Sermon: No Contest
Scripture: 1 Kings 18: 17-39
Preached: February 8 pm, 2015
Preamble:
The Superbowl last weekend got me thinking about what was perhaps the greatest contest in the Old Testament.
This was the contest between
Elijah, the lone prophet of God on the one hand,
versus the hundreds of prophets of Baal on the other.
Or to put it another way,
The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
Versus all the other rival gods.
This evening we are going to read one of the most dramatic stories in the Old Testament, which interestingly happens to be counted as the last truly public miracle of the Old Testament.
To keep it dramatic, I am going to read this story bit by bit,
with some commentary in between.
Pretend I am a sports-color-commentator
during the big game.
So keep your Bible’s open on your lap this evening to 1 Kings 18.
Let’s start with some pre-game talk.
Let’s talk about the regular season between these two sides.
So far, the prophets of God have been getting hammered by Jezebel and her team prophets of Baal.
The prophets of God have either been killed,
or have gone into hiding.
So the odds-on-favorites have to be the prophets of Baal.
But look,
There are two figures meeting:
King Ahab and what looks like the elusive prophet Elijah.
Let’s hear what they have to say to each other – 1 Kings 18: 17-19
ELIJAH TO KING AHAB
17 When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, ‘Is it you, you troubler of Israel?’
18He answered, ‘I have not troubled Israel; but you have, and your father’s house, because you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and followed the Baals. 19Now therefore have all Israel assemble for me at Mount Carmel, with the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.’
There you have it folks.
That wild prophet Elijah has thrown down the gauntlet,
issued the challenge:
a Super-Showdown between himself and all the hundreds of Baal and Asherah Prophets Jezebel has on contract.
Seems a bit lob-sided: 1 versus so many.
Besides, did you see Elijah – a bit scrawny.
Rumor is, he has been staying with some poor widow and hardly has had enough to eat.
Compare that to those other prophets – they are looking pretty fit and well-fed.
Pretty odd place for this Elijah fellow to suggest as the meeting place — Mount Carmel, of all places.
Mount Carmel? Everyone knows that Carmel is the home-field of Baal,
right there on the border of Queen Jezebel’s home territory.
But hey, there they are, starting to gather at the Mountain now.
So let’s see what happens next.
ELIJAH TO THE PEOPLE 1 Kings 18: 20-24
20 So Ahab sent to all the Israelites, and assembled the prophets at Mount Carmel. 21Elijah then came near to all the people, and said, ‘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 a word. 22Then Elijah said to the people, ‘I, even I only, am left a prophet of the Lord; but Baal’s prophets number four hundred and fifty. 23Let two bulls be given to us; let them choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it; I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it. 24Then you call on the name of your god and I will call on the name of the Lord; the god who answers by fire is indeed God.’ All the people answered, ‘Well spoken!’
Did you hear that Elijah fellow laying out the rules of the game.
Clearly for him this is no mere game —
this is a contest for the hearts and minds of the people.
“How long will you go limping in two different directions?”
Great question he asks –
Who do you think he is asking that to: the King, the People, or both?
It is pretty clear that this Elijah fellow is sick and tired of
people looking to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob one day,
and any other kind of god the next.
But what do you think about the actual contest?
That it will be decided by Fire?
That seems a bit risky.
Baal is known as the god of Lightening – that is a form of fire.
So here we are, on Baal’s mountain,
with a contest that plays into Baal’s strength – fire.
But the crowds, they are ready, ready for action.
Did you hear them all say “Well Spoken!”
Sounded to me like “Game ON!”
Now let’s check back on the action.
It’s Elijah chatting with the opponents.
ELIJAH TO THE PROPHETS OF BAAL Prt 1 1 Kings 18: 25
25Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, ‘Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many; then call on the name of your god, but put no fire to it.’
Well, that is pretty charitable of Elijah.
Giving those Baal boys first choice of a bull,
and also first attempt at fire.
This contest could be over before we know it.
ELIJAH TO THE PROPHETS OF BAAL Prt 2 1 Kings 18: 26-29
26So they took the bull that was given them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, crying, ‘O Baal, answer us!’ But there was no voice, and no answer. They limped about the altar that they had made. 27At noon Elijah mocked them, saying, ‘Cry aloud! Surely he is a god; either he is meditating, or he has wandered away, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.’ 28Then they cried aloud and, as was their custom, they cut themselves with swords and lances until the blood gushed out over them. 29As midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice, no answer, and no response.
