Will
Kane, longtime sheriff, walks out into the dry, dusty, deserted street—ready to
face the recently returned outlaw, Frank Miller and his gang. Sheriff Kane faces the bad guys alone
at high noon—while the townspeople
hide behind their doors. John
McLane, a New York City detective visiting his estranged wife in Los Angeles at
Christmas, takes on a gang of terrorists who have seized a high-rise. Because the others in the building are
all hostages, McLane faces the bad guys alone—ready to die hard.
Like
the movies “High Noon” and “Die Hard,” today’s text shows one man standing up
to evil against all odds. Three years into the drought, Elijah, the one
remaining prophet of the Lord God of Israel, challenges the Israelite
people. “How long will you hobble
back and forth between the Canaanite gods of rain and fertility and the Lord
your God of Israel? How long will
you hedge your bets on who will provide for you? How long will you hedge your bets on whom you will serve? How long will you wait to decide whom
you can trust? What’s keeping you from making your decision? Do you need a sign?”
Elijah,
the one remaining prophet of the Lord God of Israel, challenges the 450
prophets of Baal to a showdown. The
setting—high atop Mt. Carmel. In
this corner—the prophets of Baal and in this corner—Elijah. The rules of engagement—the prophets
will prepare sacrifices to their gods and wait for the one true god to light
his sacrifice with fire. The odds
are in favor of the Canaanite gods.
After all, Baal was known as the god of the sky and storms—think lightning. The odds are in favor of Baal. Since his priests go first, if fire
consumes their sacrifice, Elijah—representing the Lord God of Israel—won’t even
get his turn. Elijah challenges
the prophets of Baal to a showdown—and the winner gets the people—their hearts
and their loyalties. Confident of
the outcome, Elijah thunders, “Are you ready to rumble?”
Dividing
into teams, the prophets of Baal quickly prepare their altar and the bull
sacrifice. Then, they put on a
show the likes of which the fence-sitting Israelites have never before
seen. Whipping themselves into a
frenzy—egged on to some degree by the taunts and jeers of Elijah—the prophets
of Baal offer a dizzying sensual display of sights, sounds, and smells. But there is no sound, no answer, no
response whatsoever from their god—Baal.
So,
now it’s Elijah’s turn. Quietly,
thoughtfully, he begins his sacrificial preparations. Rebuilding the altar with 12 stones, Elijah’s actions remind
the Israelites of the 12 tribes of their ancestors. Elijah’s actions reminds them how those 12 tribes were freed
from slavery by the Lord their God. Pouring 12 jars—we’re talking huge jars—full
of water, Elijah symbolizes the power of the Lord God who led their ancestors
through the waters of the Red Sea.
Silently, symbolically, sacramentally, Elijah prepares the
sacrifice. And when he quietly
calls upon the Lord God of Israel, fire consumes not only his soaking wet
sacrifice but also the wood and stones on which it lay. The fire even consumes all the water
pooled in the trenches around the altar.
The people have their sign, and they respond, “The Lord is the real God!
The Lord is the real God!”[1]
Why
was it so important for the people to choose which god to serve? Up to that time, the Israelites had
encountered and lived within 3 different understandings of God— and 3 different
systems of worship. First—the
Pharaoh system. Its hallmark was power above all else. Its motto: Might makes right. In Egypt, the Israelites were nothing
more than a commodity to be used and to be used up by the god, Pharaoh. Second—the
Lord God of Israel system. Leading
the people out of Egypt, the Lord changed their identity from Pharaoh’s slaves
to God’s treasured people.
Desiring a loving relationship with the people, the Lord gave them the
law. Following it, they would
learn to live in relationship with the Lord their God and to live in
relationship with one another. Community is the hallmark of this system. Caring
for one other is the motto. Third—the system of Baal. It was a quid pro quo system. If we worship Baal, then he will send
rain for our crops. The motto for
the Baal system: “If you scratch
my back, I’ll scratch yours.” “I’ll do something for you only if you can do
something for me.” Because
worshiping and living within either the Baal or the Pharaoh system actually
tears down community, the Lord God of Israel demands complete loyalty from his
people. Moses had commanded the
people, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your
mind, and with all your strength[2].
