Have You Ever Felt Like It’s You Against the World?

12th Sunday after Pentecost, 8/31/14
1 Kings 19:9-18


Have You Ever Felt Like It’s You Against the World?
I. It’s not true; God still works through his word.
II. It’s not true; God is still in control.


Can you identify with this scenario?

You’re putting everything you have into a particular project—be it at work, at home, for your family, in a relationship, in some charity work. You’re working hard because you feel this project is important. You barely have enough time to sleep, let alone time for your family and yourself. You’re feeling stressed out, but you tell yourself to keep at it because soon the project will be over. You’ll accomplish your goal.

But then you look around you and you don’t see the same level of commitment from the others in this project. In fact, it appears they couldn’t care less about it.

But you tell yourself that you’re doing the right thing. You’re the one working hard. You’re not cutting corners. You’re not giving others the impression you’re working hard when actually you’re barely doing a thing. You’re not being dishonest.

But then it gets worse. You find out that the people you were counting on aren’t only failing to do their part, they’re actually resisting your efforts. They are actively trying to make you fail, to undermine you. At first you’re incredulous, but then the anger rises.

And then the next bomb drops. You get blamed for the project’s failure. They make you out to be the problem. They insist that doing things your way was the wrong way and that they had tried to get you to change but you refused.

By now the anger you had been feeling is being replaced by despair. It’s all a lie. The project was doomed from the beginning. You thought they were on your side all along but they really never were.

And you feel all alone. You feel like it’s you against the world. Have you ever felt like that?

Part I.

God’s prophet Elijah did. He knew exactly what that’s like. And we see the results of it in this event before us this morning from 1 Kings. We find him out in the middle of nowhere and he’s convinced it’s he against the world.

Now how could he feel that way? You need to know what had just happened in Elijah’s life. Elijah served as God’s prophet among the people of the northern ten tribes of the Jews known as the nation of Israel. At this time the wicked King Ahab ruled Israel with his even-more wicked Queen Jezebel. They had introduced the immoral worship of the vial false god, Baal. Baal was a fertility god and the people believed he enabled people to have children, for crops to grow, for herds to increase and for fruit trees and vines to flourish. And the way to worship Baal was through acts of sexual immorality. Imagine that!

The only true God, the God of the Jews, showed these Baal worshippers that he was in charge and Baal was nothing. He did that by having Elijah tell Ahab that there was going to be no rain at all for the next few years and for three and half years it didn’t rain. Not one drop. But the people kept worshipping Baal.

Finally God called for a show-down between himself and Baal. The hundreds of prophets of Baal assembled on Mt. Carmel with Elijah. The deal was this: make an altar, slaughter an animal and place it on the altar but don’t light a fire. Pray for Baal or the Lord to send fire from heaven to consume the offering. You know the rest of the story. The prophets of Baal prayed all day but nothing happened. Elijah prayed a sentence or two and fire came down and consumed the animal, the stone altar and the water around it. Then he and the people put the prophets of Baal to death. A great victory for the Lord! Elijah was elated!

Queen Jezebel heard about all that had happened. You would think it would have caused her to stop worshipping Baal. But she wasn’t fazed. Instead, she took an oath to put Elijah to death.

Elijah was crushed. He was afraid for his life. He was depressed. All his efforts for the Lord appeared to be for nothing. So he walked 400 miles south into the desolate Sinai Peninsula until he came to Horeb, the mountain of God. You know it better as Mt. Sinai where the Lord had appeared to Moses and gave him the 10 Commandments about 600 years earlier. Because of what happened there as described in this morning’s text, it’s likely that Elijah had gone there to see the glory of God as Moses had done at this very spot 6 centuries earlier.

He got more than he bargained for. Recall what happened. First there was a violent wind, so violent that it “tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind.” Then came an earthquake, but the Lord wasn’t in the earthquake either. The earthquake was followed by a fire, but the Lord wasn’t in the fire either. Then came a gentle whisper. Somehow Elijah knew that the Lord was in this gentle whisper, so he covered his face in an act of worship and reverence and went out to hear what the Lord had to say to him.

God’s message to Elijah was clear. Destroying things and people with tremendous acts of power doesn’t change hearts. Only God’s word does that.

You have that same word of God. Look at what it has done for you! It brought you out of Satan’s kingdom into God’s kingdom. It made you a child of God. It worked saving faith in your heart. It brings you daily forgiveness of sins. You’re now destined for eternal life with your God. It has turned your life around completely. And it has the power to change the hearts of others. Have you ever felt like it’s you against the world? It’s not true. God still works in you and others through his word.

Part II.

But things still weren’t right in Elijah’s world. The spiritual situation in Israel was still a mess. Ahab and Jezebel were still leading God’s people further and further away from the Lord. No doubt Elijah had wondered often what the Lord planned to do about it.

He didn’t have to wonder any longer. The Lord told him to go to Damascus and anoint Hazael king over Aram. That’s present-day Syria. The Arameans under Hazael would become a thorn in Israel’s flesh. They would raid and attack and plunder and kill. It was the Lord’s intent that this miserable oppression by the Arameans would drive his people back to him. This was another instance of the Lord using a heathen world power to accomplish his saving purposes.

Next, the Lord told Elijah to address the root cause of Israel’s trouble, her wicked king and queen. He told Elijah to anoint Jehu as Israel’s next king. Ahab soon died in battle and his wicked son succeeded him briefly, but then Jehu came to power and he rid the land of Jezebel and all her relatives who supported the worship of Baal just as much as they did. He then killed all the remaining prophets of Baal.

Finally, he told Elijah to anoint Elisha to succeed him as God’s prophet in Israel. Elijah had served Israel faithfully for many years. His work had been very difficult since powerful people opposed him. But the Lord used him to do his work and now the Lord made sure that Elijah’s work would continue through Elisha. Elijah thus had the assurance that all his efforts in God’s kingdom would not come to nothing. Rather, Elisha would take up the prophet’s mantle and the kingdom work would continue.

In his depression, Elijah had told the Lord, “I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” He was correct that they were intent on killing him. But he was not the only one left. He was not alone. The Lord reminded him, “I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and all whose mouths have not kissed him.” The Lord preserves his Church even in dire spiritual times. That’s because as bad as things may get, he’s still in control. Here he showed it to Elijah. He’s in control of the world and he uses even powerful heathen governments to do his work. He’s also in control of the Church and he preserves the Church through his word.

Have you ever felt like it’s you against the world? It’s not true. God is still in control. He’s in control of what happens in the world and in his Church.

What comfort is yours to know that as much as evil overcomes this world, it can’t overcome God’s Church. The Church will never perish and will never be defeated. By God’s grace you’re in that Church by faith in Jesus. You are one of the millions of saints in that Church. In that Church God guards you and protects you. He nourishes your faith through word and sacrament. He upholds you and strengthens you by his mighty right hand. And yet we still struggle with the feeling that we’re alone against the world. But that’s why the Son of God entered your world. He took on your flesh and blood in order to live for you, to die for you, to redeem you and make you his own forever. Elijah faced one struggle after another and in the end the Lord took him to heaven in glory. That glory awaits you. You’re not alone in your struggle. Your God is with you through his word and he’s still in control. Count on your God! Amen.