PENTECOST
11
August
12-14, 2023
Pastor
Timothy J. Spaude
Text:
1 Kings 19:9-18
“ONWARD!”
1.
We
have God’s power.
2.
We
have a mission.
3.
We
have each other.
There are these times in you’re your
life when you just feel like giving up. Sometimes it’s because of our own sin
and the mess we have made of our lives. Sometimes you can do everything right
and it still turns out wrong. You feel defeated, like giving up. As you heard
earlier in the reading from 1 Kings, God’s prophet Elijah found himself at one
of those moments. If you don’t like our nation’s leaders do a little Bible
reading on Ahab and Jezebel. Wicked. Evil. Conniving. Lying. Only looking out
for themselves. Enemies of God who tried to wipe out all believers. God stepped
in. There was this great showdown between the prophet Elijah representing the
one true God and 450 prophets of the idol Baal. You have to read it for
yourself in 1 Kings 18! God and Elijah made fools of the prophets of Baal and
God revealed Himself to all the people there as the one true God so that all
the people turned to God, rose up and killed all the prophets of Baal. “Ah!”
thought Elijah. “This will be the turning point. The nation will return to God.
But they didn’t. Soon after wicked Queen Jezebel heard what happened Elijah was
running for his life. He fled Israel and ran to where the nation of Israel
began, Mt. Sinai. That’s where the Old Testament lesson began. Elijah, down and
discouraged, hiding in a cave. He was done.
But as you heard, God did not leave
him there. God came to Elijah in the cave and asked, “Why are you here,
Elijah?” That’s a good question, that we will come back to. Elijah
responded. “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of Armies, but
the people of Israel have abandoned your covenant. They have torn down your
altars and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are
seeking to take my life.” Elijah
was done. He couldn’t go on. Or so he thought. Elijah wasn’t done. He needed to go onward. So
God picked him up. He had Elijah stand at the mouth of the cave. First came a
powerful gale force wind and if you have ever seen the aftermath of a tornado,
hurricane or straight line wind you know it’s power. Then came an earthquake.
Again, been in one or seen the aftermath, power. Was the fire that God used
next like the fire He used to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah? Again power. But not
God’s real power to build up or tear down. That came next. A soft whispering
voice, the power of God He has placed in His word. It would accomplish the
destruction of God’s enemies and the saving of His people. Elijah was not done.
He had God’s power in His word. Elijah would use that word to accomplish the
work God gave him. “Then the Lord said to him, “Go back the way you came and
go to the Wilderness of Damascus. When you get there, you are to anoint Hazael
as king over Aram. 16You will also anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as
king over Israel and Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah as prophet in your
place. 17Whoever escapes the sword of Hazael, Jehu will kill,
and whoever escapes the sword of Jehu, Elisha will kill.” If we go back to
our map you can see God told Elijah to go back the way he came and then some.
All the way to Aram or Syria. Why? He had work to do. Two kings and one prophet
to anoint or set aside for service to God. They would bring God’s punishment on
the people who needed it. Elijah couldn’t be done. He had a mission. He needed
to go onward. And despite how he felt, Elijah was not alone. “But I
have preserved in Israel seven thousand whose knees have not bent to Baal and
whose lips have not kissed him.” It’s a classic mistake, judging by what
you see with your eyes rather than what God says. Elijah felt alone. But he was
never alone. God was with him and God had provided others. Elijah’s eyes saw no
one. In fact there were over 7000 faithful believers just like Elijah. Elijah
needed to go onward because he had God’s power, he had a mission and he had
other workers and people to help him.
And the same thing is true for you and
me. Can you relate to how the prophet Elijah felt? If not now, at some time in
your past? Lord. I’ve done my best. I’ve tried to save my marriage, I did all I
could to raise my children to love you. I worked hard for this company. As a
church we’ve stayed faithful to your word. But…the marriage has failed, the
kids don’t care, I’m the one let go, the nation’s gone to pot. I’m done. I’m
done fighting. I’m done dealing with it. I’m done. I’m going to crawl into that
cave I call my home, mind my own business and whatever happens, happens. I’m
done. I’m done trying, I’m done being the only one working at it. Feelings like
that are normal for sinful human beings who whose eyes are on themselves
instead of their God. Because we are weak that happens. And it actually is true
that by ourselves we are helpless, helpless to save ourselves for sure and
honestly helpless to change people around us. But we are not by ourselves. As
God graciously came to Elijah in the cave He comes to us today in His word.
