JC Disciples
How Soon We Forget
Reading: 1 Kings 19:1-9:
"Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all hte prophets with the sword. So Jezebel sent a messager to Elijah to say, 'May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tommorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.'"
"Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, while he himself went a day's journay into the desert. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. 'I have had enough, Lord,' he said. 'Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.' Then he lay down under the tree and fell asleep."
"All at once an angel touched him and said, 'Get up and eat.' He looked around, and there by his head was a cake of bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again."
"The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, 'Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.' So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. There he went into a cave and spent the night."
The book of I Kings contains many wonderful stories of the prophet Elijah. Tonight's reading is one of my favorite Elijah stories. But to fully appreciate it, we have to consider the story that precedes it: the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel.
You're probably familiar with this story. Elijah arranges a showdown on Mount Carmel between himself and the prophets of Baal. Each camp is to prepare a bull for sacrifice and then call on its deity to set fire to it. The God who answers with fire is the God the people will follow. To make life interesting, Elijah allows the prophets of Baal to try first. They prepare their sacrifice and begin the rituals by which they invoke the power of their god. Nothing happens. Then Elijah taunts them with such wonderful remarks as "maybe your god is sleeping" and "perhaps he has gone on a trip."
After the prophets of Baal have tried all day, Elijah takes his turn. First, he repairs the altar of the Lord which has fallen into ruins due to the neglect of the people. Then he digs a trench around the altar. With the altar ready, he lays the wood and prepares the sacrifice. As a final preparation, he has twelve large jars of water poured over the sacrifice, the wood, and the altar so that everything was soaked and the trench was flooded. Then Elijah prays a very simple prayer. Fire falls from heaven and consumes the sacrifice, the wood, the water, the stones of the altar, and even soil.
It was quite a triumph for God and Elijah that day. The false prophets were rounded up and killed. But when their patron, the queen, Jezebel, heard what had happened, she threatened to kill Elijah.
It is at this point where tonight's reading appears. Elijah has just witnessed one of the most remarkable displays of God's almighty power in scripture. He has prayed for rain and the drought Israel was suffering from ended. By God's power, he has outrun a horse-drawn chariot from Mount Carmel to Jezreel, a distance of over twenty miles. Now, because of a threat from the evil Queen Jezebel, he runs for his life into the desert.
In the lesson we just heard, Elijah prays for his life to end. What kind of response is that? Elijah sounds defeated and hopeless only a day or two after his greatest triumph. We have to wonder why. Maybe he thought the events on Mount Carmel were enough to turn even Jezebel from her wicked ways. Maybe Elijah is disappointed that Jezebel remains unmoved. Maybe, since he's going to die anyway, he prefers to die at God's hands rather than at the hands of Jezebel's henchmen. In any case, Elijah seems to have quickly and completely forgotten the awesome power of God that he so recently witnessed. How soon he forgot.
We can marvel at Elijah's apparent lack of faith, but what about our own stumblings? During Sunday services this summer, the congregation has had opportunities to hear people tell stories of God's action in their lives. I suspect if we had the time and interest, we could go around the room tonight and each of you could share a story of how you have seen God at work in your life. Each of you has at least one such experience; I'm sure of that. If you didn't, you wouldn't be here tonight.
I was one of the people who volunteered to tell a story. Since most of you here tonight aren't with us on Sunday mornings, I think I can repeat without boring too many people. My story is how David and I came to Mesa. It wasn't a chance thing, you see; God brought us here.
We moved to Tampa, Florida in the fall of 1991 when David accepted a job with a company there. The first year went well, as first years in new places go. But at his annual review, David was given a "promotion" of sorts. It's one of those situations where condolences seem more appropriate that congratulations. As his first managerial task, he was assigned four projects that had previously belonged to experienced managers. All four were at various levels of disaster. David's boss was unsupportive, and often detrimental, towards his efforts to make things work. The stress level was phenomenal. David was bringing the stress home and dumping it on me.
