When the Wind Blows

1 Kings 18:41-46; 19:9-13                                                 February 27, 2007

         [41] Now Elijah said to Ahab, "Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of the roar of a heavy shower." [42] So Ahab went up to eat and drink. But Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he crouched down on the earth, and put his face between his knees. [43] And he said to his servant, "Go up now, look toward the sea." So he went up and looked and said, "There is nothing." And he said, "Go back" seven times. [44] And it came about at the seventh time, that he said, "Behold, a cloud as small as a man's hand is coming up from the sea." And he said, "Go up, say to Ahab, 'Prepare your chariot and go down, so that the heavy shower does not stop you.' " [45] So it came about in a little while, that the sky grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy shower. And Ahab rode and went to Jezreel. [46] Then the hand of the Lord was on Elijah, and he girded up his loins and outran Ahab to Jezreel.

         [9] Then he came there to a cave, and lodged there; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" [10] And he said, "I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Thy covenant, torn down Thine altars and killed Thy prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away." [11] So He said, "Go forth, and stand on the mountain before the Lord." And behold, the Lord was passing by! And a great and strong wind was rending the mountains and breaking in pieces the rocks 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. [12] And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of a gentle blowing. [13] And it came about when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold, a voice came to him and said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

CCI: Storms come, running from them leads to exhaustion, facing them prepares us to hear God.

         The story of Elijah is one of my favorite stories. I remember as a child sitting in front of the record player listening to Ethel Barrett tell the story of the Elijah on Mount Carmel. When Elijah is first introduced in the Bible, he greeted the king and declared that there would be no rain in the country until he said so. For 3 ½ years the skies were closed. The dryness intensified and the drought took it’s toll. God miraculously preserved his servant, first God fed Elijah through a flock of ravens by a stream. Later, when the stream dried up, God continued to provide for Elijah through a generous widow who gave the prophet of God the last of her sustenance.

         Finally, after 3 ½ years of drought, Elijah appeared to the King and challenged the king’s false prophets to a war of the gods. We know the story, Elijah and 350 prophets of Ba’al met on Mt. Carmel. The challenge was that they would let their god appear and accept their offering with fire.

         The prophets of Ba’al danced and sang and pled with Ba’al to come and accept their sacrifice. Elijah jeered them as they called out and nothing happened. Then as evening came, Elijah rebuilt the altar of God and prepared his sacrifice. He prayed and asked God to answer and reveal to all that YHWH is the only God. Water from the sea was poured over the sacrifice until it was soaked, a trench was dug around it and that was filled with water. Then God appeared and in a display that we can only imagine, the fire of God consumed the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, the water and the dust.

         The response of the people was unanimous, “YHWH, He is God! The Lord, He is God!” The prophets of Ba’al were taken to the brook and executed, then, Elijah told the King to prepare to eat a good meal and get ready because he heard the roar of a might storm coming.

         By this time, as you may imagine, whatever the Prophet asked, the King would have done. So while the king was feasting, Elijah prayed. As he prayed he instructed his servant to go look out over the Mediterranean and then tell him what he saw. When the servant returned, he told him the sky was clear. 6 times the prophet heard the same report. Finally, after 7 trips to look out over the sea, the servant came back and said, “I see a cloud the size of a man’s hand rising from the sea.”

         “Go tell the King to get his chariot ready, so the storm does not stop him.” As he was speaking the wind began to pick up. The storm clouds built and we are told, “Then the hand of the Lord was on Elijah, and he girded up his loins and outran Ahab to Jezreel.” Elijah outran the king’s chariot! Elijah outran the storm!

         Have you ever wanted to do that? Have you ever wanted to run away when the storms on the horizon? You can see the clouds building. The wind begins to blow. The sky grows dark, the lightening is beginning to flash. And you want to get away. Maybe it is an awkward social situation that you want to avoid. Maybe you don’t want to confront your spouse with the truth you have discovered. Perhaps you are in denial around a medical condition. Maybe you want to run from the storm clouds of your financial debt. And so you gather your strength and you run, and you run, and you run. And you outrun the storm.

         But it is not over. Even when we think we have escaped the storms, we often find that they still exist. You manage to avoid going to the dentist, but the toothache comes back. You declare bankruptcy to escape the debt, but the free-spending continues and soon you are surrounded again. James R. Edwards recounts this story from the Civil War: Wilmer McLean was a small farmer in the Shenandoah Valley in 1861. In the spring of that year two powerful armies met on his property—the Union army under General McDowell and the Confederate army under General Beauregard. The bloodiest war in American history began at Bull Run, a creek that ran through McLean's property. McLean was not at all sure why the armies were fighting, but he was quite sure he did not want them fighting on his property. If he could not change the course of the war, he at least did not have to be part of it. McLean decided to sell out and go where the war would never find him.

         He chose the most obscure place in the whole country—or so he thought: an old house in the village of Appomattox Court House, Virginia. Four years later General Grant was pursuing General Lee through Virginia. In Appomattox County, Grant sent a message to Lee asking him to meet and sign a truce. The place where they met to sign the peace that ended the Civil War was Wilmer McLean's living room!

