“What’s God’s address?” (St. Luke’s: Friday, June 15th, 2018: 1 Kings 19.9-16; Ps. 27; St. Matthew 5.27-32)

Best memory. As you look back on your life, can you recall your moment of greatest triumph? What was your greatest achievement? Do you remember that one time when you felt like you were on top of the world? Maybe it was your wedding-day. Maybe it was the birth of your first child. Maybe it was a promotion at work. Maybe it was when you opened the door and crossed the threshold of your first home. Perhaps your greatest victory is still ahead of you. Whatever your best moment was, we can be grateful for those mountain-top experiences.

Greatest triumph. In our first reading, we find the prophet Elijah at the summit of Mt. Horeb. God asks his spokesman a question: “What are you doing here?” At this point in his story, Elijah – though he is (literally) on the mountain-top – is at his lowest point. Elijah is in the throes of his greatest crisis; he is drowning in the depths of despair… and it all started with his moment of greatest triumph. To understand how Elijah came to be in a cave at the summit of the mountain of God, we have to rewind the story to a moment which occurred about 6 weeks earlier, atop another mountain (we heard this episode on Wednesday). What transpired on Mt. Carmel was a showdown of the sort that any prophet would give his arm to experience (cf. 1 Kings 18.20-40). On one side stood 850 prophets of the Canaanite deity, Baal and his consort, Asherah. On the other side stood… Elijah, whose name means “Yahweh is my God”. Ahab, ruler of the northern kingdom of Israel, had accepted – upon Elijah’s request – to arrange this “divine duel”. Elijah cried out to the crowds who had gathered to witness the spectacle: “How long will you go limping with two different opinions? If Yahweh is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him” (1 K. 18.21). The fact that a pagan divinity threatened to usurp Yahweh’s rightful place in the hearts and minds of the Israelites is largely due to King Ahab. The author of the First Book of Kings describes him thus: “Ahab did more to provoke the anger of Yahweh, the God of Israel, than had all the kings of Israel who were before him” (1 K. 16.33). Ahab had even constructed a temple for Baal, the Canaanite god of thunderstorms, along with his consort Asherah, the goddess of fertility.

What a win! Now, Elijah has the whole gang of pagan prophets right where he wants them. Elijah goes on to describe how the test to determine who the true God is will be conducted. He invites the pagan prophets to construct an altar and to call upon Baal. Elijah will also build an altar and invoke Yahweh. The god who answers by fire will be seen to be the true God. After having a good laugh at the expense of the false prophets, Elijah gathers 12 stones, constructs his altar, and lays out a sacrifice; he then orders everything to be drenched with water. Elijah then calls upon Yahweh and – lo and behold! – fire descends from heaven and consumes the sacrifice, along with the stones of the altar themselves! “Seeing this, all the people fell prostrate and said, "Yahweh is God! Yahweh is God!" (1 K. 18.39). What a triumph! “There is no God but Yahweh, and Elijah is his prophet!” What vindication! Elijah had stood alone, and he had been proven right. What a feeling! Not only that, but shortly after this success at the summit, Yahweh sends a great thunderstorm and thus puts an end to the drought whose beginning Elijah had announced over 3 years earlier (1 K. 17.1; cf. Letter of St. James 5.17). So, Baal, the god of thunderstorms, has been completely upstaged; Yahweh is the One who can send both fire and water! Truth won! Yahweh won! Elijah won!

Worst crisis. And then …it all fell apart. Once Queen Jezebel is made aware of what happened on Mt. Carmel, she threatens to kill Elijah within 24 hours. The effect of this threat on Elijah is absolutely devastating. Elijah – like us – can be as bold as a lion one moment, and scared as a mouse the next. So Yahweh’s last prophet runs for his life, all the way to the southernmost town of the southern kingdom of Judah. Now, you know that any biblical story about a prophet on the run is going to contain some (dark) humour – just ask Jonah. Elijah leaves his servant in Beer-Sheba and then pushes on – “a day’s journey into the wilderness” – until he finally comes across a “solitary broom tree”. Elijah collapses under the shade of the tree, exhausted. What he says next is one of the most honest prayers to be found in the Bible: “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors” (1 K. 19.4); Elijah then falls asleep. Notice that Elijah addresses God without any hint of pretense; he simply tells God exactly how he feels. Also, note the irony: Queen Jezebel threatened to kill him, so Elijah runs as far away from her as he can, only to then ask God to …kill him. In fact, this is very true to life – when we are scared, lonely, and depressed, our thoughts become tangled and confused. Yahweh doesn’t answer Elijah’s prayer – thank God! Rather, an angel comes and feeds Elijah. The discouraged prophet then sets out on a pilgrimage to Mt. Horeb, the place where – centuries earlier – Yahweh had revealed himself to Israel and had given his law to Moses. Elijah arrives at the summit and takes up residence in a cave. Someone once said that “God’s address is at the end of your rope”. Here’s Elijah, at the end of his rope, in a cave atop the mountain of God. And then the “still small voice” – or as the NRSV has translated it “a sound of sheer silence” – speaks to Elijah and asks him, “Why are you here?” Elijah replies plaintively: “I have been most zealous for Yahweh, the God of hosts. But the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to the sword. I alone am left, and they seek to take my life” (1 K. 19.14). In other words, “This nation of slaves that you rescued from Egypt all those years ago in order to make them your special people, this people that you brought to the Promised Land – well, they’ve forgotten all about you. I’m the only one left who’s standing up for you and now they want to kill me. So there you have it Yahweh – whatever you were intending to do with this nation, it’s all over. Everything has gone wrong and there’s no hope left; there is no future for the nation of Israel… or for me.” How often do we feel like that, like there is no hope? How often do we look to the future and see only darkness?

New hope. How does God respond to Elijah’s complaints? First of all, note what God doesn’t say – Yahweh doesn’t agree with Elijah. God doesn’t say, “You’re right, it’s hopeless – just lay down and die.” Also, God doesn’t deny what Elijah is saying. Yahweh doesn’t say: “You’re wrong; everything’s fine”. Yahweh responds to his prophet by saying a very important biblical word – “Go”. In other words, “I have a plan… and you’re part of it. Go. There is hope. Go. I have a future in store for my people. Go. I have a job for you to do. Go. You won’t understand how things will work out long-term, but for now, it’s enough for you to Go and do what I give you to do. Go and anoint Elisha as your successor. I haven’t yet said my last word. Go. I will continue to speak to my prophets and they will continue to speak to my people. Go! It may be that you find yourself on the mountain-top this morning. It might be the mountain-top of triumph and success – you might be on Mt. Carmel. Or maybe you’re on Mt. Horeb – the summit of sadness, discouragement and despair. If that’s the case, listen to the silence of God’s voice. The God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob…and Jesus is not finished yet. God still has a plan for his people and he still has a plan for you. Amen.