“Buck up little trooper! With whatever I have asked you to deal with, Onward!
Keep going.” Why?
We have God’s power. Our earthly eyes
and a part of our frustrated self wants God to show His power in destructive
force that everyone can see. Send some fire and brimstone on Washington DC!
Clean up that mess. Drown the drug dealers in the depths of Lake Michigan. God
has the power to do that and more. His real power He has placed in His word.
This is the power to save souls eternally and to destroy them. This is the only
source of the message of free salvation through Jesus Christ to all who
believe. It powerfully cleanses away sins and snatches souls from the Devil and
saves them for an eternal life of joy and happiness with Jesus. This is the
power to destroy. Drowning in Lake Michigan or death by brimstone is nothing
compared to what happens to those who persistently reject and despise Jesus as
Savior. We have God’s power. We can’t give up on our families, our community,
our nation. Onward.
Onward because we have a mission. “Why
are you here, Elijah?” Remember that question? God asked it twice to help him
think. Why are you hunkered down in this cave when I have work for you to do?
“Why am I here?” is a good question for each of us to ask ourselves. Right now,
the answer is to praise God and be strengthened and encouraged by His word. But
there’s a bigger answer. Why did God choose you for His kingdom? Why does He
have you living here and now? Why are you retired or doing the job you are? It
goes to the important question of meaning and purpose in life. We have a
mission, from Christ Jesus Himself. It’s to be His witnesses. Go into all the
world and preach the Gospel to everyone is the marching orders for all of
Christ’s church. Onward with the Gospel in the greater Greenfield community is
the specific one for you and me. The reason you are in your job you are at or
retired is to be a blessing to the people God brings into your life. Help them.
Do good. Do your job well and then be ready when they ask you for the hope that
you have. The purpose of St. Jacobi church is not to be a cave for us to crawl
in once a week to lick our wounds because our society is not going the way we
want to, it’s a gathering together of people zealous for Christ knowing we can
do a lot better job of proclaiming Christ together than alone. The reason we
have our school is not so that our kids don’t have to go to a school with
transgender bathrooms and litter boxes for the furries but so we can teach
children who are so precious to Jesus just how much He loves them so they
believe and are saved. And the Devil wants us to give up? Crawl in a hole?
Throw ourselves a pity party? No way! Onward. We have mission from the Lord
Jesus Himself.
And we have each other. Poor Elijah
had to just trust God’s word there were 7000 fellow believers left. We don’t
have to do that. We can look around. If in person worship is your regular
weekly practice, keep it up. It’s good to see and be seen. If it’s not it needs
to be if at all physically possible. God has given us to each other to
encourage one another. I wish all of you could be aware like we pastors are of
how much is getting done by all of us working together. Your prayers, your
presence, your gifts, your time, your sweat. (Today we also are happy to
welcome new called workers God has given us, people who will use the power of
God’s Word for the mission of Christ with us. None of you are new to the congregation,
Mandy, thanks for accepting additional duties, Katrina and family, pardon the
interruption of your regularly scheduled programming. We appreciate the
sacrifice. TJ, the last time you were here was as student teacher, so overwhelmed
and nervous you were hoping you wouldn’t wet you pants. Now you are here as
veteran teacher so you shouldn’t have to worry about that anymore. Like Elijah
anointed Hazael, Jehu and Elisha, the Holy Spirit has anointed you three to
come help us. You are a part of the “each other” of Jacobi so that you can be a
blessing to us and we can be a blessing to you.) Give up? Stay silent about our
Savior? Stop reaching out? Close our school? No way! Onward, with God’s power,
carrying out His mission with each other. Amen!
