Proper 7
Preaching
Preaching and Reading the Old Testament Lessons:
With an Eye to the New
This story follows immediately on Elijah's victory over Jezebel's prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, in 1 Kings 18:20-40. Queen Jezebel of the northern kingdom is so angry with Elijah for slaying the prophets of Baal that she vows to kill him, and Elijah flees for his life. Many sermons from this passage have concentrated on the manner of revelation to Elijah and on the "still, small voice" of God that comes to him. Probably the emphasis of the passage, however, is on Elijah and his discouragement over his prophetic office. As such, the passage can be used to deal with our dejections and despair as Christian disciples.
It is not easy to lead a Christian life or even a reasonably good life in our present society. As the prophet Habakkuk mourned, "The wicked surround the righteous, so justice goes forth perverted" (Habakkuk 1:4). The power of evil in our time seems to be so strong that no action or program seems to prevail against it. We pour billions into our public schools only to have two-thirds of our high school graduates end up illiterate. We declare a "war on poverty," but the welfare rolls never end. We send military troops into trouble spots abroad to try to establish peaceful communities, but ethnic wars and terrorists remain and young men seem to have died in vain. We try to end world hunger, but millions still starve from malnutrition.
Even on a personal level, our Christian efforts seem sometimes to produce no fruit. As one of our neighbors voiced it, "We raise up our kids, and someone else tears them down." Or we pour every thought and energy we have into a marriage, and yet it crumbles and we are left alone. Sometimes an effort at forgiveness brings forth only scorn and deeper enmity. Or good actions are misinterpreted and misunderstood. As for prayer, sometimes we can pray and pray and yet see no result of our pleading. It can lead us to despair of maintaining our Christian ways, even as Elijah despaired of continuing his prophetic office.
Elijah was scared for his life, and he fled southward into the desert. His journey was his attempt to flee his office and to forget the past. Indeed, Elijah's flight was an attempt to escape his life altogether. "Take away my life," he prayed to God. He literally wanted to die. His mission seemed hopeless. His prophecy seemed empty. His faithful actions seemed futile.
Elijah learned, however, that he was not on his own journey, but rather on a journey for God. Twice God's angels fed him food in the wilderness, and strengthened his will to go to Mount Horeb, that mountain sometimes called Sinai, where God had first appeared to Israel.
When Elijah arrived at the mountain, moreover, how did God deal with Elijah's despair? Did the Lord sympathize with his frightened prophet and understand Elijah was a victim? Were the Lord's ministrations to his prophet full of tenderness and comfort, accommodating to Elijah's need? No, the Lord approached Elijah, preceded by wind and earthquake and fire -- all the accustomed manifestations of God's presence on earth. And then God spoke to Elijah, first in a question that awoke Elijah to his responsibility. "What are you doing here, Elijah, when you should be back prophesying in Israel?" And when Elijah pleaded his case, the Lord did not sympathize. Instead he told Elijah to go back to work. Indeed, he told Elijah to start a revolution that would finally topple the dynasty of Ahab. But at the end, in verse 18, the Lord also assured Elijah he was not alone in his faith. There were still 7,000 faithful Israelites in Israel who had not bowed down to the pagan Baal.
Responsibility, command to return and work, assurance that our Christian efforts are not in vain. Thus does God deal with our discouragement when we grow dejected about our Christian lives. We are not on our own life-journeys, as the disciples of Jesus Christ. We are on God's journey, and the end result is in his hands. You and I are called simply to continue to be faithful.
Lutheran Option: Isaiah 65:1-9
This passage, which is a judgment oracle and which actually ends with verse 7, is a reply to the long lament in 63:7--64:12. The passage that follows in 65:8-25 is an oracle of salvation.
For the first time in the Old Testament, the congregation of post-exilic Israel is divided into two groups in God's eyes, and God levels his judgment against only the evil-doers in the community. Previously the community was judged or saved as one. Now God differentiates between those who do good and those who do evil (vv. 8-9).
