St Croix Reformed Church

Two new sermons recordings have been posted at www.stcroixreformed.org

March 7, 2010  Sermon  Jeremiah is fed up that the Wicked Prosper

February 28, 2010 Sermon  Luke 9, Jesus laments over Jerusalem,like a Hen the Savior gathers us under his wings

- – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - –

Your feedback will help determine how often they should be posted and how valuable the congregation finds this option. Please email neilmacqueen@gmail.com with your feedback.

Clicking the audio link will begin the process of opening the sermon in Windows Media Player (or your computer’s default player). Currently, sermons are only available in the WMA format.

Two new sermons recordings have been posted at www.stcroixreformed.org

01-24-10 Sermon Link 
Jesus in the Nazareth Synagogue

01-17-10 Sermon Link 
The Wedding at Cana
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

The Consistory has asked Rod to make his sermons available at the website for download.  Your feedback will help determine how often they should be posted and how valuable the congregation finds this option. Please email neilmacqueen@gmail.com with your feedback.

Clicking the audio link will begin the process of opening the sermon in Windows Media Player. Currently, sermons are only available in the WMA format.

Please let us know:

-if you listened to part of the sermon or the entire sermon. We really want to know!

-if the overall quality was good enough.

-if the download/playback had any problems.

Email neilmacqueen@gmail.com with your feedback.

(Note: These audio files are currently being stored at a church member’s website in order provide statistical tracking.)

12-27-09 Sermon Link 
Audio Recording of Pastor Rod’s Post-Christmas Sermon:
“Jesus at 12″

12-20-09 Sermon Link 
Audio Recording of Pastor Rod’s Advent Sermon:
“The Grace of Mary”
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

The Consistory has asked Rod to make his sermons available at the website for download.  Your feedback will help determine how often they should be posted and how valuable the congregation finds this option. Please email neilmacqueen@gmail.com with your feedback.

Clicking the audio link below will begin the process of opening the sermon in Windows Media Player. Currently, sermons are only available in the WMA format.

Please let us know:

-if you listened to part of the sermon or the entire sermon.

-if the overall quality was good enough.

-if the download/playback had any problems.

Email neilmacqueen@gmail.com with your feedback.

If you would like to hear a sermon which you do not see posted here, let us know, we may have a copy of it!

The Consistory has asked Rod to make his sermons available at the website for download.  Your feedback will help determine how often they should be posted and how valuable the congregation finds this option. Please email neilmacqueen@gmail.com with your feedback.

Clicking the audio link below will begin the process of opening the sermon in Windows Media Player. Currently, sermons are only available in the WMA format.

12-27-09 Sermon Link 
Audio Recording of Pastor Rod’s Post-Christmas Sermon:
“Jesus at 12″

12-20-09 Sermon Link 
Audio Recording of Pastor Rod’s Advent Sermon:
“The Grace of Mary”
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Please let us know:

-if you listened to part of the sermon or the entire sermon.

-if the overall quality was good enough.

-if the download/playback had any problems.

Email neilmacqueen@gmail.com with your feedback.

If you would like to hear a sermon which you do not see posted here, let us know, we may have a copy of it!

Elijah, Elisha, and the Chariot of Fire

a sermon for Father’s Day by Neil MacQueen

Last week I spoke on the 1st Kings 19 story of Elijah, -the Great Prophet of Israel, … how he dueled the Prophets of Baal on top of Mt. Carmel, burning up all their bull with a fireball from heaven, then “SLEWING” the prophets of Baal by the waters of Kishon, only to be chased into the desert by King Ahab and Jezebel.

Literally and figuratively Elijah went from the pinnacle of success on Mt. Carmel to the depths of despair, needing to be revived by an angel in the desert near Beersheba, only to crawl off of the holy cave of Horeb to die. It was there God found him, a beaten and demoralized man.

“Lord,” Elijah twice complained in that cave, “I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: but the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and now I’m the only one left; and they are trying to kill me!”

And God says, “Stand up and come here Elijah”  … And after the earthquake, wind and fire, the still small comforting voice of God comes to Elijah in that cave…. The kind of late night hush your father or mother spoke to you as you lay there sobbing in their arms. The kind of quiet voice you feel resonating in your breast from a loved embracing you at a funeral or in a hospital room.  The still small hush of prayer and hope: “Elijah, it’s ok, we’re going to get you some help. Go find Hazael and Jehu …and anoint them Kings to help you. And go find Elisha, son of Shaphat of Abel- meholah …and anoint him to be the next great prophet after you’re gone.”

