Too Much for You, but Not Too Much for Jesus
Proper 14 B
1 Kings 19:1-8
9 August 2015 – Redeemer
Sometimes you wonder why the Holy Spirit inspired the prophets and apostles to record certain events in the Bible – especially when it comes to the great saints of Scripture. Do we really need to know that Abraham lied twice about Sarah being his wife? Or that Noah got drunk after the whole ark episode? Or that Peter not only denied Jesus, but also thought he needed to defend God with a sword? You get the picture. Scripture is filled with the failings and fallings of God’s people, even of the “greatest” saints, like Elijah in today’s text.
Take heart in these failings for they teach us that while the journey through this life to God is too much for us, it is not too much for the Lord to come down and bring us to Him.
The text for today follows what might be the greatest day in Elijah’s life. Elijah, the prophet of the Lord took on 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah. One for the Lord, against 850 for the Baal guys. The contest is simple – set up a sacrifice and the real god will light the fire to consume it. Make no mistake, this contest was intended to determine truth and falsehood, real and fake, God and no-god. The people of Israel were going to see if the false gods they worshiped every day were any match for the Lord of the Sabbath. The prophets of Baal called on him from morning to noon, at which time Elijah mocked them, “Perhaps Baal is busy in the bathroom and can’t hear you.” The prophets of Baal then cut themselves and wailed until evening, and not a spark from Baal. Elijah built up the broken down altar of the Lord, took 12 stones for the twelve tribes of Israel, arranged the wood and the bull for the sacrifice, and doused the whole thing with 12 jars of water – to the point where a trench around the altar was filled with water. And then Elijah prayed and the Lord showed Himself to be true by torching the bull, the wood, the stones, and all the water in the trench.
Baal lost. Asherah lost. 850 false prophets lost their lives that day. The Lord won and Israel was shown the real and true God – the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God who actually lives and does what He says. That is where the text for today begins. That is what Ahab told Jezebel – when “he told her all that Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword.”
How often does God’s Word teach us that the greatest temptations come after the greatest triumphs? Noah got drunk and passed out naked in plain view of his kids, not too long after the Lord saved him via the ark. Israel grumbled about bread, right after the Lord killed their greatest enemy Pharaoh. Peter tried to keep Jesus from going to the cross, right after he made his greatest confession of Christ. Immediately after Jesus fed the 5000, they all left him, and the apostles also were tempted to leave. And so it is in the text. Right after one Elijah annihilates 850 false prophets, he is running for his life and wishing he is dead. He’s had enough of the prophet business.
Perhaps the Devil sees these great victories as opportune times to attack the faithful. You think you’re unstoppable. You’ve overcome the greatest obstacle you’ve faced your entire life. You’re not on guard, so the Devil mounts an attack. Or perhaps it’s the Lord who allows such troubles, for He sees that you take His gifts as a sign of your own spiritual strength. Perhaps your bolstered confidence is more in yourself than in the Lord. We must not forget that while we witness many visible battles between the forces of Satan and the Holy Christian faith, most of the battles for our souls are unseen and camouflaged. Satan’s going to show up telling you how your Parkinson’s disease can be cured by fetal tissue procured in a laboratory. He won’t tell you he’s harvesting organs from murdered unborn children at Planned Parenthood. Satan will come with a good gift of God – money, health, family, fun, and then subtly convince you that the pursuit of these will secure your future and life. When Satan comes to tempt you against your worship of God he won’t hold up a statue of a three headed bull, with fire and steam rolling out of it nostrils and say, “Worship this instead of God.” He’s going to hold up the good gifts of God, the very people and objects for which God has called you to care and he’s going to say, “Care for these – more and more and more.”
And so we come back to Elijah, sitting under the broom tree, afraid of one little queen named Jezebel, when the Lord had just delivered him from the prophets of Baal. Elijah confessed the truth, “It is enough – Lord.” In fact it was too much for Elijah. What could Elijah do in the midst of hatred and threats and the power of a murderous queen? But Elijah’s solution was wrong, “take away my life.” Death is not the answer to life’s problems. That’s the Devil’s talk there.
The Lord of Elijah is not the Lord of the dead, but the Lord of the living. As Jesus tells us in today’s Gospel reading, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger.” What Elijah is facing is too great for Elijah, but it is not too great for the Lord. The Lord comes down and gives Elijah life by giving Elijah the Lord’s bread. “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.”
Like many other times in the Old Testament this angel who deals directly with people is identified as “the angel of the Lord.” And often, this angel is identified as the Lord Himself. Martin Luther, with many other fathers in the faith, believed the angel of the Lord is the Son of God. The Lord Himself came down to earth in the Old Testament, pointing forward to that day when He came down to earth in the flesh to save us.
At a minimum this angel of the Lord in the Old Testament points forward to what the incarnate Son of God did in the New Testament. He touched a hurting Elijah and brought him help from heaven. Jesus touched the sick, the sinner, the dying, and the dead and brought them life from heaven. Jesus is the bread of life. His life and His work are the food for our journey – because the journey to God is too much for you. Your sins are too much for you – so Jesus bears them to the cross. Your guilt is too great for you – so He washes it away with His blood. Death is too much for you – Centracare and Obamacare still have no cure for it – but Jesus by His death brings life to you. The tragedies you experience are too much for you – but Jesus takes on all the evil and wickedness of the world. He takes on sin, death, and hell, and defeats them.
Whatever you are facing that is too much for you, look to Christ and Him crucified. At the cross sin, death, evil, injustice, Satan, guilt, shame, uncertainty, fear – they are finished. In Christ there is forgiveness for your sins. There is life instead of death. There is the certain future of the resurrection. Better than looking to Christ is eating Christ, receiving this bread of life by faith. Receive Jesus in your Baptism, in His Word of forgiveness, in His Supper, with His own promise, “If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever.” The journey was too much for Elijah. It is too much for you. But it is not too much for Jesus, therefore arise and eat and live and know your journey ends alive with God in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Pr. Bruce Timm
8 August 2015