Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B 11th August 2024.
Lectionary Readings: 1 Kings 19 v4-8; Psalm 34 v1-8; Ephesians 4 v25-5v2; John 6 v35, 41-51.
Living with fear, despair and doubt.
In order to understand the depth of Elijah’s despair recorded in today’s Old Testament reading, we need to recap on the story so far.
The writer of the ‘Book of Kings’ introduces us to King Ahab of Israel at the end of chapter 16, with these words. ‘Ahab did more things to disobey the Lord than any king before him. Even worse, he married Jezebel the daughter of King Ethbaal of Sidon and started worshipping Baal. Ahab built an altar and temple for Baal in Samaria and set up a sacred pole for worshipping the goddess Asherah. Ahab did more to make the Lord God of Israel angry than any other king of Israel before him’. (1 Kings 16 v30-33).
The prophet Elijah is introduced at the start of the next chapter, with Elijah announcing “I am a servant of the living lord, the God of Israel.” (1 Kings 17 v1). Elijah goes on to declare a drought which lasts for three years and causes a widespread famine. The story of Elijah’s famous fire-lighting contest with the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel is told in Chapter 18. God’s power is demonstrated and the defeated prophets of Baal are rounded up and killed by Elijah.
Chapter 19 opens with: Ahab told his wife Jezebel what Elijah had done and that he had killed the prophets. She sent a message to Elijah “You killed my prophets. Now I am going to kill you!
Elijah was afraid when he got her message and ran…. (south into the desert) (1 Kings 19 v1, 3).
So, in today’s reading we find an exhausted Elijah. He doubts whether God’s victory over the prophets of Baal has really achieved anything, apart from provoking the wrath of Jezebel, and he fears for his life. Elijah exclaims to God “I’ve had enough. Just let me die!” (19 v4b.) Then he lay down in the shade and fell asleep. (v5a).
God sends an angel to wake him up and encourages Elijah to ‘see’ that God is still with him, still providing for his needs, just as he did before at Cherith Brook (17 v5,6). God wants Elijah to carry on as his chosen prophet.
As the title of our hymn book suggests, expressions of faith can be found within.
In the words of hymn No 629, Colin Ferguson reminds us of who we can turn to when we are faced with fear, despair and doubt.
God of my faith, I offer you my doubt,
for life at times seems far too dark for me,
and my belief becomes more insecure,
when worldly cares produce uncertainty.
God of my hope, I offer you my fear,
when I am scared by my anxiety,
when all I hear is suffering and woe,
in all my shadows you will walk with me.
God of my joy, I offer you my grief,
when I sink down in sadness or despair
when in depression I cannot be touched,
I pray in all my depths to find you there.
God of my love, I offer you my pain,
when I’m alone and feel nobody cares,
in aching age or in rejected youth,
you bear my cross and dry my human tears.
God of my life, I offer you my dreams,
light in the darkness where I hide from view,
light in my faith, my hope, my joy and love,
light in my life and all my life in you.
The Psalmist says:
Discover for yourself that the Lord is kind. Come to him for protection and you will be glad.
(Psalm 34 v8).
Bible quotations are taken from the Contemporary English Version.