And then I suggested last week that the REAL miracle in the story was that Elijah actually LISTENED to God. He put aside his fears and fatigue, and got up to go find help.   ….Down the mountain of God he walked, with 40 days of crossing the Sinai desert and Negev to ponder all that had happened to him, and the solution God had whispered into his soul.

40 Days is a long time in the Bible, a test all on its own. And I’m sure one of the things on Elijah mind was this: “Can God be serious? These are all KIDS he is sending me to find! …Kids!”

And as if to confirm his worst fears, when Elijah finds young Elisha son of Shaphat, the boy was out cutting his parents lawn…with 12 of his father’s oxen.

According to 1 Kings 19: 19, Elijah walked up to Elisha and threw his mantle –his prophet’s cloak over the boy, and started walking away. No committee, no interview, no references, only God’s command: “Go find Elisha and anoint him to be the next prophet.”

A startled Elisha in verse 20, leaves the oxen behind and starts running after Elijah saying, “Can I at least kiss my father and mother good-bye? Then I will follow you!”   “Of course,” said Elijah. So Elisha took his oxen, and cooked up a feast for his family. Then he set out and followed Elijah, to become his apprentice.

…That is the end of 1 Kings, chapter 19.  And it is YEARS before we again hear of Elisha.

1st Kings Chapters 20, 21 and 22 don’t mention Elisha at all. All we can do is IMAGINE him stuck by the side of Elijah –when Elijah confronts Jezebel, in Chapter 21 over her treacherous murder of Naboth in order to take his vineyard for her palace gardens.

Chapter 22 is mostly devoted to the scurrilous rule and wars of Ahab, –who for a time allies himself with good King Jehosaphat of Judah. Eventually Ahab dies in battle unceremoniously disguised in a common soldier’s battle dress. And the Bible says that the blood from his wound filled his chariot so much, that they had to wash it off at the Pool of Samaria,  …and the writers add the mocking epitaph “where the prostitutes bathe.”

His son Ahaziah takes over and continues Ahab’s reign of evil, until he dies a couple of year’s later in SECOND KINGS CHAPTER ONE from wounds suffered in a fall at the palace.

But before Ahaziah dies in Chapter 1, Ahaziah sends 3 groups of 50 soldiers each to forcibly bring Elijah back to the palace to heal him, –and in keeping with Elijah’s reputation, the first two groups are consumed by fireballs from heaven. The smarter captain of the third group decides to HUMBLE himself before Elijah pleading for Elijah to spare his life, which apparently Elijah isn’t inclined to do because God has to INTERVENE with Elijah by sending AN ANGEL to keep Elijah from killing the guy, –which to ME only bolsters what I observed in last week’s sermon, that God and Elijah aren’t always on the same page.

This is just GREAT Old Testament stuff… and you can imagine WIDE EYED YOUNG ELISHA tagging along on every page –soaking it all up.

WE FAST FORWARD NOW to 2nd Kings Chapter 2…. To one of the most dramatic,  unparalleled, and I think touching stories in the entire Old Testament.

Many years have passed since the days of Mt Carmel. Two kings have come and gone. Elijah has grown old and it’s time, …Time for Elijah to step aside and let young Elisha step into the old man’s sandals.

God was about to take Elijah up into heaven in a whirlwind… a tornado we would call it, which in and of itself is pretty amazing considering that there is only one other person in the entire Bible who was granted such an exit, none other than Jesus Christ himself.

2 Kings 2: Verse 1 — “Now when the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal.” 2 And Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here; for the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.”

So they went down to Bethel. 3 And the company of prophets who were in Bethel came out to young Elisha, and said to him, “Do you know that today the Lord will take your master away from you?” And he said, “Yes, I know; but please, keep silent about.”

4 Then Elijah comes up to Elisha and say, “Elisha, it’s okay if you stay here; for the Lord has sent me to Jericho.” But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.”

So they came to Jericho. 5 And that company of prophets who were at Jericho also said to Elisha, “Do you know that today the Lord will take your master away from you?” And he answered, “Yes, I know! …be silent.”

6 Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here; for the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.” But once again Elisha looked at the old man and said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.”

So the two of them walked on together and came to the River Jordan.

