Scripture: 1 Kings 18:20-39
Given that my sermon is called, “Fear, Faith, and Fire,” can you guess what the three points of my sermon are? That’s right: Point Number One: fear… Why are we so often afraid even though scripture—not to mention Jesus—so often tells us not to be? Point Number Two: Faith: the only antidote to fear. And Point Number Three: Fire. What does this fire from heaven in today’s scripture represent?
But Point Number One… fear…
Today’s scripture takes place about a hundred years after King David ruled over a united Israel. Since that time, the nation has been divided by civil war into the northern kingdom—which retained the name “Israel”—and the southern kingdom—which is called “Judah.” Judah is where Jerusalem and the Temple are. There is now a king in the south and a king in the north. And the king in the north, Ahab, is the absolute worst ever. Under his leadership and under the influence of his idolatrous, pagan wife Jezebel, he leads the northern kingdom of Israel to turn away from worshiping the one true God, Yahweh. Remember, whenever you see the word “Lord” in all caps in your Old Testament, that stands for God’s name, Yahweh… the name that he revealed to Moses during the burning bush episode. Anyway, Ahab turned the people away from worshiping Yahweh and instead led them to worship Baal. He builds a temple to Baal; and he tries to murder all the prophets of Yahweh.
As a result of Ahab’s unfaithfulness—and Israel’s unfaithfulness—see chapter 17—the prophet Elijah speaks the word of the Lord to Ahab: Elijah tells Ahab that God will send a long drought—a famine—on the land… for three years. A little later in chapter 18, after the people repent, God finally sends rain… but that’s after the events of today’s scripture.
Today’s scripture describes a contest between the 450 prophets of Baal… and this one pesky, seemingly insignificant prophet of Yahweh, Elijah—whom King Ahab calls a “troubler of Israel.” Prophets of Yahweh are always stirring up trouble!
But it’s a contest to solve Israel’s primary problem, which Elijah lays out in verse 21: Elijah asks the people, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.”
The first word I want us to notice is “opinions.” It sounds so modern, doesn’t it? “What are your opinions about religion… about literally the most important questions that people can ask in their lives: questions like, “How did we get here? Who is this God who created us? What do we owe this God? What is his purpose for putting us here? What does this God expect from us?”
Are the answers to these questions mere opinions? Like… I like the Yellow Jackets… You like the Bulldogs. I’m right, you’re wrong, of course… But I can’t prove it. It’s just an opinion. Potato, potah-to. Either opinion is fine, we say.
But surely the answers to these most important questions that anyone can ask go far beyond what we like to think of as “opinions”!
So many people we know… including a large majority of people here in the “buckle of the Bible belt,” would loudly proclaim that they’re Christians, that they believe in Jesus, that they believe that Jesus was resurrected, that they believe that the Bible is telling the truth… yet for too many of them, they live their life like it’s like “potato, potah-to.” It’s an opinion. Opinions are something about which “reasonable” people may disagree.
Of course, their opinions about who to vote for are often much stronger than even their opinions about Jesus and their Christian faith… For that matter, their opinions about college football teams are often much stronger! Am I stepping on toes now?
On the other hand, if Jesus was raised from the dead—and we Christians say we believe that—then that proves that everything Jesus said about himself is true. That proves that everything that God’s Word says about Jesus is true. That proves that heaven and hell, eternal life, Final Judgment, the Second Coming of Christ… all that stuff is true, and it’s going to happen. The resurrection also proves that time is running out, that we have an appointment with death, and that we will one day—every single one of us—face God in Final Judgment. The resurrection proves that. And we Christians, again, are those people who say we believe in the resurrection.
I understand that our secular culture at large believes that questions about Christianity and other religions are matters of mere “opinion.” But we are people who believe in the resurrection of Christ… and that belief ought to change everything.
If the resurrection happened, then that means Christ is Lord; that means that we live our lives for him; that means that Christ is not a matter of mere “opinion”—instead he’s at the very center of our lives—how we live, what we do, our very purpose for getting up in the morning; that means he’s our greatest treasure. And obviously, if he’s Lord, then that affects our mission as a church.
