Done [Proper 7C]

The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson

1 Kings 19:1-15a

Done

I think I know what is going on here: Elijah is trying to get fired.  He’s done.  He wants out and he wants out now.  I mean just look at the story we heard this morning from the first book of Kings.  Elijah runs away from the job site, falls asleep on the job, and then tells his boss that he would rather be dead than punch the clock one more time.  This prophet is practically daring God to hand him his walking papers.

But it wasn’t always like this.  In fact, Elijah is coming directly off of his biggest professional triumph.  The chapter preceding today’s Old Testament lesson details his epic showdown with the prophets of Baal and with the royals of the Northern Kingdom of Israel.  You might remember that one: in an astounding display Elijah calls down fire from heaven to devour offering and altar after the whimpering prophets of the Canaanite deity Baal fail to conjure as much as a lightening bug.  It was a massive embarrassment for the other prophets and for Queen Jezebel – whom we discover, in today’s lesson, does not enjoy being embarrassed.  And it was a huge win for the prophet and for his God, YHWH.

Elijah’s victory was supposed to be a turning point for the nation and it was supposed to be the prophet’s big star turn.  Immediately after the showdown ended, it appeared that that would be the case.  For a moment, it seemed that people were prepared to wipe out from their nation the idolatry that long plagued them and turn back to God.  Elijah was primed to be the bold and victorious hero who would always be remembered as the one who ushered in a new golden age.  And everyone would live happily ever after.

But the queen, the queen wasn’t having it.  You could say she was a sore loser.  Because Elijah beat her and she responded by putting a hit out on him.  So like I said, she did not take the loss well.

And just like that, Elijah’s moment in the sun became very cloudy.  And so, no longer able to enjoy his achievement, he runs away, leaves it all behind.  He’s done – done with all of it.  You can either fire him or he’ll just quit.

The funny thing is: he flees to save his life only to ask God, once he finds safety, to take it away.  Maybe he just didn’t want to give Jezebel the satisfaction.  He heads south, leaving behind the land of Israel, leaving behind the nation over which Queen Jezebel reigned.  And he finds a nice tree in the southern kingdom of Judah.  And that is where he lays down and gives up. 

But God does not give up on him.  God refuses to accept his resignation.  Instead God feeds him, bakes him bread for the journey ahead.  Full of food and water, Elijah takes the long walk to the boss’ office.  In this case Mt. Sinai – a mountain famous for its appearance in the Ten Commandments’ story.

Elijah climbs the mountain and finds a nice cave – probably the same cave in which Moses waited.  And there, in the waiting room, Elijah is asked to state his purpose.  “What are you doing here?” is the delicate way in which the question is posed. 

It seems Elijah was there to explain to God why he was no longer up to the task.  If God won’t fire him, then he will just have to quit.  This is the prophet’s resignation speech.  His attempt under the tree, which was not terribly subtle, didn’t seem to take, and so Elijah decides to try again; maybe it would work on a mountain.

And it does get God’s attention.  Elijah is called out of the waiting cave to stand on the mountain.  God was about to pass by, to show up, to hear Elijah out.

So Elijah steps out and he looks for God.  And the wind blows in.  And it seems like God is showing up.  Because the wind us powerful.  The wind is so powerful that it splits the mountains in two.  It is so powerful that it breaks the rocks in pieces.  And, also, God has been shrouded in the wind before, God was in the wind that hovered over the face of the waters at the beginning of Creation, and in the wind that split the Red Sea and made it dry land.  And so God must be in the wind.  But God was not in the wind.

Then there was an earthquake.  And again, it was powerful.  The earth shook.  And this was nothing new: God had shaken the world before; God was in the earthquake that the split the earth and swallowed the rebels in the book of Numbers, back in the days of Moses, and the Psalmist sings songs about how the earth trembles and shakes in the presence of the Lord.  And so God must be in the earthquake.  But God was not in the earthquake.

And then, just when it seemed that God was out of the office, there was the fire.  And this must be it because Elijah had seen God in the fire once before, not long ago, back in the presence of Queen Jezebel and the prophets of Baal.  God was in that fire that devoured the sacrifice and lapped up the water in the trench around the altar.  And God was in the fire of the burning bush, and in the pillar of fire that led the people out of Egypt, and in the fire that met Moses on this very mountain of Sinai that day that God burned the Ten Commandments into the stone tablets, and in the tongues that danced on the heads of the apostles on Pentecost, a story we heard about just two weeks ago, and all throughout the Bible.  Our God is a consuming fire.  That is scripture.  And so God must be in the fire.  But God was not in the fire.

God could not be found in any of the places Elijah expected God to be found. And so, it seemed, maybe God was not coming after all.  Because for the many acts of God Elijah witnessed on that mountain, God was not found in any of them. 

In the end, there was only this deafening silence.  And, because what other option did he have, Elijah spoke his prayer into that silence.  And God listened.  God was there, there in the sheer silence.  It was not what Elijah expected but it was exactly what he needed.

In that moment, as he sat with his despair, Elijah did not need God to split the mountains or consume the forests with fire.  He just needed God to hear him out, to listen.  And God did.

And after the prophet said his piece.  And after God listened.  Elijah went back to work – to complete the work to which God had called him.

Elijah thought he was done, that he couldn’t do it anymore.            

But God wasn’t done with him.  And, God isn’t done with you.