Fifth Sunday after Pentecost 7/1/07 Text: 1 Kings 19:9b-21 Title: Do not fear.
Fifth Sunday after Pentecost
7/1/07
Text: 1 Kings 19:9b-21
Title: Do not fear
My dear fellow missionaries, have you ever felt alone? Have you ever felt like you don’t have any control over your life? Have you ever felt like just running away from your problems or at least hiding out in your home? If you have ever felt like doing any of those things, this morning’s Old Testament reading is for you.
Before we get into the text I want to give you a little background so that you might better understand what is happening. This cave that Elijah was sitting in was not just some cave in a mountain. He is sitting in a cave located on Mount Horeb which you might know better as Mount Sinai, the place where God spoke to people through Moses. Mount Horeb is the mountain of the Lord.
Elijah is there because Queen Jezebel had sworn that she would kill him. Of course Elijah took off, he is no fool. He set out for the mountain of God, but had only traveled one day when in a spell of depression he sat under a broom tree, which by the way does not give much shade, to die. He cried out to God, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than by fathers.” There is no doubt that he had a serious case of depression.
But God did not take his life. God sent angels, his messengers to us, to take care of Elijah. They saw that he food and water so that he could finish his trip which took another forty days and forty nights.
That brings us up to today’s text where we see Elijah sitting in a cave on God’s holy mountain. God calls out to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” An interesting question, for you would think that God knew why Elijah was there.
God asking Elijah asking that question is very much like the time that God asked Adam and Eve were they were. God knew what had happened. He knew where they were. He asked them, just like he asked Elijah to give them a chance to confess and repent of their behavior.
Elijah responds to God’s call in what I would say is a very human way. Who of us would not have responded the same way if we were in his sandles, “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.” There is no doubt that Elijah had a severe case of depression.
But, just like the first time, God did not leave him there to die. He told him to “Go and stand on the mount before the Lord.” It does not appear that Elijah did what God asked him to do right away, for we read a little further in the text that he later went to the entrance of the cave where he stood, his face covered by his robe.
Now I can just imagine Elijah cowering in the cave as the mountain started coming apart as first a fieriest wind tore at it, then an earthquake shook it, followed by a fire that blew across it.
Then came the sound of a low whisper, it probably sounded something like a gentle spring breeze as it moves the leaves on the trees. This brings Elijah out of the cave, his face wrapped up in his cloak. I am not sure why he did that, but he might not have been sure of what he was going to see, for he knew that to see God’s face was to die.
God calls out to Elijah again, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” A strange request since God had told him to come out before the wind, the earthquake, and the fire blew across the mountain. He wanted Elijah to confess and repent of his actions.
Elijah has not changed his tune. He still depressed as he repeats the very same complaint he had when he first got to the cave. “Poor me, I am alone, nobody likes me, do me a favor and kill me.”
God tells him to go. He has work for him to do. He is not alone for there are 7000 people who have not turned away from God. But that is not all, for he tells him that there is a young man named Elisha that God has picked to take his place. So get going Elijah.
God knew those things. Elijah did not and because he had not trusted in God he was afraid and depressed. Much like us, don’t you think? We do not know the future and so we worry, forgetting that God knows the future and we can trust him to get us through, not only what is happening now, but in the future.
There is much more that we can learn from this account of Elijah’s encounter with God, for we have so much in common with him. We have times of depression, those times when we feel like the world is against us. That we share with Elijah.
We do not think that we are prophets, but we are when we tell others that their only hope is in Jesus Christ.
God talks to us today. God talks to us through his Holy Word. He talks to us through our pastors. He talks to us in our baptism and Lord’s Supper. He talks to us in our thoughts and as we discuss our faith with other Christians. He wants to know he is here and that we can trust in him. He wants us to confess and repent of our sinful lives, just like he wanted Adam and Eve, and Elijah to repent, so he could give them the assurance of forgiveness.
Queen Jezebel was trying to kill Elijah. Satan is trying to kill our souls. He attacks us daily as he tries to weaken our resolve. He uses our pride, our hurt feelings, our natural way of thinking I am right and your are wrong to try and drive us away from God and his word. One of the things he loves to do is drive a wedge between brothers and sisters in the faith, for he knows that that if he is successful it will weaken us.
The more I think about it, there is one more thing that we share with Elijah, we like to run away and hide. Why do we do that? The same reason Elijah ran away, it is simply a lack of trust in God. You see Elijah did not trust God to care for him, even though God had cared for him in dramatic ways. God saw that Elijah, the widow and her son did not run out of food. He brought the widow’s son back to life. He brought down fire on the Elijah’s altar, a fire so consuming that it burnt up the altar, when he went toe to toe with the Baal priest. Then as you just heard he saw that Elijah had enough food and water to make a forty day trip. No, Elijah had no excuse not to trust God, for God had done mighty things in his sight.
