Every day, we are faced with decisions to make. What will we eat for meals? Will we cook or dine? What clothes will we wear, shorts or pants, or short-sleeve or long-sleeve shirts? We also have big choices to make, decisions that require more thought than what we will eat or wear. What college will we attend after high school? Do I want to pursue that Master’s degree? Is this the person I’m supposed to marry? Is this the right house, car, or appliance we’re looking to purchase? How much longer should I continue to receive cancer treatments? We can each create our lists of decisions that we’ve either made or will make throughout our lifetime.
Yet in the midst of those decisions, we’re faced with an even greater one. “If the Lord is God, follow him. If Baal is God, then follow him.” We have a choice to make. Or do we?
The Israelites had a choice. Now, as Lutherans, some of us might have an issue with that because we believe God acts first. If this is you, I ask you to embark on a journey with the Israelites. They gathered at Mount Carmel where they were presented with their only two options. They could either follow God or Baal, but said nothing. By default, their indecision meant they were choosing to follow Baal. So Elijah presents them with another option. The prophets of Baal can prepare a bull for sacrifice and call upon the name of their god. Elijah would do the same. The god who would answer by fire would indeed be God.
At this point in time, the people are willing to choose. They weren’t earlier, but they are now. They are willing to accept the contest, because to do so is to “acknowledge that there will be a winner and that the winner is to be the object of exclusive faith. To be willing to choose is in some sense an act of faith in itself.” They are open to the idea that God might do something powerful in their lives.
Our text goes on to explain how the sacrifices were prepared. For the prophets of Baal, their preparations were sketchy, their prayer was pretty abrupt, and their liturgical action was frantic. Elijah’s preparations, on the other hand, were methodical and correct. His prayer is impressive and dignified. His preparations make things seemingly impossible for Yahweh. The water poured on the sacrifice makes things even more impossible. Yet, it’s through this impossibility that Yahweh shows His glory. It is because of His glory the people fall down and worship Him.
Elijah prepared the sacrifice to receive fire from God. It relates to a story I heard while watching the movie Facing the Giants. The movie is about high school football coach Grant Taylor. In his six years of coaching, his Shiloh Eagles have not had a winning season. The new season gets off to a bad start when the star player transfers to another school. After losing the first three games of the season, Coach Taylor overhears a group of fathers plotting to have him fired. Combined with pressures at home, Coach Taylor loses hope in his battle against fear and failure. But an unexpected challenge helps him find a purpose bigger than victories. The unexpected challenge comes from Mr. Bridges, a man who wanders the halls of the school everyday praying for God to transform the lives of the students. Mr. Bridges tells Coach Taylor that God hasn’t shut the door on his opportunity at Shiloh Christian School. Coach Taylor says he’s been praying but hasn’t seen God at work. Mr. Bridges shares a story about two farmers who desperately need rain. Both farmers ask God to give them rain, but only one of them went out to prepare his fields to receive it. After a short discussion about who trusted God to bring the rain, Mr. Bridges asked Coach Taylor, “Which one are you?”
As the movie continues, Coach Taylor transforms into a person who prepares his football team to receive the blessings God wanted to bring into their lives. Though the most important blessing was the transformed lives of his players, they were also blessed with the opportunity to play in the state title game against the Richland Giants. With one second left on the clock and three points needed to win, Coach Taylor calls on his back-up kicker David Childers. Childers, who can only kick a football 39 yards, is called on to kick a 51-yard-field goal, against the wind. When all seems impossible, God’s power shows through Childers’ weakness. Right before he kicks the field goal, the wind changes directions. Instead of kicking against the wind, Childers kicks with the wind and makes the field goal, giving the Eagles the state championship.
Just as Coach Taylor’s decision made the possibility of winning a state championship seem impossible, Elijah’s preparations made the possibility of a fire seem impossible. Yet in both situations, God’s possibility showed through the seeming impossibility. God’s power showed through in weakness.
How does this concept of preparing things to receive connect with whether or not we choose to follow God? Let me close with two final remarks that might help bring this all together. Richard Nelson writes in his commentary on this passage: “The people, who already had that sort of preliminary faith which is volition to make a choice, received proof that their choice must be for Yahweh. On the one hand, the people have chosen the option of faith freely, uncoerced by any proof. On the other, their choice of Yahweh has been forced on them by the evidence of fire from heaven. Their choice to choose was a free one and was confirmed later by experience, but their hearts were actually turned around by God. Fire coerced their choice and left them without option. Is faith a matter of free human choice or is it an irresistible gift from God?”
I confess that I don’t know how to answer this question. However, I do want to challenge us with one final thought. It’s possible that Elijah, by presenting the people with options, was preparing them for the day they wouldn’t have an option. When the people agreed to the contest that revealed the true God, they made a decision to follow God before experiencing God’s revealing act. When God revealed Himself by answering Elijah’s prayer with fire, the people fell down and worshipped Him, not because they were coerced, but because they were open to the mighty act God was about to do in their lives.
Let us pray: God, we are left with some challenges to wrestle with and thoughts to ponder. As we leave here and go into the world, may you open our hearts and continue to challenge us into the deeper truths of your Word, so that we may be able to proclaim Your saving acts to the world. AMEN.
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