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What Are You Doing Here? A sermon on 1 Kings 19:9b-21 from COncordia
God, who am I?
What Are You Doing Here?
1 Kings 19:9b-21
† In Jesus’ Name †
May the grace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus help you know why you are where you are!
As the people of God, we’ve been given a huge task. It’s called the great commission – the responsibility to help people becoming those who follow, who walk with Jesus. Part of that Commission is that we get to teach people to treasure what God has commanded, how they are to live their lives with him!
In teaching them to treasure this life God has given us, there is an important distinction that is made… that has to be understood.
Do we place greater emphasis on doing what is right, or on why we do what we do?
I mean we’ve all done the right things for the wrong reasons, right?
And have we done the wrong things for the right reasons?
Which is better?
Which do you think you get more blame for, take more heat for?
But what if you do the right thing for the wrong reason, and everybody thinks what you did was wrong – that just by doing what you did, you sinned, without any consideration for why you did it.
You see, most people judge Elijah’s actions in the Old Testament reading as wrong…. and in doing so, we miss the work of God in Elijah’s life, a work that we desperately need in ours.
Was Elijah a Coward.
When I read this passage when I was younger, and when I heard pastors preach on it, the usual observation about Elijah was he was weak, that he should have stayed and battled Jezebel and her armies.
After all, he had, well God had through him, toasted up 450 priests of Ba’al and defeated! He was on a winning streak of winning streaks, able to mock his opponents without mercy. Hey – your idols not answering your prayers? Maybe your god Ba’al is sleeping, or maybe he’s on vacation, or maybe he’s in the restroom?
And after the victory, instead of having a parade, instead of celebrating freeing God people, he runs away and hides… in cave! And then he whines, oh does he whine, “I have zealously served the Lord God Almighty. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed every one of your prophets. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me, too.”
Remember a moment ago, when I talked about doing the right thing for the wrong reason?
I think Elijah did exactly what he needed to be doing. I think he needed to hide in that cave and rest.
But the way that He answered God’s question, shows where he sinned.
It wasn’t in the running and hiding and resting – we all need to do that.
But hear what God asked him….
“What are you doing here, Elijah?”
Not why are you here… not what caused you to be here. But what are you doing, here?
And this is where Elijah sin is revealed…
He didn’t know why he was there…..
You see, he couldn’t tie what he knew intellectually and instinctively, to the reality of his situation.
He ran to escape, not to find a refuge, not to find sanctuary, not to find a fortress where he couuld be safe, and heal.
“I’m here because they are evil, I am here because they didn’t listen when I told them “the Lord is with you!” in fact…
Wait Elijah, not what caused you to be here…. What are you doing here?
Through the windstorm, through earthquake, through the fire…and Elijah still didn’t know…
Right action – wrong reason – no reason, and that is where he sinned…
That is where we sin.
The sin isn’t that we shouldn’t run away… the sin is that we don’t know what we are to do when it is time to run. We run an hid and whine just like Elijah did, forgetting we dwell in the presence of an alimighty, all-powerful, all-wise, God who loves us. And had promised to make everything work together for our good.
What Was He Supposed to be doing there?
So what was Elijah supposed to being there?
We heard in in Luther’s most famous hymn, out of the 1000s he wrote, the one we all know – the one that starts,
A mighty fortress is our God,
A bulwark never failing!
Our helper He amid the flood
Of mortal ills prevailing!
Elijah was provided for, all along the journey. Birds brought him food, he found places to rest. He didn’t realize it, but he was never alone on the journey, he ever was talking to God, when God told him to go outside, to find God.
Typical guy, oblivious to everything going on around him!
God never failed him, no matter how bad the flood, no matter how overwhelming the flood of what ails and torments us, we find our refuge in the love and care of God.
This is the nature of the cross, and the resurrection.
I saw that at the convention, when Jim couldn’t help himself—and spoke up “and therefore” when one of the speakers said “Alleluia! He is Risen!” I saw it again, as I told one of Elizabeth’s teachers about how we got to be part of Edith’s being claimed as one of Jesus’ family in baptism – and he brought it up in his presentation this day – an example of what it meant, not to be educated as a Lutheran, but to live and share your hope in Jesus.
What are you doing here?
Spending time with my heavenly Father, with Jesus Christ, my brother, being comforted and healed by the Holy Spirit.
The great thing—that even as Elijah forgot this, God was at work doing it!
We might forget—but He doesn’t.
When it’s time, when Elijah remembers who he is—the one God loves—it is time to get back to the mission – to train up another generation of believers, of leaders, of those who worship and are thankful to God—willing to sacrifice their lives, as we have been, when we don’t need to run away and let God be God…
And then it is time to get back to work, sharing the love of God with people who are so broken, they don’t even realize how broken they are. Who have been turned inside out and ravaged by sin. Not only do we bring them news of God’s love, but we prepare the next generation to do so…
For we know why we are here, we know why we run to the Father…and fall on His grace… AMEN!
Dealing with Setbacks, and Failures
Thoughts driving me to Jesus, and His cross.
