Sermon 11.05.2023: Old Testament Dance Off

In the Bible, when people worshipped false gods, they were clearly named. Nowadays, we still can worship false gods, but when they are money, or success, or something that society values, it can be harder to see. 

In our story today, Elijah shows the Israelites that their worship of the false god Baal is a weak substitute for the God of Israel. 

Scripture

1 Kings 18:20-40

So Ahab sent to all the Israelites, and assembled the prophets at Mount Carmel. Elijah 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. Then 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. Let 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. Then 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!’ Then 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.’ So 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. At 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.’ Then they cried aloud and, as was their custom, they cut themselves with swords and lances until the blood gushed out over them. As midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice, no answer, and no response.

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; Elijah 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’; with 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. Next 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.’ Then 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, so that the water ran all round the altar, and filled the trench also with water.

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. Answer 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.’ Then 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. When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, ‘The Lord indeed is God; the Lord indeed is God.’ Elijah said to them, ‘Seize the prophets of Baal; do not let one of them escape.’ Then they seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the Wadi Kishon, and killed them there.

Sermon Text

In October, as we spent time focusing on stewardship and our Community Grows Here theme, we left the Narrative Lectionary, which is a series of biblical readings that get us through the broad story of the Bible throughout the course of the year. 

Today’s reading about the prophet Elijah drops us back into the Narrative cycle, as we follow how God’s prophetic voice to God’s people is presented at different times, for different contexts. 

Israel has been following false Gods. After King David dies, his son Solomon rules. Solomon was a pretty good king, as far as kings go. Full of wisdom and committed to building God’s Temple that his father David was unable to build. After Solomon’s rule, the united kingdom of Israel collapses, in part because of the bills from building the temple. It’s always economics, isn’t it? 

The Northern Tribes rebelled against the Davidic line and they become known as Israel in this divided kingdom. The tribes of Judah and Benjamin, in the South, become the nation of Judah. 

Ahab is king of the Northern kingdom of Israel. We’re told earlier in the story that “Ahab did more to provoke the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, than had all the kings of Israel who were before him.” 

And that’s saying something, because the kings of Israel were not a well behaved bunch. 

And his wife, Jezebel, is a foreigner. I mean, and what were her parents thinking, naming her Jezebel…. According to my friend and Womanist scholar, Dr Wil Gafney, her name “has become a byword for women of a certain type: assertive, aggressive, sexualized, allegedly promiscuous.” [1] 

Their marriage was a political alliance to bring peace on the Phoenician border, which means it was not likely to have been a love match. And so perhaps we can understand why she brought with her the gods from her own country. She had no loyalty to Israel and its God. Notice how she takes the blame in the story, a convenient scapegoat, when Ahab was a pretty rotten king all by his own self. She may worship false gods, but she is loyal to them all the way to her death, which is not something you see from many of the followers of Israel’s God. Yet she’s the one we call a Jezebel. 

If you’ve been missing nice, light family tv programming like Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, or Succession, I encourage you to read the rest of Ahab and Jezebel’s story in 1 Kings. She and I may worship different gods, but it is pretty interesting to consider the power she wielded in this foreign country. And while the Biblical authors are not fans of her in any way shape or form, they can’t help but present the story of a woman who is the power of the throne, who was literate, who was politically savvy, who was faithful to her gods, and who died with her own kind of dignity intact. 

The false gods she brings with her into her arranged marriage must have been appealing to the masses too, because there Ba’al had many prophets, and the people flocked to these false gods. Israel paid for the employment of 850 prophets of Ba’al and Asherah out of the treasury, at Jezebel’s instruction. It was a big enterprise to support her gods. If they weren’t popular, it seems unlikely that kind of federal spending would have been allowed. 

God’s prophet Elijah shows up and is a thorn in the side of Ahab and Jezebel from the beginning. Elijah stands in the way of their power. He’s trying to call the people back to the Lord. They’re trying to keep their political alliance together by promoting the worship of all of the gods. 

And they want to kill Elijah. They’ve already killed over a hundred prophets of the Lord. Again, never underestimate the way power and wealth conspire against prophets who speak against them. Over a hundred prophets of the Lord have already been killed for being faithful to the God of Israel. 

The music the choir is singing today is from Mendelssohn’s Elijah, which we will be performing here on November 18. Get your tickets now. I’m singing with the choir for this, and so Elijah has been living rent free in my head the past few months. And I think music allows you to hear and understand the story differently than you can reading it on your own or hearing it in worship. 

Singing Elijah has reminded me of where this story we heard today fits in the bigger story of the people of Israel. God has had Elijah proclaim a drought in response to Israel’s unfaithfulness and Ahab’s failure as a king. Elijah announces a drought in response to this evil king. But a drought affects both the innocent and the evil. And droughts disproportionately affect the poor, who don’t have the resources of the rich. 

I’d like to suggest to Elijah he find a better way to prove his point about evil King Ahab. But I think even Elijah figured that out, because after the drought takes hold, he doesn’t have anything to eat either. 

The people are afraid they will die. I have sympathy for these people who are clamoring to any false god who might possibly save them. Their situation is dire. 

