Sermon for November 24

The readings

Kings 22:1-10 

 Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign; he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jedidah daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath. 2 He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, and followed completely the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left.  

In the eighteenth year of King Josiah, walked in all the way of his father David; he did not turn aside to the right or to the left.the king sent Shaphan son of Azaliah, son of Meshullam, the secretary, to the house of the Lord, saying, 4 “Go up to the high priest Hilkiah, and have him count the entire sum of the money that has been brought into the house of the Lord, which the keepers of the threshold have collected from the people; 5 let it be given into the hand of the workers who have the oversight of the house of the Lord; let them give it to the workers who are at the house of the Lord, repairing the house, 6 that is, to the carpenters, to the builders, to the masons; and let them use it to buy timber and quarried stone to repair the house. 7 But no accounting shall be asked from them for the money that is delivered into their hand, for they deal honestly.”

8 The high priest Hilkiah said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord.” When Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, he read it. 9 Then Shaphan the secretary came to the king, and reported to the king, “Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of the workers who have oversight of the house of the Lord.” 10 Shaphan the secretary informed the king, “The priest Hilkiah has given me a book.” Shaphan then read it aloud to the king.
 
2 Kings 23:1-3 

23 Then the king directed that all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem should be gathered to him. 2 The king went up to the house of the Lord, and with him went all the people of Judah, all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests, the prophets, and all the people, both small and great; he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant that had been found in the house of the Lord. 3 The king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the Lord, to follow the Lord, keeping his commandments, his decrees, and his statutes, with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. All the people joined in the covenant.
 
Luke 24:30-32 
30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. 32 They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us[a] while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?”


The message


We continue our long wait for Christmas with readings from the end of the Old Testament Book of Second Kings and part of Jesus post resurrection encounter with 2 people on road to Emmmas from the end of Luke’s Gospel. In both cases, God is revealed, in the world during difficult times.  In Second Kings through the finding and reading of the law and in Luke through the blessing and breaking of the bread along with the sharing and explanation of scripture. In both of these events, 600 plus years apart from each other, people in great darkness have seen an even greater light.  The world of King Josiah was a place where the law was forgotten, found stored among the garbage and crumbling structures of the temple.  On the road to Emmaus, the strangers are walking in a daze of disappointment and frustration. Jesus was gone, executed, crucified shamefully by Rome with the full support of the religious authorities.     


 I wanted to share a quick bit of bible study and context. First and Second Kings were originally one book and they tell the story of Judah from the death of King David until the fall of the kingdom and the Exile into Bablyon.  First and Second Kings are a narrative, they tell a story. The main characters include God, prophets, kings and some significant outsiders or foreigners.  The drama centers around the people and kings of Israel trying to keep the covenant and law. The main events focus on God’s reaction to their failures, repentance and success.  It is selective history, composed and complied from lots of ancient sources and records to show people God is truly God, to be worshipped exclusively.  It is a moral world where wrong is punished, there are consequences of doubting God, worshipping other gods or seeking help and salvation from anything or anyone who is not the God who called Abraham, powerfully took the people out of slavery in Egypt and led the people to the promised land.


Today’s section of 2 Kings is known as the reforms of King Josiah. Josiah was one of the good kings of Judah, the Southern Kingdom of Israel, the people entrusted with Jerusalem and from the line of King David.. Josiah was the 4^th in a line of kings that included the faithful Hezekiah, the horrible Manesseh, the short lived but similarily horrible Amon and then Josiah. During the time of Manesseh, things fell apart. He served as king for 55 years, the longest of any Davidic king. He allowed worship of outside dieties, even in the temple, doing all he could to seek salvation from partnership with Assyria (who had destroyed the northern kingdom already).  Manasseh’s actions and political decisions, while they seemed necessary at the time, a reasonable, logical as one of a few bad options, are blamed for the fall of Judah to the Babylonians. The law is ignored to the point of being forgotten. In 2 kings 24, we learn, During Jehoiakim’s reign,


Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon invaded the land, and Jehoiakim became his vassal for three years. But then he turned against Nebuchadnezzar and rebelled. ² The Lord sent Babylonian,^[a] Aramean, Moabite and Ammonite raiders against him to destroy Judah, in accordance with the word of the Lord proclaimed by his servants the prophets. ³ Surely these things happened to Judah according to the Lord’s command, in order to remove them from his presence because of the sins of Manasseh and all he had done. 