The Lord spells out why he is bringing his judgment on the evil-doers in Israel. They have repeatedly walked in their own way rather than according to the commandments of God. They have provoked the one Lord by their idolatrous worship practices, sacrificing in the "gardens" of the Canaanite high places (v. 3); engaging in the worship of the dead (v. 4); eating those foods that were Canaanite totem animals and therefore forbidden to Israel (v. 4). Indeed, even the Zadokite priests who were set apart as "holy" to the Lord have practiced such evil ways, and so they will be subject to the fire of God's wrath (v. 5). Previously, the people had complained about the silence of God (64:12). Now God will not keep silent in the face of Israel's sin (v. 6).
It is a passage that should prompt us to ask whether or not we are worshiping the one Father of our Lord Jesus Christ or whether we have devoted ourselves to the worship of other gods -- our own welfare, our success, our accumulation of things, our bodies, our families, or all of those alien gods and goddesses like Sophia and the New Age gurus that are found in so many other religions today.
Most prominent in the passage, however, are its opening lines. God has repeatedly revealed himself to his people and pleaded with them to return to him, like a loving Father calling for his son. "Here am I," he has called, "here am I." That summons is one of overwhelming mercy, for God cannot be found by us unless he reveals himself to us. The Christian faith is a revealed religion, and unless God approaches us, we do not know who he is, and we cannot go to him.
But God has revealed himself to us. Throughout the history of Israel and supremely in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ God has made himself known to us and drawn near to us and called out, "Here am I." And his loving desire, then, has been that we hear his call and follow after him, committing our hearts and lives to his ways in obedience to his commandments.
Indeed, God's very name in the Old Testament -- Yahweh -- embodies that call of "Here am I." The name means "the one who is indeed with you" (Exodus 3:14), just as we are told in the New Testament that Jesus Christ is "Immanuel," God with us.
"Here am I," God calls to each one of us and to this congregation assembled here this morning. "Here am I," waiting for your surrender, waiting for your worship, waiting for the commitment of your lives, so that you walk in my ways and love me and trust me with all your days and years. For I will give you abundant life and the riches of Christ beyond imagining, and finally eternal life with me in my kingdom of love and good and peace.
God is here, calling. And he waits for our answer.
It is not easy to lead a Christian life or even a reasonably good life in our present society. As the prophet Habakkuk mourned, "The wicked surround the righteous, so justice goes forth perverted" (Habakkuk 1:4). The power of evil in our time seems to be so strong that no action or program seems to prevail against it. We pour billions into our public schools only to have two-thirds of our high school graduates end up illiterate. We declare a "war on poverty," but the welfare rolls never end. We send military troops into trouble spots abroad to try to establish peaceful communities, but ethnic wars and terrorists remain and young men seem to have died in vain. We try to end world hunger, but millions still starve from malnutrition.
Even on a personal level, our Christian efforts seem sometimes to produce no fruit. As one of our neighbors voiced it, "We raise up our kids, and someone else tears them down." Or we pour every thought and energy we have into a marriage, and yet it crumbles and we are left alone. Sometimes an effort at forgiveness brings forth only scorn and deeper enmity. Or good actions are misinterpreted and misunderstood. As for prayer, sometimes we can pray and pray and yet see no result of our pleading. It can lead us to despair of maintaining our Christian ways, even as Elijah despaired of continuing his prophetic office.
Elijah was scared for his life, and he fled southward into the desert. His journey was his attempt to flee his office and to forget the past. Indeed, Elijah's flight was an attempt to escape his life altogether. "Take away my life," he prayed to God. He literally wanted to die. His mission seemed hopeless. His prophecy seemed empty. His faithful actions seemed futile.
Elijah learned, however, that he was not on his own journey, but rather on a journey for God. Twice God's angels fed him food in the wilderness, and strengthened his will to go to Mount Horeb, that mountain sometimes called Sinai, where God had first appeared to Israel.
