(1 Kings 19:1-15a)

        Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword.  Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life like the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.”  Then he was afraid; he got up and fled for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah; he left his servant there.

But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree.  He asked that he might die, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am not better than my ancestors.”  Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep.  Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, “Get up and eat.”  He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water.  He ate and drank and lay down again.  The angel of the Lord came a second time, touched him, and said, “Get up and eat, or the journey will be too much for you.”  He got up and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God.  At that place he came to a cave and spent the night there.

Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”  He answered, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts, for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword.  I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.”

He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”  Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the earthquake, and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire, and after the fire a sound of sheer silence.  When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.  Then there came a voice to him that said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”  He answered, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts, for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword.  I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.”  Then the Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus.

            So, this story is moving us along the way to the point when Elijah will be passing the mantle of God’s favorite prophet to Elisha.  But we are also experiencing his trials and tribulations, his crises of faith, his weaknesses and doubts, all wrapped up in these verses.

            First, some background.  Now, most of you, like me, have not been as familiar with these stories.  But here are some things we need to know that happened prior to this story: Elijah had confronted the worshippers of Baal, including King Ahab and his wife, Jezebel, telling them they had disrespected the one God, Yahweh. 

“And, oh here’s the test,” said Elijah.  “Each of us prophets will prepare a bull for sacrifice on the altar.  Whoever’s God can bring fire to the sacrifice shows him or herself to be the one true God.”  Well, as you can imagine, the prophets of Baal danced around and prayed exuberantly, but nothing happened.  They ended up defeated.

            Elijah, on the other hand, repaired the altar after the Baal worshippers had destroyed it.  He then made a trench around it and poured water on the wood and the sacrificial bull and in the trench; he put 12 stones around it (for all twelve tribes of Israel) and called on the ancestors in the faith, then prayed to God to bring down fire.  God’s fire came and burnt everything to a crisp.  Then Elijah, not only called for the death of all the Baal prophets, but perpetrated that slaughter. 

            …This brings us to today’s reading.  It starts out with Jezebel reporting that Elijah had killed all the prophets of Baal.  So Jezebel threatened Elijah’s life, and he was scared.  He escaped to the wilderness and proceeded to have a personal and vocational crisis while he sat under a broom tree.  He was ready to give it all up, including his life because he felt lost, helpless and hopeless.

            But then an angel appeared and said, “C’mon buddy.  You need something to eat and something to drink.”  And right there in the desert, there appeared a stone-baked cake and a jar of water.  So he did eat and drink.  The angel appeared again and urged him to eat and drink because otherwise “the journey will be too hard for you.”  Elijah was, then, able to spend 40 days and 40 nights in the desert.  (Now, this should sound familiar from Jesus’ sojourn in the desert.  Also 40 is a very significant number that recalls Moses’ and the Israelites 40 years of wandering.  See how this works?  When the number 40 is mentioned, we’re talking about holy time.  Time with God).

            After this, even then, Elijah can’t quite understand how this has gone bad.  “I’ve worked for you, God.  I’ve defended you against idol worshippers.  I even got my sword out and slaughtered those false prophets.”

            So, interestingly, God said, “Go out and stand on the mountain, because I’m going to pass by.”  (You Bible scholars will know this sounds familiar.  This scene also happened to Moses).  But wait, there was a wind that was so strong that it split the rocks, but, we’re told the Lord was not in the wind.  Then there was an earthquake—no God….  Then there was fire—no God.  But then there was a sound: thin and quiet.  Eventually God said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 

            Elijah replied, “I’ve been doing everything for you, God.  Now they want to kill me….  I feel helpless and hopeless, defeated.”  God said, “Go back the way you came….”

            You know, folks, we get all caught up in the way we think we ought to be answering our call to service.  We, in our righteousness, are certain that we know how to recognize God’s voice.  And yet…. Like Elijah, we may think it’s going to be in the earthquake or the wind or the fire when it might just be coming in the quiet.  And we’re so busy that we can’t slow down to listen.  Or we might be so frightened by all that’s going on that we’re looking for our message from God in all the chaos around us.

            Or we might be like Elijah was as he went to the desert: despairing, helpless and hopeless. 

            These days we might be looking for some easy answers.  We might be looking for God in the noisiness around us.  We might be expecting black and white answers because these days everything in our nation sure does look black and white, right and wrong, good and bad.

            Now, we know Elijah was not without blemish.  He had those prophets snuffed out just like that.  But then, that Jezebel in all her power stood up against him and scared the bejesus out of him.  He ran away to the desert not knowing what to do.  There he experienced an angel who made sure he was fed and had something to drink.  Then God came in that still, thin, quiet way and said, “Return to where you came from.”  In other words, keep doing what you’ve been doing and fear not. 

            I have been thinking lately that we may need a place to share our concerns about what’s going on in our world these days, a place apart from our worship services.  So I’m proposing that anyone who wishes can gather after worship on July 13^th.  That will give us time to put together resources for each other and to listen to what each of us needs. 

So, here’s what we need to do: in the words of God (in my interpretation), “If you feel confused or helpless or hopeless, go back to the source of your faith, your foundation.  Keep doing what you’ve been doing and fear not!”  Amen.