St. Luke’s Evangelical Lutheran Church – Watertown, WI
Pastor Mark Gartner
Sermon for Pentecost 12 – August 8^th and 11^th, 2002

1 Kings 19:9-18

⁹There he went into a cave and spent the night. And the word of the LORD came to him: "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

¹⁰He 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."

¹¹The 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. ¹²After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. ¹³When 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?"

¹⁴He 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."

¹⁵The 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. ¹⁶Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet. ¹⁷Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu. ¹⁸Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and all whose mouths have not kissed him."

Dear faithful people of God,

I don't know how many of you have played sports at one time or another during your lifetimes, but even if you have never played a sport in your life I think you know what a coach is. A coach is that one person who is assigned the task or job to make sure that the players are ready to do their best in whatever sport or activity they are participating in. The coach is the person who teaches you what to do. The coach is the person that tells you when you did something wrong. The coach is the motivator and the glue that keeps the team going in the right direction. Coaching is difficult and takes special skills, but one of the key things a coach does is to be able to give his team a good pep talk. A pep talk is given to get the team ready. A pep talk is given to inspire and motivate the team. A pep talk is very necessary, especially when a team has lost a number of games and is not very eager to play.

This morning we are going to look at a very inspirational and motivational pep talk that God delivered to one of his servants. God was leading one of the members of his "team", as his servant was doing his work. This morning we will look at this pep talk that God delivered to Elijah, and we will also see how this pep talk is very good and important for us who are also part of God's "team" through faith in Christ Jesus. Let's examine:

Theme: God’s "Pep Talk" For His Children

1. Don’t Look on the outside for Hope
2. Look to the "Gentle Whisper" of the Gospel

First we need to take a look at the history and background surrounding these words of our text. By understanding what Elijah was going through and what he was called by God to do, we can better understand why he felt the way he did. Elijah had been called by God to preach to the wicked and stubborn people of Israel. His calling was very difficult in that fact that he was the prophet who was to deal with the very wicked king Ahab and his even more wicked wife Jezebel. As we look at Israel and the wickedness that was everywhere, we soon begin to see that Elijah was not going to be very popular among the people. Since his message was the very harsh law, he was in direct opposition to Baal the god of the people who lived among and around the people of Israel. To see when the hatred and animosity that Ahab and Jezebel had towards Elijah reached its peak, we need to look at what had just happened before the words of our text. Elijah had challenged the prophets of Baal to a duel. He challenged them to see if their god Baal could overcome the power and might of the mighty and all-powerful God of heaven. The prophets of Baal saw this as a chance to show who Baal was. God as we know saw this as a chance to condemn the false gods of the land. They set up two altars, and they were to pray to their gods to bring fire on their sacrifice. As the story goes the Baal prophets could do nothing, while Elijah prayed and God consumed his sacrifice and the whole altar of the Baal prophets. Jezebel was not happy and threatened to kill Elijah. At this point Elijah fled for his life. He traveled almost 300 miles, and he came to Mt. Horeb or Mt. Sinai, as many know it. Here begins our text for this morning.

Elijah was spending his time in a cave. I'm sure that he had lots of time on his hands to think and ponder. Just think of how much you could think about, if you had just walked 300 miles! I'm sure that he was not very up beat at this time. Then the Lord comes to Elijah and ask him a question, "What are you doing here Elijah?" Elijah saw this as his chance to lay it all out on the table. Elijah used this question to vent his frustration and misery. Elijah told God what he thought of the work he was called to do. As Elijah explains, he had been very zealous in doing God's work. Through trials and misfortune he had still preached God's Word, but as Elijah says, "The Israelites have rejected your covenant.... I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me." Elijah had a good point, didn't he? What would we have said in the same position? How would we have reacted, if we had been put through this same situation? Most likely everyone one of us would have answered in a very similar fashion. Most likely we too would have vented our anger and disgust with Israel. Most likely we too would have been very depressed.

But let's transfer this story from the time of Elijah to today. Let's take Elijah out of the picture and insert ourselves. Let's think of the many ways that our lives and our ministry are similar to that of Elijah's. First of all we can see that we are preaching the same message of Christ and his death. We can see in many ways that the people we are preaching to are similar to that of Elijah's. There are many people who don't care about God. There are many people who despise us and our message. There seems to be far more people who reject God than who follow and believe his message. As we look at our own local and very small situation, we can look at St. Luke’s or the area of service we are doing. Sometimes we think like Elijah that our message isn't working. Sometimes we have those days where we wonder if it is worth being a Christians, or if it is worth our time to try and spread God's message. We may think that St. Luke’s will never grow larger or people will never listen to my message. We may think that things aren't progressing like we would like. We become confused and depressed, and then we may think that whatever we do won't work so we do nothing instead.

