Showdown at Carmel
Showdown at Carmel
June 2, 2013
Jay Bartow, Pastor Emeritus of First Presbyterian Church of Monterey
Did anyone read the sermon title in the Herald and come thinking I was going to talk about some juicy dispute in our sister city of Carmel? Sorry to mislead you, but the Carmel I am talking about is the mountain on the northwest coast of Israel with the vale of Jezreel, the most fertile farmland in the country, to the south east, and the stunning bay of Joppa to the northwest. It looks a lot like our Monterey Peninsula with pine trees covering its slopes.
At the time of this account in 1 Kings, the nation of Israel that had reached its highpoint influence and power under Kings David and Solomon, has split in two with Judah to the south and Israel to the north. The king of Israel is Ahab who has married a non-Jew named Jezebel, who has brought with her the worship of Baal, the god of fertility thought to control rain and the cycles of nature, by the Canaanite and other peoples of the region and also of Asherah, also known as Astarte, the goddess of fertility. The writer of 1 Kings says that Ahab did evil in the sight of the Lord, more than all that were before him (1 Kings 16:31), which is saying quite a lot. Elijah, a faithful prophet of Yahweh, the God of the Jews, has spoken against the idolatry of Ahab and Jezebel and their followers, and three years earlier prophesied there would be neither dew nor rain except by his word, and then he disappeared. Sure enough, his words were fulfilled, and a devastating drought ensued. Ahab is at the point of losing his horses and mules because they have nothing to eat, and he and Jezebel do all in their power to find Elijah. But the prophet goes into hiding in the wilderness to the east and then in a town called Zarephath, in the area of Sidon, a traditional rival of Israel to the north.
Then God directs Elijah to present himself to Ahab who when he sees him says, “Is it you, you troubler of Israel?” To which Elijah replies, “I have not troubled Israel; but you have, and your father’s house, because you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and followed the Baals.” Elijah tells Ahab to assemble all Israel at Mount Carmel along with the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah, whom the King and Queen support.
We heard the outcome of that showdown in our first Scripture reading, and I hope that you caught a feel for the desperation of the prophets of Baal from our choral anthem, “Call him louder”, from Mendelssohn’s magnificent composition, “Elijah”. Imagine the courage of Elijah when he stands toe to toe with the King and people and says, “How long will you go limping with two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” This is high stakes poker with everything on the line for Elijah: his life, his faith, the fate of those yet true to the God of Israel, all hang in the balance. He taunts the prophets, egging them to cry louder since their god might be meditating, or has wandered away, or has fallen asleep. But there was no voice, no answer, no response. I’m sure you got that from our anthem.
Then Elijah offers up a succinct prayer asking God to demonstrate God’s power to show all present that Elijah has acted at God’s bidding. Then fire from God falls and consumes the offering, the stones, the dust, and even the water surrounding them. The people fall on their faces and proclaim, “The Lord indeed is God; the Lord indeed is God.”
Not only that, Elijah says that the drought is about to end, even though there is not a cloud in the sky, and goes up on the mountain top and bows down and puts his face between his knees and asks his servant seven times to look out toward the sea. The servant sees nothing until the seventh time when he reports a little cloud no bigger than a person’s hand rising out of the sea. Soon the heavens grow black and there comes a heavy rain.
We would think that this overpowering display of God’s power would convert Ahab and the people to return to Yahweh, but if you read on in the story, you see that that when he reports to Jezebel all that has happened she sends a message to say to Elijah that she would see to his death by the next day.
So after an amazing victory and vindication Elijah flees for his life all the way to the south of the desert of the Negev and Beersheba, one of the campsites used by Abraham, and then tells his servant to stay there and goes on a day’s journey into the wilderness, sits down under a broom tree and cries out to God: “It is enough now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.” He goes to sleep and is told in a dream to eat and drink so that he may have strength for the journey ahead of him, and goes forty days and nights to Horeb, or Sinaii, the Mount of God, where he enters a cave to spend the night.
