12 Pentecost B, August 8, 2021; YLLC, Pastor Rebecca Ellenson; 1 Kings 19: 4-8
Elijah had had it. He was saying “It is enough! Just let me die now! I can’t go one more step or do one more thing!” It was a hard time to be a prophet for God. After the death of Solomon, the nation of Israel was split in two, and both kingdoms had been led by a series of mostly bad kings who forgot or ignored the fact that they were meant to follow God’s lead.
Elijah’s purpose was to bring King Ahab back from worshipping other gods. But Ahab was fully under the sway of his wife, Queen Jezebel. Elijah had already warned the King that because he had deserted God there would be a famine. Sure enough, the famine had come and Elijah, fearing for his life took off on the run. Now, after three years of drought, Elijah came back. He proposed a grand contest between God and the god and goddesses of the Canaanites, Baal and Asherah. It’s a sort of biblical smack down and it’s one of the most spectacular stories in all of Scripture.
Elijah says to the prophets and priests of Baal: “I’ll build an altar over here- you build an altar over there. I’ll get a bull- you get a bull. I’ll cut my bull in half and lay him on my altar- you cut your bull in half and lay him on your altar. Then we’ll each pray to our God, and whichever God can send a flame first, wins!”
The 950 prophets of Baal and Asherah agree. The Canaanites start calling on their gods… and calling on their gods…. and calling on their gods… and after a few hours of cheerleading and chanting and singing and praying… there is still no fire.
Elijah, sitting on the ground with his back leaned up against his altar, watching this spectacle like he is at a Saturday afternoon matinee, starts heckling… “Hey, is your God asleep? Is Baal on vacation?” Eventually, Elijah says: “Enough! Come Close… Watch this.”
In a stunning act of showmanship Elijah has his attendants soak his altar with water… and then he has them soak it with more water…. and then even more water! And then he stands back. Of course, the altar goes up in flames. Before the day is through all the prophets and priests of Baal and Asherah are slaughtered. Another stunning day in the life of a prophet comes to a close… and then the rains begin to fall signaling the end of the famine.
Any sense of triumph or glory was brought to a sudden and dramatic end when word comes that Queen Jezebel, the Baal follower, has cursed Elijah. Because he killed all of her priests, she is going kill him within the next 24 hours! She’s furious and sends people out to find and kill Elijah. That is how we find Elijah in our reading for today, fleeing for his life, collapsing of fear and exhaustion, and frustration, under the shade of a solitary broom tree. This same Elijah, who just the day before had a spectacular day with God loses it and runs off into the wilderness again. What a difference a day makes!
Have you ever been like Elijah? Oh, I don’t mean have you had such a monumental public thing to do as Elijah did? I mean, have you ever been under your own solitary broom tree, crying out to God over the conditions you face? Ever said, “Why me?” Why do I have these issues in my marriage or in my work? Why did my get this terrible disease? Ever played the comparison game? My sister or my friend doesn’t have to face what I do! Ever doubt that God has any power? Ever want to just watch Netflix and eat ice cream and make the questions go away for a while? Ever wanted to yell at God– Where are you in this? Why don’t you fix this mess, it is too much! I’ve had it.
We can’t be too hard on old Elijah, can we? We have had confidence in God one day, and then the next day we’re questioning, and scared, and running away. All the things we know about God don’t seem to register. It happens. We’ve been there, and so we understand why he runs into the wilderness. He’s tired, thirsty, scared, and hopeless, feeling sorry for himself, pitiful really, saying to God, “Take my life. I’m done.” And he cries himself to sleep… a great hard sleep… it’s the only peace he can find, and he takes it.
But God doesn’t leave him there. God doesn’t say, “Oh Elijah, rest, rest. Sleep my child, you’ve had a hard day.” No. Instead, God sends a messenger to wake him up and say, “Get Up! Eat Something!” Elijah does get up, and he does eat the bread and drink the water that the messenger gives him. But he’s not quite done with his pity party yet. When he finishes eating, he lays right back down. Again, the messenger speaks. “Come on Elijah, get up. Get up and eat.” You see, Elijah wasn’t done yet. His journey with God wasn’t over, and he would need strength to continue.
It’s important to notice a few things here:
First, a word about messengers: sometimes that word is translated as angel, but it just means a messenger from God. These Old Testament messengers aren’t supernatural beings with wings and all that. When the scriptures are referring to that kind of angel another word is used, like seraphim or cherubim. I think that’s an important thing to know—because I can think of a couple of times when in my life when I felt like I was under the broom tree of self-pity and despair and someone spoke a word of grace to me and helped me get up and keep going. And I know I’ve played that role for others too.
Secondly, God didn’t send a messenger to yell at Elijah, or to tell him that he shouldn’t feel scared, or to say, “Hey, don’t you trust God? Weren’t you paying attention yesterday with the water and the fire? Where’s your faith?” Thank God that we never get to hear a “tsk, tsk” of disappointment from God when we are afraid and fall short of God’s design for us. When we’re called on to be messengers of grace for others it’s important to remember that. Our job in those times is to help them get up and eat, to get moving forward.
God sent the messenger to show Elijah that God was still present with him and would supply Elijah with everything he needed for what would come next. Elijah wasn’t alone. Whatever Jezebel had planned for him- God would faithfully see him through. It’s a powerful thing to experience, a messenger of grace who brings God’s presence and call and power close to us.