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you. 17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty. 18 But even if he doesn’t, we want to make it clear to you, Your Majesty, that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.” Daniel 3:16-18 (NLT2)
We can afford to follow Him to failure. Faith dares to fail. The resurrection and the judgment will demonstrate before all worlds who won and who lost. We can wait.
732 O Jesus! I rest in you.
733 Trust always in your God. He does not lose battles.
I am struggling this morning. It is not failure persay, but to many things are failing.
Some of them are petty, minor computer problems, forgetting to do this or that, struggling through my devotional readings.
Other failings are significant. The health of a couple close friends, the state of few congregations and their pastors, other issues that I am not a liberty to discuss. It is tough not to dwell on these things, to feed into a loop of depression and despair. There are days, like this one, where I struggle to get moving, to get the tasks I need to get done. Especially my devotions, as I am not sure whether to be disappointed at God, mad at Him, or just ignore Him. (see Jeremiah 20:7, 9 which could be my life verse!)
I did anyway and came across Tozer’s words in blue. And I wondered, if we can afford to fail, can we be afford to be in situations that are failing? If we can take something on which most likely will fail and endure it, can we be in a situation where bodies and spirits are failing?
I believe so, and for the same reason. The Judgement awaits! God’s power, which Josemaria tells us to depend upon, will never lose the battle, never mind lost the war. That allows us to rest in Him… that allows us to endure failures and failings, for in Him, those things are promised to work for good, and nothing can ever separate us from Him!
This is the faith of the three men about to head into the furnace–they trusted God, whether they were going to be rescued or charbroiled. They knew the love of God and His promises, and they knew His presence. In that they found the peace that enabled them to know the hope of eternity. And so failure or success was little different in their eyes. They could wait, as Tozer noted, if their deliverance wasn’t in this minute, for it was sure.
As is ours…
So if you have to take a risk, that some might know God’s love, take it, and fear not failure.
And if things are failing, know He is there.. and you can depend on Him…
A. W. Tozer, Tozer for the Christian Leader (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2015).
Escrivá, Josemaría. The Way (p. 129). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Feeling Nostaligic? Missing the past? Find what you are looking for…today…right now!
Thoughts to remind us of our Lord’s devotion… to us
13 O LORD, come back to us! How long will you delay? Take pity on your servants! 14 Satisfy us each morning with your unfailing love, so we may sing for joy to the end of our lives. 15 Give us gladness in proportion to our former misery! Replace the evil years with good. 16 Let us, your servants, see you work again; let our children see your glory. 17 And may the Lord our God show us his approval and make our efforts successful. Yes, make our efforts successful! Psalm 90:13-17 (NLT2)
We all long for something simpler and more predictable; surroundings less threatening and tumultuous, more comfortable and secure. But such is not our lot. We are not nostalgia freaks, trying to retreat to a more comfortable past. We move confidently into an uncertain future emboldened by our Lord who gives us his word of hope and life to preach to a world lost in despair and death.
He is so completely devoted to the dearest will of his Father that he forgets about his own death, his sin, and his hell imposed on him, and he intercedes for his enemies, for their sin, death, and hell [Luke 23:34]. We must, similarly, let these images slip away from us to wherever they wish or care to go, and remember only that we cling to God’s will, which is that we hold to Christ and firmly believe our sin, death, and hell are overcome in him and no longer able to harm us. Only Christ’s image must abide in us. l.
It would seem that the stresses of this time have no comparison to the past
Yet there have always been wars and rumours of wars. There has always been violence in the streets. There have always been broken relationships between parents and children, husbands and wives, co-workers, and even among churches. Anxiety has aways been there, though known by different names.
Such worldly oppression, on top of the weight of our own sin leads us to want to “return”. Return to a simpler time, or a more peaceful place. (My choice is Ossipee, N.H. or kneeling and praying in St Francis Church in Lawrence, Mass – circa 1978) as if those times and places were closer to heaven. Others think their peace depends on a form of worship, or a translation of the Bible.
As long as we are looking nostalgically, whether the time we want is 1963, 1973, or 2018,the hope and peace we are delusional. Given time to think, we could find the stressors and oppression in those times.
Luther comes up with the solution, as does David. What we long for in our memories is the peace that comes in the future, that comes in the time of rest where we know God is, and who He is. We need to see HIs glory and majesty, and we need to see His intimacy. We need those moments to come, just not be in the past. Only when we are focused on Jesus will sin, guilt, shame, resentment, and all that comes with them. Those things are nothing compared to knowing Jesus…
What we are looking for in the past actually awaits us, and can be experienced today. It is Jesus. This is why the psalmist prays we see His glory, why Luther, who lived in a dark time, wrote as he did.
Lord Jesus, we need to see the Father’s glory as much as those in King David’s time, as much as in Martin Luther’s time. Break open the heavens, and show us, that we and our children, and our communities may find Your satisfying peace! Amen!
Harold L. Senkbeil, The Care of Souls: Cultivating a Pastor’s Heart (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2019), 272.
Martin Luther, Luther’s Works, Vol. 42: Devotional Writings I, ed. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Hilton C. Oswald, and Helmut T. Lehmann, vol. 42 (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1999), 108.