Then God asks him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” Elijah tells him that he has served God zealously, but the people have forsaken God, killed God’s prophets, and he alone is left, and they are out to kill him. Is this the same man who challenged his king and nation, taunted the prophets of Baal, declared the end of the drought? He seems to have lost all hope.
God tells him to go outside the cave for God is about to pass by and there is a wind so violent it is splitting rocks, but the Lord was not in the wind. Then an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. Then a fire, but the Lord was not in it. After the fire a sound of sheer silence, or as some translations render it, of a still small voice. God asks again what Elijah is doing there and directs him to go back to the north and anoint a king over Damascus and a new king over Israel, and Elisha, who will be his successor. I am reminded of the wisdom of Wayne Hughes, who gave an address last night at the Naval School, who says to all the officers he trains, “Your first job is to train your replacement.” The other thing God tells Elijah is that there are seven thousand persons in Israel who have not bowed their knees to Baal. You are not alone, Elijah, there are others who are faithful, and you have a responsibility to them so go and stand with them.
Elijah does as he is told. I hope that on your own you will read chapters 18 through 21 of 1 Kings. Elijah’s story stirs and inspires me at so many points. He and the prophets of Israel gave a gift to the world of incomparable value. They show that everyone is subject to the law of God, from the humblest peasant to the king and queen. The norm for the nations around them was the king and queen were considered divine, above the law, free to do whatever they pleased with no questions asked, no challenges offered. Whoever did so would pay with his head. Western Europe for centuries believed in the divine right of kings. The prophets of Israel believed and proclaimed the responsibilities of the king to the divine will, the accountability of the king to divine justice.
Beginning with the Magna Carta England’s nobles sought to limit the power of monarchs. In America we forged a form of governance with a division of powers with each branch of government pledged to defend and uphold the constitution, the rule of law. Our Presbyterian form of government influenced this approach to governance, and I thank God that leaders in our church are accountable to our book of order and to God’s Word, and to one another. We promise that when we are ordained as deacons, elders or pastors.
Would that more Christians had joined Bonhoeffer, Karl Barth, Martin Niemoller, and others in Germany in the 1930’s in signing the Theological Declaration of Barmen which challenged the rise of of the Nazis as they sought to impose their agenda on every aspect of German life, including the church. Like the early Christians the signers affirmed Jesus Christ as Lord, not Caesar, not the Fuhrer.
The story of Elijah and of other of Israel’s prophets is told in their sacred Scriptures, and it does not put the people in a favorable light. As Jesus approaches Jerusalem one last time he laments, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!” (Mt. 23:37) When he began his ministry in his hometown he said no prophet is accepted in his hometown, and he goes on to point out that there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, yet he was sent to none of them except a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. That incensed his neighbors and they tried to push him off a cliff.
John Bright, insightful theologian of the Hebrew Scriptures, says that the prophets enabled Israel to repent and rebuild after the judgment the prophets warned was to come if the people did not turn from evil. The message of the prophets helped them to see where they went wrong and to mend their ways and to rebuild their life and faith.
Elijah has more to teach us than I can pass on today, but let us remember at least two things. No one is above the law of God. No president or dictator or bishop or pastor or parent or teacher or older sibling or bully. The abuse of power needs to be exposed for what it is and justice called for.
Second. We cannot say we trust God for our security, sense of worth, and for direction in life, and at the same show by our actions that we trust more in money, or possessions, or race, or our cleverness, using those very things in ways inconsistent with the will of God. Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters . . .You cannot serve God and wealth.” (Mt. 6:24)
Elijah’s question haunts us: “How long will you go limping with two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” (1 Kings 18:21)
I close with portions of two prayers from our Book of Common Worship. Let us pray.
“Everlasting God, give us purity of heart and strength of purpose, that no selfish passion may hinder us from knowing your will, no weakness keep us from doing it; that in your light we may see light clearly, and in your service find perfect freedom.”
“We do not presume to come to your table, merciful Lord, trusting in our own goodness, but in your all-embracing love and mercy. We are not worthy even to gather up the crumbs under your table, but it is your nature always to have mercy. So feed us with the body and blood of Jesus Christ, your Son, that we may forever live in him and he in us. Amen.”
