1 Kings 19: 9-18
What are we doing here? Why did we come to church this Sunday? Think about it for a moment. Of course we are allowed to say, "because the Bible commands it"--- if we have to--- but let us please try to dig a bit deeper than that. If we think the Bible commands it, why does it command it?
Perhaps, we come to worship for the fellowship, but that reason also demands further exploration, what kind of fellowship are we seeking and do we get it. And of course there are could be other reasons as well. We like the interaction, dialog, and learning we find with the others who are present. Or perhaps we like being challenged to rise above where we are and to continue to give our all to Christ. Or we enjoy the sense of being filled by God to help empower and strengthen others. Or we like the rhythm of music, God's word, and liturgy and want to be fed. And there are many other good and wonderful reasons --- and a combination --- why many of us come to worship. Nevertheless those responses do not necessarily answer the question, what are we doing here?
I wonder about that question ---"What are we doing here"---because I think there may be some of us who come to worship because we may feel like Elijah. Perhaps we have been diligent for the Lord, working tirelessly in our congregation and homes, our place of employment or study, expending great amounts of time and creative energy, and it looks like our hard work is really about to pay off in a big way. Suddenly, and quite unexpectedly, something happens and everything goes wrong, leaving us feeling dead in waters of despair. If that's the case, take heart because we are not alone. Life can be tough, decidedly not fair, and fraught with difficulty, but there's some hope, good news, for God's people in this week's Old Testament lesson that will help us understand our motivations.
Let's start by setting Elijah's current predicament in context. God's prophet has run afoul of Ahab, the King of Israel; because he confronted King Ahab and relayed God's instruction to Israel that unless the people repented the country was to have a devastating drought. Well you can imagine the response. Never mind that it was the king's rotten decisions, poor choice of a spouse, and blatant idol worship that kindled God's anger. The messenger, Elijah is blamed for the drought. So now three years later at God's instruction, Elijah returns to confront Ahab and the prophets of the idol Baal --- complete with prophetic pyrotechnics, a slaughter of the 400 false prophets, and some really fast running. One would think Elijah would be sitting pretty, but the queen of the land Jezebel, responds with a death threat that sends Elijah running lickety-split for his very life.
Talk about a depressing outcome! In Elijah's case there is no rest for the weary or the worthy. So Elijah reaches out to his one remaining relationship --- God. Elijah recognizes that God has been with the prophet through it all, providing him food and water during the drought to sustain him even when he abandons all hope. We also hear how God's angel keeps him going until he is able to seek refuge in a cave at Horeb, the mountain of God. So, it is here, exhausted and lacking hope, that we have our reading and find that Elijah is asleep until God wakes him up with a question: "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
Now that would seem to be an odd question. Doesn't God already know? That may have been your first response when I asked you the very same question at the beginning. But this is not the first time in scripture we get these kinds of questions for example, God asks Adam, where he is and who told him he was naked and had he been eating the forbidden fruit in Genesis 2, even though we know God knows what is in the human heart (Genesis 6:5; 1 Kings 8:39; Psalm 44:21, etc.) Nevertheless Elijah catches God up on the recent events from his perspective without sharing all the details. Elijah does not say that he is hiding from Jezebel or that he has come to seek God's help and protection.
In turn God instructs Elijah to go stand at the mouth of the cave. God responds to Elijah's self-assessment with self-revelation. First God displayed historic and traditional signs of God's presence, a windstorm, an earthquake and fire. But God was not present among the usual suspects. Instead there was --- translating from Hebrew --- a sound of a fine silence. And that is where Elijah encountered God.
Isn't this amazing! But this is what makes this so interesting, because God asks Elijah again what he is doing there. Is God expecting a different answer? Do you remember how the Bible describes the face of Moses after he encountered God up on another mountain? We are told that the face of Moses shone so brightly that people asked Moses to wear a mask or veil because his face was so bright. But Elijah --- Elijah is unmoved, untouched --- doesn't even say thank you. Elijah indeed again recounts his hard luck tale of how serving faithfully as God's prophet has landed him in a mess of misery.
Elijah's experience with God has not changed him. Elijah is a person unmoved by God's presence. That is one reason out of many that I do not accept the notion of some Christians who are unhappy that they are not moved by worship or reading the Bible or prayer as if somehow God is absent. Elijah was not moved by his experience! So what does that tell us? Maybe we are too self absorbed to be open!
What are you doing here? Elijah saw, heard and experienced God in fantastic ways. Furthermore, the power of God flowed through him to work miracles that were unequalled by anyone before him. Yet Elijah was essentially unchanged by this incredible encounter with God. It kind of reminds me of those few people who still believe the world is flat even after seeing those wonderful pictures of this blue earth from space.
So what did God do? Instead of responding with a pat on Elijah's back or an "at-a-boy," or things will get better Elijah just you wait and see, God fired him, or at least announced his retirement. God's words to Elijah are that God does not need Elijah; God has untold thousands-upon-thousands of faithful servants on whom God can depend.
We do not know how Elijah reacted to being laid off --- the command to anoint another prophet to take his place in verse 16. It may have been quite troubling because the monarchs whom God was firing/retiring/replacing, Ben-Hadad of Aram and Ahab of Israel were to be killed. Nonetheless, Elijah accepts his assignment from God, knowing that his time as God's prophet is drawing to an end, but not knowing what that end will be. Life goes on Elijah; there is work to be done, and God is in control.
Now I don't know about you but I think this whole episode and Elijah's experience interesting for us because we need to ask ourselves that very same question God asked Elijah, what are you doing here?
Today's Old Testament lesson reminds us that even prophets mess up, become discouraged, and fail to comprehend the ways of the Creator of the Universe. Elijah, for all the amazing acts he was empowered to do, all that he has experienced, all that God had done to care for him, even to point of allowing Elijah to experience God's presence, was only one small part in the all-encompassing divine story that continues today. It is not about you. It is not about me. It is about God.
God's kingdom comes and God's divine action continues with us and sometimes in spite of us. It is wonderful news that as disciples of Jesus Christ, we are God's agents of mercy and love in this world, but we are not God. In other words one of the most important answers to the question of what I am doing here is the reminder that God does not rely on me; I rely on God, with the knowledge that God will not abandon me. It is wonderful to know that God is be worshipped, we are never alone, and no matter how we feel, God shows us love and grace.
So sure you and I may come to worship for many different reasons, and those reasons are valuable and important, but here's the message of hope for our day: no matter how discouraged we are, no matter how insignificant and ill-prepared we feel in our discipleship walk, and no matter how insurmountable the odds may seem, we are not alone.
God is here. The question that needs answering is where are you, and what ARE you doing here? What's going on in your life? Because when we begin to answer that question, honestly and truthfully, perhaps we will be open to God's presence all around us, even when all we hear is silence. Amen.
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