he was left.  But at the end of our text Yahweh says, “Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.” God told Elijah that was wrong. There were seven thousand – a remnant – who were still faithful to Yahweh.  Things were not as they appeared.  God’s understanding of the situation went beyond Elijah’s.  His plans and faithfulness had not changed, even if Elijah did not recognize it.

            And then, Yahweh also told Elijah that he was going to do something about the situation.  He told Elijah to anoint Hazael to be king over Syria, and Jehu to be king over Israel, and Elisha to be prophet in his place.  God would act through them to address the very situation that has caused Elijah despair.

            The same thing is true for us.  What we see is not what God sees.  His understanding of the situation and his purposes go far beyond our ability to perceive and understand.  He is a God who often acts in a small whisper, and not mighty winds, fire and earthquakes.  He keeps a remnant in the midst of what looks like failure. But it is still his plan; his purpose.

            We must trust him in faith.  And we can do that because just as in our text, God has acted to do something about our situation.  He has done this in his Son, Jesus Christ. I mentioned at the beginning of the sermon that God had promised that he would raise up a prophet like Moses.  Jesus was more than just a prophet, but he did act as the end times prophet sent by God. The miracles of his ministry reflect those done by the prophet Elijah.

            As we see in Elijah, prophets were not only about mighty miracles.  Prophets were rejected.  Prophets suffered.  Jesus Christ came as the end time prophet who experienced refection and suffering for us.  He was rejected by his own people who handed him over to the Romans to be crucified.  Though innocent of any sin, he was numbered with transgressors, suffered and died on a cross.

            On Good Friday, the sight of Jesus dying a slow and agonizing death on the cross made it look like his ministry had been a complete failure. But yet again, what we see is not what God sees.  His understanding of the situation and his purposes go far beyond our ability to perceive and understand.  He is a God who often acts in a small whisper, and not mighty winds, fire and earthquakes.  The Son of God dying on the cross for our sins was actually God’s mighty action to save us.  He was giving us the forgiveness and peace with God that we could never earn.
            The good news – the Gospel – is that God has not left us in the dark.  He has revealed what was really happening on Good Friday by raising Jesus from the dead on the third day.  He vindicated Jesus and so revealed what the cross was really about.  It was not merely weakness and death, but God working through weakness and death to accomplish his saving purpose for us.  And now in the resurrection of the Jesus, he has begun the resurrection of the Last Day.  The resurrection that will be ours has already happened in Jesus. And because it happened to Jesus, it will happen to all who have been baptized into his death, and receive his true body and blood.

            These facts now shape the way we look at everything.  Because we know the crucified and risen Lord, we can trust God in the midst of circumstances we don’t want and don’t understand. We can trust that God and his purposes are still at work, even when it makes no sense to us. We can live in the assurance that we are the forgiven children of God.

            And we can know that God is going to do something about the situations that exist in this world. The risen and ascended Lord will return in glory on the Last Day.  He will raise us up, and transform creation so that it is very good once again as we live in the new creation.  Never again will we have to trust that God sees things differently, because we will see God as we walk by sight and no longer by faith.