Altar’d: Renew our Faith
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Pull off your old self and put on your new self. That was Paul’s instruction to the Christians in Ephesus - and Christians everywhere, including us. He is using the imagery of a garment. Pull off that old, sinned stained, smelly, moldy, thread bare, cheap bathrobe and put on your new, lovingly hand-crafted, made from the finest material, tailored to fit you perfectly, robe of royalty. A garment suited for life in God’s Kingdom.
So Suit up! Everything about your old way of living needs to stuffed into a cardboard box, soaked in gasoline, and set ablaze. You have no need for it anymore. You are a child of the King. Your way of thinking is in need of transformation. Paul says that your old mind is corrupted through deceitful desires - what is needed is a renewed mind, one that is “created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”
While God is ready and willing to completely transform you - his mode of operation is not to force this transformation upon you. If, like a stubborn child, you insist on wearing your old smelly robe - he will let you do just that and bear the consequences of living on your own terms.
The alternative - as we have been reminded our devotional book Altar’d - is to be “all in”. To surrender our lives to God, to be obedient to His teachings and commands, to trust in His Way.
Surrender leads to renewal.
Our Old Testament passage today illustrates for us the need to let the old self die and put on the new.
First some context.
Our characters include Elijah who was God’s prophet - one who spoke the word of God to the people of God regardless of the risk or the cost - and we as Ahab, the king of Israel’s Northern Kingdom. Here is what you need to know about Ahab.
And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, more than all who were before him.
The leader of a people holds great influence over the attitudes and behavior of the people. Ahab married a woman named Jezebel from Phoenicia (located in what is today primarily the nation of Lebanon). She was such a mess that her name is still used as slang for any shameless, morally unrestrained woman. Ahab was so smitten by her that he began to worship one of her gods, Baal. (Bale) He even built an altar to Baal inside God’s temple.
Turn to your neighbor and say “that’s not right”
So God sent Elijah to Ahab to proclaim His judgment on Ahab and to draw God’s people back to Himself. “Elijah went before the people and said, ‘How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.’ But the people said nothing” (1 Kings 18:21).
The people said nothing. Notice that Elijah was speaking to God’s people. He didn’t go to Phoenicia and challenge pagans to leave their worship of many gods and follow the God of Israel. No - he is speaking to a people who already belonged to God and the people said nothing.
Why? They had lost their conviction. They were no longer ‘all in’. They most likely still practiced Jewish religious rituals and recognized Yahweh (the Jewish name for God) as God if their nation - the One that delivered them from slavery. But they also saw no harm in worshipping Baal as well. Their prosperity was dependent on fertility - the fertility of spouses to bear children, for their livestock and crops to multiply. Baal and Asherah were gods of fertility. Best to cover all bases.
It is how life gets done. Who’s to say which god is better? So when they are called out on it, they remained silent.
It is not too different today. No, we typically don’t have little clay figurines representing pagan gods that we bow to - but we do cover our bases.
John Olley frames it this way in his commentary…
The Message of Kings: God is Present d. The People Must Choose (18:20–40)
In the secularised West the combination may be more subtle: the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is seen as important in church and family life, but somehow in the worlds of business, politics, international conflict or religious diversity different rules apply: one must follow ‘the way of business’ or ‘market forces’; ‘love of enemies’ is ‘unrealistic’; God ‘does not belong’ in business or politics; faith ‘belongs to your private life’. Elijah challenges every generation: if Yahweh is the only God, he is God of every sphere of life in every place in every age—but that has not been practised in daily life. It is no surprise that the people said nothing (v. 21).
Elijah challenges Ahab, and the people, to a show down. Ahab is told to bring the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah to Mount Carmel and settle once and for all which God is real. Listen to Elijah’s challenge and the response.
1 Kings 18:23–29 (CEB)
Give us two bulls. Let Baal’s prophets choose one. Let them cut it apart and set it on the wood, but don’t add fire. I’ll prepare the other bull, put it on the wood, but won’t add fire. Then all of you will call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers with fire—that’s the real God!” All the people answered, “That’s an excellent idea.” So Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one of these bulls. Prepare it first since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but don’t add fire.” So they took one of the bulls that had been brought to them. They prepared it and called on Baal’s name from morning to midday. They said, “Great Baal, answer us!” But there was no sound or answer. They performed a hopping dance around the altar that had been set up. Around noon, Elijah started making fun of them: “Shout louder! Certainly he’s a god! Perhaps he is lost in thought or wandering or traveling somewhere. Or maybe he is asleep and must wake up!” So the prophets of Baal cried with a louder voice and cut themselves with swords and knives as was their custom. Their blood flowed all over them. As noon passed they went crazy with their ritual until it was time for the evening offering. Still there was no sound or answer, no response whatsoever.
In a real sense, the prophets of Baal were “all in” - they were committed, they were willing to slash themselves to get a response - they were “all in” but to the wrong thing. If what you are devoted to, what you put your trust in, what you expend all your energy on, has no real power, leaves you in a worse condition, just tires you out - then maybe it is time to reexamine your priorities. The old song says “You are going to serve somebody” - make sure you are serving the only One who matters.
Now it is Elijah’s turn. He doesn’t shout. He doesn’t dance. He doesn’t beat himself with a sword.
He repairs the Altar.
The place where the people encounter God. He takes twelve stones, each one representing one of the 12 tribes of Israel, reminding each person in attendance who they are and who they serve.
Why had the altar been in disrepair? The people had forgotten, they had allowed themselves to be distracted, they had wandered away - and the sacred place where one would go to encounter God had been neglected.
Have you ever noticed how quickly a vacant property deteriorates? Once no one is living in the house and maintaining the property? There are homes we pass by daily when we walk old Bone and that realization strikes me - branches on the ground, siding hanging off the side, shingles missing, torn screens. When a house is occupied, there is life in the house and typically, the home is taken care of.
Now consider churches on the Shore today. Sacred places where people encountered God. How many now lie in disrepair? More and more become vacant every year. The people have become distracted. They have wandered away.
We are in need of spiritual renewal.
And it begins with rebuilding the altar.
Not rebuilding a church building. Rebuilding the altar. Our bodies.
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
We are in need of surrender. To allow God to come and renew our minds.
At the time of the evening offering, the prophet Elijah drew near and prayed: “Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant. I have done all these things at your instructions. Answer me, Lord! Answer me so that this people will know that you, Lord, are the real God and that you can change their hearts.”Then the Lord’s fire fell; it consumed the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, and the dust. It even licked up the water in the trench! All the people saw this and fell on their faces. “The Lord is the real God! The Lord is the real God!” they exclaimed. Elijah said to them, “Seize Baal’s prophets! Don’t let any escape!” The people seized the prophets, and Elijah brought them to the Kishon Brook and killed them there.
Now I included that last verse for a reason. In the suggested reading for today - we stop at verse 39 with the people exclaiming that the The Lord is the real God. The last verse is messy. But I think it is important to hear.
For renewal to be lasting, we need to put our distractions to death. Whatever gets in the way of your full commitment - whatever causes you to wander - kill it. Hopefully, during this season of Lent, you have asked God to examine your heart and help you deal the things that hold you back. You probably already know what they are.
Be courageous enough to cut loose from those things and have the spirit of your mind renewed.
You will need help - find someone who can be your spiritual partner in this endeavor. Someone who can encourage and pray for you.
God has created a new self for you to put on and live in - let’s get rid of the old.
Amen.