St. Luke Ev. Lutheran Church
Sermon delivered by Pastor Anthony E. Schultz
Pentecost 19 October 15, 2006 1 Kings 19:19-21

So Elijah went from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen, and he himself was driving the twelfth pair. Elijah went up to him and threw his cloak around him. Elisha then left his oxen and ran after Elijah. “Let me kiss my father and mother good-by,” he said, “and then I will come with you.” “Go back,” Elijah replied. “What have I done to you?” So Elisha left him and went back. He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. He burned the plowing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out to follow Elijah and became his attendant.

People of God—rescued from the flaming lake of fire in hell by the innocent blood of the very Lamb of God:

Some time between 1308 and his death in 1321 a man named Dante Alighieri wrote a very complicated poem about eternal destruction, about purgatory and Paradise. This Divine Comedy is written in the first person. Dante is guided by Virgil—the Latin poet who wrote the Aneid—which we translated from the original at Northwestern College. Dante’s guide through Paradise is a lady named Beatrice—a real Italian woman from Florence—that Dante loved—beginning in his childhood—a woman whom he loved—pure and chaste from afar! The poem begins on a Good Friday in the year 1300. Dante is 35—half of the Bible life span of 70. Dante is lost in a dark woods—attacked by beasts—a lion, a leopard and a she-wolf—symbols of temptations to sin. Dante walks through the gates of Hell—on which is inscribed the famous phrase—“Abandon all hope, you who enter here.” If there was a sign at the entrance to hell—this would be a fitting one. Because once you are in hell—you never ever ever get out again! There is literally no hope at all! After a trillion times a trillion years—you still never ever get out of hell. The horror of unspeakable suffering will never ever end! The first people Dante imagines in hell he calls opportunists—souls of people who in life did nothing—neither for good nor for evil—but just stood there. These people aren’t just standing there now—they are running as fast as they can from wasps and hornets that keep on stinging them—while ugly baby bugs and insects drink their blood and tears. This is supposed to represent the sting of their conscience! How painful is that? The poem goes on and on. It paints a horrible picture of the hurt of eternal destruction. The simple essential truth of God’s Word—is that we are forgiven for Jesus’ sake. Instead of the unimaginable pain of hell—we will know the joy and peace and rest of heaven. We are saved by grace through faith. This recruitment day—God’s Word encourages us to be the workers—who share this essential law and gospel. Today God’s Word has the theme:

Search for Elisha!

1. God provides the Gospel for a world in desperate need
2. God raises up people all the time to share God’s Word
3. God equips people to share God’s Word

Context is always important! There once was a king—a horrible kind named Ahab. God’s Word says Ahab went to meet Elijah. When he saw Elijah, he said to him, “Is that you, you troubler of Israel?” “I have not made trouble for Israel,” Elijah replied. “But you and your father’s family have. You have abandoned the LORD’s commands and have followed the Baals. Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.” 850 false prophets would stand against Elijah—who served the living God! Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him but if Baal is God, follow him.” But the people said nothing! The people said nothing! How sad is that? Here was the time to shout, “As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD!” But they didn’t! Here was a time to have the faith and courage of Daniel who went unafraid into the lion’s den. Here was a time to have the faith and courage of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego—to be thrown into the fiery furnace unafraid! But they didn’t. They must have looked down or up or around or past Elijah. They didn’t say a word! They were more afraid of wicked Queen Jezebel and her miserable excuse for a husband and a king! It was a sad day in Israel when only one man had the faith and courage to declare he served the one true God!

You know what happened next. The prophets of Baal went first. They cut up the beef—and placed it on their altar. From morning till noon they cried out, “O Baal, answer us!” they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made. At noon Elijah began to taunt them. “Shout louder!” he said. “Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought or busy or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.” So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom until their blood flowed. Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention! Elijah called the people closer to watch. By himself Elijah piled up twelve large field stones—one for each of the 12 tribes of Israel—to whom the word of the LORD had come. Then he dug a trench around the altar—big enough to dump two sacks of seeds. Then he arranged the wood. Then he cut up the whole bull. Then he had the people dump water on the sacrifice—again and again. Then he prayed to the one true God—the living God—the great I AM—the holy one of Israel! Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. Have you ever seen a fire so hot it burned up field stones and licked up water? I don’t think so! The prophets of Baal—all 850 of them were put to death. Then the LORD God again sent rain—after a 3 ½ year drought—the LORD God sent rain—to soak into the soil—to water the wild animals and to make things grow again!

Now you might think that Elijah would be feeling pretty good about himself right about now—but he didn’t! Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.” Elijah was afraid and ran… So it sometimes goes—even with the most faithful workers. They become afraid and just want to run away! Elijah literally ran away—until he sat under a broom tree—and wanted to die! The LORD told Elijah—“Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.” Doesn’t this remind you of Moses on Mt. Sinai—to be this near his Heavenly Father? 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. After the earthquake—a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. After the fire came a gentle whisper.