You say, well that is right for Elijah, but God has not done any mighty deeds in my sight. Maybe you need to rethink that, for I would bet that if you think back on your life or those that you know, God has done wondrous deeds in your life. I know that he has in mine.
I think the problem is that we get so involved in what I call belly button gazing, that is focusing on self, that we, like Elijah, do not see the wonders that God does each and every day of our lives.
That is why Jesus tells us in our New Testament reading Luke 9:62 "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God." Now that is harsh, and I would say that that statement would cut us all out of the kingdom of God.
It was meant to strike the people of Jesus’ day, they knew the story of Elisha, that after Elijah called him into the office of prophet that he was allowed to go back home to say goodbye to his parents. He was giving up a lot, and they admired Elisha for that. It was the sensible thing to do. But Jesus was not asking them to do what is sensible in the eyes of the world. He demands more of those following him than Elijah did of Elisha.
Some preach that what Jesus said that day meant that unless you really do just drop what you are doing you really can’t be a Christian. Others say that Jesus is comparing their attachment to things instead of trusting in God to care for him as he does.
Those are all ways to look at the scripture, but if you use the rule that the Bible is all about Christ, which it is, what he is saying here is that once you are a Christian, you have to keep your eyes focused on God.
Let me take a moment and tell you what I mean. Back in the time of Jesus the plows were pretty rudimentary. They were awkward, heavy, and hard to control, plus the ground was usually rocky.
If the person plowing took his eyes of what he was doing, bad things could happen in a hurry. The animal could start to wander off, the plow could hit a rock and break ruining the blow, or the plow could not plow deep enough. That is just a few of the things that could go wrong if you did not watch what you were doing.
What does that have to do with us? Jesus wants us as followers of his to keep our focus on him. We cannot look back at the way our life use to be. We cannot let our attention be gotten by worldly things, for as much as we like our things there is no security in them. Just ask someone who went through the hurricane down on the coast, or lost their belongings in a fire, or lost their high paying job, or have a life threatening illness. Life is not secure. That is just the way it is. God is the only security we have and we need to stay focused on him and him alone. That is what he wants from us.
To close, I pray that you will take away with you this morning the knowledge that you are never alone, even when you feel like it.
God is good and he wants you to trust in him to care for you. He wants you to keep your eyes focused on him, for he is the only thing you have that you can count on. He will not leave you, even in death.
Amen.
7/1/07
Text: 1 Kings 19:9b-21
Title: Do not fear
My dear fellow missionaries, have you ever felt alone? Have you ever felt like you don’t have any control over your life? Have you ever felt like just running away from your problems or at least hiding out in your home? If you have ever felt like doing any of those things, this morning’s Old Testament reading is for you.
Before we get into the text I want to give you a little background so that you might better understand what is happening. This cave that Elijah was sitting in was not just some cave in a mountain. He is sitting in a cave located on Mount Horeb which you might know better as Mount Sinai, the place where God spoke to people through Moses. Mount Horeb is the mountain of the Lord.
Elijah is there because Queen Jezebel had sworn that she would kill him. Of course Elijah took off, he is no fool. He set out for the mountain of God, but had only traveled one day when in a spell of depression he sat under a broom tree, which by the way does not give much shade, to die. He cried out to God, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than by fathers.” There is no doubt that he had a serious case of depression.
But God did not take his life. God sent angels, his messengers to us, to take care of Elijah. They saw that he food and water so that he could finish his trip which took another forty days and forty nights.
That brings us up to today’s text where we see Elijah sitting in a cave on God’s holy mountain. God calls out to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” An interesting question, for you would think that God knew why Elijah was there.
God asking Elijah asking that question is very much like the time that God asked Adam and Eve were they were. God knew what had happened. He knew where they were. He asked them, just like he asked Elijah to give them a chance to confess and repent of their behavior.
Elijah responds to God’s call in what I would say is a very human way. Who of us would not have responded the same way if we were in his sandles, “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.” There is no doubt that Elijah had a severe case of depression.
But, just like the first time, God did not leave him there to die. He told him to “Go and stand on the mount before the Lord.” It does not appear that Elijah did what God asked him to do right away, for we read a little further in the text that he later went to the entrance of the cave where he stood, his face covered by his robe.
Now I can just imagine Elijah cowering in the cave as the mountain started coming apart as first a fieriest wind tore at it, then an earthquake shook it, followed by a fire that blew across it.
Then came the sound of a low whisper, it probably sounded something like a gentle spring breeze as it moves the leaves on the trees. This brings Elijah out of the cave, his face wrapped up in his cloak. I am not sure why he did that, but he might not have been sure of what he was going to see, for he knew that to see God’s face was to die.