Once when I was as low as I’ve ever been a friend of mine, named Norma, spoke such a word of grace to me. I talked with her on the phone and she encouraged me. It was enough to get me going that day. Then the real gift came a few days later. She sent me a small package with a note on the top that read. I wish I could be there to wrap my arms around you and tell you in person that you are strong enough to get through this. Since I can’t be there, put this on and feel my love holding you. I pulled back the tissue paper and there was her robe, this robe. I have to say that the gift was like the food the angel gave Elijah—it had enough strength in it to keep me going for a long time.
Reading the Old Testament can be a real challenge. It can be hard to make the leap across nearly 3000 years of cultural and historical differences. The idea of a contest of gods, complete with sacrificial altars and such can put us off from even trying to understand what in the world these texts might have to say to us. When we’re reading these ancient texts it’s important to focus on the message God was speaking to the original listeners without getting all tied up on the cultural differences between their time and ours.
One of the things I just love about the Scriptures is that no matter what we’re feeling, there’s a passage that describes that experience. When we’re full of praise and rejoicing we can turn to dozens of psalms. When all our feeble voices can croak out is a complaint, then there are plenty of examples of leaders and prophets facing the same despair.
Elijah wasn’t given any explanations of the hard things facing him. Through a messenger he was given what he needed to get through it. He was also given a commission to keep going. His work wasn’t done. God doesn’t strike him down for complaining, but neither is he allowed to wallow in self-pity and pointless comparisons. It’s as if he was allowed to get it off his chest. Then, freed from it he was able to get past the obstacles to the ordinary, everyday work of doing the will of God.
Elijah had just been part of a grand display of God’s power. He might have thought that if God could do that then surely God would take care of Jezebel and her threats too. But the point is never about what tricks God can do, but who God is. Miracles aren’t just there for show or even for the results they produce. Biblical miracle stories always point to the power of God. God doesn’t perform them on demand according to our expectations. Elijah didn’t get another grand gesture from God. All he got was a messenger who appeared and provided rest and nourishment. God offered what was needed. God gave food strong enough to keep him going for a long time. Giving up and ending his life was not the answer. It never is.
God provides what we need. But we often don’t see it as what we need or recognize it as from God. Elijah went on from the broom tree to Mt. Horeb where he proceeded to whine and complain again. You know what? God didn’t scold him that time either. God can handle our complaints and will give us what we need whether we see it and are open to it or not. Sometimes we can only see God’s hand leading and guiding and providing long after the fact.
We can come to a place in our journey where things don’t look like we had hoped they would. We can have one version of what our future is supposed to look like, but sometimes God has another. God has placed a call on our lives, and when we say “yes” to that call, then as long as we live on this earth, we’ll never be done. Our call isn’t over until God says it’s over and takes us home. Until then, all of us, no matter what our age, or health, or ability level, or energy level have vital, vibrant ministry to do. All of us, have something unique to add to the kingdom. Does that mean that we’ll never be afraid or worried or tired or want to just crawl under the covers and say, “I’m done, God!”? No, it just means that life and ministry isn’t always what we plan.
Our journey with God sometimes calls us to do things and be things that we may not want to do, or didn’t ever see ourselves doing. There might be times when things get scary. When the road gets hard that it’s ok to be afraid, or worried, or frustrated; it’s even ok to feel like giving up. The response will be a command like the one given to the prophet: “Get up and eat.” It might not seem like enough, but that’s all for now. You don’t have to take on the whole world. Just get up and eat. God had more plans for Elijah, and more plans for you and me, I expect. The bread will come, God will sustain, and we will live anew. When you can’t take one more step, God can and will send messengers to minister to you.
On Friday my parents looked out the window to see 5 such messengers. My mother will be starting chemo tomorrow. She doesn’t have the strength she once had. They live on a lake and there’s a nice big sandy beach that my mom has kept up faithfully, clearing the weeds that wash in. In recent years my parents have hired a neighbor’s adult son to help them with chores and maintenance. Ryan is a teacher with summers available for such work. He mows their lawn, does any heavy lifting, stains their house and so forth. Well, on Friday he brought his wife and their 3 children along. They had shovels and rakes and buckets on the beach. Mom and dad went outside to say hello and Ryan said, “This day is on us and I brought reinforcements.” The kids were cheerful and worked alongside their parents for a long time. When they left they gave mom a card and a small plaque which reads: Cancer can’t prevent Love, conquer the Spirit, take away Memories, weaken Faith, silence Courage, or defeat Hope.
Inside the card they wrote: Ann, Our family has been thinking about you so much lately. Bravery and courage are two of your greatest assets and we admire you greatly because of that. Our prayer is for you to feel at peace and to know how much you are loved. We hope to put a smile on your face by watching our family clean up your beach, something we know you did with great joy. Love Ryan, Abby, Alivia, Reggie and Alaina.
God offers nourishment in so many ways. No matter how things feel, or what we’ve lost, or what we’re dreading, or what we’ve done, God has a plan for us and never abandons us. To claim the power of resurrection is to trust that even when we’re under the broom tree of self-pity and fear we will live again. May we have the wisdom to recognize the messengers God sends to us, and may we have the courage and the grace to be such messengers for others.