Under Manesseh’s watch, the temple had fallen into disrepair and abuse as a place for worshipping foreign gods as well as their prophets and temple prostitutes. At first Josiah sets out to literally clean up, repair and restore the temple.  During this work, the law is found. 


I can remember quite a few times when I have told someone “Good thing I found the keys, the documents, a record” only to have the other person respond with real shock and surprise, saying “oh I didn’t realize you lost it” and a tone that indicates disappointment.


Once Josiah hears the law read, intense and aggressive reforms begin, the temple is cleansed, brought back to the purpose for which it was built, the other gods are thrown out, their images destroyed, proper worship is restored, a covenant is re-entered with the Lord.   


The people of Josiah’s reign were surrounded by emeries and collapsing, had long forgotten God. At the same time, God did not forget them.  The people walking with Jesus on the road, saw God’s promises gone, crucified and buried, They were in the midst of forgetting and moving on, God did not forget them.   

Today, I invite you to Hear the Law, as Jesus defines it. “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Hear the law, we are people guided by God, Hear the law, before you vote, hear Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’^[ Love your neighbor as yourself, before you participate in the life of our city, nation and world.


Hear the law, Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’^[ Love your neighbor as yourself before you give or consider what to do with your resources.  


Hear the law, Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’^[ Love your neighbor as yourself before you decide who is loved by God.   


Hear the law, Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’^[ Love your neighbor as yourself before you wonder what your church should do, before you wonder what you should do,

Sermon for November 17

The readings


Isaiah 5:1-7
5 Let me sing for my beloved
    my love-song concerning his vineyard:
My beloved had a vineyard
    on a very fertile hill.
2 He dug it and cleared it of stones,
    and planted it with choice vines;
he built a watchtower in the midst of it,
    and hewed out a wine vat in it;
he expected it to yield grapes,
    but it yielded wild grapes.
3 And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem
    and people of Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard.
4 What more was there to do for my vineyard
    that I have not done in it?
When I expected it to yield grapes,
    why did it yield wild grapes?
5 And now I will tell you
    what I will do to my vineyard.
I will remove its hedge,  and it shall be devoured;
I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down.
6 I will make it a waste;
    it shall not be pruned or hoed,
    and it shall be overgrown with briers and thorns;
I will also command the clouds
    that they rain no rain upon it.
7 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts
    is the house of Israel,
and the people of Judah
    are his pleasant planting;
he expected justice,
    but saw bloodshed;
righteousness,
    but heard a cry!
 
Isaiah 11:1-5 
11 A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse,
    and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
2 The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him,
    the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
    the spirit of counsel and might,
    the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
3 His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
    or decide by what his ears hear;
4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
    and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
    and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
5 Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist,
    and faithfulness the belt around his loins.
 
Mark 12:1-3 
12 Then he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a pit for the wine press, and built a watchtower; then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. 2 When the season came, he sent a slave to the tenants to collect from them his share of the produce of the vineyard. 3 But they seized him, and beat him, and sent him away empty-handed.


The message


(No Manuscript this week so here’s a short outline, I talked a lot about a dead plant)


When I first arrived here, the Church of Grace to the Fujianese, one of the churches that share our space with us, gave me this plant as a welcome gift (I brought the plant with me to church)

Over 10 years, this plant has endured a lot, it has thrived, grown, flowered.  After a while it even had a plant baby, a little shoot that grew next to it. I replanted that one in another pot.  It has dried out, almost died a few times and shrived up a few times too.  A few months ago it was at one of those almost dead times. I added compost, put it outside in the sun and watered it. It didn’t exactly work and it was down to a last leaf or two.  Then I went away for a few days and when I came back, both pots were empty (my wife saw a dead plant and dumped it).  A few days after that, some wild flowers sprouted in the pot.  At first freeze, they died too but a beautiful, odd looking frozen brown plant was left. 