But
in 1 Kings, we find the people hedging their bets—
not willing to give all their loyalty to
God, not willing to put all their trust in God, not willing to trust each
other.
Do
you know about hedging bets? I
do. As I was applying to the For Such a Time as This program in the
spring of 2011, I also applied for a year-long chaplaincy residency in Austin. I was accepted
into it before I knew my name had been given to this presbytery. The residency would have provided me
with good pastoral experience and training—meeting the spiritual needs of
people in times of crisis. And it
would have made it possible to remain in Austin another year—among our
emotional and spiritual support group. The residency would not begin until the
end of August 2011. Why not hedge
my bets? Why not hold on to my
chaplaincy slot? After I
interviewed in Heartland presbytery and your Pastor Nominating Committee and your
Session extended their parts of what would become the call here in mid-June
2011, I held onto the residency spot. Even though I was certain God was calling
me here—to this church—for such a time as this—I hedged my bets. Then, I realized, hedging my bets was
actually showing a lack of trust in God’s plan, a lack of trust in God’s timing—
a lack of trust in God. So, before
I came here in mid-July to meet you and preach my candidate sermon, I withdrew
my name from the residency program.
I understand the people’s desire to hedge their bets . . . especially in
the midst of drought.
In
our droughts—real or imagined—this text challenges us to choose how we will
serve God. Will we follow the
Pharaoh system, the Baal system, or the system of the Lord our God? This is important because it determines how
we are the church. Will we use the
pharaoh model? Will we let the powerful make all the
decisions—ceding our own power to the strongest, the loudest, the most
insistent? Will we use the Baal model?
Will we follow those who claim if you do things my way, then I’ll support the
mission and ministry of this church?
Will we in turn make the same kind of ultimatum? Or is the Lord God our model? Will we let go of our personal desires so that the needs
of the community are met? Will building relationships, caring for
the powerless, and nurturing the entire group be our focus?
This
week I watched 2 people choose the system under which they will serve—the model
they will use. Wednesday, B, L and I drove to an assisted living facility in D, KS to
visit E. E is a
long-time member of this church. Her husband of 57 years, died 2 months ago—right after they moved from their
home. When I said I am going to D,KS, B and L volunteered to come with me. During our visit, I watched as they responded to
the underlying fear and grief in E’s conversation. I listened as they shared words of
comfort and words of wisdom—words from their own experiences of losing their
husbands. I watched and listened as they ministered to E. There were no power plays nor was there
any “you scratch my back and then I’ll scratch yours” in E’s room. Instead there was unlimited compassion
and total attentiveness to the concerns weighing E down. For B and L, it was all about
community. They chose to be the church using the Lord our God
system.
Like
the people in today’s text, we are asked to make a choice. Are we willing to
serve the Lord our God—who calls us out of what I want for me and into what is
best for the entire community? Are
we willing to serve the Lord our God—who invites us to take off the blinders
that focus us inward, so that we can see the needs all around us? Are we willing to serve the Lord our
God—who calls us, not to cede our power to others with their own personal
agendas but to pool our power together to build up the community?
Are we willing to serve the Lord our God—who
expects each of us to shoulder the load of the mission and ministry of this
church together. Are we willing to serve the Lord our God—who
expects for each of us to give to support the financial, physical,
spiritual, and pastoral needs of this congregation? Unlike the townspeople in “High
Noon,” we are called out into the streets to save our community. Unlike the hostages in “Die Hard,” we
are free to choose and to serve. Are
we willing to proclaim “The Lord is the real God!” Are we willing to trust God
to take care of us now and in the future?
Are we willing to trust in our faith community to lift us up?
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