Monologue - Elijah

My name is Elijah - and I want to tell you a story. You just heard a story about me, but I wonder if you really understand what happened.

I need to tell you what happened before the story you just heard. I am na-viy - what you call a prophet. What that means is that I speak God's truth to God's people. God has given me a gift which enables me to perceive what is happening in the world and how the choices we make either work with God's purposes or against God's purposes.

For a long time, my people - the people of Israel - had been making choices that worked against God's purposes. My people were impatient. They wanted what they wanted and they wanted it now. And so, when other peoples told them about their gods and how their gods could give them whatever it was that they wanted, my people jumped at the chance.

But these other gods were not the true God. They only held out false hopes for the people. They couldn't really give people what they wanted. And God doesn't want us to live that way, anyway, always trying to get whatever we want. That's not what makes life good.

Well, the worst of these false gods in my time was a god named Ba-al. Our king Ahab's wife Jezebel was the biggest promoter of this false god. Ba-al was supposedly the god of rain and could help our crops to grow.

Except that God - our true God - had told me that there was going to be a lengthy drought and that nothing would change that fact - certainly not the false god Ba-al. But that didn't change Jezebel's mind. She not only promoted Ba-al - she also had most of the faithful prophets of our God killed. I was one of the only ones left, and it fell to me to try to convince the people to return to their true God.

So I issued a challenge to the prophets of Ba-al - there were 450 of them - you know how people like to be on the side of a winner or of one who holds power. They wanted to be on the side of the king, even if it meant forsaking the true God for a false one.

I challenged the 450 prophets of Ba-al to prepare a sacrifice to Ba-al while I prepared a sacrifice to our God. And whichever God responded by consuming the sacrifice would prove to be the true God.

So the prophets of Ba-al set up their altar and cut up a bull and put it on the altar and began to dance and to chant and to call upon their false god to come and consume their sacrifice. But there was no voice - there was no answer from their god - how could a false god respond to their pleas?

After several hours of limping and dancing and chanting - they even cut themselves to show their devotion to Ba-al - there was still no response. Now it was my turn.

Now I had no doubt that I served the true God of Israel, but I was just a bit nervous nevertheless. I mean - can you imagine the pressure? If I was unsuccessful in my attempts to offer a sacrifice to God, what would they do to me?

I decided it was all or nothing. I set up the altar and cut up the bull and placed in on the altar, and then I did something completely unexpected! I told the people to fill four jars with water and pour it over the bull and the wood and the altar. And then I had them do it a second time and a third time. I wanted the people to be sure that it was God and not some magic by me that would consume this sacrifice.

So then I began to pray. O Lord, God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant. Answer me, O Lord, answer me, so that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God.

And the fire of the Lord fell upon that sacrifice and consumed it - the bull, the wood, the stones of the altar and even the water in the trough around the altar.

And the people fell on their faces and said - The Lord indeed is God. The Lord indeed is God.

And they rounded up the prophets of Ba-al and killed them. I don't know if that was the best thing to do, but that was the way we did things back then.

Well, it was a great victory for the Lord, but I didn't get much chance to enjoy God's victory, because as soon as Jezebel heard what had happened to her prophets, she sent an angry message to me threatening my life.

Well, she was still the queen, and so I panicked and I fled and I found my way to this cave in the mountain and hid.

And that's where the story you heard about me took place.

I was hiding from Jezebel in this cave and I heard this voice - I knew right away it was God speaking to me. And God asked me - What are you doing here, Elijah?

What am I doing here? What am I doing here? Don't you know? Your people have chased after other gods - they have thrown down your altars - they have killed your prophets - I'm about the only one left, and now they seek to kill me. What am I doing here? I'm hiding to save my life!

So the Lord told me to go out to the entrance of the cave and to stand there because the Lord was going to pass by. Now there was a great wind, so strong it was throwing the rocks and boulders around like dry leaves, and I was sure this was the Lord in the divine power, but the Lord was not in the wind.

And then there was an earthquake. And I thought, surely the Lord is in the power of this earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.

Then there was fire, and I remembered how Moses had been confronted by the Lord in the fire of the burning bush, but the Lord was not in the fire either.

And I realized that God does not work in this world primarily through raw power. God has chosen to work through us, even through our weakness.

And then there was this quietness - this sheer silence - it was so eerie - like the calm before the storm. Except there was no storm. There was just this quiet voice, almost like a whisper.

And again this voice - God's voice - asked me - what are you doing here, Elijah?

What am I doing here? I am afraid for my life. Even after that astounding victory over the prophets of Ba-al, I am afraid for my life because Jezebel still has power and has threatened to kill me.

But the Lord was not interested in my fears. The Lord was only interested in the possibilities that presented themselves to make things better for Israel.

Go, the Lord said to me. Go and anoint Hazael as king over Aram. And anoint Jehu as king over Israel. And anoint Elisha as your successor - as prophet under you. Go and do my will.

And then it occurred to me. Either I believe in the Lord or I don't. And if I believe in the Lord, then I have nothing to fear - not even death at the hands of Jezebel.

God had demonstrated great power in the contest with the prophets of Ba-al. And still I feared Jezebel?

Jezebel has no real power over me. Oh, she might succeed in getting me killed, but only God has power over life and death.

If we believe that, then we can live for God. We don't need to fear what might happen to us if we are faithful to God in a world that has rejected God. We can do what God asks us to do without fearing the consequences.

I thought I was a man of great faith. After the contest with the prophets of Ba-al, I rejoiced in the power of the God I served. Yet, when Jezebel threatened my life, I ran.

I think I've learned my lesson. I think I will never run again. I will trust my future - my life - to God and I will do what God wants me to do.

And life will be good. Thanks be to God. Amen.