Gospel: Matthew 14:22-33 Liturgy: 357 vs. 1,4

Text: I Kings 19:8b-13b,15-18 Psalm 73 [men / women]

The Twelfth Sunday After Pentecost (August 3, 2008) 1234

O. T. Lesson: I Kings 19:1-9 The Common Service: p. 15

Theme: That Gentle Whisper Prevails. 291

I. Even when God’s enemies appear to be victorious. quartet

II. Even when it seems that all have rejected God. Offering: 415 v.2

III. Even when our efforts appear to fail

Dear friends, who have heard that gentle whisper of the gospel,

It is amazing what a small sound can do. The faint “drip, drip, drip” of a faucet is able to keep a person awake for hours at night. A small voice echoing through the snow-covered mountains is capable of starting an avalanche. The small rattling of a snake is able to make a hiker jump and run faster than ever before. At Mt. Horeb, better known as Mt. Sinai, God’s faithful prophet Elijah heard a gentle whisper, a small sound, yet the most powerful force there is.

That gentle whisper is more powerful than all the destructive forces of nature; more powerful than that violent wind that tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks, for the Lord was not in the wind; more powerful than the earthquake, for the Lord was not in the earthquake; more powerful than the fire, for the Lord was not in the fire. But the Lord was in the gentle whisper, and that gentle whisper is the gospel, the still, enduring message of God’s undeserved love for sinners. The Lord’s greatest powers are not demonstrated in destruction, but in salvation; not in judgment, but in grace and mercy; not in law, but in gospel. It takes power to destroy, but it takes far greater power to save wretched sinners like us. What did Paul say in Romans 1:16? “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.” God demonstrates his most awesome power in the gentle whisper of the gospel. God made it clear to Elijah, and he tells us today: That Gentle Whisper Prevails.

Elijah needed to hear that gentle whisper, because he was experiencing some real difficulties. Elijah was a prophet of the Lord in the northern kingdom of Israel during the days of King Ahab, the most wicked king that Israel had. Perhaps the worst thing Ahab ever did was to marry Jezebel. She was a worshiper of Baal, a male fertility god of the Canaanites. As queen, Jezebel made it her main objective to get the people to forsake the Lord, and turn to Baal, and she was largely successful. She killed as many prophets of the Lord as she could, and was trying her best to kill Elijah too. Elijah zealously proclaimed God’s word, but it didn’t seem to do any good. Instead he witnessed the tragedy of the people of Israel turning from the Lord to worship Baal. All his efforts appeared to fail.

Elijah became very discouraged and depressed. We might say he needed a vacation. As we heard in our Old Testament Lesson, he went into the desert, sat down under a broom tree, and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord. Take my life.” Elijah was on the brink of despair. He got his vacation, but not exactly a restful, relaxing one–forty days wandering to Mt. Sinai. What he needed more than a vacation was to hear the gentle whisper of the gospel, to understand: That Gentle Whisper Prevails. Even when God’s enemies appear to be victorious. Even when it seems that all have rejected God. Even when all our efforts appear to fail.

The Lord’s enemies were strong in Israel; King Ahab, Jezebel, the prophets of Baal and their followers. Because of their wickedness, the Lord did not allow it to rain on the land for several years. Elijah announced this judgment of the Lord to Ahab and Jezebel. Then naturally he was forced to flee from them. He hid in the Ravine of Kerith, where he drank from the brook, and God ordered the ravens to bring him bread and meat twice a day. When the brook dried up, Elijah went and stayed with a widow of Zaraphath, outside the country of Israel. As long as the famine lasted her jar of flour was not used up, and her jug of oil did not run dry. Yes, the Lord graciously and miraculously sustained Elijah’s life, but Elijah had to stand by and watch, as God’s enemies did more and more damage, as they killed God’s prophets, and led his people away to Baal. God’s enemies appeared victorious on every side, and Elijah was tired of fighting what seemed to be a losing battle.

At Mt. Sinai he complained: “I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” The LORD said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.” “Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.”

Elijah would have liked to have seen judgment, and now. He would have liked to have seen that wind, that earthquake, and that fire go through the land of Israel and wipe out God’s enemies. But the Lord was not in the wind, the earthquake, or the fire. That’s not the way the Lord operates. He doesn’t simply lash out in anger and violence. Rather he is patient, long-suffering, and loving. The gentle whisper prevails. It was not God’s time to destroy those enemies. His mercy had determined their time of grace. But he did assure Elijah that if they continued to reject his mercy, they would be destroyed in due time. “Jehu (the future king of Israel) will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael (King of Aram).” Jehu did later put to death the family of Ahab. “And Elisha (Elijah’s successor) will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu.”