As you may remember from an earlier sermon, I flirted with the idea of calling the upcoming “Membership Celebration Sunday”—the March 24 event in which we’re going to become charter members of this new congregation in the Global Methodist Church… I flirted with calling it “re-enlistment” Sunday. Because I want us to understand that—as God’s Word tells us—we Christians are supposed to be “good soldiers of Christ Jesus,” 1 that we’re called to “fight the good fight of faith,” 2 that, like it or not, we are enlisted in a spiritual war, that we put on the “whole armor of God” and fight… not against “flesh and blood” enemies, but against “the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” 3 We are fighting against the devil himself… And we’re fighting for the souls of people we know and love… that every single one of us Christians is enlisted, or conscripted, to fight in this war. And the stakes couldn’t be higher: literally heaven and hell hang in the balance of the work that we do here at Toccoa First…
Toccoa First is not a civic organization… like Kiwanis or Rotary or Lion’s Club… all of which are perfectly good, of course. But church is something different: People’s eternal destinies are at stake.
And yet, if we’re honest, all too often we’re afraid. Afraid to do what God calls us to do.
And I’m including myself here. I’m too often afraid.
I remember when I put in my two-weeks’ notice in my engineering job, back in 2004… because I was about to start seminary for the next three years and to pastor a tiny church down in Forsyth, Georgia. My life was about to change drastically. Of course many of my coworkers were happy for me. My boss was a believer; he was happy for me. But this guy named Wayne… oof… Wayne was my arch-nemesis at work… He was tough… Wayne had been out of town when I announced that I was doing going into ministry… But he came over to my cubicle when he got back to the office. And you know what he did? He just laughed and laughed… Like this was the funniest, dumbest thing he’d ever heard! And he told me so!
I don’t like being embarrassed. I’ve said this before: I’m less afraid of “dying for Jesus” than I am of “dying of embarrassment” for Jesus. And I died a little when Wayne was laughing at me and mocking me.
So even though I’m a pastor, I’m afraid to be as bold as I ought to be… as a witness… Because I just want to “blend in.” I just want to be thought of as a “normal” person. I just want people to like me and respect me. Being a bold witness for Christ, let’s face it, risks threatening these things.
And I’ve talked to many of you about this, and it’s safe to say that most of us afraid of being bold witnesses!
And of course we’re not just afraid of witnessing; we are often afraid of many other things, too… We are fearful people, even though we all know that we’re not supposed to be!
We’re often afraid… But why?
Remember this fact: If Jesus was resurrected, then that proves he was telling the truth when he said—for example—Matthew 10:29 to 31: “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.” He was telling the truth when he assures us, for example, in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 6, that we simply don’t need to worry about what we’ll eat or what we’ll wear—that in fact we don’t need to worry about the necessities of life—that our Father really will take care of us when we seek first his kingdom and his righteousness.
Or how about when he commends that poor widow who drops a few pennies in the offering plate at the temple? “And he said, ‘Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.’” 4
All she had to live on. Jesus doesn’t tell her: “Stop, don’t put in all that you have to live on, because after all, how will you survive? Who will take care of you? Who will provide for you?” No… he commends her instead! He holds her up as an example for us to follow: because she understands that her survival doesn’t depend on those pennies; it depends on her heavenly Father—who promises to give her everything she needs!
That’s something, by the way, that that Rich Young Ruler refuses to put to the test: Jesus tells him, “Sell all of your possessions and give them to the poor, then come follow me.” Can we really blame him for thinking, “Yes, but if I sell all my possessions, what will I live on? Who will take care of me?” Because unlike the poor widow, he doesn’t believe that his Father will take care of him!
So who do you think is really poor here?
Who do you think is happier, and more satisfied, more contented, more at peace, more joyful… the poor widow who has nothing according to our world’s standards? Or the Rich Young Ruler who has everything?
I want to be like that widow!
So I want us to notice again verse 21: “How long will you go limping between two different opinions?” We’ve already looked at the word “opinions.” Now notice that word limping… Not even walking. Certainly not running or sprinting. But “limping.” This is a far cry from Isaiah 40:31: “but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”
I want to be like that! I don’t want to limp!
Yet when we let fear control us, how often are we merely “limping”?
So… I don’t know about you… But I’m ready to say, “Enough is enough. Jesus was resurrected from the dead, which proves that we can trust him when he says—over and over again—that we do not have to be afraid”?