1: I didn’t reach out to the experts when I knew the plant was in trouble  (the handful of people I know with advanced degrees  in botany, a pastor, who can grow vegetables in almost sand and who worked as a farmer for years before ministry and a contact at the Queen Botanical Garden would have been a few options). The people of Israel would not turn to the Lord for help, they turn to the Assyrians, to other empires, to their own leaders, to foreign deities like baal, turning to anything and everyone except the God who gave a child to Sarah and Abram, who brought them out of slavery in Egypt and into the promised land, who protected, cared for and brought improbable victory to them.   


2: I originally thought I would pass on the new plant to a new church, that it would be a constant part of how I see and understand ministry, perhaps it would grow when we grew and shrink when we shrink.  Now I wonder what will grow next and I have a good story to help share good news with.


The prophet Isaiah, Jesus (and lots of others) have used metaphors about the life cycles of vines, plants, trees etc as a way to talk about God’s love and presence in the world.  These metaphors, familiar to all people are drawn on to show our sins and failings but also that God’s promises are still good, God’s word will be kept (in a new, different and unexpected way)


 In church, work, life, we can often feel like a failure, like this plant, or fruitless like the vineyard Isaiah speaks of but we are all about the shoot from the dead stump, the reminder that God is not done with us yet,   

Sermon for Sunday, November 11th

The readings

Hosea 11:1-9 


When Israel was a child, I loved him,
    and out of Egypt I called my son.
2 The more I called them,
    the more they went from me;
they kept sacrificing to the Baals,
    and offering incense to idols.
3 Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk,
    I took them up in my arms;
    but they did not know that I healed them.
4 I led them with cords of human kindness,
    with bands of love.
I was to them like those
    who lift infants to their cheeks.
    I bent down to them and fed them.
5 They shall return to the land of Egypt,
    and Assyria shall be their king,
    because they have refused to return to me.
6 The sword rages in their cities,
    it consumes their oracle-priests,
    and devours because of their schemes.
7 My people are bent on turning away from me.
    To the Most High they call,
    but he does not raise them up at all.

8 How can I give you up, Ephraim?
    How can I hand you over, O Israel?
How can I make you like Admah?
    How can I treat you like Zeboiim?
My heart recoils within me;
    my compassion grows warm and tender.
9 I will not execute my fierce anger;
    I will not again destroy Ephraim;
for I am God and no mortal,
    the Holy One in your midst,
    and I will not come in wrath.

Mark 10:13-14   13 People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. 14 But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belong,


The message


As we begin our time with the prophets, I wanted to do something a little different, a bit of 1^st person narrative to tell the story of Hosea and how today’s reading fits into its historical context as well as the good news of Christmas, that God’s promises are kept, that Christ our savior is born.


My name is Hosea.  History has remembered me as the prophet of doom. Its not the name of a death metal band, it’s a title I was given because of my work, because I was entrusted by the Lord to prophesy, to share God’s word at a very faithless and difficult time, I had to tell people, powerful, important people who thought they were invincible, that a time of reckoning was coming. In the decades leading up to the Northern Kingdom of Israel being destroyed by the Assyrian Empire, we watched them grow stronger and stronger each year, conquering the cities and people around us. We also watched as our kings and leaders freely, openly, publicly worshipped other gods and sought their salvation from alliances with other empires.


I was the only prophet of that time (around 760 bc to 720 bc) whose words were written and saved for history.  I was relentless in my work, constantly trying to call people back to faith in the Lord God, the one who made the covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the one who gave a child to Sarah and Abraham, the one who set the people free from slavery in Egypt, the one who brings them to the promised land, gives them the law, appoints their kings and brings victory.  I used lots of examples from daily life to try and show people how far they had fallen from the Lord, how badly they were keeping their end of the covenant, how that would have severe consequences. I told kings, I told priests, I told political leaders, I told everyone again and again. They thought I was joking, they did not care. I told them how they were acting like an unfaithful spouse, who breaks their marriage promises, one of the most important parts of how people lived and society was organized. They thought I was joking, they did not care. I told them how they were acting like a rebellious, misbehaving, ungrateful child, who turns on their parents, the ones who supported, loved, forgave and cared for them. Again, they thought I was joking, they did not care.   