8 And Elijah takes his mantle, rolls it up, and strikes the water; and the water was parted to the one side and to the other, and the two went across to the other side on dry ground.

9 When they had crossed, Elijah turns to Elisha and says, “Tell me what I can do for you, before I am taken from you.”

Elisha says, “Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit.”  10 And the old man responds, –and all you sons and daughters LISTEN carefully: Elijah says, “You have asked a hard thing; yet, but if you see me as I am being taken from you, it will be granted you.”

11 And as they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire pulled by horses aflame came between the two of them, and Elijah ascended up into heaven in a whirlwind.

12 Far below… faithful young Elisha gazing up into the sky cries out, “My father, my father! Mighty defender of Israel! You are gone!”  And when he could no longer see him, Elisha grasped his clothes and tore them in two.

There are other translations of Elisha’s cry. In our New Revised Standard he cries out “Father, Father, The Chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” But I always preferred the translation which I first read to you which came from the Good News Bible, –because that was the Bible my parents gave me when I was 12 years old.

I was just about Elisha’s age when I lost my father to a stroke. I was a young minister fresh out of seminary with one toddler at my knee and another one on the way, when we heard the news that my father had been found dead at home that morning –the very morning that he and my mother were to take the first Big Trip of their well-earned retirement.

My father has been gone since 1988, –21 years and 4 days to be exact (not that I’m keeping track). ….and I think about him everyday.

I especially think of him when I think about being a father to my own children, JUST as I’m sure young Elisha thought about Elijah his spiritual father over the years. Aware of the powerful presence and persistent image of my own father in my life, I wonder how I will live-on for better or worse in my own children after I am gone. And I’m sure Elijah had the same thoughts about his legacy in Elisha.

Among those of you here this morning, I’m sure there are as many similar stories. A man we were raised by, or perhaps not raised by, who’s legacy we still trying to figure out, –still trying to live up to –or live down. Memories we hold on to, or make us cringe.

Or perhaps you’re thinking of a child that you care about so much that you wonder how you as their parent or grandparent or mentor could have been made more of a difference. You ponder at your legacy, not only for their sake, but for yours as well.

I don’t often recommend books in sermons, but there are two I want to recommend to you today.

The first is titled “If I Were Starting My Family Again” by John Drescher, an Episcopal priest. It’s a wonderful little book which I knew spoke for God when he started his list by saying “If I were starting my family over again, I’d love the mother of my children more.”  That’s the greatest gift he says we can give our children –to show them through all the ups and downs of married and family life -what unconditional love is.

The second book is titled, “The Last Lecture,” by Randy Pausch. Randy was a professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon. And every year they asked a member of the faculty to imagine what they’d say if they only had one last lecture to deliver before they died. And it just so happened that several months before his was to deliver his lecture, Professor Pausch was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer.  He delivered his last lecture and died the next year, coincidentally enough, on my birthday.

His Last Lecture became a youtube phenomenon and then a best selling book, NOT because he was dieing, —everyone dies, …but because Ron the computer scientist was a phenomenal teacher about life.

His book is a legacy of love and memories to his children, wife and students –that’s filled with incredibly good advice for living. If you haven’t read it, I encourage you to, then give it to your sons and daughters.

The problem with legacies, however, is that my DAD was not a perfect man, any more than Randy Pausch was, any more than Elijah was perfect, –any more than you and I are perfect.

On a day like today when our impulse is to put our fathers on a pedestal, or when some here bear the silent pain of a father who failed them in some way —we would do well to remember that the secret to being the child God wants us to be is this: that as the child we must also forgive our parents for being human.

2nd Kings Chapter 2, Verse 13…   Elisha stands there straining to see the last whisp of smoke as his spiritual father is taken away from him. Then he lowers his gaze, and enters that moment where all sons and daughters feel lost.

–Choking back tears and moments of anger, you pause at the meaning of it all, -as you will the rest of your life. You remember last words, you think of things you wish you had said to him, and he to you. For that too is part of the legacy, the incomplete and unfinished lives we all leave behind.

He stares at the ground, then Elisha looks and sees Elijah’s mantle lying on the ground where it had fallen on of him. Thread-worn and faded. Stained and dusty and singed with old burn marks.  Elisha remembers the aire of authority it once brought his mentor, but also the time when Elijah used it at Horeb to try and hide from the presence of God.