What a long slow day this has been!
It would be more exciting watching clay bake,
or watching water evaporate.
You would have thought there might be something:
a spark,
a bit of smoke
Anything.
But Nada. Nothing!
This Elijah guy is turning out to be pretty funny for a prophet.
Did I hear him say Baal might be using the restroom?
Well anyway, the day is almost over.
People are ready to get home before its dark.
I think it’s time to call it a day…..
But hold it, hold it…… there’s Elijah ready to say something.
ELIJAH TO THE PEOPLE 1 Kings 18: 30-35
30 Then Elijah said to all the people, ‘Come closer to me’; and all the people came closer to him. First he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been thrown down; 31Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord came, saying, ‘Israel shall be your name’; 32with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord. Then he made a trench around the altar, large enough to contain two measures of seed. 33Next he put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood. He said, ‘Fill four jars with water and pour it on the burnt-offering and on the wood.’34Then he said, ‘Do it a second time’; and they did it a second time. Again he said, ‘Do it a third time’; and they did it a third time, 35so that the water ran all round the altar, and filled the trench also with water.
That seems an odd strategy.
Things have been tinder dry here for months.
And to douse everything with water – that is what you call thinking outside the box.
But he certainly has captured everyone’s attention.
Look now, that Elijah prophet fellow is talking to someone.
Let’s hear what he has to say.
ELIJAH TO GOD 1 Kings 18: 36-39
36 At the time of the offering of the oblation, the prophet Elijah came near and said, ‘O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your bidding. 37Answer me, O Lord, answer me, so that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.’ 38Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt-offering, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and even licked up the water that was in the trench.
39When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, ‘The Lord indeed is God; the Lord indeed is God.’
This is the Word of the Lord
Thanks be to God
REFLECTION
Okay, I’m not a sports commentator anymore.
But you have to admit that is quite a dramatic story.
Here is the thing about hearing Old Testament stories that involve idols.
We tend to think people back then were dumb
because idols are dumb.
But the people back then were not dumb.
Their idols were not so different than our idols today.
What they were looking for
is the same thing we look for:
pleasure and happiness
safety and security
success and power.
The truth is,
we also tend to believe whatever promises us
pleasure and happiness
safety and security
success and power.
Whatever
A couple of weeks ago, there was an article in the New York Times Magazine
on Tom Brady,
the quarterback for the New England Patriots.
Brady normally does not give interviews,
but this reporter was invited to meet him at his house – or should I say mansion.
While there, the reporter noticed a number of religious objects,
even a large glass Jewish Menorah.
“Are you Jewish?” he asked.
“No” replied Brady, “We’re not Jewish.
We’re not anything,
But we are into everything.
I don’t know what I believe.
I think I have a belief system,
I’m just not sure what it is.”
….we’re into everything…
That is such a modern answer…we’re into everything…
Not at all far removed from Elijah’s
diagnosis of “limping along,
believing in a bit of this and in a bit of that…”
The great display on Mount Carmel
helped people confess the Lord as the true God … for a little while.
but just a little while.
It did not last.
It did not stick.
People needed something stronger
to free them from the enslaving powers of
doing whatever
believing whatever
to be safe, successful, happy….
CONCLUSION — THE ONE NEEDED
You know, within the Jewish community,
They often leave an empty seat at their religious festivals.
The empty seat is for Elijah¸ should he return.
The Jewish community has always loved Elijah –
nobody messed with Elijah;
no one knew how to make a point with as much fire and firmness as Elijah.
According to the Jews
if a Messiah ever came
he would look like Elijah.
That is why the Jews were so impressed with John the Baptist.
He looked so much like Elijah.
But God sent another.
God sent this other One
for another showdown –
in many ways the opposite of what happened centuries before.
This time the showdown was not on Mount Carmel,
but on Mount Zion, the Lord’s homefield.
God sent him to face not the prophets of Baals,
but the priests of the Torah, the keepers of the covenant.
This time he was the one cut and bleeding.
This time he was the one mocked.
This time he was the one who,
by all appearances suffered a total and utter defeat.
He was lifted up on that Mount
not as a winner, but a loser.
not as a success, but as a failure,
not as one blessed, but as one cursed;
not in a blaze of fire, but in a pall of darkness.
This time,
It was the one the Father sent
who received
no voice, no answer, no response
to his cries.
It turns out that his weakness
is the power we need
to set us free from all the powers that enslave us.
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