[Propertalk] Fwd: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Proper 4C

Sat May 28 17:39:54 EDT 2016

Forwarded: 

-----Original Message-----
From: Judy <judy_boli at ecunet.org>
To: Propertalk <propertalk.topic at ecunet.org>
Sent: Sat, May 28, 2016 4:54 pm
Subject: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Proper 4C

Dear Friends,

This Sunday’s sermon is entitled “Elijah and theProphets of Baal” or “Which Side Are You On?” and deals with one of the potentialOld Testament lessons (1st Kings 18: 20-21, [22-29], 30-39).  Here it is:  

Today, our Old Testament lesson from the Bible told us about theamazing contest between the prophets of Baal (an idol) and God’s prophet-Elijah.  You know the story.  It started when the king of the Israelitesmarried a queen (Jezebel) who worshipped idols.   The Israelites started following thereligion of their pagan neighbors and their pagan Queen Jezebel, because theysaw it as a sophisticated, fashionable religion.  Instead of worshiping God, they worshiped twoidols- Baal and his lover Asherah.  Themen went to the pagan temple if they wanted fertile fields or a fertile wifeand had sex with the male and female prostitutes there, thus imitating theactions of Baal and Asherah.  Theythought this would make their crops and children plentiful.  To us, this sounds gross; but to them- it wasthe height of sophisticated fashion.  Tous, this sounds gross; but to them- it was C-O-O-L!  The old-fashioned way of worshiping God asthey had been taught seemed “country.”  SoElijah challenged the people of Israel and King Ahab to a contest.  Here’s what happened (1st Kings18: 20-21, [22-29], 30-39, ContemporaryEnglish Version):
Reader: 20 Ahab goteveryone together, then they went to meet Elijah on Mount Carmel. 21 Elijahstood in front of them and said, 
Congregation: “How muchlonger will you try to have things both ways? If the Lord is God, worship him!But if Baal is God, worship him!”
Reader: The people did not say a word.  22 Then Elijah continued:
Congregation:“I am the Lord’s only prophet, but Baal has four hundred fiftyprophets.  23 Bring us two bulls. Baal’sprophets can take one of them, kill it, and cut it into pieces. Then they canput the meat on the wood without lighting the fire. I will do the same thingwith the other bull, and I won’t light a fire under it either. 24 The prophetsof Baal will pray to their god, and I will pray to the Lord. The one whoanswers by starting the fire is God.
Reader: Everyoneagreed, 
Congregation: “That’s agood idea.”
Reader: 25 Elijah said to Baal’s prophets, 
Congregation:“There are more of you, so you go first. Pick out a bull and get itready, but don’t light the fire. Then pray to your god.”
Reader: 26 They chose their bull, then they got it ready andprayed to Baal all morning, asking him to start the fire. They danced aroundthe altar and shouted, 
Congregation:“Answer us, Baal!” 
Reader: But there was no answer.  27 At noon, Elijah began making fun of them. 
Congregation:“Pray louder!” 
Reader: he said. 
Congregation:“Baal must be a god. Maybe he’s day-dreaming or using the toilet ortraveling somewhere. Or maybe he’s asleep, and you have to wake him up.”
 Reader: 28 The prophets kept shoutinglouder and louder, and they cut themselves with swords and knives until theywere bleeding. This was the way they worshiped, 29 and they kept it up allafternoon. But there was no answer of any kind. 30 Elijah told everyone to gather around him while he repaired theLord’s altar. 31-32 Then he used twelve stones to build an altar in honor ofthe Lord. Each stone stood for one of the tribes of Israel, which was the namethe Lord had given to their ancestor Jacob. Elijah dug a ditch around thealtar, large enough to hold about thirteen quarts. 33 He placed the wood on thealtar, then they cut the bull into pieces and laid the meat on the wood.  He told the people, 
Congregation:“Fill four large jars with water and pour it over the meat and thewood.” 
Reader: After they did this, 34-35 he told them to do it twomore times. They did exactly as he said until finally, the water ran down thealtar and filled the ditch. 36 When it was time for the evening sacrifice,Elijah prayed:
Congregation: “Our Lord, youare the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. Now, prove that you are the God ofthis nation, and that I, your servant, have done this at your command. 37Please answer me, so these people will know that you are the Lord God, and thatyou will turn their hearts back to you.
 Reader: 38 The Lord immediately sentfire, and it burned up the sacrifice, the wood, and the stones. It scorched theground everywhere around the altar and dried up every drop of water in theditch. 39 When the crowd saw what had happened, they all bowed down andshouted, 
Congregation:“The Lord is God! The Lord is God!”

This is one of my very favorite Bible stories, and it fits our timesexceptionally well.  Let’s see what lifelessons we can derive from it.  

First life lesson: When you choose aspouse or significant other, be absolutely sure their values match yours.  As St. Paulreminds us in 2nd Corinthians 6:14a- “Do not be mismatched withunbelievers.”  Look at the ungodly messthat resulted when King Ahab married a woman who worshipped idols.  She brought her idols and prophets with her,and many of the people forsook God Almighty. Be careful whom you marry or have babies by.  You will be tied to that person at leastuntil your children are 18, and that person will be your child’s otherparent.  Their influence (or lack ofinfluence) can destroy lives and cause much innocent suffering.  A man or a woman with beautiful hair is nice,but a man or a woman with a beautiful character is the person worthy of you andyour children. 

Second life lesson: what are importantin a church are not fashionable clothes, fancy cars, and politically correctsermons.  Do you remember the strange, illogical teachings of QueenJezebel’s pagan religion that attracted the people of Israel because theydidn’t want to appear to be “country”?  Welaugh, but how many people do you know who go looking for a fashionable church,one where what you wear is more important than who you came to worship?  A church that has either neglected weeklyHoly Communion or never really understood the Biblical expectation to celebrateit on the first day of every week, in other words- every Sunday?  A church in which everyone looks just likeeveryone else, where a homeless, ragged person would be expected to sit in theback pew?  Where “Whatever you do to theleast of these, my brothers and sisters, you do to me.” (Matthew 25:40) isforgotten?

Third life lesson: you are not alone-you’ve got God and you’ve got many other quiet people!  Remember howGod’s still small voice reminded Elijah of the true reality- was not alone- Godwas with him plus there was a remnant of 7,000 Israelites who had notworshipped Baal and Asherah.  We worryabout Saginaw’s streets, but there are more of us than of those who promote anddo violence.  We ALL need to stand forjustice and not support people who are making our streets so dangerous thatchildren cannot play outside or sleep in their own beds at night without beingafraid, because a stray bullet may hurt or kill them.  Those who do violence should find no one whowill feed them, shelter them, sleep with them, drive them places, etc.  Which side are you on?

For anyone who isinterested, this sermon and updated African-American wisdom statements areposted on our parish’s web site under “Sermons & Stuff”. The address is: http://www.stpaulsepisag.org .

Blessed preaching,
Judy Boli
St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Saginaw, Michigan

-- 
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Propertalk" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to propertalk.topic+unsubscribe at ecunet.org.

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://stsams.org/pipermail/propertalk_stsams.org/attachments/20160528/d7397cca/attachment.htm>