It is time to get back to work! It is tempting to want to pull the warm thick covers over your head—to give up--to quit! But you can’t quit when you remember what’s at stake! What is at stake is the eternal home of your immortal soul! With stakes like that—we need to get back into the fight. Pick up your weapons—put on your helmet—and back to the battle against spiritual ignorance, gross evil and hurtful unbelief! What powerful good news to know:

1. God provides the Gospel for a world in desperate need

He burned the plowing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out to follow Elijah and became his attendant. This world is in desperate need of the Gospel! The symptoms are published every day in the newspaper. The symptoms are reported on the evening news. A birth mom throws her 4 month old infant at her boyfriend—to try and hurt him. And the little baby ends up in the hospital. Little Amish girls go to school—and are tied up and murdered? People playing a pick up football game lose and are frustrated—and get in their car and drive over people from the other team? Little unborn babies are stolen from inside their mother’s tummy—mothers of newborn babies have their throat hurt—and their babies snatched. And there are a thousand examples—new every day! These are the symptoms of a world of more than 6 billion people who need to have Jesus in their heart—and literally billions don’t! Without the gospel—the world will only become darker and darker—more and more dangerous. Our task is to spread the Gospel—to share it at any and every opportunity. When we share the Gospel—Jesus alone will make it take root and grow and grow! We are the farmer—to cultivate the soil and plant the seed and water it and cultivate it. Only Jesus can make it take root and grow and bear sweet fruit.

2. God raises up people all the time to share God’s Word

Then he(Elisha) set out to follow Elijah and became his attendant. There have been people following the spirit and heart and attitude of Elijah all the time—to share God’s Word. The LORD always keeps his remnant faithful and safe. There were believers from Germany who came to Milwaukee. There were believers who came from Milwaukee down a road made of planks to Watertown. There have been believers from Watertown who went to college here—and now college not far from a little house on the prairie. Students have gone to the school that looks like the Wartburg Castle on a hill in Thiensville! The next generation of pastors, teachers and staff ministers are children who come to these children’s devotions. The next batch of pastors, teachers and staff ministers are just learning how to read—so they can read God’s Word. Already they are taking hold of memory treasures. Little people are depending on their parents to send them to our schools—to bring them to church and Sunday School—showing them by their powerful example to love Jesus more and more! Little people need to see their parents in Bible Study. Need to see their parents reading Meditations and Forward in Christ—and reading their Bible! They need to hear their parents talking about every day practical applications of God’s Word to the choices and decisions they need to make every day. They need to hear their parents speak well of their pastors and teachers and staff ministers—so their sons and daughters know that when they grow up and become called workers they will have the respect that gives glory to God!

3. God equips people to share God’s Word

The LORD—the Great I AM—who equipped Elisha also equips us with the tools and abilities we need—to share God’s Word. We have Bibles! In Elisha’s day Scriptures were rare—hand copied with painstaking care. In Luther’s day Scriptures were rare—literally chained down in the libraries. Today there are Bibles everywhere. We have cases of them—for teen Bible Class and adult Bible Class. There are Bibles in every hotel room. There is the TNIV—Today’s New International Version—published this year—2006. They are so new you can’t even get them at our Publishing House yet. You can buy Bibles at Shopko and Wal-Mart and the Book Store. If you don’t have a Bible we will give you one. If you wear your Bible out we will replace it for you! We have the tools. I have more than 41 Bibles in my office at home! The thing we need to do is read them—study them—write practical notes in them. We need to read them—and nothing will ever be the same. Read your Bible and you will grow in faith. Come to Lord’s Supper again and again and your faith will grow stronger and stronger. That’s God’s guarantee. Read your Bible and you will grow spiritually. You will pray more often, more fervently, more pointedly. Read your Bible and your marriage will be better! Read your Bible and your relationship with your children will be better! Read your Bible and you will sleep better—knowing Jesus’ angels will keep you safe!

I was driving home from the hospital in Milwaukee the other day—when I pulled up beside a pick up truck. It was a truck for craftsmen--tradesmen. They had those big tool boxes build on the sides of the box. On the back of the truck was one of those posters for a lost and exploited child. It was the picture of a little girl with this beautiful smile on her face. She had blonde hair—little bangs—long on one side—then cut real short—like another little child gave her a hair cut. You know what I mean. It said her name was Destiny Schmidt—that she was 3 years old. That if you knew anything about her you should call 1-800-the Lost! You know how helpless it feels to see a poster like that? Where is this little girl? I have no idea? What really happened to her? Again—I have no idea! Will her parents ever find her—or has one of her parents taken her—and done unspeakable things to her—then hidden her little broken body? I don’t know! But Jesus knows! He knows where that little girl is. Jesus—loves her very much—and died on the cross to rescue her eternally. And that’s what really matters—to be rescued eternally. It would be a very difficult job—to hunt for lost and exploited little children. But the fact is—you can grow up and do even more important work than that. You can grow up and be Jesus’ servant—to hunt for lost and exploited people—being harmed and harassed by the devil. You can be Jesus’ servant—to show people their Savior’s nail marked hands and his forgiving heart. You can show people the way to heaven for Jesus’ sake. Amen!

To God alone all glory!
Rev. Anthony E. Schultz