That’s what I want to do! I want to tell myself, “No more limping through life, Brent! Believe more deeply in the words of your Lord… Believe…not merely a set of propositions or facts or opinions about Jesus that live up here in my head and so seldom penetrate down to my heart… No, Brent… take Jesus at his word even when he says difficult, seemingly impossible, things like, ‘Do not be afraid’! Believe him when he says that your heavenly Father will take care of you!”
That’s what I want… I’m ready to be free from fear! I’m ready to live out my faith in a way that I never have before! I’m ready to live boldly.
Well, that takes faith… faith is the hard part, isn’t it?
So for Point Number Two, I want to talk about a principle from today’s scripture that should strengthen or bolster our faith—to give us faith to overcome fear… Because faith is the only antidote to fear.
Speaking of fear, what Elijah takes the risk to do in today’s scripture terrifies me! I mean… think about what he’s doing here—especially notice verse 27, oh my goodness! While these prophets of Baal are desperately trying to get their god to answer their prayers and send fire down from the sky, Elijah has the boldness to mock them… to taunt them… to trash-talk them… “You’ll have to shout louder,” he scoffed, “for surely he is a god! Perhaps he is daydreaming, or is relieving himself. Or maybe he is away on a trip, or is asleep and needs to be wakened!” 5
It’s kind of hilarious, of course… because we know how the story ends…
But what we know for sure Elijah knows only by faith. He has faith to believe that God is going to come through for him. He has faith to believe that God will answer his prayer… He has faith to believe that when it’s his turn to pray, God will respond and send fire down from the sky.
Where does this faith come from?
Because Elijah surely knows his Bible… He knows scriptures like Psalm 35:23: David tells God, “Awake and rouse yourself for my vindication, for my cause, my God and my Lord!” Or Psalm 44:23: “Awake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord? Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever!” Or Psalm 59:4: “Wake up! See what is happening and help me!” 6
God’s Word itself acknowledges that sometimes—from the perspective of even faithful, godly people who pray—sometimes it will seem like God is sleeping… because he doesn’t give us what we pray for… or give it to us as quickly as we want… Sometimes it will seem like God is asleep! We know he’s not asleep, but it will sometimes seem as if he were.
And surely Elijah knows this! So why is Elijah so confident in this case that it won’t seem as if God were asleep?
We can infer the answer to that question in Elijah’s prayer of verse 36. He asks God to “[p]rove that I have done all this at your command.” 7 This “command” that he refers to doesn’t come anywhere scripture itself. The Bible is rarely so specific to tell us exactly what to do in a particular circumstance. No… but often when we read scripture—while praying at the same time—the Holy Spirit speaks to us through scripture—guiding and directing us. That’s why when we have quiet times we pray and read the Bible… The Lord will often apply something we’ve just read to something specific happening our lives.
Regardless how the Lord speaks to us, we listen… and we can say, “the Lord told me” to do something.
And this likely won’t be in an audible voice. It might be, but in most cases, the Lord will speak into our spirits—it will come to us as a thought in our heads or an intuition… we’ll just know, in our hearts, that the Lord is speaking to us.
We see this happen in many places with the apostles in the Book of Acts… For instance, Acts 8:29: “And the Spirit said to Philip, ‘Go over and join this chariot.’”
Or how about Acts 10:19-20: “And while Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him, ‘Behold, three men are looking for you. Rise and go down and accompany them without hesitation, for I have sent them.’”
Or Acts 11:12: “And the Spirit told me to go with them, making no distinction…”
Or Acts 13:2: “While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’”
Or Acts 21:11: “And coming to us, he took Paul’s belt and bound his own feet and hands and said, ‘Thus says the Holy Spirit…’”
Do you and I have less of the Holy Spirit than these disciples in the Book of Acts? We do not.
Therefore, we ought to believe that the Lord will often speak to us and tell us what he wants us to do in a particular set of circumstances… just as he did for Elijah… just as he did for disciples in the Book of Acts!
Will we take time to listen to him when he speaks? Are we taking time to listen?
If we want to have the kind of faith that overcomes fear in our lives… we will!
