1 Kings 19:1–8

¹Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. ²Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, "So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow." ³Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. ⁴But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, "It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers." ⁵And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, "Arise and eat." ⁶And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again. ⁷And the angel of the LORD came again a second time and touched him and said, "Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you." ⁸And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God.

Elijah was a mighty champion for the Word of the Lord. You probably remember him as the prophet who challenged hundreds of prophets of Baal to a dual. When Baal couldn't answer their prayers, God sent down fire to burn up Elijah's offering, and then God ordered Elijah to slaughter all the prophets of Baal with the sword. This is the same mighty Elijah who stopped the rain for three years and caused a serious famine; who multiplied the flour and oil so that it never ran out; who raised the widow's son from the dead, who parted the waters of the River Jordan; and was later taken up to heaven in a whirlwind accompanied by chariots of fire. This is Elijah, the precursor of John the Baptist and a type of Christ.

But now we see him today in a very different light. King Ahab told his evil wife Jezebel that Elijah had killed 850 prophets of Baal. Ahab was the most evil of all Israel's kings and Jezebel was simply a wicked queen, a gentile, not even an Israelite. Baal was who she and her husband Ahab worshipped, so she was furious at Elijah. She sent a messenger to Elijah and said, "If I don't slay you by tomorrow, may the gods slay me." Terror gripped his heart. Yes, this once brave champion of the Lord's cause, was gripped with fear, and was fleeing for his life. He fled to Beersheba and then on to Mt. Horeb, where God had given Moses the Ten Commandments. He hid in the wilderness and in caves in an attempt to save his life from Jezebel. This man of God who had the faith and courage to confront and slaughter hundreds of priests and prophets of Baal, now cowered in fear of the queen.

Elijah is a mirror that teaches us about ourselves. We have the same challenges, sins, fears, and despair that he had. Life is hard and full of troubles. For the believer it is even harder. Trying to be a Christian in this world, in this society today, is next to impossible. We face opposition, we are unpopular with our friends, sometimes even discriminated against and even outright persecuted. Like Elijah we have mighty opponents, we have doubts and fears, we face the temptation to give up our faith. We feel as if we are trying to follow Christ all alone without the support of family or friends. One day we are valiant champions of the Lord, and the next day we are crippled by lack of faith and fear for our lives. Luther says, "When Elijah killed the prophets of Baal, he was impelled by the Spirit of God; yet later on, when Jezebel's wrath has been reported to him, he fears for himself, withdraws into the desert, and in this way looks out for his life."

Elijah let "...his reason tell him that he would be safe if he hid in the desert. He who was most resolute when he killed the prophets was trembling here in his danger and thought that he would not be safe anywhere in Israel." Elijah shows us how we let our human reason try to get us out of the mess. We look for alternate plans, a way out to safety. Or we finally despair and ask God to end our life right here and now, like Elijah did just a few verses further on after our text. Even right in the church we make our own plans; our own decisions, without seeking the will of the Lord. Sometimes even when we do try to do something to serve the mission of the church and the proclamation of the gospel and help our neighbor in need, just as soon as one little obstacle gets in the way we say, we give up, instead of relying on the power of the Lord to help us overcome the obstacle. We have forgotten that with faith the size of a mustard seed we can move mountains. Or is it, perhaps, that our faith is even smaller than a mustard seed?

But this weakness of Elijah is recorded for us by God in order to comfort us. We often think of the saints; the prophets, the apostles, as men of steel and unwavering in the boldness of faith. But as Paul and Barnabas say of themselves, (Acts 14:15); "We are mortal men like you." They have the same desires and afflictions and weaknesses as everyone else does. They, too, engage in ordinary pursuits; they sow, plow, build, fish, clean house, do the laundry, etc. They, like us, lived life as God's children in their vocations, humbly serving God. We are normal people and we do pretty much the same things that the ungodly do, the difference is, our works are pleasing to God because of the faith in Christ which we possess. We do not have to engage in extraordinary works like raising sons of widows, or slaying the prophets of Baal in order to serve God. If God calls you to do extraordinary things through you, then do them. If he does not, nevertheless rejoice that you are in a divine calling when you perform and assume these ordinary duties of this life as part of your vocations. And these normal works and duties, because of faith, are works of righteousness that are pleasing to God.

