OCTOBER 22nd, 2023 PASTOR DON PIEPER
THE DAYS OF ELIJAH 1 KINGS 18:1-2,17-21; 22-39
“SPIRITUAL LIGHTNING RODS”
It’s an odd phenomenon that while church attendance has declined in Europe and America there has simultaneously been a rise in ‘spirituality’, evident, among other places, in the world of marketing.
Consider how certain products are promoted. The Gap sells a perfume, for example, called OM in which one executive said, “I wanted to do fragrance about simplicity, sensuality and spirituality.” (OM) Likewise Elysium released their product with the slogan: “Stir the senses, rejuvenate the soul.”
(Elysium)
For years Infiniti has sold cars with the challenge to “Take one out for a drive and see why the soul is eternal.” (Infiniti) That must be quite the car! A recent survey showed that seven persons in ten believe in angels, (though not necessarily in the biblical sense), five in ten believe in UFO’s, three in ten in reincarnation or communication with the dead. In terms of spirituality, we’re all over the map.
There's a folk song in which Jesus’ mission, passion and resurrection are likened to a dance making him, ultimately, the Lord of the Dance. It seems today, with all this focus on spirituality, that people are trying out all kinds of dance moves while lacking any sense of divine rhythm...
I heard of a country pastor who attended a wedding reception. When he entered the dance floor a member of his church turned to his children and said, “I don’t know if you kids are allowed to dance here or not, but one thing’s for sure, I know your father shouldn’t!” That could’ve been me!
When it comes to spiritual issues many today have no sense of divine rhythm. It wasn’t so different in Elijah’s day. His neighbors were also very spiritual. They spent a lot of time praying and making sacrifices. They'd built altars and shrines everywhere. The problem was, as much as they liked to dance the dance, they were way out of step...., with the heartbeat of God!
So, Elijah called them together: “How long are you going to waver between two opinions?” (1 Kings 18:21), he asked. Apparently, they’re doing a lot of weaving and wavering but just couldn’t keep the beat God had laid down. It’s not that they don’t believe in God. They just don’t want to give up the more popular gods of their day. They were trying to cover all their bases. The God of Israel seemed awfully exclusive – a bit too intolerant for their pick and choose spirituality. Sound familiar?
“How long are you going to waver?” he asks. “If the Lord is God, follow him! But if Baal is God, then follow him!” (1 Kings 18:21) And the # 1 response? “It’s not wise to put all your eggs in one basket! It's intolerant to think there's only one dance!
So Elijah sets up a contest, a kind of Dance with the Stars of his day. He sets the date, saturates the media with commercials and arranges for a big-name pop star to have a costume malfunction during half time. Not really. Actually, he sets up a face-off between the God of his fathers and the gods of his neighbors. As he does so he gives his opponents every advantage. 450 prophets will represent their god and he alone will represent Yahweh. They'll get the prime cut of bull; he'll take the left overs. They'll use dry kindling and his altar will be saturated in water – repeatedly!
“Let the dance begin!” shouts the referee, and the 450 prophets of Baal cut loose – and they’re really cutting a rug, I tell ya! For hours they dance around the altar, yelling and screaming out their petitions, slicing open their arms in a great show of contrition & the crowds love it! It’s quite the show!
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And check it out! No one is enjoying the show more than Elijah himself! “You’ll have to shout a little louder!”he yells out from the sidelines. “I think your god is taking a tinkle. Is that him snoring? No, wait! I guess that was one of your prophets sawing more wood for the fire. Ooh, don’t hurt yourself, now! Maybe your god is on vacation! Maybe you guys should do a little more jumping up and down and start an avalanche or something! No? Nothing? How embarrassing.” (1 Kings 18:27)
Elijah is having way too much fun! And so, as the sun sets, the 450 prophets collapse in exhaustion. Annoyed and anemic, there hasn’t been so much as a spark all day.
Now it’s Elijah’s turn, but first he has them come out with four large buckets of water to drench the bull, the wood & the entire altar. So much water is used, in fact, that they create a small swimming pool around his altar. Now why do you suppose Elijah had them do that? That was the question that was asked in Sunday school one week. “Why pour four buckets over the bull and the altar like that?” the teacher asked. Instantly one little girl raised her hand, “to make lots of gravy!”
Maybe not, but at least she was listening! What was the point? Why saturate Yahweh's altar to the point that it was soggier than a tree in the Hoh Rain Forest? To make it crystal clear who God was and was not. To help the people get back in rhythm with the living God! After he prays, Elijah’s BBQ is incinerated with fire from heaven – not just the bull but every rock & stone, even the moat! And then the people finally get in step, praising the Lord of the Dance: “The Lord is God! The Lord is God!”