         We may think we can outrun the storms, but they find us. It certainly caught up with Elijah. After running from the storm, he learned the queen wanted him dead, and in that moment the storm caught him. It was as if the lightening struck at his heals and he continued to run into the wilderness until he could go no further.

         He found some shade and lay down waiting to die. The prophet who had hours before won this amazing victory on the mountain, now lay alone on the ground, hoping to die. As he lay there, God’s messenger, an angel ministered to him, finally, in the strength of the rest and nourishment God gave, Elijah journeyed for 40 days until he came to the mountain of God. And there he faced the storm.

         He went into a cave to hide. There God confronted him. “Why are you here?” “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Thy covenant, torn down Thine altars and killed Thy prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away." And God replied, “Go stand in the mouth of this cave and face the storm.”

         And that is what Elijah did. And there was fire, and wind and earthquake, but God was not in those. Instead as Elijah stood in this storm, as the world around him was being torn apart, he heard the gentle whisper of God once again ask, “Why are you here?” No more fire falling on the sacrifice. No more mobs executing the false prophets. No more racing in front of the chariot. No more angels providing for his needs. In the eye of the storm, Elijah heard the gentle voice of God. And from the storm God gave him a mission for the rest of his life. He was to anoint a new king in the land of his enemy, he was to anoint a new king in his own land and he was to anoint his own successor. Think about those tasks. The first would identify him as a turncoat, the second would make leave him guilty of treason, and the third would make him obsolete. That is not what I would hope to learn, however there was more. Elijah was convinced he was alone, but God revealed to him that there were 7,000 faithful men and women who had not given in to the culture and who would stand with him.

         As we studied Job last week, we learned that this world has storms, and God is with us to speak to us out of the storm. And that was the lesson Elijah learned as well. Though God gave him the strength to run ahead of the king’s chariot as the first storm approached, there was a price to pay for running. Running from the storm took all Elijah had in reserve and when the next clouds rose, he was finished. However, when he was willing to stand in the storm and face the winds and endure the fire and be stand strong in the earthquake, he found a new purpose for his life and he learned he was not alone.

         I think the reason I like the story of Elijah is that I am a lot like Elijah. There are times when my faith is strong. There are times that if feels like I could take on Satan himself. And there are times that I fall on my face. Some times I run from challenges and storms, and I even find that God gives me the strength to do that, if that is what I am determined to do. But sometimes, and it seems all too seldom, I am willing listen to the voice of God from the storm and that is when I find direction and that is when I learn that I am not alone.

         I don’t think it would be too much of a stretch to suggest that maybe you have found that true in your life as well. There are times when it feels like you are standing against hundreds of enemies. And in the next moment, as the wind begins to pick up, you are running and then find yourself exhausted and alone. When the wind blows, how do you respond? When the winds of change blow in your life, do you run or do you listen? When the winds of conflict blow, do you run or do you listen? When the winds of betrayal blow, do you run, or do you listen for the voice of God? When the winds of sickness blow, do you run or do you stand in the storm to listen? If we choose to run God will still be with us to encourage and prepare us for the day when we will stand in the storm, but it will be exhausting. You see, when you finally learn to listen, when we finally have the courage to stand in the storm we will hear God’s gentle voice and find direction.

         As a congregation, the restoration that will be done upstairs and down here may cause the winds of storm to begin to blow. There will be changes, the color of the carpet may change, the configuration of the platform may change, the lighting in this room may change. These sound like insignificant things, but if we are not willing to listen to the voice of God, they can become a storm. I urge you to pray for those who are planning and leading these changes. Pray that God will enable us to see this time as an opportunity to explore God’s ways. We can choose to run from it, and God will not abandon us, however, we will become exhausted. But if we will choose to stand in the storm, we will be able to listen to the voice of God and in the debate, we will find new direction and we will learn that we are not alone.

         I also believe that there are storm clouds gathering around the church of Jesus Christ and particularly around our denomination surrounding the question of how we will relate to people who are different than most of us, questions are especially being asked about how we will relate to homosexuals. Those who follow Christ are being challenged to stand for what is loving and just and pure, just as Jesus did, while the popular culture seeks to enforce the status quo. As the wind blows around us, those who follow Christ are calling believers to set aside their differences and live out the unity of the Body of Christ which is found in Jesus, while the popular culture and the popular church is calling for division because our differences are just too great. The storm that is brewing, may be frightening, it will be tempting to run, and if we choose to do that, God will still be with us, but we will become exhausted. If instead we will choose to stand in the storm, we will hear his quiet gentle voice directing and leading us in God’s direction and we will learn that we are not alone.

         This world has storms, and God is with us to speak to us out of the storm. Have you been running from storms in your life? Are you getting exhausted? Let God minister to you today. Then in the strength of God, stand firm in the midst of the storm and know you are not alone.