Of Prophets and Good News!

 Hi folks!

Read if you will: Of Elijah in 1 Kings 17:10-16; 17-24.  Of Elisha in 2 Kgs 4:8-37.

The context is in 1 Kgs 16, that will tell you enough. In Ch 17, Elijah has told King Ahab that there will be a drought. Bad news. A challenging statement from the prophet, because half of the country believed in Ba’al and held that their God was the bringer of rain. Why does this matter? Because Ahab had taken Jezebel the Sidonian princess to wife, and in line with her devotion to Ba’al, had built an altar to Ba’al. And had gone on from there into greater things! Does the King now seek to silence the prophet? Or negotiate with him to resolve this?

But Elijah is not at court…’depart and hide yourself…’ and is out of Ahab’s reach, east of the Jordan, at the brook Cherith. There, is water; and God sends ravens with food. Enough to keep him alive. Then the brook dries up. The famine is taking hold. God sends him to a widow at Zarephath, on the Phoenician coast; the widow will supply food!

Elijah goes. He meets the widow at the Town’s gate, where she is gathering sticks. Elijah asks for bread and water. She tells him that all she has is a bit of flour and olive oil; she is about to prepare something for herself and her son, after which they can only prepare for death! All hope is lost. There is no future. But Elijah’s response is clear. Do as you intend, but first, make a small loaf of bread for me, and then for yourself and your son; the flour will last, and the oil also, until the Lord sends rain. What is the prophet doing?

He has challenged the authority of the King and the King’s supposed God, Ba’al! And Elijah had probably spoken at Court, as prophets will (remember David and the prophet Nathan?) in the presence of all the Officials. There will be drought and all will suffer. This blight has fallen on the land because Ahab has not been a godly leader. He has not placed God before all things. He has placed the power of evil first. He has worshiped a false God. The people of Israel flounder. These were times when foundations of buildings were laid with the blood of a child sacrifice, even. The only way the King can undo what has been said is to kill Elijah and thereby void the prophecy?

But the drought begins. And as days become weeks become months, the country starves. And the poor starve first, for the rich have stores aplenty and can hang on for quite a bit.

So it is that God intentionally sends Elijah to this poor woman. She is not an Israelite and is a widow. Of no status, and a marginal person. No one is there to help, and in bad times, everyone looks out for themselves! But into her life Elijah comes, sent by God.  And he stays with her. And there is, miraculously, this business about her little bit of flour that seems to replicate itself. And the same goes for the little amount of olive oil she has. It keeps on being sufficient unto the day. For each day.

In this one act, Elijah has shown that God is king, and no matter what an earthly leader may decree, there is a limit beyond which a King’s earthly ability cannot move. What to do about a drought? Bring out the rainmakers? Remember how Pharoah brought out Court Magicians when Moses first showed up? Hah! You can make a stick into a snake? So can my Court magicians! Any other tricks? But the drought continues.

Ahab is looking for Elijah, but the prophet is out of his reach at Zarephath, and has created a blessing for a poor woman who has nothing but somehow seems to have bread every day!

The bread, here, is the good news of the gospel! It is good news to the widow and her son! Food is scarce, and they have no means to afford what little there is. In a time when death is certain, God can and will bring hope in life. The Kings of this earth have limits.

And there’s more. For the widow’s son falls ill and dies. The widow is distraught - why?  Is this some kind of cruel punishment? Elijah takes the child to his room and beseeches God to return life, to reverse cause and effect. But God does not interfere anytime with cause and effect, no?  Except when God chooses to provide an example of what divine difference can mean to the Kings of this world. In this case, what Elijah is doing is to prove that where there is death, there may also be new life. It is an awesome story! In drought and starvation, bread becomes real. When death comes along, it can even be reversed! God is showing through Elijah’s work what good news can be! Suddenly there are possibilities! Not only is there life because there is bread now, but there is life even in the face of death. And it is salvation as real time deliverance, a movement that takes us from sorrow to joy.

These exceptions show us that in God there are no limits. And these divine actions happen when earthly powers try to set limits upon the human condition and create situations of suffering. This is never meant to be a preferential individualized action. There are no specially chosen persons. We are just called to move beyond earthly power that tries to limit us. As long as we are convinced that we are helpless, we will continue to be helpless. God says that we need not be. Hence Jesus talks about moving mountains. When the cause is great, and the challenge that threatens is wickedly great, and the people are at stake, God will show that a different and new thing is possible! Then we grab that difference and run with it!

There is deliverance, and it is salvation. It is real. The good news of salvation is deliverance, as taught by the Bible through all of its stories. And deliverance is a transforming event, far more than a matter of abstract ‘belief’ or ‘faith’. It creates change, now. It is experience, and It brings a transition from sorrow to joy!

It can start with faith and belief. It can also start with an encounter. Then it builds into relationship, for in God in Jesus we are connected, as in branches to a vine. Remember what Jesus said about the being of vine and branches, in John? Exactly so. It is out of these that the Bible teaches the formula of belief = faith = encounter = relationship = our godly (enhanced) will. God has no need for $. Only the world says that. Look for such a formula by all means. You will not find it spelled out. But it is there for all who truly seek the Kingdom. For all who desire the Kingdom above all else! And in the days to come we will go through all of it, step by careful step.

That is the challenge and opportunity of Jacob’s Ladder. You climb the ladder by belief, then faith, then encounter, then relationship, then will. God is not just the God of biblical history, but God of the here and now and tomorrow. And there is no first amongst equals. That is why Jesus says ‘I call you brothers’. You demonstrate God’s power in every challenging situation the world throws at you and there is little you cannot do. As long as your spirit carries the love of God within, you will manifest the godliness that God has placed there, and it will be more than suffice.

Remember the David experience. We move in relationship with God in Jesus starting with dependance – we are children and need to be fed, led, protected, and so on; but we can grow into independence, and begin to stand on our own, knowing that God trusts us, enables us, challenges us to learn and think and listen to his leading into making the right decisions; then we must begin to navigate the trickiness of interdependence and of becoming reliable and effective co-workers with God, without under living or over living! And this is not easy! Perhaps we are too quick in settling for a social identity which ends up as a comfortable and emotional feelgood experience, but not one that is able to take on and overcome the challenges that the world and its systems throw at us! We are easily confused, led astray, subject to many influences that turn us aside. But Jesus says ‘Be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world.’ It means that we can do so as well!

May the Lord our God make you perfect to do his will, in the name of our Savior, Jesus. Go out in good cheer, for as the Lord has shown, we may overcome that which threatens our wellbeing. Grace & peace, G.