(1 Kings 18:39)
For one brief, shining moment, they actually get it. It's like a Camelot moment. In the light of the blaze now burning on Elijah's altar, God's people acknowledge the one true living God and worship Him. The ongoing wavering of God's people is far from over, but in that moment, they got it!
In Michael Jordan's book, Driven From Within, the former NBA star tells a visit he made to the home of his friend Fred Whifield. As they were getting ready to go out, Jordan asked to borrow a jacket
and was directed to a coat closet down the hall. When he reappeared, he was carrying an armful of athletic jackets, shirts and shoes. Whitfield noticed they all carried the Puma label, a rival of Nike for whom Jordan was affiliated. His closet had materials by both manufacturers.
Jordan emptied his friend's closet of everything made by Puma, shredded them and then loaded them into a dumpster outside. Then returning to Whitfield's side, he said, “Hey dude, call my Nike rep tomorrow and tell him to replace everything I just removed, but don't ever let me see you again in anything other than Nike. You can't ride the fence.” (from Michael Jordan's Driven From Within)
I can't imagine doing anything of the sort, nor would I recommend it to those who wish to keep their friends but I have to admit Jordan's behavior is a pretty good picture of idol smashing. It reflects the kind of radical commitment God longs for from his people. He doesn't want us to just make room in our proverbial closet for him; he wants us to commit our closet totally to him. He's not interested in an open relationship with you, where you fit him when there's time or space. Only the Lord is God!
The Old Testament declares that God is jealous for your heart, not because He is petty or insecure, but because He loves you with complete abandon. He loves you too much to share you with the things of this life that rob you of lasting joy and deprive you of His presence. Christian professor, Paul Copan, says that people are like the dog who drinks out of the toilet thinking, “it doesn't get much better than this.” We could be enjoying the living water of Christ yet we choose substitutes that are shockingly, disgustingly inferior. “The Lord your God is a consuming fire and a jealous God!”
(Deuteronomy 4:24)
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Imagine walking into a restaurant and seeing me having a romantic, candlelit dinner with a woman who is not my wife. When asked, I tell you, “Oh, I'm on a date.”
“But what about your wife?” you ask. “What about her? I love her too. I've taken her out plenty of times.” You'd walk away and disgusted, and rightfully so. Can you imagine my wife later meeting me at the door and cheerfully asking about my date. News flash – that would never happen!
If she wasn't jealous, it would show that something was amiss in our marriage, that she doesn't really care. God's love for you goes far deeper than that of your spouse or parent. God isn't happy to be one of many gods we worship. He's not content to share your heart with your career, or your house, or anything else you can buy or invest in. He wants your heart to burn for him as his does for you.
Some people say that all religions are basically the same, but that's just not the case. Nowhere else do we find God in hot pursuit of His people as we do in the God of the Bible, as Elijah makes clear, who never gives up on us, pursuing us to the point that He came down to live, die and rise among us.
What's more, Elijah shows us here that when we offer ourselves in pursuit of God’s purpose, we create opportunities for others to experience God through us. Our obedience creates a spiritual epi-center through which God shakes up the world around us and others come to witness God's goodness and experience his profound presence through our seeking to bring him glory in all we do and say...!
As CT Vivian, one of Martin Luther King's men once put it, “We all must decide on who's side we are on because to make no decision, to waver..., only plays into the hands of the enemy.”
(C.T. Vivian)
A couple of weeks ago, I took Claudia to a Peter Gabriel concert in Seattle for our 30th wedding anniversary. There's a song Gabriel used to do that sings about his longing, his soulful need to connect and of his discovery that he has the potential to have a positive impact on the lives of others. “I need contact,” he sings. “Nothing else satisfies. I awakened to the hunch: I have the touch.”
(Peter Gabriel)
When we offer ourselves..., we create opportunities for others to experience God thru us. Our lives become the X that marks the spot. We become living lightning rods of God’s activity!
How so? Learn from Elijah. He came to realize that if he followed the lead of those around him who were mixing and matching from the smorgasbord of spiritual and religious options, he, like them would wind up out of step with the living God. Elijah came to a point of clarity when he asked what turned out to be a truly timeless question: “How long are you going to waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him! But if Baal is God, then follow him!” (1 Kings 18:21)
So many are longing to connect but are searching in all the wrong places, out of step with the Lord of the Dance. God wants to teach you some new moves, empowering you to live a life of significance, following Jesus lead by demonstratively loving on those around you and boldly giving witness to the joy of living in sync with the Spirit – whose very purpose is to make Jesus known! With God’s blessing and through His Spirit you have the touch...to become a lightning rod of God’s power!
When we offer ourselves..., we create opportunities for others to experience God thru us. Our lives become the X that marks the spot. We become living lightning rods of God’s activity!