And he picks it up. He picks up the mantle that fallen to him
…and in your mind’s eye you can see him running his hands over it again and again.

He picks up the mantle and walks back alone -to the edge of the River Jordan.  (Verse 14) Then he rolls it up and STRIKES the water with it shouting, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah!”

In answer, the waters begin to part –one side to the other. And Elisha crosses over –and goes back into Israel to become the next great prophet in the land. A prophet, which 2nd Kings like to remind us in subtle ways, who did even GREATER things than Elijah did.

Find what is good and true in your father’s life, -pick it up, and build on it.

…And the rest, forgive.

This would be the most wonderful gift for any father on Father’s Day. 

Amen

Elijah, The Mountain and the Cave

a sermon by Neil MacQueen preached June 14, 2009 at St Croix Reformed Church

I LOVE the stories of Elijah and Elisha from the Book of Kings. They are amazing.  And every time I read them or teach them, I see something new, something unexpected.

They are like diamonds held up to the light –sparkling and shifting as you turn them.   And they are also great entertainment – stories fill with heroes and villains and confrontations

Elijah’s archenemy is King Ahab, the  9^th Century BC ruler of Israel of who is ominously introduced in First Kings 17:30  with these words: “And King Ahab the son of King Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord –MORE than any other King.” 

And worse, he’s married to a lady named Jezebel, -a name second only to Judas in biblical scorn. Jezebel was a dirty no-good Osama Bin -lovin’ Baal worshipper. Together, she and Ahab had promoted statues of Baal right alongside the sacred altars of Israel.

So if you’re God and you want to show up Baal “the God of Storms,” what do you do? You send a three year drought of course.

And that’s when we first hear of Elijah. In the middle of the drought, with crops failing, people dying, and Baal worshippers whipped into an absolute FRENZY, -God calls Elijah from Tishbite to go on a mission.

And God sends Elijah to of all places SIDON, -a non-Israelite coastal region, to the non-Israelite town of Zarephath, to save a non-Israelite stick-gathering Widow and her starving non-Israelite son.  And if we wanted to, we could stop right there to pick our jaws up of the floor, because everybody KNOWS God doesn’t save anybody but the Chosen Ones, right?  I mean, isn’t God all about Israel and the Jews?  And the Land? What’s God doing in SIDON for godsakes?

So here’s Elijah OUTSIDE the official religious establishment saving this “heathen” woman by giving her a jar of oil that doesn’t run out, and reviving her “heathen” son off his deathbed, and then to top it off… promising RAIN.  Predictably, she cries ”Truly there is a God in Israel,” , and Elijah hoists his Mission Accomplished banner and rides off into the sunset, …end of sermon…or so he and you mistakenly thought.

3 years later, Elijah -probably sitting at home taking it easy, resting on his Zarephath laurels, God comes back to Elijah and says, “GO CONFRONT KING AHAB and QUEEN JEZEBEL.”

Now the Bible doesn’t say what Elijah’s first response was -but you can bet it had something to do with a change of underwear and the making of a will. Nevertheless, Elijah goes to confront the most evil King and Queen Israel had ever had.

And that’s where our story picks up. Today, I’m going to read it in the King James Version because this story is AWESOME in the King James Version.

———————-
 1 Kings 18 -

1 And it came to pass after many days, that the word of the LORD came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go, shew thyself unto Ahab; S-H-E-W thyself unto Ahab, and I will send rain upon the earth. 2 And so Elijah went to shew himself unto Ahab. (At that time) there was a sore famine in Samaria. 3 And Ahab called Obadiah the governor of his house.

(Now Obadiah feared the LORD greatly: 4 For when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the LORD, Obadiah took a hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and there fed them with bread and water.)

5 And Ahab said unto Obadiah, “Go into the land, unto all fountains of water, and unto all brooks: that we may find grass to save the horses and mules (not the people mind you, just the horses and mules -told you this was a bad dude).  6 So Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself. 7 And as Obadiah was going in the way, behold, Elijah met him: and Obadiah fell on his face, and said, Art thou that “my lord Elijah”???

8 And Elijah answered him, I am: now go tell thy lord Ahab, “Behold, Elijah is here.”

17 And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art thou you the troubler of Israel?

18 And Elijah answered saying, “I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father’s house, it is YE who have forsaken the commandments of the LORD, and thou hast followed Baal!  19 Now therefore gather to me all Israel unto Mount Carmel, and bring the prophets of Baal –all four hundred and fifty, and also the prophets of the sacred groves –all four hundred, which eat at Jezebel’s table. 20 So Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together unto mount Carmel.”

