June 6, 2010 Limping After Two

I Kings 18:17-24
Luke 7: 18-28

While this day: 6 June 1944, is remembered as D Day for the Allied Invasion of Normandy, according to the Scriptures this is a day to remember a different kind of battle, a war of Idols vs God, a contest of Faith & Trust.

Rather than armies and Nations being at war, in the Old Testament there is a contest for a Peoples' soul and faith, generally described as all 450 Priests and Prophets of Baal who served Queen Jezebel versus The Prophet Elijah; in the New Testament between expectations of What Would Jesus Do / what the Savior did defying expectations. Would that the focus of our attention, was not on Oil, Power, Jobs, Economies, Weapons of Mass Destruction, but instead on Faith. We believe in Idols of our own making, the prestige of our homes, the power of our investments, our political allegiances, all of which we whip ourselves up into a frenzy defending;instead of simply trusting God Whether we seek a Messiah to create the revolution we want, making gods who will do our will, or whether we seek a Savior who cares about others, about the lost, the poor, the wounded and afraid?

Until Seminary, somehow this story had been lost on me, having heard the follow up of Elijah in the Cave and the Still Small Voice, countless times. The Contest on Mt. Carmel is an epic event deciding between the Worship of the Fertility gods of Baal and Trust in God, with 450 Prophets and Priests of Baal on one side, and Elijah feeling very alone on the other. But this is Not a Theological Debate of Dogma, not a question of numbers, influence or power, the reality is that in All The Middle East, Egypt, Israel, Sidon, it had not rained for seven years. Crops, lakes and rivers had dried up. In CNY, we are accustomed to complaining about Winter, it began snowing before Halloween and it snowed even on Mother's Day, which we blame for people moving to Florida, along with businesses and the problems of the economy. Yet, in other places around the world, in recent weeks, there have been earthquakes, tidal waves, fires, hurricanes, oil spills, and drought. In a harsh climate like Israel, where water means life, a drought could be as severe a death for a Nation as the floods of Noah, or the Red Sea closing down on Pharaoh and his Chariots. And while the snow, earthquakes, oil spills and global warming may in many ways be attributed to our actions, the Drought upon Israel in the days of Elijah were because the people had no trust.

In desperate times, people begin to question and vacillate. If others are playing the lottery, maybe we should? If everyone else is purchasing homes beyond their means, borrowing against future credit to have what we want, why shouldn't we? Why not plagiarize? Why not try internet dating, it is not really cheating, who is to know? Elijah feels as though he is standing alone, before the King, before the whole Nation, with enormous opposition.

SO Elijah creates this contest, we will each offer a sacrifice, and which ever Offering is accepted, will cause the drought to end, the rains to come, and theirs will be the true God. In times of extreme stress, what is at issue often seems lost by what might be the results of our mistakes. Queen Jezebel adds a side wager, adding pressure, raising the conflict level: When you lose for having stood up against the Queen your own life will be sacrificed. The Priests and Prophets of Baal Worship, make their Offering, and as their worship is about calling attention to their needs and desires, they begin screaming and crying for attention, when there is no response, they begin inflicting pain upon themselves and one another to cause their gods to do what they desire. Demonstrating that nothing can prevent God from being in relationship with the people, Nothing can prevent God from accepting a true offering, Elijah has buckets and buckets of water poured over the Offering he made, 12 Stone jars full, so much water, that this parched dry earth has standing water like a moat around the offering. He prays in the name of our ancestors, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, with a faith like Moses, and his offering, his sacrifice to God is accepted.

The nuance of this story is the figure of Obadiah. Many of us empathize with him. Obadiah is the Chief of Staff for King Ahab, but Obadiah also believes in God. So while he works at his job faithfully, doing everything he is commanded, when opportunity presents itself, he also protects and hides and feeds 100 prophets of Israel. King Ahab sent Obadiah to feed and water the King's Horses. People may starve or die of thirst, but the military's horses had to be protected. And while going to feed and water the Horses of the King, Obadiah feeds and waters the Prophets of Israel hidden in caves. Obadiah like the Nation, like many of us, tries to have a foot in both camps, to honor God and protect the faith, while serving the King who seeks to have Elijah and all faith in God: killed. A faith like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses, is not a Polytheistic faith in everything, but a Monotheistic faith in one thing over all all others, To believe in God.
For Elijah you cannot plant your foot in two places. You cannot cheat your spouse, wrong your neighbor, lie, and also sit down at table to give thanks to God for God's blessings. Tragically, it seems we as a culture, have forgotten the meaning of words, especially when said as a vow. We marry and divorce, describing this as a contract, a legal partnership broken, rather than believing the trust of the Vow that for Better or Worse, Richer or Poorer, in both Sickness and Health, as long as we shall live, we will serve one another.

God accepts the offering of Elijah. The Prophet Elijah wins the Contest. The drought is ended. But before everyone can go home, The Prophet of Israel, commands that all the prophets and priests of Baal be killed. Often times people will claim that the Old Testament is too violent; I think perhaps a part of our fear of the Old Testament is the absolute conviction, the lack of any equivocation, to be true to God or not.

Luke's story of Jesus and John's Disciples, is in a different setting. Hundreds of years after Ahab and Jezebel, after Alexander the Great invaded the land for the Greeks, after the Ptolomeys, Israel had rebelled under Judas Maccabeus, for a brief time to be a free and independent Nation, until once again the Caesars of Rome had created an Empire. The people, including John the Baptist and his disciples had been waiting for a new Messiah, one sent by God for their liberation, a Savior to set the people free. These disciples of John the Baptist ask Jesus: Are you he, or shall we seek another?”

What Jesus challenges, is not the people's allegiance to the Empire or Gods of Rome. They came wanting him to be their Messiah, to do as they commanded. Jesus reframes what it means to be The Messiah, to be their Savior. Not a leader of a Revolution, attempting to overthrow one political party for another, one Empire for a different government; but instead that he had come to fulfill what Isaiah had prophesied. Which revolution do you seek, a military coup, the ousting of those who have not done what we wanted when we wanted, is that not making our government and leaders into idols like Baal, whom we can cal upon when we desire, expecting that if we cry loud enough, they will act? Or that the blind might see and the lame dance, the deaf hear and the mute sing? To trade governments, to embrace “change,” is often to keep your feet firmly planted in a place of drought, expecting a different set of Idols, a different Government or Empire might fix our lives. What Jesus calls for is a leap of faith, to believe in changed lives.

The most wonderful element of this dialogue, is that Jesus does not criticize the government or John, but asks the people to see with their own eyes, that others are cared for, and to take no offense at this. Pilate questioned if Jesus were claiming to be a King? The Pharisees and Leaders of the community were offended that he did not associate with them exclusively, but instead that he cared for the orphaned, the tax collectors and prostitutes. So often when we question “What would Jesus Do?” what we want is for Jesus to do our bidding, to be our Savior saving us from what we want, instead of wondering. We cannot cure Cancers, but we can make certain that those with Cancer do not give up hope, are not alone. We cannot prevent people from aging, but as a community of faith we have provided a home for those who cannot maintain a home any longer. We cannot feed the world, but working side by side with Catholics and Episcopalians, Methodists and members of the Pentecostal Church we can help those suffering hard times to get through this. We cannot change the whole world, but we have given quality health care to a suffering people in a war-torn, impoverished part of SubSaharan East Africa. We can support those who are building a school and clinic in Haiti. Even more, we can forgive one another. We can make a humble offering of ourselves, asking God to forgive us.