Who Hasn’t Walked with Elijah?

12th Sunday after Pentecost, 8/12/18
1 Kings 19:3-8


Who Hasn’t Walked with Elijah?
I. We get depressed by life’s “losses.”
II. We get refreshed by our faithful God.


Are you familiar with the video series entitled, “Walk in My Shoes”? Probably not. As far as I know, you can only find it online at Today.com. If you go there, you’ll see a countless number of videos made by people who have overcome some incredible difficulties in order to live happy, productive lives. For instance, there’s a video of a person describing their life as a physical therapist—without arms or legs. There are several videos of young adults who overcame debilitating depression, anxiety or eating disorders in order to enjoy the life they are living today. Those video testimonies can be powerful and effective in helping others overcome what they’re facing in their own lives. Walking in their shoes can be exhilarating.

If only that were always the way it is. If only we met every challenge in life and came out victorious on the other side. If only we were able to meet each crisis of life and conquer it. If only we could find some way to turn life’s disappointments into moments of joy. But that’s not the case—at least it isn’t in my life. How about yours?

Do you ever get to the point in your struggle when you succumb, when you throw in the towel and shout out to anyone who will listen, “I can’t take it any more! I quit!”? Have you ever come to a dead end in life when you no longer had the energy to make a U-turn and head back the way you came? Have you ever been so tired that you’re certain you can’t lift a finger? Is your losing streak in life approaching a point that Guinness World Records is interested in it?

You’re not alone, even though it may feel like you are. All too many of us can join your club. In fact, in today’s Old Testament reading we hear about a hero of faith who at one time considered himself president of the club for people who feel like life’s exhausted losers. It’s Elijah, one of God’s greatest prophets. As I read this account from 1 Kings 19 earlier, did you find yourself identifying with him? Who didn’t? Who doesn’t? Who hasn’t walked with Elijjah? Let’s use that question this morning to zero in on how Elijah felt and what our loving God did about it. Will you walk with me?

Part I.

It’s the stuff that the American sports scene thrives on, especially come tournament time. A team has just won a huge victory and now is advancing to the next round, perhaps even to the championship game. They’re within 60 minutes of attaining the season’s dream—to hold the championship trophy in their hands and hoist it over their heads. But that dream is never realized. Instead, a crushing defeat literally leaves them rolling on the ground or floor in agony.

That pretty much summed up the life of Elijah as we meet him in these words from 1 Kings 19. Some of you may recall what had just happened with and to Elijah in the past few days. In 1 Kings 18 we hear how he won one of the most stunning battles against Satan that the Bible records. Before his prayer to the only God was concluded, miraculous fire fell from heaven and devoured his offering, his stone altar and the moat of water around it. Elijah then proceeded to follow God’s command and put to death the 450 prophets of the vile false god, Baal. God wins! Elijah wins!

But within days, wicked Queen Jezebel made Elijah a marked man and swore by her false gods to murder him on sight. Imagine how Elijah felt. He must have suffered emotional, psychological and spiritual whiplash. Instead of celebrating a divine victory, he went running for his prophetic life. In fact, he ran 75 miles due south, parted company with his servant and continued his flight about another 20 miles south. And that’s where he is when we read, “He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. ‘I have had enough, LORD,’ he said. ‘Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.’” Pretty pathetic, isn’t it? One of the greatest prophets in the Old Testament, a prophet whom years later God would spare from death and bodily assume into heaven, a prophet who would appear with Moses in about 33 AD on the Mount of Transfiguration with the Son of God himself in all his divine glory. That’s this prophet; Elijah!

For a moment—better, for more than a month—Elijah struggled with who he was and whose work he was doing. He felt as if he had failed, as if the attacks were really against him, as if his own reputation and even his life were really on the line. In a way, he reminds me a little of the young boy on the recent TV commercial who has had a mishap in the bathroom. Elijah cries out, “God, we have a situation here!” But God doesn’t seem to know, listen or care. So Elijah pitches his tent manufactured by the Pity Company and slowly sinks into depression.

