GET UP, EAT AND LISTEN
Scripture: 1 Kings 19:1-15

FOCUS: Like Elijah we are called to put aside our poor mouthing, to allow God to offer strength for our journeys and to listen for God’s voice.

Life was a roller coaster ride for Elijah. That shouldn’t really come as much of a surprise, for that is the way life seems to turn out for us all! But Elijah’s highs were really high and his lows were rock bottom. Our scripture begins by telling us that King Ahab reported to Jezebel all that Elijah had just done and he had done a bunch, much of it quite spectacular, none of it pleasing to the queen who was a worshipper of both Baal and Asherah, idols from her homeland. She didn’t just drop in to worship on occasion, she was a committed follower. We are told that she routinely fed more than 800 of their priests at her table.

While Ahab and many of the Hebrew people had not completely turned their backs on the true God, they had begun to piddle with Baal worship on the side. So God had once again given Elijah a task, and again it was to deliver a message to the king that the king would not want to hear. That seems to have been his special calling, to be the bearer of God’s truth to one who did not wish to hear it.

A couple of weeks ago we explored his encounter with an angry Ahab who refused to hear the truth when Elijah foretold a devastating draught. Aware of the ruthless and vengeful power of the king, Elijah fled across the Jordan to his homeland. Last week we considered the encounter with Ahab in Naboth’s vineyard where Elijah confronted the king with his sin, condemned him for having Naboth set up and killed and foretold the consequences of his murderous ways.

It was a bold encounter of which we read today. Elijah was the last person Ahab wanted to see, yet here he came. And he had an absurdly bold request of the king who wanted nothing more than to be rid of the pesky prophet. “I want to address all the people of the land. Have them gather on Mount Carmel, and be sure those 800 or so pagan prophets of whom your queen is so fond are there.” Strangely Ahab agreed. Perhaps he felt that whatever might transpire there he couldn’t lose, the odds would certainly be against Elijah. Maybe it was his curiosity which led him to agree. Elijah gave no indication what he wanted to do there. Perhaps Ahab just couldn’t stand never to know.

Whatever the case there was a massive gathering, up on the mountain that day. Elijah wasted no time, minced no words. He immediately lit into the people. “"How long will you go limping with two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him." The people did not answer him, didn’t say a word. Silence can at times speak volumes. The people were quite familiar with the scriptures. They knew that time and again their ancestors had been told by God to avoid even the appearance of honoring any of the false gods worshipped by those whose land they now possessed.

I’m reminded of the words, spoken several centuries earlier by Joshua in his farewell address to the people after having led them into the Holy Land. Joshua had confronted the same apostasy that Elijah faced, the mixing of pagan practice with the worship of the one true God. Knowing that his work on this earth was done and that his time here was drawing to a close Joshua sought to remind the people of the covenant which was theirs. He reminded them of all that God had done, how God had led them in good times and in bad, when they were certain of God’s presence and when they felt abandoned. Then he said, “Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the river, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."

The people to whom Elijah spoke would have been familiar with Joshua’s address. Like us, they knew what was right, but their actions didn’t always reflect what they knew. The people of God knew that they had strayed and so they responded as did we as children when confronted with the knowledge that our mischievous behaviors had been revealed to our parents. They clamed up, had nothing to say. Elijah was clearly disgusted, feeling sorry for himself, and a bit depressed. “I’m the only one left.” He said dramatically. It was an exaggeration to be sure. “But Baal has 450 prophets.” Yet Elijah had faith. “No matter, those odds don’t bother me.” he said “Let’s see whose god is real. That is what really matters.”

Then Elijah set up an elaborate test. He called for two sacrificial bulls to be brought up on the mountain. To insure no one could accuse him of trickery he let the opposing team choose which bull would be theirs. “You prepare yours and I’ll prepare mine. Cut up your bull, set up the fire for the sacrifice but don’t ignite it and I’ll do the same. Then you call on your god and I’ll call on mine and we will see whose sacrifice gets burned up. That ought to settle things.” The crowd began to cheer. Nothing like a good competition to excite the people. “Great idea.” they said. “Let’s do it!”

“You go first.” Elijah said. So they did. The pagan prophets prepared the bull placed it on the firewood and began to call on the name of their god. “OK Baal, light our fire.” Nothing. So they began to dance around in a liturgical dance worthy of one of those dance contest programs. No fire. I love Elijah’s response. "Call a little louder - he is a god, after all. Maybe he's off meditating somewhere or other, or maybe he's gotten involved in a project, or maybe he's on vacation. You don't suppose he's overslept, do you?.” The taunts fired up the already frustrated prophets who began to call even louder and to perform the ritual self mutilation which was there tradition when pleading most fervently to their god. Still nothing.

Having toyed with his adversaries long enough, Elijah added insult to injury as he called the crowd over to watch his preparations. The first thing he did was to repair the altar to God which the people had torn down. Then he dug a trench around the altar, prepared the bull for sacrifice, set it on the wood and instructed folks to soak the animal and the wood, three times. Enough water was poured over the altar to not only saturate both the bull and the wood but also to fill the trench. Having everything prepared Elijah then called on God. “O God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, make it known right now that you are God in Israel, that I am your servant, and that I'm doing what I'm doing under your orders. Answer me, God and reveal to this people that you are God, the true God, and that you are giving these people another chance at repentance.” Immediately the fire of God fell and burned up the offering, the wood, the stones, the dirt, and even the water in the trench.

The people were amazed and began to praise God. Then Elijah, carried away by the emotion of the moment called on the people to seize all the pagan prophets. That they did and they killed them all as well. Elijah then announced to the king the news that the draught was about to be broken and it was.

