Just limping along

Finally the time had come for Elijah. The prophets of Baal, the people of Israel, the King and Elijah were all assembled. No doubt there was a sense of anticipation – what was going to happen? Did anyone have any inkling about what was on Elijah’s mind? The crowd were no doubt milling around, probably arriving in different groups, possibly asking each other what was going on, why where they there? Once Elijah was satisfied everyone was present he approached them. Where had he been, was he watching them from some secret location? Or was he just on his own, or with his servant an anonymous presence in the midst of all the tumult and energy that surrounded him?

Elijah’s opening line was not calculated to get the audience onside. Anyone who is involved in public speaking knows that the first thing to do is establish rapport with your audience, get them onside, perhaps tell a joke or recall a humorous anecdote. As someone coming from the Baptist tradition I was under the impression that all sermons needed to compose of a joke and three points. The problem was that most of the preachers I heard weren’t very funny, so their opening line was more often met with a collective groan than spontaneous laughter. None of this however for Elijah, his opening line was ‘how long will you go on limping between two opinions? Make up your mind, if the Lord is God follow him, if not find someone or something else to follow’. He set the stage right from the start, he identified the issue. These people were double-minded; they wanted the best of both worlds.

On the one hand the people wanted the privilege of being known as the people of God, but they also wanted the benefits of being connected with the world in which they lived. They thought that worship of the false gods could give them something that they wouldn’t get by following God’s commands. But they also wanted God’s blessing on their life. They didn’t firmly commit to either choice; they limped along between one and the other. They were reminiscent of the church Jesus condemns in the Book of Revelation that was neither hot or cold, just sickening.

These words could equally be applied today, not only to individual Christians but also to the church as a whole. It is time to make a stand, to choose between two opinions, do we as individuals and as a church want to serve God or do we want to enjoy the privileges and blessings of allegiance to the world and its trappings and still claim to be worshipers of God? The church is often more concerned with being relevant and acceptable to its culture than it is about an unadulterated worship of a Holy God. Too much our church programs are about entertainment and drawing a crowd rather than they are about revealing the character of the one true God. If the Lord is God then we must serve him, and if he is not then let’s stop deluding ourselves and eat drink and be merry, for tomorrow we may die!

Elijah had issued his challenge but he was met with no response, not a word. In the quiet that followed, possibly as the people looked at their feet or at one another, maybe as they shuffled around hoping for someone else to break the silence Elijah made a proposal. ‘Let’s each prepare a sacrifice but leave it to either God or Baal to light it. The one who does he is truly God.’ They were now in a difficult place; obviously the prophets of Baal couldn’t refuse the challenge after all there were 450 of them and only one Elijah; and Baal was the sun god. They were also given the choice of animals and allowed to go first. They could accept the fact that their god and religion was a fraud or they could go through with it. They chose to accept the challenge.

The false prophets built an altar and arranged it for the sacrifice. Then they prayed, but nothing happened. Elijah got sarcastic. ‘Pray harder, maybe this god of yours is asleep or deaf. Or maybe he is on holiday, or he’s gone to the bathroom or he’s just too busy! Come on pray louder, wake him up!’ And so they did, they danced and shouted; beat themselves into frenzy for three hours. Did they really think that he would answer, were they so deluded? Or did they just hope? Whatever the case Baal remained silent; there was no answer and no fire. From morning until evening they carried on, louder and louder, more and more passionate – but no response. No one listened, nothing happened.

It may be that these false prophets and their adherents felt that they were backed into a corner and just had to go on with the charade. Or it may be that they genuinely believed that Baal would answer and they were sincere in their attempts. If they were then they were sincerely wrong. It is not enough to be sincere and passionate in our worship. We must worship in truth. Unfortunately there are occasions, even in our places of worship were people passionately sing in worship, they are sincere in the things they sing, but sometimes they do not worship in truth. The God they worship is not the God of the Bible. He lacks the power and the mercy the Bible speaks of, he doesn’t require justice or righteousness and he doesn’t demand an obedient response. He is just some benevolent father figure who will give what we want without expecting anything in return. In fact God delights to answer the prayers of his people and he longs for true and sincere worship. But he is not pleased with worship that is insincere or half-hearted and he certainly won’t accept worship that is unholy or based in falsehood. If we want to offer worship to our God then we must be certain that we do so with sincerity and passion but also in truth. Jesus himself said that a time was coming when God would be looking for those who worshiped in Spirit and in truth. Let us not give up our passion in worship and always continue to be sincere, but at the same time ensure that we have an accurate understanding of who our God is and worship him in truth.