That problem was severe, but it grew worse when his parents arrived for a visit. They brought news of an old family problem that had recently resurfaced. After dumping this burden in our laps, they left us alone to deal with the problem. When we visited our families in Albuquerque at Christmas, we realized how isolated we were on David's side. We returned to Tampa and felt more alone in our struggle than ever.
It was clear David had to find a new job. The way the pressure was building, it was going to be more than he could stand. There were personal issues he needed to deal with and this job was standing in the way.
Now it was January of 1993. The economy was showing small signs of a possible recovery, but no one knew if it would. Bill Clinton was inaugurated as president. A democrat in office is always a bad omen for defense industries. It's important to know these things and remember what the economic environment was like in early 1993. You see, David is a software engineer and has spent so many years working for defense contractors that it is almost impossible for him to find commercial work. This was the situation we faced as David began to search for a job.
There weren't many ads to be found, but David answered what he could. In mid-February, Motorola invited us both out for his interview. We were hopeful when we returned to Tampa that the nightmare would end soon.
According to the information David was given during his interview, the people who interviewed him were to make their decisions within five days. But two weeks had passed and we had heard nothing from Motorola. We did hear something from David's employer: it wasn't David's imagination, his boss really was out to get him. A meeting had made it very clear that David's boss was attempting to create a situation in which David would either quit or be open to firing. Time was running out.
Finally we heard positive signs from Motorola. David was being considered by several areas; key decision makers were out of town; they were checking references. It looked like relief was in sight, but would it come in time?
One night on my drive home from work, I was worrying over the effects of David being out of work. How long would it last? How could we manage everything when my salary alone couldn't cover our bills? What would happen? I began to pour out my complaint to God. It's not often I really hear God speaking to me, but that night I did. And I heard "Trudy, would I not open the floodgates of heaven if that's what it took to meet your needs?" After considering the question, I had to admit that God not only could, but would do that.
A week or so later, on April Fool's Day, Motorola offered David a job. When I learned that he'd been offered more than he asked for, I knew that God had indeed opened the floodgates of heaven. I've never heard of anyone being offered a higher salary than he requested, especially in an uncertain economy. Truly, God had been at work in that.
Granted, it's not as spectacular as the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal. It's not as impressive as some of the stories that have been shared on Sundays. But it is my story. I experienced it. I should remember it, but I don't.
A few months after we moved to Mesa, I was stuck in a job with an abusive boss much like David had experienced in Tampa. The decision to leave was hard. I didn't like the company and I didn't like the career field I was in. Leaving would mean being out of work for some time or taking a job that paid far less. How would it all work out? When I left, I felt like I was jumping off a cliff.
To my surprise, God caught me and began doing marvelous things in my life that I never would have imagined. How soon I had forgotten that God does indeed provide ways where we see none.
I suspect you all have similar stories to tell. We've all been there with Elijah. We have seen great things and then fallen so quickly into despair. Maybe it's due to a let down of sorts after a peak experience. Maybe we're tired or burned out. Maybe it's our fallible humanity. In any event, how soon we forget.
But that's why I treasure this story of Elijah so much. Elijah, wallowing in despair, forgetful of God's power, prays to die. But how does God answer Elijah's prayer? Does God do as Elijah asks? Does God reject Elijah for his faithlessness? Does God ignore Elijah altogether?
No, God continues to do the amazing. God provides for Elijah. Elijah doesn't ask for such providence; he doesn't even seem to want it. But God provides food and water anyway. Don't you just know that cake of bread was still warm from the baking and the water still cold from the spring? God never stops at the halfway point; God goes all out to provide for us.
God does not depend on us, not in our abilities to do what needs to be done, not on our remembrance of God's power, not on our faithfulness. We are the ones who are ever dependent on God, even when we think we're not, even when we forget all that God can do.
If we remember nothing else tonight, let us remember that God is faithful. God is faithful even when we are not. God's faithfulness to us does not depend on our goodness, our merits, or our worthiness. It is God's nature to be loving and faithful to us, God's children.
We may forget our duties and responsibilities. We might even forget our own children. We might forget about God's greatness. We might even forget about God altogether. But God will never forget about us. God will never forsake us, even when we jump into the pit of despair. Let us not forget that wondrous truth.