I never said much about my childhood, genealogy, education or early life but most of my life has centered on the work of prophesy. People today, would call me a workaholic, a man obsessed with his job. In fact, where I went, who I married, even how I named my children, were all part of my work.. My home and family life were pretty bad, As I first heard God’s call to prophesy, I was told, “Go, take for yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord”. That is exactly what I did. I married a woman named Gomer, we had 3 children and she was unfaithful to me. Now a lot of people in the bible have meaningful, powerful names:  Jesus will be named Emmanuel, meaning God with us, Joshua means “God is salvation”, Samuel means God has heard our prayers, Abigail means “my father is joy”. 

Well my kids, they have different sorts of names, the ones that a concerned court or government would ban.  First, there is my son Jezerel, named after the place where King Jehu begins his violent revolt and takeover of the kingdom. It will be where that dynasty falls as well.  My second child is a daughter named Lo-ruhamah, indicating that the Lord will no longer have pity on, help or protect the northern kingdom of Israel (Judah will survive a little longer).  Perhaps the worst name is my third child, a son, Then the Lord said, “Name him Lo-ammi, for you are not my people and I am not your God.   This means God is withdrawing from the covenant, there has been enough disobedience, too much really, enough worship of other gods, enough seeking salvation from other states.  This means the fall of the Northern Kingdom.  Assyria will be the unworthy tool that the Lord uses to end the northern kingdom.  Their ruin will be a sign for all history.    


In the beginning I mentioned I was known as the prophet of doom but sometimes I wonder why. This punishment is drastic, overwhelming, but like all the others, is temporary. My children will be renamed, I will forgive Gomer for her infidelity, the Lord will say: yet the number of the people of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which can be neither measured nor numbered; and in the place where it was said to them, “You are not my people,” it shall be said to them, “Children of the living God


I ended my little first person view of the world according to Hosea with a promise and today, as we start with the books of the prophets, promises will be very important.  The prophets are the last major section of our long Advent, the wait for Christmas, for the birth of Jesus, for something people have waited almost 800 years for, the fulfillment of God’s great promises of restoration, forgiveness and freedom from that cycle of sin, punishment and repentance.   


The prophets, people who brought the world a message from God, They worked  2 sets, the northern and southern kingdom, in the years around before, during and after the destruction of the northern kingdom by the assyrians and the temple in Jerusalem in Judah, the southern kingdom (by the Babloyioans around 586 bc).  Since they were such a diverse group, It can be hard to define or classify the prophets in any way. Some receive a calling directly from God,  Some prophets came from long lines of religious leaders with established backgrounds and histories, others just appear out of nowhere.  Some had positions of great influence in the royal courts, others were outsiders that no one payed attention to.  Some spoke good news, others shared a message of dire warning about the things to come.  


Each prophet gets real, they speak truth to power (and to all). Through Hosea the Lord God says, The more I called the people of Israel, the more they went from me; we have seen it several times since September, We saw the people rescued from 400 years of slavery in Egypt, only to complain they were better off there, protest life in the wilderness and eventually worship and give credit for their freedom to a golden calf.  We saw King Ahab follow his wife Jezebel and lead the people into the worship of Baal, a deity worshipped by many of the people surrounding them (the people that God was protecting Israel from and leading to victory over). In the Southern kingdom, we see and the prophets condemn King David sends Uzziah the Hittite, a loyal and faithful solider to die in battle so David can have his wife Bathsheba.  We saw King Solomon build the great temple in Jerusalem, along with all sorts of temples for the foreign gods of his wives.  We saw their obsession with wealth and greed and their lack of concern for the people


In each case, there are consequences.  There is a cycle of God’s call, people’s initial excitement and obedience, people falling away, being punished, repenting and being restored.  In response to the worship of the golden calf, the priests go out and kill all of those who continue to worship this idol (about 3000 people).  King David is confronted by Samuel and stopped from building the temple. His name will not be associated with it.  Solomon’s behavior leads to the division of the kingdom into the northern and southern kingdoms, the brief time of a united people will be no more.  In response to the widespread, king approved worship of Baal in Israel, the Lord sends a 3 year drought. Things get worse.   Overall, the prophets share a few messages, they call people to repentance, back to faith, they insist that God is real, God matters, their words are often bad news, condemning the realties of the people’s lives (in particular the worship of other gods, inequality, disobedience).  At the same time, there are promises, that God has not forgotten the people, God’s promises are still good, they will be fulfilled, in new, unexpected and wider ways.