When Elijah arrived at the mountain, moreover, how did God deal with Elijah's despair? Did the Lord sympathize with his frightened prophet and understand Elijah was a victim? Were the Lord's ministrations to his prophet full of tenderness and comfort, accommodating to Elijah's need? No, the Lord approached Elijah, preceded by wind and earthquake and fire -- all the accustomed manifestations of God's presence on earth. And then God spoke to Elijah, first in a question that awoke Elijah to his responsibility. "What are you doing here, Elijah, when you should be back prophesying in Israel?" And when Elijah pleaded his case, the Lord did not sympathize. Instead he told Elijah to go back to work. Indeed, he told Elijah to start a revolution that would finally topple the dynasty of Ahab. But at the end, in verse 18, the Lord also assured Elijah he was not alone in his faith. There were still 7,000 faithful Israelites in Israel who had not bowed down to the pagan Baal.
Responsibility, command to return and work, assurance that our Christian efforts are not in vain. Thus does God deal with our discouragement when we grow dejected about our Christian lives. We are not on our own life-journeys, as the disciples of Jesus Christ. We are on God's journey, and the end result is in his hands. You and I are called simply to continue to be faithful.
Lutheran Option: Isaiah 65:1-9
This passage, which is a judgment oracle and which actually ends with verse 7, is a reply to the long lament in 63:7--64:12. The passage that follows in 65:8-25 is an oracle of salvation.
For the first time in the Old Testament, the congregation of post-exilic Israel is divided into two groups in God's eyes, and God levels his judgment against only the evil-doers in the community. Previously the community was judged or saved as one. Now God differentiates between those who do good and those who do evil (vv. 8-9).
The Lord spells out why he is bringing his judgment on the evil-doers in Israel. They have repeatedly walked in their own way rather than according to the commandments of God. They have provoked the one Lord by their idolatrous worship practices, sacrificing in the "gardens" of the Canaanite high places (v. 3); engaging in the worship of the dead (v. 4); eating those foods that were Canaanite totem animals and therefore forbidden to Israel (v. 4). Indeed, even the Zadokite priests who were set apart as "holy" to the Lord have practiced such evil ways, and so they will be subject to the fire of God's wrath (v. 5). Previously, the people had complained about the silence of God (64:12). Now God will not keep silent in the face of Israel's sin (v. 6).
It is a passage that should prompt us to ask whether or not we are worshiping the one Father of our Lord Jesus Christ or whether we have devoted ourselves to the worship of other gods -- our own welfare, our success, our accumulation of things, our bodies, our families, or all of those alien gods and goddesses like Sophia and the New Age gurus that are found in so many other religions today.
Most prominent in the passage, however, are its opening lines. God has repeatedly revealed himself to his people and pleaded with them to return to him, like a loving Father calling for his son. "Here am I," he has called, "here am I." That summons is one of overwhelming mercy, for God cannot be found by us unless he reveals himself to us. The Christian faith is a revealed religion, and unless God approaches us, we do not know who he is, and we cannot go to him.
But God has revealed himself to us. Throughout the history of Israel and supremely in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ God has made himself known to us and drawn near to us and called out, "Here am I." And his loving desire, then, has been that we hear his call and follow after him, committing our hearts and lives to his ways in obedience to his commandments.
Indeed, God's very name in the Old Testament -- Yahweh -- embodies that call of "Here am I." The name means "the one who is indeed with you" (Exodus 3:14), just as we are told in the New Testament that Jesus Christ is "Immanuel," God with us.
"Here am I," God calls to each one of us and to this congregation assembled here this morning. "Here am I," waiting for your surrender, waiting for your worship, waiting for the commitment of your lives, so that you walk in my ways and love me and trust me with all your days and years. For I will give you abundant life and the riches of Christ beyond imagining, and finally eternal life with me in my kingdom of love and good and peace.
God is here, calling. And he waits for our answer.