How many of you have been to Israel and seen Mount Carmel? It’s a BIG mountain in central Israel. Jesus could wake up in Nazareth, look across the Jezreel Valley and see it plain as day. Every child for 20 miles around grew up with a daily reminder of what happened up there. That’s one of the things you learn when you visit Israel… that the land itself is a daily reminder to the people.

Imagine if Jesus had walked on Buck Island or had filled a cistern with wine here on Kingshill?  –you’d think about it all the time.

21 And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long will you halt between two opinions? 
If the LORD be God, -follow him.   But if Baal be God, then follow him!

And the people –acting like children everywhere when confronted by the truth –”answered him not a word. “

22 So Elijah said unto the people, I, even I only, remain a prophet of the LORD; but Baal’s prophets are four hundred and fifty men. 23 Let them therefore give us two bulls; and let them choose one bull for themselves, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: and I will dress the other bull, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: 24 And then call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the LORD: and whichever God answereth by fire, let HIM be the true God.

And all the people said, “It is well spoken.”

 26 And they took the bull which was given them, and laid it on the wood, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. Send down your fire.  But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped about the altar.

27 And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or he sleepeth, and must be awaked. And actually the literal Hebrew here says, “Maybe Baal is in the bathroom, …maybe he’s relieving himself.”   –Elijah is a funny guy.

But still there was no answer. 28 So they cried aloud, and cut themselves with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them. 29 And when midday was past, they continued on until the time of the evening sacrifice, but there was neither voice, nor any to answer.

So now it was Elijah’s turn… 
Verse 30: And Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me. And all the people came near unto him. 32 And with stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD: and he made a great trench about the altar. 33 And he put the wood on the altar, and cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood.

Then he said, Fill four barrels with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice, and on the wood. (and they did) 34 And he said, “Do it the second time.” And they did it the second time. And he said, “Do it the third time.” And they did it the third time. 35 And the water ran down about the altar; filling also the trench with water.

For those of you who have always thought there was a lot of watered down bull in the Bible, there’s your proof.

 36 Then Elijah the prophet came near, -swaggering like Chuck Norris and talking like Charleton Heston, and he says, “LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word.   Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the LORD God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again!”

And that’s when it happened….all of the sudden 38 The fire of the LORD came down from heaven like a fireball, and consumed both bulls, both piles of wood, and al the altar stones, and the dust around the altar, –and even “licked up” the water that was in the trench.

39 And when all the people saw it, they fell on their “The LORD, he is the God; –the LORD, he is the God!”

40 And Elijah said unto them, Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape. And they took them: and Elijah brought them down to the brook of Kishon, and slew them there.

41 Then Elijah turns to Ahab and ominously says, “Get thee up, for I hear the sound of rain a comin.”

–I’d like to stop and point out something that in all my years of reading this story I never noticed before:  God didn’t tell Elijah to kill the prophets… that was Elijah’s idea!

Here you have the people of Israel and all the false prophets SINGED by the Fireball and apparently REPENTING like Wayne and Garth in Wayne’s World shouting “We’re Not Worthy” …The Lord is God!  —And Elijah the religious zealot starts SLEWING people.

 In this week’s TIME MAGAZINE there’s an article about a forthcoming book titled “The Evolution of God”.  And it’s about the Bible’s own internal DEBATE over religious intolerance. And as I read that article I couldn’t help but think NAH, …it’s not so much about the evolution of GOD… it’s more about the evolution of all of US and our understanding of God.

Put simply, if God had wanted to kill the prophets of Baal, he could have targeted them when he sent the fireball!  –God has the best JDAM targeting in the world. (Pun intended)  He would not have missed. God didn’t slew the people, Elijah ordered it.

And if I know God through Jesus Christ, I imagine God was sitting up there shaking his head going “Elijah! What the heck!?!”

Well HANG ON…. Because God IS going to do more than just shake his head at Elijah….

I King 18: Verse 45   And it came to pass that the heavens were black with clouds and wind, and there came a great rain. And Ahab rode down fast in his chariot to his palace in Jezreel. 46 But the hand of the LORD was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab –beating him to the entrance of Jezreel.   –imagine that!  Ahab holding onto his pants while sprinting down the mountain in the pouring rain.