We’ve seen that in our own lives too, haven’t we? 

Right now, we are seeing innocent people in Israel and Palestine, suffering because of Ahab-like kings and governments. Hamas does not represent the best interests of Palestinians in Gaza, but after years 

of fighting and exile, perhaps we can have sympathy, if not agreement, for why they turn to strongmen style leaders in their desperation. Violence should not be a country’s first response to violence, but after years of extremists vowing to remove Israel from the map, perhaps we can have sympathy, if not agreement, for why the government of Israel wants to respond with bombs when its citizens are kidnapped, raped, and murdered. 

Following these false gods of power, might, and violence affects both the innocent and the evil. And like Elijah’s drought, this violence disproportionately affects the poor, who don’t have the resources of the rich to seek shelter and safety. 

If we refuse to see the humanity in our neighbors, in our enemies, we will continue to face crises that affect the innocent and evil alike. 

My understanding of God’s actions is different, perhaps, than that of the authors of 1st and 2nd Kings. But my understanding of human nature is pretty similar. I don’t think bad things that happen today are caused by God because of human unfaithfulness. I do think many bad things that happen today are the consequences of human unfaithfulness. I also think God is likely as frustrated today as God was thousands of years ago when people flock to false gods rather than trusting in the divine promise of God’s love and mercy. 

Toward the end of Mendelssohn’s Elijah, God says “I am the God who comforts. Be not afraid for I am your God. I will strengthen you! Say, who are you, you who are afraid of a human who will die and for the lord your Maker who has stretched forth the heavens and laid the earth’s foundation? Say, who are you?” 

We keep following after false gods. And maybe they are big like Ba’al or Asherah. False gods like power, might, or wealth. But maybe they are subtler gods, less showy, but with as many priests. False gods like control. Or perfection. Or the thief comparison. 

When we are in crisis, as Israel was in the wake of their unfaithful ruler, are we able to keep grounded in a faith that can carry us through challenge, or do we go limping about, as Elijah put it, following after anything we think might bring us relief? 

For me, while my faith has been strengthened and forged in times of challenge, it was nurtured during the routine, regular part of life. And I confess I sort of wish Elijah had sent the people to Sunday school or bible study or something more mundane, rather than the powerful show with the high production value he gave them. 

Elijah publicly challenges the prophets of the false gods to a show down. His God against their gods. He stacks the deck in their favor, pouring water all over his altar. He mocks the false prophets when their false gods don’t answer them. “Cry louder! Maybe your god is on a trip or is sleeping.” Then he crushes them. The fire falls down from heaven and sets his soggy altar on fire. This is spectacle and might and drama and victory. 

This is not something I can reproduce for you. We will not be pouring water on the communion table and asking God to set it on fire, so don’t be getting all excited about how different communion might be later in the service. 

How do you think you’d have felt if you were Elijah when you saw the fire from God setting things on fire? For starters, I’d be relieved. “Oh good. That worked. I remember that whole commandment about not putting the Lord your God to the test. Thanks God!” 

And after the relief, I am pretty sure I’d be insufferable and smug. “Oh hello, I’m the prophet who just demolished Ba’al’s prophets in a dance off. Perhaps you’ve heard of me?” 

But read on this week to see what happens to Elijah, because it is neither of those responses. Ahab goes home to tell Jezebel what happened to her prophets. I bet that conversation was fun, don’t you think? 

And Jezebel sends Elijah a text, “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.” 

We would hope that the person who just orchestrated this smack down of these false gods would read that and say, ‘Pshaw. The same false gods who didn’t show up yesterday? I’m not worried.’ 

That is decidedly not how Elijah responds. He runs into the wilderness to hide and cries out to God that he’d like to die now and that he’s all alone and has no community. 

After God surely had a moment of ‘Are you kidding me right now? Were you not just there for the fire that came down from heaven???’, then God sends an angel to give Elijah a snack and a nap, which is good advice for all of us when we feel alone. 

In the light of Elijah’s very human, mortal response to fear, no matter what might he’s just seen from God, maybe the best we can do is be gentle with ourselves and with each other. 

We live in a world full of things that scare us, that isolate us from each other, that send us limping about in search of anything to relieve our worry. We won’t get it right all the time. 

But God’s faithfulness is sure, even when human faithfulness to God is not. God’s mercy and love is constant, even when our love is fickle. 

We are called to remind each other of that when the famines and droughts of our lives become too much. We are called to journey together with each other when we feel alone, reminding each other and ourselves that God doesn’t intend us to navigate the challenges of life without help, and maybe a snack. 

A part of me does wish I could give you a big sign like Elijah gave the people on Mt Carmel. But I know big signs don’t lead to big faith. And so, I pray we will know of God’s love and faithfulness from the gestures of love we give each other and the support we offer in times of famine and drought, so we can journey together toward a faithful response to God’s love, which is new every morning. 

Great is your faithfulness, O God our Father. 

Morning by morning new mercies I see. 

All I have needed Thy hand hath provided. 

Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me. 

Amen. 

[1] Womanist Midrash