So here we find Elijah, an ordinary man, a mortal, a sinful child of God, trying to live for God in this fallen world, now relying on his own reason instead of trusting in God. He is a mirror in which you can see yourselves. Like Elijah, you get discouraged, fearful, and sometimes you too pray, "It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life..." you too feel like you are the only one left who fears God. You get lonely and afraid. Your problems and trials overwhelm you and you wish you could die and get out of this life.

But Elijah also shows us how God comforts us. Your flesh is greatly terrified at the sight or mention of death, judgment, and eternal fire. Even in your weakness, in your trials and afflictions, in your temptations, and weakness of faith, but he does not turn his back on his children, rather he comforts you. He sent an angel to comfort Elijah. The Angel of the Lord. This could have even been Christ himself, but at the very least it was a messenger of Christ who acted on Christ's authority and with his power. God rescued Elijah just as He rescues you. For, like Elijah, when you are weakened and pray the wrong prayer and your faith is weak, still, because you are God's children in Christ, he is pleased with you, considers you just, and He rescues you.

God is merciful and forgave Elijah rather than destroy him. He sent his angel to feed him and strengthen him for his journey to Mount Horeb, the mountain of God. God wants to have patience with your weakness. We do not excuse Elijah for his fear and lack of trust in God, nor do we excuse Abraham when he was afraid for his life and lied about his wife, nor do we excuse David when he sinned with Bathsheba. We do not excuse the apostles when they fled form Christ, nor Peter when he denied Him, nor any of the other silly and foolish things they do. But these things are recorded for us in Scripture that the nature of the kingdom of Christ may be learned. In his small flock Jesus has poor and weak consciences that are easily hurt and are not easily comforted. He is a King of the strong and the weak alike; he hates the proud and declares war on the strong. He rebukes the Pharisees and those who are smug. But he does not want to break or confound the fearful, the fainthearted, the sorrowful and the perplexed. He does not want to quench a dimly burning wick.

And this is how he has acted from the beginning of the world to the end. He is strong and almighty, but he will not quench a dimly burning wick. He also commands us to receive the one who is weak in faith, for it is a great thing to believe that for Christians there is a passing through death to life.

The kingdom of Christ has both those who are weak and those who are courageous. But those who are weaker should not be dealt with too harshly; for this is a kingdom of comfort, of the poor, and of the afflicted. To those who are terrified, comfort should be given and they should be told: "You are a dimly burning wick, and God does not want me to quench you; for Christ is a King of the poor and the weak." (this is quite the opposite of those theology of glory types who look for excited, enthusiastic Christians, to work and do outreach and have glory and build exciting and growing churches, but shun the poor, the weak, the struggling believer and snub him as being inferior and not a good Christian.)

So God sent bread and water for Elijah. This bread and water sustained him for 40 days in the wilderness as he went to the mountain of God. We read here, then, how God sends Jesus to strengthen and nourish you for your journey through the wilderness to the Mountain of God. You stumble, you fall, you are weak, you are afraid for your life, and sometimes even wish you could die and get it all over with, but Jesus is the angel of the Lord who gives you bread and water to get you through this life. That is, he gives you the living bread. He is the living bread. And all who eat this living bread shall never hunger. It will sustain you for your 40 days in the wilderness. Forty days of temptations, like Jesus. Forty days as Jesus was tempted, "If you are the Son of God, then....." Forty days as you try to live as a son or daughter of God. Those forty days represent your entire life in this world doing battle with Satan, trying to resist his temptations, hungry and thirsty for righteousness, but weak, afraid, fumbling. Persecuted and opposed even by those you call a friend and brother. But Jesus is the bread who came to give his own life on the cross, to suffer and pay for your lack of faith. He reconciled you to the Father by paying the ransom price. He shed his blood to wash away your sins. By his obedience, his suffering, his death and his resurrection he became the bread of life for you.

Now Jesus invites you to come to the table of the Lord and eat the true bread and drink the true drink, his very body and blood. That alone is what can sustain you in the wilderness until one day you too shall arrive to the mountain of the Lord. Amen.