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NL Year 2 • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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How many of you have ever been struck with indecision? I’m going to be honest with you and let you in on something about me. I have this desire or need to research a topic or products to death before I decide on what I’m going to do or get. For example, several years ago Bekkah and I decide that we wanted to get a security system for our home. I researched a lot about the pros and cons of systems that are provided by alarm companies, as well as the cost. I then looked at, what was then, a fairly new market of build your own system. It took me a long time because there were two systems that seemed really good and I kept going back and forth between the two before finally settling on the one. I don’t think she ever said it but I’m sure Bekkah really just wanted me to decide so we could order it and get it installed. I ended up being really happy with it, but even after I ordered it I kept going back and forth in my mind about whether or not I made the right decision and if I done enough research on it. We’ve had the system for a while now, and are happy with it still, but for me, since it was such a big decision it was hard to come to a conclusion.
Unfortunately, today, we see a story about the people of the northern kingdom of Israel going through a similar path of indecision. It’s unfortunate because both the rulers, King Ahab and Queen Jezebel, as well as the people have been worshipping other gods alongside Yahweh. Elijah even calls them out on their indecision. He ants to know how long they are going to hobble back and forth between two opinions? Other translations use the word waver, limping, or even hopping to show that the Israelites don’t really have a firm belief in Yahweh, but seem to choose whichever god is most convenient for them, or at least has the best reviews at this point in time.
Its like going onto your phones app store and finding out which app has the best reviews and downloading that one and if it fits what you were hoping for then you keep it and if not then you download the next one and keep doing that until you find the one that fits you the best. I actually do this all the time for weather apps. I still haven’t found a weather app I am really happy with.
Elijah is fed up with everyone hopping back and forth, he’s fed up with himself and other prophets for Yahweh being persecuted and executed and so he uses the drought that was brought on by Yahweh as a way to finally show everyone who is the one and only God. He allows them choose as they have been, but wants the decision based on what is going to happen at this showdown between just Elijah and the 450 prophets of Baal, oh and the 400 prophets of Asherah who can be there also.
The fact that Elijah is the one putting everything together and the fact that he is just one person, you would think that he would try to stack the deck in his favor, but actually he does the exact opposite. He stacks everything in the favor of the prophets of Baal. We see that in the obvious ways that Elijah lets them pick everything out first, but there are other ways that we don’t realize Elijah is doing that. The showdown, as some call it, is happening on Mt. Carmel which is associated with Baal. The contest is about bringing fire and even though Baal is primarily the god of storms, lighting is associated with storms and so he should be able to light the wood on fire. The animal chosen is the bull which is one of the idols that was used to symbolize Baal, which should give them an advantage. Then we see all the obvious ways by allowing them to pick the first bull and gave them a lot of extra time to complete their rituals to Baal.
Everything Elijah does is to set the prophets of Baal up for success, yet at the same time, the very fact that the entire land is going through a drought should have been sign one that Baal isn’t god. I briefly mentioned that Baal was the god of storms and more specifically he was considered the god of rain. If Yahweh had caused a drought and Baal and his prophets were not able to stop the drought then everyone should have realized the contest was over before it started.
Well now that they have been set up for success and have failed, Elijah pours salt on their open wounds they inflicted on themselves by putting himself at a further disadvantage by all the water he uses. Not only did he drench it with four jugs, but he did it three times over. Not only is this an image to prove that there is no way that the wood would burn, but 12 jugs of water during a drought being poured out on the ground must have been painful for everyone to see wasted in such a manner. Despite being at such a disadvantage, Yahweh answers Elijah and everyone gathered there and indeed consumes the entire sacrifice.
I said it was unfortunate that the people needed this event to be reminded that Yahweh is god and no other, and that they needed to stop hopping and wobbling back and forth between Yahweh and the other gods like Baal, but the truth is that while we don’t worship other gods like Baal or Asherah, there are lots of things that fight for our attention and devotion. We find it hard at times to make God a priority in everything we do. There are also lots of people who today don’t waver between one god or another, but have given up on God all together because of what they have heard or experienced about faith. Or perhaps the glamour of worldly things shines brighter for them than God does.
Even though we don’t read it, rain did come at the prayer of Elijah. When the people returned their love and attention back to God the rain came back. So perhaps as we turn ourselves back to God in the various ways we stray we will see all the ways that the rain, the nourishment we need will come back into our lives. So I simply pray a prayer like Elijah: We pray that people will know that Yahweh is the real God, the one who brings the rain, who gives us life and joy and happiness. God is the one who is there to fill the empty parts of our lives that we try to fill with the things of the world, but we know that the things of the world will eventually fade away or we’ll lose interest. We know that God will never fade away, that God will never stop fighting to make God known, so that God can share with each and every person in this world, that the one who created all of us, is the one who loves us beyond all measure and understanding. Amen.