Sermon by Rev. Caela Simmons Wood
First Congregational UCC, Manhattan, KS
June 12, 2016
Sermon Text - 1 Kings 18:20-39
One of the things I was somewhat astounded to learn in seminary is that there is a method of preaching called “preaching against the text.” When you read over the text, immerse yourself in it, try to really get in there and find the good news...but then you discover it’s really problematic in some very serious way….or what it seems to be saying about God is so deeply troubling and goes against the way we typically understand God….when that happens, a preacher will sometimes preach against the text.
So, fair warning: that’s what’s going to be happening today.
Because this story from 1 Kings is so deeply troubling to me theologically, that I can’t seem to find a way to redeem it. And yet, it feels very important - especially given the world we are living in right now - so I didn’t want to ignore it completely.
In case you’re one of those people who tune out when the scripture is read, let’s just do a bit of review. Today’s scene in the Elijah series is really the climax of the whole story. It’s a big scene, to be sure. There’s a big duel, there’s all kinds of blood and and gore and violence, there are magic tricks, pyrotechnics….and all of it takes place on top of a big mountain.
We are three years now into the drought that the author of 1 Kings says God has sent on the people of Israel to punish them for their wayward king. You might recall that King Ahab is a BAD KING. What makes him so bad? Well, it’s mostly about idolatry, which is a big no-no.
King Ahab has married a foreign queen, a woman named Jezebel. And in order to sort of meld their cultures and make her happy, he has taken to encouraging everyone in Israel to follow her God, named Ba’al. God, in this story, is displeased to say the least. God, in this story, is an exceedingly jealous God and is pretty hot about the idea of the Israelites hanging out with other gods.
Now let me pause for a moment and tell you about a conversation I had just a week ago. I was visiting with a person that I’m friendly with. We’re not best friends or anything, but I see him around town on a regular basis. He knows I’m a pastor. We’re friendly. We were talking about, oh, I don’t even remember what. And he suddenly says something disparaging about Muhammed Ali being a Muslim. With kind of a wink-wink, like he thought I would agree.
I was shocked for a moment and once I cleared my mind I said, “Wait. I don’t have a problem with Muslims. I respect Islam. We held Muhammed Ali’s family in prayer this morning at my church. He was a bold and wise leader.” And then the other guy looked at me, confused, and I continued, “You know many Christians respect other faiths, right? Like, we think there are lots of ways to understand God and do good in the world. Not just ours?” The look on his face told me that this was new information to him.
So you can see, already, how the very premise of this story is problematic. Because the God of Love that I have come to know over the course of my life is a God who is known by many names and in many cultures and many traditions. So I’m a bit skeptical at the start because the framing of this story is all about “My God vs. Your God” - which is decidedly problematic.
To complicate things further, though, I do think this idea of idolatry is important. I just want to make crystal clear that I’m not calling Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, or any other major world religion that points towards Love, a religion of idolatry.
Idolatry, though? Still a big problem. It’s just not typically called Ba’al these days. We have other names for our idols: wealth, prestige, power, victory at all costs, beauty, violence, sex, sports teams, politicians, celebrities. All of these things can distract us from what really matters. All of them can take over our lives and become gods. Idols are still a problem. But they aren’t imported from foreign countries and they certainly don’t go by the name Allah.
So this is a story about idolatry. And it’s a story about leaders facing off. Two different groups, both of whom claim they have all the answers. The world is in a bad place. They’ve been in a serious drought for three years. People are parched. The situation is so bleak that the king himself just went out on an expedition to look in all the local springs for a little bit of grass to try and keep the remaining livestock alive. When your King is spending his time looking for grass for cows? It’s not good.
How to solve the problems at hand? Who knows the way forward? How do we get back to a time of peace and prosperity? How do we make Israel great again?
Well, as in any good story, there are competing answers to that question. King Ahab says, “Just hang on with me. I trust Ba’al and I believe he can fix things for us. Stay loyal to my God and it will all be okay.”
But the Prophet Elijah disagrees, “No, no, no,” he says, “Ba’al is the problem. That’s why we’re in trouble. You have to turn back to Yahweh. My God is the only one who can fix this.”
And the thing about this particular story is that it matters - it REALLY MATTERS - what the average people decide to do. According to the storyteller, Yahweh REALLY wants - NEEDS - all the people of Israel to turn their back on Ba’al and Ahab in order for God to want to make things right. It’s not enough for Elijah to stay faithful and do the right thing. The people have to vote and they have to vote right.
And so Elijah’s God does what any reasonable God would do in this situation: he puts on a big show. Up to the top of Mount Carmel they go. The rules are laid out. The two sides go to their corners, eager to show what they are made of. Animals are prepared for sacrifice. Prayers are said. Incantations are recited. The audience waits for the magic to take place.
The goal of this little game is to make fire out of nothing. The prophets of Ba’al are unable to do so. But Elijah is successful. His God not only makes fire, but is kind of a show-off. Elijah douses the altar with a ton of water first….interesting on multiple levels: first, because dousing something with water is not really a sensible way to start a fire, and secondly, because it’s also a great show of faith. Remember how they don’t even have enough water to keep the animals alive? And Elijah goes and wastes 12 big jars of it on this fire? He must be very confident.