But can you blame him? Who hasn’t walked with Elijah? We know how he felt. We, too, get depressed by life’s “losses.”

So, what losses in life have you faced or are you facing right now? Is it coded on your medical doctor’s computer? Has your career been derailed, and not just once? Are you going hitless in the relationship game, batting “0 for forever?” Maybe you had a person you loved deeply or a trusted friend, but that relationship crashed when they pulled a “Judas” and stabbed you in the heart. I could go on and on, but you know what I’m talking about. Losses. Huge losses. Crushing defeats. Why are they so painful? Because we expect life to be different. In fact, we’re convinced our lives should be better. After all, we’re God’s people. We know and trust in Jesus as our Savior. We’re the ones walking the Christian tightrope day after day. That walk should be easier. Instead, all too often we’re walking with the loser Elijah.

What happened? Well, sin happened. First with Adam and Eve and then right down through every human being up to me. To you. God came to Adam and Eve on that first sinful day in the world and informed them of the losses they would suffer because of sin. And the same holds true for us. But then, in keeping with his promise, God sent our Winner, Jesus Christ. Take a look at his life. He battled with Satan time and again and crushed him every time. The final battle took place on a skull-shaped hill called Calvary where Jesus suffered the punishment for our sins. And then our Winner rose from the dead to live as our eternal Victor. He assures us of our victory with him. Life isn’t all about the losses we suffer now; it’s about the eternal victory we’ll enjoy!

Part II.

You may have taken a trip or two already this summer. What did you do for food? Most of us stop somewhere and get a bite to eat, but sometimes that’s not all that appealing. In fact, you may pass restaurant after restaurant without stopping. You’re just not hungry for what they’re offering. So you soldier on. But that’s not always a good idea, because you need food even though you might not feel like eating at the

It seems to me Elijah felt a lot like that. He was heading into some of the most inhospitable terrain in the world, but he had no food. In fact, it would seem from what we read later in 1 Kings 19 that he had decided to head for Mount Horeb, a total journey of about 300 miles on foot from where he had started at Mount Carmel. Would you take that walk with Elijah, without any food? Not a chance.

The Lord knew he needed food and so this is what happened, “Then [Elijah] lay down under the tree and fell asleep. All at once an angel touched him and said, ‘Get up and eat.’ He looked around, and there by his head was a cake of bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again. The angel of the LORD came back a second time and touched him and said, ‘Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.’ So he got up and ate and drank.” God used an angel to sustain him. He used a miracle—bread baked over hot coals. In the middle of a wilderness. Incredible!

If you were Elijah, what would your reaction have been? Remember, it seems as if Elijah had already determined he was going all the way to Mount Horeb. He wanted something from God there, but we’re not exactly sure what it was. If you were Elijah, would you have insisted on continuing your journey, or, would the fact that God had just demonstrated his love and care for you via a miracle been enough for you? Satisfied, would you have turned around to make your way home? We like to think we would have declared, “Two miraculous dinners is enough for me, Lord! No need to meet with me at Mount Horeb. I’ll just head home and live happily ever after.” Really? You think so? Is that really what you would do?

Who hasn’t walked with Elijah? “Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.” He wanted more.

And so often, so do we. Our God refreshes us for life’s journey every day. Can any of us say that we are destitute, that our God has let us down? We all have enough and more to make life’s journey. And we have our God walking with us, just as he did with Elijah. Best of all, he doesn’t forsake us when we trash our relationship with him by our sins. Instead, his deepest will is that we to take to heart the assurance of his forgiveness, a forgiveness Jesus won by his life, death and resurrection. In fact, he wants us to be so certain of our forgiveness and our loving relationship with him, that he refreshes us with our Savior’s very body and blood today in the Lord’s Supper. He sustains us with miraculous, heavenly food for our journey through this earthly life to our life with him in heaven.

Who hasn’t walked with Elijah? Thank God that we all do by his grace! And may his grace in Word and Sacrament refresh and sustain us every step of the way! Amen.