June 2, 2013
Jay Bartow, Pastor Emeritus of First Presbyterian Church of Monterey
Did anyone read the sermon title in the Herald and come thinking I was going to talk about some juicy dispute in our sister city of Carmel? Sorry to mislead you, but the Carmel I am talking about is the mountain on the northwest coast of Israel with the vale of Jezreel, the most fertile farmland in the country, to the south east, and the stunning bay of Joppa to the northwest. It looks a lot like our Monterey Peninsula with pine trees covering its slopes.
At the time of this account in 1 Kings, the nation of Israel that had reached its highpoint influence and power under Kings David and Solomon, has split in two with Judah to the south and Israel to the north. The king of Israel is Ahab who has married a non-Jew named Jezebel, who has brought with her the worship of Baal, the god of fertility thought to control rain and the cycles of nature, by the Canaanite and other peoples of the region and also of Asherah, also known as Astarte, the goddess of fertility. The writer of 1 Kings says that Ahab did evil in the sight of the Lord, more than all that were before him (1 Kings 16:31), which is saying quite a lot. Elijah, a faithful prophet of Yahweh, the God of the Jews, has spoken against the idolatry of Ahab and Jezebel and their followers, and three years earlier prophesied there would be neither dew nor rain except by his word, and then he disappeared. Sure enough, his words were fulfilled, and a devastating drought ensued. Ahab is at the point of losing his horses and mules because they have nothing to eat, and he and Jezebel do all in their power to find Elijah. But the prophet goes into hiding in the wilderness to the east and then in a town called Zarephath, in the area of Sidon, a traditional rival of Israel to the north.
Then God directs Elijah to present himself to Ahab who when he sees him says, “Is it you, you troubler of Israel?” To which Elijah replies, “I have not troubled Israel; but you have, and your father’s house, because you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and followed the Baals.” Elijah tells Ahab to assemble all Israel at Mount Carmel along with the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah, whom the King and Queen support.
We heard the outcome of that showdown in our first Scripture reading, and I hope that you caught a feel for the desperation of the prophets of Baal from our choral anthem, “Call him louder”, from Mendelssohn’s magnificent composition, “Elijah”. Imagine the courage of Elijah when he stands toe to toe with the King and people and says, “How long will you go limping with two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” This is high stakes poker with everything on the line for Elijah: his life, his faith, the fate of those yet true to the God of Israel, all hang in the balance. He taunts the prophets, egging them to cry louder since their god might be meditating, or has wandered away, or has fallen asleep. But there was no voice, no answer, no response. I’m sure you got that from our anthem.
Then Elijah offers up a succinct prayer asking God to demonstrate God’s power to show all present that Elijah has acted at God’s bidding. Then fire from God falls and consumes the offering, the stones, the dust, and even the water surrounding them. The people fall on their faces and proclaim, “The Lord indeed is God; the Lord indeed is God.”
Not only that, Elijah says that the drought is about to end, even though there is not a cloud in the sky, and goes up on the mountain top and bows down and puts his face between his knees and asks his servant seven times to look out toward the sea. The servant sees nothing until the seventh time when he reports a little cloud no bigger than a person’s hand rising out of the sea. Soon the heavens grow black and there comes a heavy rain.
We would think that this overpowering display of God’s power would convert Ahab and the people to return to Yahweh, but if you read on in the story, you see that that when he reports to Jezebel all that has happened she sends a message to say to Elijah that she would see to his death by the next day.
So after an amazing victory and vindication Elijah flees for his life all the way to the south of the desert of the Negev and Beersheba, one of the campsites used by Abraham, and then tells his servant to stay there and goes on a day’s journey into the wilderness, sits down under a broom tree and cries out to God: “It is enough now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.” He goes to sleep and is told in a dream to eat and drink so that he may have strength for the journey ahead of him, and goes forty days and nights to Horeb, or Sinaii, the Mount of God, where he enters a cave to spend the night.