God calls out to Elijah again, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” A strange request since God had told him to come out before the wind, the earthquake, and the fire blew across the mountain. He wanted Elijah to confess and repent of his actions.
Elijah has not changed his tune. He still depressed as he repeats the very same complaint he had when he first got to the cave. “Poor me, I am alone, nobody likes me, do me a favor and kill me.”
God tells him to go. He has work for him to do. He is not alone for there are 7000 people who have not turned away from God. But that is not all, for he tells him that there is a young man named Elisha that God has picked to take his place. So get going Elijah.
God knew those things. Elijah did not and because he had not trusted in God he was afraid and depressed. Much like us, don’t you think? We do not know the future and so we worry, forgetting that God knows the future and we can trust him to get us through, not only what is happening now, but in the future.
There is much more that we can learn from this account of Elijah’s encounter with God, for we have so much in common with him. We have times of depression, those times when we feel like the world is against us. That we share with Elijah.
We do not think that we are prophets, but we are when we tell others that their only hope is in Jesus Christ.
God talks to us today. God talks to us through his Holy Word. He talks to us through our pastors. He talks to us in our baptism and Lord’s Supper. He talks to us in our thoughts and as we discuss our faith with other Christians. He wants to know he is here and that we can trust in him. He wants us to confess and repent of our sinful lives, just like he wanted Adam and Eve, and Elijah to repent, so he could give them the assurance of forgiveness.
Queen Jezebel was trying to kill Elijah. Satan is trying to kill our souls. He attacks us daily as he tries to weaken our resolve. He uses our pride, our hurt feelings, our natural way of thinking I am right and your are wrong to try and drive us away from God and his word. One of the things he loves to do is drive a wedge between brothers and sisters in the faith, for he knows that that if he is successful it will weaken us.
The more I think about it, there is one more thing that we share with Elijah, we like to run away and hide. Why do we do that? The same reason Elijah ran away, it is simply a lack of trust in God. You see Elijah did not trust God to care for him, even though God had cared for him in dramatic ways. God saw that Elijah, the widow and her son did not run out of food. He brought the widow’s son back to life. He brought down fire on the Elijah’s altar, a fire so consuming that it burnt up the altar, when he went toe to toe with the Baal priest. Then as you just heard he saw that Elijah had enough food and water to make a forty day trip. No, Elijah had no excuse not to trust God, for God had done mighty things in his sight.
You say, well that is right for Elijah, but God has not done any mighty deeds in my sight. Maybe you need to rethink that, for I would bet that if you think back on your life or those that you know, God has done wondrous deeds in your life. I know that he has in mine.
I think the problem is that we get so involved in what I call belly button gazing, that is focusing on self, that we, like Elijah, do not see the wonders that God does each and every day of our lives.
That is why Jesus tells us in our New Testament reading Luke 9:62 "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God." Now that is harsh, and I would say that that statement would cut us all out of the kingdom of God.
It was meant to strike the people of Jesus’ day, they knew the story of Elisha, that after Elijah called him into the office of prophet that he was allowed to go back home to say goodbye to his parents. He was giving up a lot, and they admired Elisha for that. It was the sensible thing to do. But Jesus was not asking them to do what is sensible in the eyes of the world. He demands more of those following him than Elijah did of Elisha.
Some preach that what Jesus said that day meant that unless you really do just drop what you are doing you really can’t be a Christian. Others say that Jesus is comparing their attachment to things instead of trusting in God to care for him as he does.
Those are all ways to look at the scripture, but if you use the rule that the Bible is all about Christ, which it is, what he is saying here is that once you are a Christian, you have to keep your eyes focused on God.
Let me take a moment and tell you what I mean. Back in the time of Jesus the plows were pretty rudimentary. They were awkward, heavy, and hard to control, plus the ground was usually rocky.
If the person plowing took his eyes of what he was doing, bad things could happen in a hurry. The animal could start to wander off, the plow could hit a rock and break ruining the blow, or the plow could not plow deep enough. That is just a few of the things that could go wrong if you did not watch what you were doing.
What does that have to do with us? Jesus wants us as followers of his to keep our focus on him. We cannot look back at the way our life use to be. We cannot let our attention be gotten by worldly things, for as much as we like our things there is no security in them. Just ask someone who went through the hurricane down on the coast, or lost their belongings in a fire, or lost their high paying job, or have a life threatening illness. Life is not secure. That is just the way it is. God is the only security we have and we need to stay focused on him and him alone. That is what he wants from us.
To close, I pray that you will take away with you this morning the knowledge that you are never alone, even when you feel like it.
God is good and he wants you to trust in him to care for you. He wants you to keep your eyes focused on him, for he is the only thing you have that you can count on. He will not leave you, even in death.
Amen.
posted by Pastor Rhoads | 4:51 PM
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