LISTENING FOR THE VOICE OF GOD

(Preached on Sunday, July 8, 2007)

He said, AGo out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.@  Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence.                           -1 Kings 19:11-12

 

Elijah was beaten.  He had tried to stand up for Yahweh.  He had confronted and defeated the 400 Baal priests of Jezebel.  In a tension filled, dramatic confrontation on the mountain top, Yahweh had answered Elijah=s prayer and appeared in the fire to consume Elijah=s offering, showing up the priests of Baal as serving a false god.  The people, in their zeal and fervor, had then crushed the priests of Baal, destroying them in the river below the mountain.  This was the way Yahweh had always seemed to work in history.  It fit with the stories Elijah knew of Yahweh saving the people of Israel from Egypt by drowning Pharaoh=s chariots in the Red Sea.  This God he served, Yahweh, was a God of power and might and not afraid to use violence to achieve God=s ends of protecting a people devoted to him.

 

But Jezebel, the king of Israel=s foreign born bride who had imported these priests who served the god, Baal, she had been raised to know in her father=s court, was not easily thwarted in her asserting her rights and the rights of her religion.  She did not fear Elijah, or Yahweh.  And upon hearing what had happened, she simply put out a contract on Elijah=s life.  That was more than Elijah could handle.  He had already risked his life in that confrontation on the mountain top.  He was not ready to be a marked man.

 

So, Elijah fled.  He ran away.  He went into hiding.  That is not an uncommon response.  I know that response well.  Perhaps you do as well.  When we don=t get our way; when things go against us; when nobody seems to understand or agree with us C we retreat, go into our caves, we run away.  After all, as Elijah complains, AI am the only faithful person left.  Everyone else had betrayed you; now they are going to kill me@  Sound familiar?  ANo one listens to me. ... I=m the only one who cares around here. ... No one understands me.@  So we run.  So Elijah, ran.

 

But it is very interesting in which direction he ran.  He went to Mt. Horeb, the place Israel had first encountered Yahweh.  The place where Yahweh had appeared to Moses in the burning bush, sending him to Egypt.  The place to which Moses led the people, where they were to worship Yahweh on the mountain.  The place where the people had entered into covenant with Yahweh.  Elijah ran back to his tradition, to what was familiar, to where he had always found his answers.

Standing in a cave on the mountain of Yahweh, Elijah waits for Yahweh to appear, to justify him, to soothe his wounded soul, to comfort him in his righteousness.  But Yahweh does not offer soothing words of sympathy, nor promise to rescue Elijah from his enemies.  No, Yahweh calls for Elijah to come out of the cave and stand before Yahweh=s presence.  Elijah, though, hesitates, perhaps fearful of Yahweh=s response.  After all, Yahweh is a fearsome God.

 

It appears he is right.  For suddenly a violent windstorm surrounds the mountain.  Wind so strong it was breaking the very rocks into pieces and sending them tumbling down the mount.  Here was Yahweh.  Here was the power Elijah expected.  Here was familiarity.  Yahweh had often appeared in a mighty wind.  Elijah was protected, Yahweh would crush Jezebel, blowing her from the face of the earth.  But, Yahweh was not in the wind.

 

Then the earth started to shake.  Yahweh was shaking the very foundations of the world.  The entire mountain shook in the earthquake.  Alright, this was the power of Yahweh that Elijah expected.  Yahweh had established the foundations of the earth and Yahweh could destroy those very foundations.  Elijah was vindicated.  Yahweh would split the earth and swallow the evil Jezebel.

But, Yahweh was not in the earthquake.

 

Then the air was filled with flames.  A blazing fire was consuming the mountain.  The air was dry and hot as an oven in the cave.  The light from the flames was searing into the eyes.  Here was a power Elijah was most familiar with.  Elijah knew Yahweh personally as fire, for it was fire that consumed his offering and defeated the priests of Baal.  It was a burning bush that appeared to Moses, and a pillar of fire that led the Israelite people through the wilderness.

Here was the proof that Elijah was right, that he was not alone, that Yahweh was still with him.  Yes, as Yahweh had consume Elijah=s offering in a blazing fire, even so would a blazing fire consume Jezebel and save Elijah.

But, Yahweh was not in the fire.

 

A mighty wind, a powerful earthquake, a blazing fiery inferno, all the usual elements of Yahweh=s acknowledged presence to Moses.  But Elijah, though he yearned for it, banked on it, hoped for it, did not sense God=s presence in any of these wonders this time.  Perhaps Yahweh really was a fraud?  Perhaps Elijah had been misguided before?

But now that all the usual ways in which God appeared had passed there settled around Elijah on the mountain, the sound of sheer silence.  An eerie silence, so still and quiet that it can be heard.  And in that gentle quiet, a manner totally unexpected for a God of power, Yahweh speaks to Elijah.  This is a new experience for Elijah.  No longer does Yahweh appear as a God of power, supremely sovereign, perhaps even fickle, but God is now present as a God who takes risks, who becomes vulnerable.  Yahweh is not afraid of gentleness, of appearing weak and powerless.  Yahweh does not need power to be strong and to accomplish his purposes.  Yahweh reveals a new side to Elijah.  It turns out this is exactly what Elijah needed.  It was not fire or wind or shaking foundations that Elijah needed C even though he thought so C but rather stillness.  Elijah recognizes that he is indeed in the presence of God and now he moves to the cave entrance, hiding his face (out of shame, fear, respect?). 

 

Now that Elijah has emerged from his cave, God again asks, AElijah, what are you doing here?@  And Elijah hears again the voice of God.  Though the style is new, the message is not.  Jezebel is still condemned, and Elijah is affirmed.  But more than being affirmed, Elijah is re- commissioned, told to go and carry out God=s will.  

 

Which Elijah does, but with a new and deeper understanding of God.  Now Elijah knows that God is always present, even when it does not seem so, even when the elements of power are not active, even when Elijah feels alone.  Even in the most gentle stillness, God is still there.  Elijah had gone back to his roots, tot he place of holiest significance in his tradition=s history.  Elijah found God there, but in a new way, doing a new thing, bringing Elijah to a renewed sense of purpose and mission.

 

So often we seek the voice of God, looking for a sign, and then permit the noise, confusion and spectacle of the world to numb our senses to the subtle yet persistent presence of God in our lives.  So often we expect God to be present in certain ways, either because we have experienced God that was in the past, or because we heard of a friend for whom God seemed to work in that way, or because we have always been told that is the way God works.