We, too, are plagued by enemies of God in our day. False preachers and teachers, ungodly instructors in our schools and universities, godless leaders and celebrities, who lead the public away from God. We may wonder why God doesn’t destroy them, and now! But the gentle whisper prevails, and we should be thankful that it does, because if God’s judgment prevailed, we wouldn’t be here either. But God’s enemies seem to have control, they seem to be victorious in many ways, and we Christians seem so small and helpless against them. What shall we do? Shall we take up arms against them? Shall we riot and march? No! Remember the gentle whisper. Proclaim the gospel, God’s love and forgiveness in Christ. That gospel prevails. It is more powerful than all of God’s enemies combined; and they are helpless against it. Within God’s grace, we Christians remain invulnerable. His enemies cannot take that gospel from us. The day will soon come when those enemies will be gone, but that gentle whisper will remain. Jesus promises, “Though heaven and earth pass away, my word will not pass away.”

But Ahab, Jezebel and the prophets of Baal weren’t Elijah’s only complaint. The condition of the rest of the people troubled him just as much. The Israelites, God’s chosen people, and now they had turned away from the Lord. “The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left.” It appeared to Elijah that all had rejected God. As Elijah wandered for those forty days in the wilderness, he must have been reminded of how the Israelites had once wandered through that same wilderness for forty years to the Promised Land. When Elijah arrived at Mt. Sinai, he had to have remembered that this was where God had spoken his commandments to the people, and made his covenant of grace with them. “I will be your God, and you will be my people.” But now Elijah tells God, “It’s not working anymore, God. The covenant has failed. The Israelites have rejected your covenant. I’m the only one left.”

The Lord’s answer to Elijah was the gentle whisper. Yes, the Lord’s covenant was still working, the gentle whisper of the gospel was still carrying out God’s will, because the Lord is in that gentle whisper. Through that gospel he works in people’s hearts, bringing them to faith, and keeping them in faith. The Lord assured Elijah, “No, you are not the only one left. I reserve seven thousand in Israel–all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and all whose mouths have not kissed him.” “The Lord knows them that are his.”

The Lord was impressing upon Elijah how important it was that he continue

to proclaim the gospel, because that is the all-powerful tool that the Lord uses to bring his grace and salvation to sinners. And how important it is that we proclaim that gentle whisper. Part of Elijah’s problem was that he didn’t see any results from his work, and we all look for results in the things we do. Elijah preached the gospel, but it didn’t seem to do any good. All his efforts seemed to fail.

In a contest with the prophets of Baal, Elijah had had his big chance to demonstrate once and for all that the Lord is God, and Baal is nothing. The prophets of Baal prepared a bull on an altar as an offering to their god. And Elijah prepared a bull on an altar as an offering to the Lord God. The rules were–no fire. Whichever God would send down fire and consume his offering, would be shown to be the true God. The prophets of Baal called to their god, they called louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears to get his attention, but nothing happened. Now it was Elijah’s turn. First he ordered that his offering be flooded with water. He prayed to the LORD God, and “the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.” It should have been a big victory for Elijah, but even this appeared to fail. When Jezebel found out, she was even more intent upon killing Elijah. This is when Elijah finally fled, went into the wilderness, and then to Sinai, and complained to God, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty, but all my zeal, and all my work appears to fail.”

Sometimes our efforts appear to fail also. We proclaim God’s Word,

looking for many results, but sometimes appear to make little or no progress. Our problem is the same as Elijah’s. We’re looking too much at our own efforts, and our own expectations, instead of trusting in the Lord, and letting him accomplish what he will through our work. The gentle whisper prevails. That gospel is powerful. The Lord is in it, working through it, and promises, “My word will not return unto me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. [Isaiah 55:11] The Lord wanted Elijah, and he wants us to simply continue to faithfully proclaim that gospel, and leave the results in his hands.

As Elijah heard the gentle whisper, he must have been reminded of the time when Moses had asked the Lord, “Show me your glory.” The Lord put Moses in a cleft in a rock on Mt. Sinai. It could have even been the very place Elijah now stood. And the Lord passed in front of Moses proclaiming, “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.” Now the Lord showed himself to Elijah in the gentle whisper, the same message. That gentle whisper prevailed over Elijah. He returned to Israel, and continued his work as prophet until the Lord took him to heaven with chariot and horses in a whirlwind.

It is somewhat encouraging to realize that even a great prophet like Elijah experienced the same doubts and discouragements that we often feel. That at least tells us that there is still hope for us also. But when we become discouraged, when we feel like we’re all alone serving the Lord, when it seems like a losing battle, and when all our work appears to fail, let us turn to that gentle whisper of the gospel, realize that it does prevail, and will prevail, and praise God that it has prevailed over us.

Amen.

May the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

“Old” Norwegian Synod

Statements and confessions adopted in the era of the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (1853-1917).

“Little” Norwegian Synod

Statements and confessions adopted before our synod took the name Evangelical Lutheran Synod (1918-1955).

Evangelical Lutheran Synod

Statements and confessions adopted since our name was changed to the Evangelical Lutheran Synod (1955-).