   

Sermon for November 3

 The readings


Kings 18:17-39   When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is it you, you troubler of Israel?” 18 He answered, “I have not troubled Israel; but you have, and your father’s house, because you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and followed the Baals. 19 Now therefore have all Israel assemble for me at Mount Carmel, with the four hundred fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”
                                            
20 So Ahab sent to all the Israelites, and assembled the prophets at Mount Carmel. 21 Elijah then came near to all the people, and said, “How long will you go limping with two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” The people did not answer him a word. 22 Then Elijah said to the people, “I, even I only, am left a prophet of the Lord; but Baal’s prophets number four hundred fifty. 23 Let two bulls be given to us; let them choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it; I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it. 24 Then you call on the name of your god and I will call on the name of the Lord; the god who answers by fire is indeed God.” All the people answered, “Well spoken!” 25 Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many; then call on the name of your god, but put no fire to it.” 26 So they took the bull that was given them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, crying, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no voice, and no answer. They limped about the altar that they had made. 27 At noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry aloud! Surely he is a god; either he is meditating, or he has wandered away, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.” 28 Then they cried aloud and, as was their custom, they cut themselves with swords and lances until the blood gushed out over them. 29 As midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice, no answer, and no response.

30 Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come closer to me”; and all the people came closer to him. First he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been thrown down; 31 Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lordcame, saying, “Israel shall be your name”; 32 with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord. Then he made a trench around the altar, large enough to contain two measures of seed. 33 Next he put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood. He said, “Do it a second time”; and they did it a second time. Again he said, “Do it a third time”; and they did it a third time, 35 so that the water ran all around the altar, and filled the trench also with water.

36 At the time of the offering of the oblation, the prophet Elijah came near and said, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your bidding. 37 Answer me, O Lord, answer me, so that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.” 38 Then the fire of the Lordfell and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and even licked up the water that was in the trench. 39 When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The Lord indeed is God; the Lord indeed is God.”

Mark 9:2-4
2 Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, 3 and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. 4 And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus.


The message

We continue our long Advent, a time of looking at the Old Testament and history of God’s communication with the world.  The biblical books of 1^st and 2^nd kings (originally probably one book) tell about the years of the monarchies in Israel and life in the divided kingdom.  These books tell a story. That means there are main characters. They include God, kings, prophets and some significant outsiders. The books are historical, telling about the reigns of different leaders, connecting with news from kingdoms outside Israel and tracking the lack of faithfulness that leads to the division of Israel into north and south.  The books of Kings are not written to simply report what happened in the long ago past, they were written to teach communities about God. (primarily that God alone is God and God is active in the world/ controls history).  The 2 main prophets in the book of kings are Elijah and Elisha.  They each do signs of great power, faith and speak truth to power, confronting faithless kings who have turned from God and worshipped the gods of neighboring empires. Each one, all the prophets, want God’s message heard, want God’s kingdom come, want people to live in the peace and joy that God promises. Jesus disciples want the same.  We do not always get what we want, or understand what we get.   


Today’s reading reports one of the confrontations that happen between king and prophet. This time, it is the prophet Elijah against King Ahab.  Samaria has endured 3 years of drought, punishment for the falling away from the Lord. Ahab blames Elijah and Elijah blames Ahab and his worship of the foreign god Baal.  Ahab, along with the 900 prophets of baal and Asherah (which the queen has been caring for with the resources of the people) have been powerless to bring rain and end the drought but Elijah hasn’t done anything either. This matter, figuring out whose actions, behaviors and decisions are causing the drought (and therefore how to end it), will be settled in public.