1 Kings 19:1 And when Ahab got to the palace and told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. 2  Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, “So let the gods do to me, and more!  if by this time tomorrow you’re still alive .

3 And when Elijah  got Jezebel’s message, HE GOT THE MESSAGE. Elijah the brave hero of Mt Carmel arose, and fled for his life.

Coming to Beersheba, he went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and said, “It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.” 5 And as he lay and slept under the juniper tree, behold, an angel touched him, and said unto him, “Arise and eat.” 6 And Elijah looked, and, behold, there was a cake baked on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head. And he did eat and drink, but then laid him down again. 7 And the angel of the LORD came again a SECOND time, and touched him, and said, “Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee.” 8 And so Elijah arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God. –Which is more popularly known as “Mt. Sinai.” –the place where it all got started, …and as good a place to let it all end thought Elijah.

9 And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said unto him, What do-est thou here, Elijah?  –Or as you and I would put it: “What are you doing here?”
—–Which is kind of a funny question for two reasons: 1) God knows everything. and 2) God had helped Elijah to GET THERE by sending his ANGEL under that juniper tree.  This is like your mom asking you “who broke this?” when you both know  full well who broke it. This is your dad giving you the chance to explain yourself, perhaps beginning with an apology.  “Elijah…. God is saying, ….talk to me.” 

But Elijah isn’t ready for a heart to heart. He lashes out in Verse 10:  “O Lord, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: but the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I –even I,  am the only one left; and now they seek my life, to take it away.”

Of course, God already knew all this. But like a good parent, God let’s Elijah get it all out. And then he says,

11 “Elijah” … get up out of this cave and go stand outside upon the mountain.”

And what happens next is surely one of the most poetic and profound “God encounters” in the entire Bible…

“And, behold, the LORD passed in front of Elijah, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind:

and after the wind an earthquake; …but the LORD was not in the earthquake:

12 And after the earthquake a fire; …but the LORD was not in the fire:

and after the fire -a still   small  voice.”

Not the earthquake wind and fire or BULL BLASTING fireballs.   –but a still small voice. The kind of voice a father uses late at night to soothe a sobbing child.

Elijah, what are you doing here?

And here’s how I know this story is real and true…. because Elijah, complains once again using the same excuse, though perhaps a little muffled as he has buried his face in his mantle:

14 O Lord, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: but the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.

It’s a touching scene, and strangely comforting. God speaks patiently and quietly to Elijah. We complain and bury our face. And still, God doesn’t give up on us.

Up until this point we’ve been focusing on Elijah, but as with most of these great stories, they are really about God. And at this point in the story my eyes are no longer on “Elijah the predictable,” but on what God is going to do next. 

What’s God going to do now? This was his best man! His best prophet! And here he is curled up like a baby whimpering in a cave, burying his face in his cloak, and repeating himself.

I can imagine at this point God turning to the angel Gabriel and saying, “Looks like I’m gonna have to go down there and do it myself.” Perhaps THIS is the point where God of the small voice starts making plans for a small child.

Nevertheless, God does not walk away from us….

“Elijah,” he says like a father comforting his child with a still deep voice, ”Elijah ….this is what I want you to do in the meantime…

You need help. No one can do it on their own. No one is  faithful enough, strong enough, or smart enough to meet every foe and win every battle. And I can’t keep sending fireballs everytime you need help.

15 Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when thou comest there, find and anoint Hazael to be king over Syria: he can help!

16 And then shalt thou anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi to be the next king over Israel:

and then go find and train young Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah –and anoint HIM to be the next prophet when you are gone.

(Quietly and firmly)     …“Do this, Elijah.”

And here’s the real miracle in the story:  Elijah, the child of God, listens.
He gets up, walks out of his cave and down the mountain, to find help.

On Father’s Day next Sunday, I’ll continue this story, Elijah going to get Elisha’s help. We’ll focus on Elijah’s relationship with Elisha, and hear the story of the prophet’s mantle Elijah left behind for Elisha when he climbed aboard the Chariot of Fire.

God’s Grace; the pebble, the rock or the brick?