Ahab’s response to all this? Unmoved, he ran home to Jezebel and told her all that had happened, knowing that she would be livid and hoping that she would take action against that mean old Elijah fellow. She promised to do just that and told Elijah so. No time to savor the victory over the prophets of Baal for Elijah, fearing for his life he high tailed it into the desert wilderness. There he found a solitary tree, the only meager shelter available, lay down under it and gave up. “Just let me die! Exhausted he fell asleep under the tree. He was startled awake by an angelic voice, a light touch, and an amazing discovery. “Get up and eat.” He looked around and there was a simple cake and some fresh water by his side. Being no fool he did what he was told to do, and then went right back to sleep. Again came the touch and again the words. “Get up and eat, you have a long way to go.” A long way indeed, a forty day foot journey!

Elijah was in the doldrums. He had much on his mind. For one thing he had just been responsible for the death of 850 folks, bad guys on the payroll of false gods to be sure, but folks none the less. And there is no indication that God told him to do it. Did you notice that? Perhaps the prophet had allowed his emotions to run wild and was now feeling remorse for his actions, we don’t know, but it seems plausible. What we do know is that Elijah was feeling sorry for himself. He felt like he was all alone in his devotion to the one true God. Such was not the truth, but that is how he felt. Such feelings are common when we face hardship. We can see our misfortune clearly but are blinded to that of others. We remember the ways we have been faithful even in the face of great challenge and forget that there are others who share the journey and the hardship.

God didn’t coddle Elijah. God didn’t send an angel to say, “Oh, you poor thing. You have been through so much. Let me make it all better. Let me fix everything so you can get your life back.” What God did do was provide for Elijah’s immediate needs, sent a simple meal, some water, and a message. “Get up and eat, I have work for you to do, challenging work, and you are going to need all the strength you can muster.” As much as we might like God to be, God is not in the coddling business. Not because God doesn’t care, rather because God cares so much and understands that what we need is naked truth, not flowery language.

So God says to Elijah as Elijah sulks, get up, get over it and move forward, we have work to do you and me and it is time to get on with it. That is what God would say to each of us when we hit that proverbial wall, when we find ourselves engulfed in self pity, when we think the whole world is against us. “Get up, eat and get to work.” Embedded in that message is the assurance that things are generally not as bad as we think they are and that even if they really are that bad, God can see us through even the darkest of nights.

What Elijah did next is significant. He got up and headed off to Mount Horeb, also known as Sinai, the same mountain on which Moses encountered God, where he received the Ten Commandments. Having faced his fear, having been challenged to put aside his pouting and to move forward, Elijah makes time to go on a spiritual retreat. He didn’t just happen to wind up on that mountain, after all it was a long way from his home. He went intentionally, confident that once there he would encounter God intimately. There is a lesson there for us all.

To be sure few of us live lives that offer the luxury of taking 40 days off to go climb a mountain in search of an encounter with God. Most of us have a hard time even taking a couple of day off. But the message still holds true. When we are in life’s valley, when things are not going our way, when we think everyone is against us and we are the only ones left seeking to follow God it is time to find some way, some place where God can get in touch with us to remind us of God’s presence in our lives. It may be a day trip alone somewhere. I have the luxury, because of my calling, to occasionally take a couple of days to reflect and be recreated. It is a blessing to have that opportunity. But if you can’t do that don’t despair, find a time to simply lock yourself away for a few hours, find a cave in your own home, arrange to come here for a few hours or go to a park. Read scripture, meditate on it, pray. God stands ready to come to us wherever and whenever we seek earnestly to be in communion with God.

We have read the story. Many of you knew it already. While spending the night in a cave on the mountaintop Elijah heard a voice. “What are you doing up here?” “Running away, hoping to find some meaning for my miserable life. Hiding from those who would do me in.” “Come out of the cave, stand tall on the mountain, for God is about to come by.” Elijah did as he was instructed, stood there on the mountain’s edge waiting. There was lightening, there was an earthquake, there was a storm, there was fire, but God wasn’t in any of them. Then came the sheer silence, and God was there, and Elijah knew it immediately.

Those who genuinely seek to know the one true God refuse to mix up their worship with the worship of idols even in the face of despair. While we have few if any Baal worshipers around here, there are plenty of idols like pleasure, and success and pride, with an abundance of followers, many of whom are in churches at this very hour. But those who worship only the one true God are ever ready and know when God shows up. Sometimes God may come dramatically. Such was the case for Elijah when the fire came down and burned up his sacrifice. Sometimes God comes almost routinely as is the case for me often during worship. And many times, for me at least, God comes in silence, when we have waited patiently on the edge of a mountain or deep in a valley.

What matters is not precisely how we experience God’s presence. What matters is that we make ourselves available, that we create time and space where God can get through all the clutter of our lives and speak to us clearly whether it be in a flash of bright light with a loud voice as was the case with Paul or in the silence as it was with Elijah this time. What matters is that we listen and respond when God comes.

Once God had Elijah’s attention, God spoke, asked Elijah what he was doing on the mountain. Like God didn’t already know! Elijah once again began to poor mouth. “I’ve been working my heart out for you God even though the rest of the people have abandoned your covenant, destroyed your places of worship, killed your prophets, and they are now out to get me.” Notice he didn’t answer the question. Neither did God pay any attention to his complaint rather God said, as if God had not even heard Elijah. “OK I have a job for you and it is right back where you came from.”

Isn’t that often how God works as we ride life’s roller coaster? Isn’t that often what God tells us, if we will but make time to listen when we begin to feel sorry for ourselves. God says get up, eat something, stop the brooding and be about my work, right in the place from which you have come. And when we do, the sun begins to come out and we come to know joy and peace no matter what challenges we face because we have been in the presence of God and God is good all the time.

For your sake, and for the sake of the kingdom of God, let it be so in your life. In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. AMEN.