At this point in the story, Elijah takes charge.  He is the one who determines what will happen, when, where and how this debate will be settled. The plan is easy enough, each group, Elijah and the prophets of Baal will each choose a bull as a sacrifice.  In front of the whole community, each one will call upon their god and see what happens, whether Baal or the God of Israel will send fire to consume the sacrifice. The 450 prophets of Baal fail.  Elijah taunts them, going as far as to imply Baal couldn’t answer because he was sleeping or in the bathroom (wandered away) and urges them to try harder, to cry out (a ritual that involves cutting and self-mutilation).  Their efforts fail, there is no fire. Baal is either a false god, does not care or the petitions of the prophets are worthless.  No one witnessing this day can say, Oh, Baal’s prophets didn’t really try, there were not enough of them (remember this is 450 against 1) or these were the weakest, least faithful of Baal’s prophets.   Elijah wants the crowds to see that all the prophets of Baal are powerless, that Baal, despite all the worship, temples and sacrifices of an empire, despite getting the worship of the king of Israel, is powerless


Now, it is Elijah’s turn. The victory of God will be total. Elijah offers a prayer, calling out “Answer me, O Lord, answer me, so that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.”.   After Elijah’s prayer, then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering.   The people realize, the Lord indeed is God but this is not the end of the story This request is not about Elijah proving himself or showing his magic power,  This was done as evangelism, as a call back to faith, so that the people will know God who created the world, who sent and saved from the flood, called Abraham, gave a child to Abraham and Sarah, who made the Exodus, who set the people free from slavery in Egypt, wrestled with Jacob, gave the 10 commandments and brought them to the promised land, that God is God.  The truth of this proclamation will not be doubted.  In the verses after our reading, we learn Elijah orders all the prophets of baal to be seized and killed. Then, there is the promises of rain, then there are signs of rain, then there is rain. The drought is ended.  God’s power and influence in the world is complete.  


You would think this should settle it, the prophets of baal where shown to be powerless, unable to call down fire, end the drought or even save their own lives. The Lord God sent the fire, and then sent rain. In a reminder that false gods and powerful people do not go gently, the conflict will go on, Queen Jezebel, who led Ahab to worship baal in the first place, is angered, enraged by what had happened. Her power, rage and promise to kill Elijah scares him, worries him, makes him ask seriously, How much more do these people need to see, what else do I need to do, come on, after all that, baal worship is still a thing. Elijah would like to keep zapping people with heavenly fire. Instead, the Lord talks and walks with Elijah, hides, sustains and protects him, In 2 Kings 9, Jezebel is killed by Ahab’s successor King Jehu (well she gets thrown out a window by her own people to save them from war, then eaten by animals).  Jehu, remaining faithful to the Lord, sets out to rid baal and any worshippers from Israel.   


This story of the conflict between Elijah and the prophets of baal is set next to the story of the transfiguration.  We see these 2 of the many different ways God is revealed to us.  Elijah’s victory over the prophets of baal and the transfiguration are the exceptions, the stories that are not like the others.  In most of the Old Testament, God works in the world through called people, messengers and leaders set apart and empowered to do something.  The transfiguration happens apart from the people, is only seen by 3 disciples and they are made to keep it quiet.  Apart from these few moments on the mountain, in the rest of the New Testament, Jesus looks just unremarkably like everyone else God will be revealed through walking with the outsider, welcoming all, eating with the despised and ill, praying, teaching, healing and through death and resurrection.    


In the moments after the Transfiguration, Peter, John and James are wondering what Elijah did all those centuries before, what more do we need to do, we have healed, taught, cured, stopped storms, they were eager to tell the others about the transfiguration, offering to build temples or booths at the site, to use this moment to win over the hold outs, to convert those who don’t believe Jesus is the messiah, the long expected savior, the son of God, to go tell the religious authorities in the temple to pack their stuff and get out, maybe Jesus could bring this show on the road, transfigure in the morning in the temple. Forget that, an account of what happened will not even be shared till after Jesus resurrection.   


We worship and serve the God who defeats baal, who was transfigured on the mountain top but also
who was born on Christmas, who died on the cross, who rose from the dead.   Our God will intervene in the world, in powerful and necessary ways, but also calls, sends, entrusts us to do the same.  We are called to trust, hope and share our joy, our care for others, our faith, our confidence in these things.