Sermon 1 Kings 19:9-18 God in the Silence

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

Beaver Dam and Pitts Creek Churches

Sermon 1 Kings 19:9-18 God in the Silence

August 10, 2014

We are all waiting for God to do something big, something so tremendous that everyone will take notice and come to faith. We expect this to occur with Jesus returns, or maybe sooner. We wait for the day when God demonstrates his supernatural power for all the world to see. But is this how God intends to bring people to faith? We will get to this, but first let's pray.

Holy God, the new day begins with such promise. Help me to enter into this day with joy and confidence in your power and goodness. Whatever challenge I may face, help me to trust in your presence, remembering that you are stronger than any difficulty or threat. If you will surround me in the embrace and affection of steadfast love and faithfulness, of righteousness and peace, then I will be lifted up and strengthened to follow you. In Christ’s name, I pray. Amen.¹

1 Kings 19:9-18 ⁹ There he went into a cave and spent the night. And the word of the LORD came to him: "What are you doing here, Elijah?" ¹⁰ He replied, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too." ¹¹ The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. ¹² After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 

¹³ When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" ¹⁴ He replied, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too." ¹⁵ The LORD said to him, "Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram. ¹⁶ Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet. ¹⁷ Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu. ¹⁸ Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel-- all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and all whose mouths have not kissed him."

Elijah was concerned about the decline in faith among the people of Israel. He watched as Queen Jezebel introduced Baal worship to the nation. He saw the temple desecrated. He watched as people, led by their queen, climbed to the high places to worship the weather god. So Elijah came up with a test, one that would demonstrate the power of the God of Israel and the lack of power of Jezebel's god, Baal. He went up to the high place on Mount Carmel to challenge Baal to a contest. Which god, Baal or the God of Israel, was able to send lightening to ignite a fire. Baal did nothing. The God of Israel demonstrated his power for all to see.

Elijah thought that this was all that was needed to bring people to faith. One big event showing the power of God would surely lead everyone to belief. Or so he thought. But he found out that it doesn't work that way. Queen Jezebel found out about the test and ordered that Elijah be arrested and executed. Elijah, at the moment of his highest achievement, was terrified of Jezebel and fled. So much for big miracles.

Elijah remembered another big miracle from centuries before when Moses ascended Mount Horeb to receive the law from God. Elijah retraced the route of the Israelites through the wilderness, climbed Mount Horeb, and hid in a cave. That is where God found him and asked:

1 Kings 19:9 "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

Of course God knew exactly why his prophet was hiding in a cave. But he wanted to hear this from the mouth of the prophet himself. And Elijah replied:

1 Kings 19:10 "I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too."

So Elijah is afraid of losing his life, and has returned to the mountain of God hoping that God will do something big, some huge miracle, that will put everything back the way it should be. But God has something else in mind, and said:

1 Kings 19:11 "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by."

This is what Elijah has been waiting for. The test on Mt. Carmel had not been big enough. Now God was about to do something enormous that everyone would notice and know that what Elijah had been saying was true. So Elijah must have been overjoyed when a hurricane blew in from the sea and battered him as he stood on the mountain. He must have thought that God would display his power by stopping the hurricane in its tracks. Certainly everyone would believe in a God who could stop the wind. But God didn't stop it. God did nothing. There was no miracle. And so a confused Elijah waited for God to do something else.

Then Elijah felt the ground shake. It was earthquake, the big one. Elijah must have thought that finally God would demonstrate his power by stopping the earthquake. Certainly a god who could stop the earth from shaking must be a most powerful God worthy of our faith. But God didn't stop the earthquake. He did nothing. There was no divine demonstration. And as before Elijah was dumbfounded.

Finally Elijah saw a great fire coming up the mountain. The wind and the earthquake had just been preliminaries. Certainly God would demonstrate his great power by stopping the fire. This would bring everyone to faith. But again God did nothing, and Elijah had no idea what God was doing.

And then God came to Elijah in “a gentle whisper” (NIV), “a sound of a gentle blowing” (NAS), “a still small voice”(RSV), “a sound of sheer silence” (NRSV). God came to Elijah in quietness of prayer.

God's message to Elijah was that God will not bring the world to faith with a great miracle, even though miracles will occur that do bring people to faith. But for the world to come to faith it requires not a big miracle, but rather our prayers. Praying is the most important thing we do to bring the world to faith.

And this is why we pray for evangelism. We pray that God will equip us a witnesses to the good news that in Jesus Christ, God loves us. We pray for those with the gift of evangelism as they go into the world to meeting people and invite them to believe. As a followup to last week's evangelism camp, we will be praying for the evangelist here in Pocomoke as they go into our community to proclaim the good news. Please join us Monday at 2pm at the manse as we engage in evangelism Bible study and prayer.

So don't expect a big miracle to bring everyone to faith. Some of the biggest miracles in the Bible had no such effect. Rather expect that people will come to faith as we engage in the silence of prayer … Amen.

1Feasting on the Word Worship Companion: Liturgies for Year A, Volume 2 © 2014 Westminster John Knox Press p116