A sermon preached on June 7, 2009 by Elder Tom Peil

In our  Sunday school class we like to view our faith as full of strength, humility and humor. We say together: “Give me a sense of humor Lord, Give me the grace to see a joke, get some humor out of life and pass it on to other folk”

Three men were hiking through a forest when they came upon a large raging, violent river. Needing to get to the other side, the first man prayed:’ God, please give me the strength to cross the river. ‘ Poof! .. God gave him big arms and strong legs and he was able to swim

across in about 2 hours, having almost drowned twice. After witnessing that, the second man prayed: ‘ God, please give me strength and the tools to cross the river ‘ Poof! .. God gave him a rowboat and strong arms and strong legs and he was able to row across in about an hour after almost capsizing once. Seeing what happened to the first two men, the third man prayed: ‘ God, please give me the strength, the tools and the intelligence to cross the river ‘ Poof! . He was turned into a woman. She checked the map, hiked one hundred yards up stream and walked across the bridge.

I guess the moral of the story is; If at first you don’t succeed, do it the way your wife told you!

Today’s sermon is titled God’s grace; the pebble, the rock or the Brick?

I don’t feel that the pulpit is necessarily the place for my personal faith testimony, but a few highlights are probably in order.

My journey with my faith began at a very young age: my Mom and my late father Bill were very religious parents; living examples of their faith.

Oglethorpe Presbyterian Church, outside of Atlanta; Sunday morning’s there was never an option, but of course there were cinnamon rolls and the funny papers to consume before Church; in fact I still have my confirmation Bible from that Church.

During my High School Years my faith progressed as a member of the Methodist Church; usher; MYF; delivered first sermon (Titled coat rack for Christianity) this had to do with what I perceived as so many who entered the church on Sunday morning, grabbed their Christian coat off the coat rack and put it on, when departing the Church they hung their Faith back on the coat rack and forgot about it for the following 6 days and 23 hours.

These were all the pebbles;

I had several severe accidents culminating in falling down a waterfall and breaking my back; entering the tunnel of light but being turned back; but didn’t get the real message. Kept trying to get back to the other side of that tunnel.

That was the rock;

Spent many years pushing the edge of the envelope; details will not be provided today; maybe when Will is an Adult; but needless to say I needed another serious nudge. A dear friend, Pastor Gary Christiansen helped me understand what a fool I was; God wasn’t done with me here on Earth yet and has been trying to get my attention.

Then I became a father;

When Will and I moved here he was 7 years old and I didn’t have a clue how to be a single parent; I remember getting on my knees and asking God to help me to the best job I could do; with that I dedicated my life to Him and have tried to do what ever He’s asked

That was the Brick that Finally brought God’s Patient Grace to me. With His help we have made a good life here. Btw I sang our closing hymn to Will every night he was a child; I read, prayed and sang every night.

We may accept God’s grace from the whisper of the Holy Spirit…..sometimes God uses a pebble to get our attention; if that doesn’t work next comes a rock and for those who refuse…..eventually the Brick.

The following sermon is in part borrowed from a message posted by Sister Carol Perry of the Marble Collegiate Church in New York City.

“Slow Grace”

We recognize some forms of grace even as we are unable to define them. The wind through the branches of a willow tree, the fluid movements of a ballerina—these are visible. But, in the realm of the spirit, grace remains one of the more difficult concepts on our spiritual journey. Its action is rarely a blazing moment on the road to Damascus, as it was for Paul.

In our world where things are better if they are faster, it is good to recall the patience of God in offering grace. We find a wonderful example of this in the Gospel of John.

There we first meet Nicodemus in a scene familiar to most of us. He is one of the members of Jerusalem’s ruling religious body, the Great Sanhedrin, and he comes to Jesus at night, stepping symbolically out of the darkness in chapter 3 of John. He comes with his questions both about who Jesus is and what that might mean for him. But what we tend to forget is that at the end of that exchange of ideas Nicodemus goes back into the night. There is no instant response to the appeal of the Teacher to be born anew. Nicodemus resists, and, humanly speaking, we can understand why.

He represents authority in first century Judaism. He and his fellow Pharisees interpret the Law for the rest of their countrymen. So how can this rabbi from Galilee who has studied under none of their authorities possibly speak truth? But Nicodemus does not reject Jesus. He ponders and we discover that he cannot forget that encounter at night. This is the persistence of God’s grace or the pebble.

