Sermon: The Lord is God – For Real!
November 3rd, 2019 Rev. Betsy Perkins
First Baptist Church, Delavan WI
Scripture passage: 1 Kings 18:17-39; Psalm 115:1-8,11
The World Series took place over the past 2 weeks. The Houston Astros v. Washington Nationals, each working to prove that their team is the best baseball team in 2019. Some fans try to cover all the bases to help their team win –put a lucky coin in their pocket, wear the baseball cap they wore during a previous winning game, wave a signed team pennant, say a prayer, light a candle. The hope is to harness any and every power that might be out there to get an advantage, even if the cap or coin or pennant is just an inanimate object without any real power at all.
In the psalm I just read (Psalm 115:1-8,11), the psalmist is reminding the people that the real strength, the real power, the only sure thing in which to trust, is our Lord God, not an inanimate object, not idols. The Lord is our only sure Helper and Defender. Unfortunately, God’s people have needed to be reminded of this again and again and again!
A People Wavering
Last week, as we followed the Old Testament story of God at work in the world, we left the people of Israel as they were rejecting King Rehoboam. His plan was to continue to crush the people with heavy burdens and demands. They said, “Get lost, King Rehoboam! We’re out of here. We don’t need you!” They just wanted to float free – the balloon is still up on our ceiling as a reminder of that urge to be totally free and self-determining, serving no one. But being out there all alone, without protection, without power, can be a little scary. Those Israelites were now cut off from God’s house in Jerusalem where King Rehoboam still reigned over a small kingdom of Judah. So the leader of the breakaway northern kingdom of Israel, who didn’t want people defecting so they could worship the Lord God, had two idols made – two golden calves – and set them up for people to worship.
Over the next 59 years there were 3 palaces coups in that northern, breakaway kingdom of Israel, with 7 different kings. One only ruled for 7 days before he was killed by a rival! The Bible tells us that each king was worse than the one before; each one sinned more than all the others before him (1Ki.16:25). Around 874 B.C., Ahab became king. King Ahab did more evil before God than anyone yet, a new champion in evil. He married a Phoenician princess named Jezebel, who brought with her the worship of Baal – the god of storms, of thunder and lightning and fertility. Ahab set up a temple for Baal. He began to worship Baal personally, and established Baal worship as the national policy, the national religion. Baal worship involved ritual prostitution, and even child sacrifice. Instead of being a servant of the Lord God, he served Baal; instead of being a shepherd of God’s people, he led them astray. The people of Israel wavered back and forth, trying to cover all their bases. Worship one god one day and another the next, praying to one idol or another depending on what they needed.
At that time there was a man, named Elijah, who remained steadfast in his worship of the Lord God alone, unwavering in his faith. He announced to King Ahab that there would be a drought caused by the Lord God, a direct challenge to Baal, the god of storms. Then Elijah took off; went into hiding for 3 years until the drought became extreme. King Ahab and the people were getting desperate when finally, Elijah shows up again. 1 Kings 18 says, “Ahab went out to meet Elijah. When Ahab saw him, he exclaimed, “So, is it really you, you troublemaker of Israel?”
“I have made no trouble for Israel,” Elijah replied. “You and your government are the troublemakers, for you have abandoned the commands of the Lord and have run off after the local gods, the Baals, instead. Here’s what I want you to do: Gather everyone in Israel at Mount Carmel, along with the 450 prophets of Baal, and the 400 prophets of the prostitution goddess, who are supported by Jezebel.”
So Ahab summoned all the people of Israel and the prophets to Mount Carmel. Then Elijah stood in front of them and said, “How much longer will you waver, hobbling between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him! But if Baal is God, then follow him!” But the people were completely silent.
Elijah’s Showdown with a Purpose
In the face of the silence, Elijah proposes a showdown, a challenge designed to prove which god was the true God. Like a world series which proves which team is the true champion. In the baseball world series, the terms are set up to be as fair a contest as possible – they are allowed an equivalent number of players, alternate opportunities to score in each inning, alternate home field advantage (though this year, for the first time ever, it was no advantage for the home team lost in each of the 7 games!). In Elijah’s contest he gives the opposing team every advantage – he is outnumbered 450 to 1, the Baal ministers go first (not even a coin toss) and have all day before Elijah’s turn comes, plus they get the home field advantage.
Elijah said to them, “I am the only prophet of the Lord who is left, but Baal has 450 prophets. Now bring two bulls. The prophets of Baal may choose whichever one they wish and cut it into pieces and lay it on the wood of their altar, but without setting fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood on the altar, but not set fire to it. Then call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers by setting fire to the wood is the true God!” And all the people agreed.
Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “You go first, for there are many of you. Choose one of the bulls, and prepare it and call on the name of your god. But do not set fire to the wood.” So they prepared one of the bulls and placed it on the altar. Then they called on the name of Baal from morning until noontime, shouting, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no reply of any kind. Then they danced, hobbling around the altar they had made. About noontime Elijah began teasing them. “You’ll have to shout louder,” he scoffed, “for surely he is a god! Perhaps he is daydreaming, or is relieving himself. Or maybe he is away on a trip, or is asleep and needs to be wakened!”
So they shouted louder, and following their normal custom, they cut themselves with knives and swords until the blood gushed out. They raved all afternoon until the time of the evening sacrifice, but still there was no sound, no reply, no response. Then Elijah called to the people, “Come over here!” They all crowded around him as he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been torn down. He took twelve stones, one to represent each of the tribes of Israel, and he used the stones to rebuild the altar in the name of the Lord. Then he dug a trench around the altar large enough to hold about three gallons. He piled wood on the altar, cut the bull into pieces, and laid the pieces on the wood. Then he said, “Fill four large jars with water, and pour the water over the offering and the wood.”
After they had done this, he said, “Do the same thing again!” And when they were finished, he said, “Now do it a third time!” So they did as he said, and the water ran around the altar and even filled the trench.
At the usual time for offering the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet walked up to the altar and prayed, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, prove today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant. Prove that I have done all this at your command. O Lord, answer me! Answer me so these people will know that you, O Lord, are God and that you have brought them back to yourself.”
Elijah gathers the people close to him and shares with them the purpose for this contest – not to make a name for himself, but for the Lord God that he serves. Elijah’s one goal is that the people would know who is the ‘for real’ God, so they would stop wavering and be faithful to the only God that has the power to make a difference in their lives, to be in relationship with them. Elijah’s commitment to God, his unwavering faith, his courageous concern for his fellow citizens, using every means possible, even humor, to testify to the One God, makes the way for the Lord God to show up.
Immediately the fire of the Lord flashed down from heaven and burned up the young bull, the wood, the stones, and the dust. It even licked up all the water in the trench! And when all the people saw it, they fell face down on the ground and cried out, “The Lord—he is God, for real! Yes, the Lord is God, for real!”
Jesus’ Risk-Taking Mission
Despite the Lord God’s dramatic appearance and the affirmations of faith in the One True God that rang out on Mount Carmel, we know from our perspective in history, that people, even whole nations, would once again waver and divide their loyalties, play the whole field. So God devised another way to show the world once and for all, that the Lord God was the True God – for real. God Himself came, so that the world might meet Him, get to know Him, see His power, see His love and concern. God came in the person of Jesus the Christ, the Savior.
In another contest that seemed to give all the advantages to the powers of this world, Jesus took on the powers of sickness and human brokenness, the religious and political powers, the powers of destruction and even the power of death. The world threw its best at him (or is that its worst?), but Jesus showed unwavering trust in His Father, he showed the full extent of the Father’s love for the world, for each and every person in it. The Father, the Lord God, didn’t want even one person to have to waver, to mistakenly put their trust in things that cannot truly make a difference in their lives, that don’t have the power to save or to give life. For three days it looked like the world had won, Jesus was killed on a cross and his body laid in a grave. Then in the greatest upset of all, the Lord showed He was God, for real, by giving Jesus a resurrection body, resurrection life, giving Him the victory so that through Him everyone can come to know that the Lord is God, for real!
Risk-Taking Discipleship
Today is the International Day of Prayer for Persecuted Peoples. Organizations like Voice of the Martyrs and Open Doors stand as witnesses for those who are putting their lives on the line to be able to worship the Lord who is God for real. On their websites they lift up the stories of people who take risks, just as Elijah did, to prove to others who do not yet know, that the Lord is God, that Jesus is God with us. One of those people is Rev. Raymond Koh, a Malaysian pastor who continued to share his faith in Jesus Christ and to run a ministry for those of all faiths affected by HIV, despite threats and opposition by a government that declares it illegal for Christians to share their faith with Muslims. Nearly 3 years ago, Rev. Koh was kidnapped in a military-style operation. Voice of the Martyrs is sponsoring a worldwide petition for Rev. Koh’s release, and Rev. Koh’s wife continues to be bold and unwavering in her faith, publicly thanking God and the Christian community around the world for standing with her and her family, and encouraging them.
Today we, too, are called to stand up for Jesus, stand up for the One True God, to be unwavering in our faith, to be courageous in our witness, so that others who do not yet know, others who may be wavering, can know that the Lord is God, for real! So choose God this day, choose to be a disciple of Jesus, by sharing in his sacrifice, in his body and blood around the communion table. Then, strengthened by Christ and by His Spirit, choose to share the good news with others so that they know they are loved by God and invited to become saints.
Let us sing as we prepare our hearts to share with Christ in both his suffering and his glory…
Closing Song: Communion Song # 773
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