Then God asks him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” Elijah tells him that he has served God zealously, but the people have forsaken God, killed God’s prophets, and he alone is left, and they are out to kill him. Is this the same man who challenged his king and nation, taunted the prophets of Baal, declared the end of the drought? He seems to have lost all hope.
God tells him to go outside the cave for God is about to pass by and there is a wind so violent it is splitting rocks, but the Lord was not in the wind. Then an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. Then a fire, but the Lord was not in it. After the fire a sound of sheer silence, or as some translations render it, of a still small voice. God asks again what Elijah is doing there and directs him to go back to the north and anoint a king over Damascus and a new king over Israel, and Elisha, who will be his successor. I am reminded of the wisdom of Wayne Hughes, who gave an address last night at the Naval School, who says to all the officers he trains, “Your first job is to train your replacement.” The other thing God tells Elijah is that there are seven thousand persons in Israel who have not bowed their knees to Baal. You are not alone, Elijah, there are others who are faithful, and you have a responsibility to them so go and stand with them.
Elijah does as he is told. I hope that on your own you will read chapters 18 through 21 of 1 Kings. Elijah’s story stirs and inspires me at so many points. He and the prophets of Israel gave a gift to the world of incomparable value. They show that everyone is subject to the law of God, from the humblest peasant to the king and queen. The norm for the nations around them was the king and queen were considered divine, above the law, free to do whatever they pleased with no questions asked, no challenges offered. Whoever did so would pay with his head. Western Europe for centuries believed in the divine right of kings. The prophets of Israel believed and proclaimed the responsibilities of the king to the divine will, the accountability of the king to divine justice.
Beginning with the Magna Carta England’s nobles sought to limit the power of monarchs. In America we forged a form of governance with a division of powers with each branch of government pledged to defend and uphold the constitution, the rule of law. Our Presbyterian form of government influenced this approach to governance, and I thank God that leaders in our church are accountable to our book of order and to God’s Word, and to one another. We promise that when we are ordained as deacons, elders or pastors.
Would that more Christians had joined Bonhoeffer, Karl Barth, Martin Niemoller, and others in Germany in the 1930’s in signing the Theological Declaration of Barmen which challenged the rise of of the Nazis as they sought to impose their agenda on every aspect of German life, including the church. Like the early Christians the signers affirmed Jesus Christ as Lord, not Caesar, not the Fuhrer.
The story of Elijah and of other of Israel’s prophets is told in their sacred Scriptures, and it does not put the people in a favorable light. As Jesus approaches Jerusalem one last time he laments, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!” (Mt. 23:37) When he began his ministry in his hometown he said no prophet is accepted in his hometown, and he goes on to point out that there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, yet he was sent to none of them except a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. That incensed his neighbors and they tried to push him off a cliff.
John Bright, insightful theologian of the Hebrew Scriptures, says that the prophets enabled Israel to repent and rebuild after the judgment the prophets warned was to come if the people did not turn from evil. The message of the prophets helped them to see where they went wrong and to mend their ways and to rebuild their life and faith.
Elijah has more to teach us than I can pass on today, but let us remember at least two things. No one is above the law of God. No president or dictator or bishop or pastor or parent or teacher or older sibling or bully. The abuse of power needs to be exposed for what it is and justice called for.
Second. We cannot say we trust God for our security, sense of worth, and for direction in life, and at the same show by our actions that we trust more in money, or possessions, or race, or our cleverness, using those very things in ways inconsistent with the will of God. Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters . . .You cannot serve God and wealth.” (Mt. 6:24)
Elijah’s question haunts us: “How long will you go limping with two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” (1 Kings 18:21)
I close with portions of two prayers from our Book of Common Worship. Let us pray.
“Everlasting God, give us purity of heart and strength of purpose, that no selfish passion may hinder us from knowing your will, no weakness keep us from doing it; that in your light we may see light clearly, and in your service find perfect freedom.”
“We do not presume to come to your table, merciful Lord, trusting in our own goodness, but in your all-embracing love and mercy. We are not worthy even to gather up the crumbs under your table, but it is your nature always to have mercy. So feed us with the body and blood of Jesus Christ, your Son, that we may forever live in him and he in us. Amen.”