When next we meet him, in chapter 7 of John, it is festival time in Jerusalem, the joyous feast of Booths. Nicodemus, in the Temple, is seated with the group of rulers who are awaiting the return of the Temple police who have been sent to the courtyard to arrest Jesus. When those guards return empty-handed, the authorities are not pleased. In fact, they are more than that, they are dismayed to hear the police say: “Never has anyone spoken like this.”

In the ensuing condemnation, Nicodemus dares to speak up. Grace (or the rock) is working in him as he challenges the interpreters of the Law with their own respect for that Law. He says: “Our law does not judge people without first giving them a hearing to find out what they are doing, does it?” He is still clinging to the one thing that is certain in his life, the Law.

But his small voice for justice is swept away by the scorn of those who share power with him. These Pharisees draw on their ultimate prejudice against Jesus when they say: “Search and you will see that no prophet is to arise from Galilee.” And so Nicodemus seems to once again drop back into the darkness.

But God’s enduring grace goes on working. We will never know how this man wrestles with it, how many times he faces the fact that admitting Jesus into his life will cause him to lose everything that he holds dear: position, power, human respect. But not admitting Jesus will place him beyond peace and joy. So the human and the divine struggle, and we see the ultimate resolution only in chapter 19 of John.

Death has already claimed Jesus, and as night falls quickly on Calvary’s hilltop, two new disciples step forward. One is Joseph of Arimathea, boldly asking Pilate for the body of Jesus and offering his own tomb for the burial. And joining him in the task of ministering to the one who died as a common criminal is our Nicodemus. The triumph of grace is so visible. It is he who brings the spices to anoint the body, coming to do what was traditionally a woman’s task. But that does not matter now. He comes to claim the dead body of the teacher he was unable to publicly acknowledge in life. He comes to perform an action that belongs to the family of the deceased.

And so in every way, Nicodemus has rejected his past life and has chosen a new one. Grace, maybe via a Brick, has claimed him. Career, human respect, power, none of these matters any longer. With how much love does he bury the Teacher whose words haunted him until he could accept them. As the sun sets on that fateful Good Friday, something wonderful is born in the soul of Nicodemus.

This brings to mind another similar story.

A young and successful executive was traveling down a neighborhood street, going a bit too fast in his new Jaguar. He was watching for kids darting out from between parked cars and slowed down when he thought he saw something. As his car passed, no children appeared. Instead, a brick smashed into the Jag’s side door! He slammed on the brakes and drove the Jag back to the spot where the brick had been thrown. The angry driver then jumped out of the car, grabbed the nearest kid and pushed him up against a parked car, shouting, “What was that all about and who are you?

Just what the heck are you doing?

That’s a new car and that brick you threw is going to cost a lot of money.

Why did you do it?”

The young boy was apologetic. “Please mister … please, I’m sorry… I didn’t know what else to do,” he pleaded.

“I threw the brick because no one else would stop…”

With tears dripping down his face and off his chin, the youth pointed to a spot just around a parked car.

“It’s my brother,” he said.

“He rolled off the curb and fell out of his wheelchair and I can’t lift him up.”

Now sobbing, the boy asked the stunned executive, “Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair? He’s hurt and he’s too heavy for me.”

Moved beyond words, the driver tried to swallow the rapidly swelling lump in his throat. He hurriedly lifted the handicapped boy back into the wheelchair, then took out his fancy handkerchief and dabbed at the fresh scrapes and cuts. A quick look told him everything was going to be okay.

“Thank you and may God bless you,” the grateful child told the stranger.

Too shook up for words, the man simply watched the little boy push his wheelchair-bound brother down the sidewalk toward their home. It was a long, slow walk back to the Jaguar. The damage was very noticeable, but the driver never bothered to repair the dented side door. He kept the dent there to remind him of this message: Don’t go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at you to get your attention!

Whether it’s the story of the Jaguar driver, Nicodemus or myself, we see amazing grace working its transforming action. This love and patience on God’s part are constantly active in our world. Grace is sometimes almost visible when those we meet offer that helpful assistance, that encouraging word, that shared insight which changes the shape of our day. At other times, grace is the inner urge which we cannot resist and which moves us to the good.

Have you noticed any pebbles being tossed your way lately? Or stones trying to get your attention? Maybe there’s a brick coming at you right now.

Grace is God patiently working in our lives, prodding, suggesting and lovingly waiting with the enduring reassurance of …..”behold I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” May that reminder give strength and purpose to our remaining days.

Amen