When I have quiet times, I always begin by reading scripture. And then I get on knees and pray. And I have often said recently—before praying—“Okay, Lord, now I’m doing the most important work that I’ll do this day!” It’s a way of reminding myself how important prayer is.
And listen… all of us know, from time to time, the painful experience of unanswered prayer… And when I put myself in Elijah’s sandals, I think I would be worried that God wouldn’t come through for me—at least not the way I expect him to, or not as quickly as I want him to. I would worry that I would pray Elijah’s prayer in verses 36 and 37… that nothing would happen… and that would be not only humiliating but dangerous for me!
On the other hand… how often have I been as bold as Elijah is in today’s scripture… How often have I laid it all on the line for the sake of my faith… How often have I risked it all for the sake of my faith…
Do I have any experience of putting my faith on the line like Elijah? No…
Since I have no experience of doing that, I certainly can’t say from experience that God won’t come through for me.
But I can say this from experience: when I’ve taken the boldest, riskiest steps of faith in my own life, God has always come through for me!
God loves when we take risky steps of faith! God rewards risky steps of faith!
What risky steps of faith is God telling you to take? What risky steps of faith is he telling our church to take? Do we hear him speaking to us through the Holy Spirit?
Let’s listen… And let’s no longer be afraid!
And that’s Point Number Two… Faith overcomes fear… And God wants us to have that kind of faith. And that requires listening to our Lord when he speaks to us!
And Point Number Three… Fire… what does this fire from heaven represent… or… as I’ve tried to answer in every sermon in this series: Where do we see Jesus and his gospel in today’s Old Testament passage?
You know, Elijah comes up in several places in the gospels. For instance, when Jesus talks about John the Baptist he compares John to Elijah; when Jesus asks his disciples who people say that he is, his disciples say, “Some say that you’re Elijah”; when Jesus is transfigured in front of Peter, James, and John, Elijah himself shows up before their eyes and talks to Jesus!
And at least two of his disciples, James and John, have Elijah in mind while passing through a Samaritan village—and the Samaritans reject Jesus and his disciples. They refuse to welcome them. They tell them to get lost, in so many words. James and John have the gall to ask Jesus, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” 8 And Jesus, we’re told, rebukes them.
Now, in fairness, James and John are remembering today’s scripture and how Elijah calls fire down from heaven. Jesus is even greater than Elijah… so why shouldn’t Jesus do the same thing?
But here’s the problem: They’re misremembering or misunderstanding today’s scripture. By all means, God sent this famine as judgment against Israel for rejecting him as God and committing idolatry. And, yes, the Samaritans are rejecting God in a similar way… but… hold on… not so fast…
Let’s notice that this fire from heaven, which represents the fire of God’s judgment and wrath, isn’t falling down from heaven and consuming the idolatrous and sinful people of Israel who’ve rejected God! That’s what they deserve, of course, but that’s not what’s happening. No, this fire from heaven is falling on… what? A sacrifice.
And notice something else: In verses 31 and 32, we’re told that this sacrifice was placed on top of an altar of twelve stones that represent God’s people Israel. Twelve stones representing the twelve tribes of God’s people Israel. And notice it’s not the stones that are being consumed; it’s the sacrifice that’s being consumed.
This sacrifice is literally placed in between these twelve stones representing God’s people… And this points to Jesus Christ and what he accomplished for his people… on the cross: on the cross, the fire of God’s judgment and wrath falls on Christ instead of falling on God’s people—even though that’s what they deserve.
Willingly and out of love, God in the flesh, in the person of his Son Jesus Christ, takes our sins upon himself and places himself in between us and the fire of God’s judgment and wrath… thereby saving us.
So when James and John asked, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume these people?” it’s as if, from the cross, Jesus gives his answer: “No… I’m letting myself be consumed by the fire of God’s judgment, so that these people—and anyone who believes in me—can be saved.”
Good sermon. One question I have, though, is whether what James and John were referring to is this Mount Carmel episode. They may instead have been talking about the incident when the
king sent troops to get Elijah to come to him, whereupon Elijah twice said, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down and consume you and your men.” And that happened. So, sometimes the fire of God consumes the enemies of God–as it will all of them in the end.
I know! I thought of that after I preached it. (Ugh!) But the point can still be made. 🤷♂️