He’s right to be confident. The fire comes. He wins the contest. The audience marvels. “Elijah! It’s you! You’re the one! We were wrong all along to listen to Ahab and Jezebel. Thank you for reminding us who we really are and who God is. We vote for you and your God. You are the ones who have the power to save us.”
(Editorial comment: God is saving them from a problem that God created. This also seems problematic to me...but not as problematic as what’s about to happen.)
Elijah gets swept up in the moment. He is running on adrenaline - bursting with excitement. He bet everything and he won. He won! This has been a long and grueling campaign - years in the making. There were some moments where he was really pushed to the edge and when he sometimes lost faith that he would eventually prevail, but now he’s done it. The people voted for his God. He won!
And so he does what any reasonable prophet would do on his victory lap: he immediately orders the audience gathered there to seize all 450 prophets of Ba’al - the losers - and exterminate them. Annihilate them. Wipe them out completely. In other words, kill them.
So ends the lesson.
Problematic doesn’t seem quite strong enough of a word to describe that ending, does it? This is an offensive text, to me at least. I can’t say how it strikes you. But the God I know isn’t much for showdowns on mountains. He doesn’t send droughts and kill innocent people while having a staredown with other gods. The God I’ve come to know through other scriptures, my own lived experiences, and the stories shared with me by other faithful people is bigger, braver, stronger, more robust than the one described here. She doesn’t say, “Nanny nanny boo boo!” in the face of tragedy, nor condone the outright slaughter of losers.
The God I know makes room at the table for many different ways of understanding and experiencing the Holy. The God I know corrects gently, luring his beloved children into new and better ways by sending people who can teach, not win in a fire-y display on top of a mountain. The God I know weeps with the losers and picks them up off the ground, encouraging them to dust off their knees, learn from their mistakes, and try harder next time.
This isn’t the God I know. Not this time, Elijah. I’m sorry.
The question of how God wants us to behave when we are in conflict with one another is not just some interesting thing to ponder. It’s a question that we have to live into every single day. Since putting up the Black Lives Matter signs in our church yard a few weeks ago, we have, once again, received e-mails, phone calls, walk ins, facebook comments from strangers. They call us names. I delete the name-calling when it happens on Facebook. They yell back at us “All lives matter!” Someone even went to the trouble of making their own huge “all lives matter” sign out of plywood and posting it in our yard. We took it down. They send e-mails telling us we should be ashamed and that we are hateful.
I don’t mean to blow this out of proportion….because we have also received positive responses. The cranky people are few in number. But I do think it’s important for us all to remember that our commitment to racial justice is not universally greeted with joy. And the question of how to handle serious conflicts is not just academic. We - all of us, I know, not just me - have to decide every day how to handle serious disagreements.
I’m simply not convinced that challenging our opponents to a dual in front of a live studio audience is the answer. Nor do I believe violence is the answer. Nor do I think it’s appropriate to call “the other side” losers and thumb our noses at them.
Are there any answers in this text? Well, I always find it helpful, when I’m dealing with a hard text to try and ask myself, “Where am I imagining myself into this story? And are there any other options?” So far it seems we’ve imagined ourselves into the audience….the faithful and not-so-faithful Israelites who gather to watch the big showdown and cast their vote for God of the Year in the general election. And we’ve perhaps imagined ourselves into the role of Elijah - defending our viewpoints against those who seem to be in opposition. We’ve even toyed a bit with the idea of what it looks like to be Ahab or the other followers of Ba’al. Who are our idols? What calls us away from God?
I want to suggest there is one more place to imagine ourselves into this story. Sort of. There’s a missing character who doesn’t seem to be present at the top of Mount Carmel. Or if he is there, he’s not saying much. The prime minister. His name is Obadiah. A different kind of leader than Ahab or Jezebel or Elijah or the other prophets. Obadiah is described earlier in chapter 18 as a person who was loyal to Yahweh, yet still worked for the King. One of those quiet characters trying to survive and live in a balance somewhere between perfect ideals and absolute evil. We are told that he had previously protected 100 of Yahweh’s prophets when Jezebel tried to kill them. He hid them away in a cave and brought them food and water to sustain them.
We don’t know where Obadiah is in today’s story. But part of me thinks: well, maybe he’s not there. Maybe he’s off doing something more important, like continuing his search for grass to feed the starving animals. Maybe he’s not drawn in by the three-ring-circus on top of Mount Carmel. Maybe he’s focusing his energy elsewhere.
When those who wish to lead us clamor for attention, going head-to-head in spectacular battles, perhaps there is something to learn from those who didn't show up on Mount Carmel that day. Maybe there's more than one way forward - to a time and place where the drought is over and people of all backgrounds, religions, political persuasions can come together and care for one another. A time and place where all of God’s people can stand together under the warm summer rains and give thanks for the simple pleasure and beauty of knowing we are all in this together and, really, the only thing we absolutely have to do is find a way to love God and love our neighbors as ourselves.
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