Sounds like this is a very good time for a pep talk. After looking at all the bad that is happening and that happened to Elijah, let's see exactly what God has done to build us up. As we look at what God does for Elijah, the thing we need to remember is that it is what God did for Elijah that helped him. It is not what Elijah did for himself. It was not Elijah who comforted himself. It was God who gave Elijah the power and courage to continue in the calling of preaching God's Word. It is exactly the same for us. God alone works in us. God had Elijah come out of the cave and stand on the mountain, but it is what was going to happen next that strikes our attention, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by." Can you imagine the feeling that Elijah was having as the Lord spoke these words to him? He was going to have the Lord pass by in his presence. What was he going to look like? How would he appear to him? What would happen when he saw the Lord passing before him? I'm sure that there was plenty of fear to go along with the sense of excitement and joy.

So as Elijah stood there a powerful wind came and shattered rocks and tore the mountains apart, but the Lord was not in the wind. Then there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. Then there was fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. By this time Elijah must have been confused. If God was almighty and full of power, why hadn't he appeared in these great feats of nature? What was going to come next? But it was what came next that is the key to this section. "And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave." For some reason Elijah knew that this gentle whisper was something special. He realized that it was different than the powerful acts he witnessed earlier. His reaction was that of awe and reverence, and some fear. He put his cloak over his head, and he then went out see what was going to happen next.

As he was standing there, God in the gentle whisper asked Elijah again, "What are you doing here?" Elijah's answer seems to indicate that he didn't quite understand all that was happening. He answered almost the same as he did before this great miracle. He still seemed to think that his message was not working as it should. It is understanding what had just happened that gives us hope. God didn't appear to Elijah in the earthquake, wind and fire, but in the gentle whisper. Isn't God a God of power and might? Isn't God someone who seems to fit the picture of something like those great acts of nature? As we think about this story, we begin to see two distinct sides. We see the power and strength which seems to point us towards God's law. Elijah would have been happy, if God had come in all his power and destroyed those wicked people of Israel. They deserved it. He had done all he could. This would have suited him fine, but God doesn't think and act like us. God is full of wisdom, power and mercy. This is why he came to Elijah in the gentle whisper. This is the gentle and yet very powerful work of God through the gospel of Jesus Christ. God was showing Elijah that he strengthens us and keeps us going not by the law, but by the gentle power of the gospel.

That is very important, as we think about the law and gospel, and how they are to be used. Sometimes we get the feeling that God's Gospel is not doing the job, so we rely very heavily on the law thinking that this will motivate people. If we don’t have enough money to pay the bills, then let’s clobber those who don’t give enough with the Law. If our Church statistics are down, then let’s make sure everyone who doesn’t come to church or Bible Class enough is reminded harshly what this means. But the law cannot and will not motivate anyone to give more offerings or attend church more or live a better life or believe in Christ. That is why we will always look to God's Gospel, when we are having rough times. This is why we will always look to God's Gospel, as we go and spread his Word. This is why we will always look to God's Gospel, as we look to live as Christians. The Gospel is what moves people’s hearts to bring thank offerings and to want to attend church or Bible Class. The Gospel is what opens people’s hearts to change. Yes, we still need to hear the law to remind us that we are still sinners, but we always need to look to the Gospel to give us the strength to overcome those many times, when we have fallen short of God's perfection. Is the gospel powerful? Some would say no, having us look at how many people are not followers of God. We may have a similar idea, when we look how many members aren’t active here at St. Luke’s or because we are struggling financially. We may be doubting and underestimating the gentle gospel that God has given to us.

As we look at how God finishes this section, we see who is in control. Elijah thought that he was the only person in all Israel who followed God. He may not have thought this completely, but he did have the idea that not very many people believed in God. God reassures him that there are still 7000 people who have not bowed their knees to Baal. In this instance we can see that God's gospel is working, even when we do not see direct results. How do we measure the success of the Gospel? By outward numbers like how many members we have or by how many people come to church as a result of our efforts, right! However God alone can see the complete results of our preaching his Gospel message. Just as he reassured Elijah that there are still 7000 believers, we can be reassured that our efforts are not in vain. We can know and believe that God is working in his Word, and that he will bless the fruits of our labors, whether we see them or not.

God finishes with some words of lasting comfort. God told Elijah that he would now go and anoint or designate three people to continue the work of God. Elijah was nearing the end of his ministry, and he was now passing the torch on. God was letting Elijah see that his work was not in vain, but it would be continued by these men. He was to go and anoint Elisha to succeed him as the next prophet, and he was to anoint two kings who would return God to the center of attention in Israel. God is control, and he knows when and how to accomplish the things necessary for the salvation of his people. He controls our every action. We may plan and we may think that we have done everything in the perfect way, but it is finally God working in and through the Gospel that we present that matters. This doesn't mean we can sit on our duffs using the excuse God will do what he wants anyway. This doesn't mean that we should not plan a way to reach as many people as we can, but this does show us that the Gospel will work and that God will bless our efforts and our lives on this earth. Our ministry is not in vain, and if there are days when we wonder how we can go on, let us look to this wonderful Gospel filled pep talk that God gave to his servant Elijah. In a way we are like Elijah, and these words of God will help us tremendously as face the tasks in front of us with the gentle whisper of the gospel leading us every step of the way. Amen