5th Sunday of Easter at Epiphany on April 20, 2008

1 Kings 18:16-45 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah. 17 When he saw Elijah, he said to him, "Is that you, you troubler of Israel ?" 18 "I have not made trouble for Israel ," Elijah replied. "But you and your father's family have. You have abandoned the LORD's commands and have followed the Baals. 19 Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel . And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table." 20 So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel . 21 Elijah went before the people and said, "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him." But the people said nothing. 22 Then Elijah said to them, "I am the only one of the LORD's prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets. 23 Get two bulls for us. Let them choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. 24 Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the LORD. The god who answers by fire-- he is God." Then all the people said, "What you say is good." 25 Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire." 26 So they took the bull given them and prepared it. Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon . "O Baal, answer us!" they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made. 27 At noon Elijah began to taunt them. "Shout louder!" he said. "Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened." 28 So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. 29 Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention. 30 Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come here to me." They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the LORD, which was in ruins. 31 Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD had come, saying, "Your name shall be Israel ." 32 With the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs of seed. 33 He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, "Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood." 34 "Do it again," he said, and they did it again. "Do it a third time," he ordered, and they did it the third time. 35 The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench. 36 At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: "O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. 37 Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again." 38 Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. 39 When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, "The LORD-- he is God! The LORD-- he is God!" 40 Then Elijah commanded them, "Seize the prophets of Baal. Don't let anyone get away!" They seized them, and Elijah had them brought down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered there. 41 And Elijah said to Ahab, "Go, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain." 42 So Ahab went off to eat and drink, but Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel , bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees. 43 "Go and look toward the sea," he told his servant. And he went up and looked. "There is nothing there," he said. Seven times Elijah said, "Go back." 44 The seventh time the servant reported, "A cloud as small as a man's hand is rising from the sea." So Elijah said, "Go and tell Ahab, 'Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.'" 45 Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rain came on and Ahab rode off to Jezreel.

Let it be known that God is God

Have you heard about the largest church in the world? It began on January 1, 2008 . It is on the XM Satellite Radio, TV, the Internet. Here are some quotations of what this “church” teaches. “There is no sin." “Heaven is not a location but refers to the inner realm of consciousness.” “A slain Christ has no meaning." "The journey to the cross should be the last useless journey." "Do not make the pathetic error of clinging to the old rugged cross."

Have you heard of this church, or maybe its leader? Years ago she denied that Jesus is the only way. She’s very popular. Probably one of the richest, most influential women in our world. It’s Oprah.

Oprah is promoting the same kind of New Age psychology and teaching that is so prevalent among the rich and famous. Christians with specific morals, beliefs, and doctrines are attacked and criticized, while, the eastern religions of Buddhism and Hinduism, the teachings of reincarnation and mediation are looked upon as being peaceful and beneficial. And if you combine different philosophies from each religion and make up your religion that feels right to you, then you must be truly enlightened. We are told on our newscasts that Islam is really a peaceful religion. Even political candidates fill their speeches with some kind of nebulous “hope” and “change” – New Age code words.

Don’t be surprised that so many are entranced by what the rich, famous, powerful, and charismatic are promoting. It hasn’t changed since Pastor Paul wrote to young Timothy: “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” (2 Tim 4:3-4)

It hasn’t changed much since the ninth century BC, when the prophet Elijah stood on Mt. Carmel . One day, Elijah said to the people, "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him." But the people said nothing.

How depressing! The people had the opportunity to let God be their God, but instead they chose to remain silent. Better to let the two gods duke it out to see who was the true god – Baal or the Lord.

So there would be a contest. The Lord, the mighty Creator of heaven and earth, and Baal, the bloodthirsty fertility god of the king, would each have an opportunity to show his power. 

Baal’s prophets built an altar and called on their god to send fire from heaven to burn up their bull sacrifice. They called from morning to noon , "Baal, answer us! O great and mighty Baal, send down fire from the sky.” But there was no response; no one answered. So they began dancing around their altar.

At noon Elijah began to taunt them. "Shout louder!" he said. "Surely he is a god! Maybe he’s deep in thought or busy or in the bathroom or on a business trip. Maybe he’s sleeping and you need to wake him up.” Perhaps he was, so Baal’s prophets shouted louder and even cut themselves to get Baal’s attention.

Quite a site – 450 Baal prophets shouting, dancing, and cutting until early evening. Still, there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention.

Next, it was Elijah's turn. He doesn’t dance. Doesn’t cut himself. Doesn’t shout. He doesn’t even ask for fire.  After drenching his sacrifice, he only asks that the Name of the Lord would be glorified and the people would be convinced He is the true God. "Let it be known today," Elijah said, "You are God!" When the fire fell from heaven and consumed the drenched sacrifice and the altar, the previously ambiguous people fell down and confessed, "The Lord, He is God! He is God!"

The prophet who had mocked the false prophets now supervised their execution.

Our present society seems to be very busy searching for religious or spiritual answers. Unfortunately, they are looking to mystics and channelers, Oprah and Dr. Phil, the Dahli Lama and the Pope for these answers.

I’m not calling for you to seize the false prophets. You don’t have to taunt them. I’m not even asking you to boycott. I am asking you to be aware. Don’t be taken in by these silver-tongued charlatans. Don’t be deceived.

Quit wavering between two opinions. There are many who wish to retain membership in their Christian congregation, but are in reality strangers in the house of God. Step forward. Dedicate yourselves, body and soul with your time and treasure, your praise and speech to the service of your Lord.

God is calling for you to get off the fence. Take a stand today either for God or against Him. In Revelation, Jesus condemns half-heartedness: “Because you are lukewarm – neither hot nor cold – I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” (Rev 3:16)

Stand up for your faith. Build your faith solidly upon the foundation of Christ. Proudly, boldly, unashamedly, point to Jesus as the only way to God. He is the way, the truth, and the life. Let it be known that God is God!

There are a lot of crafty, charismatic preachers and a host of bad theology that is popular today. Many people don’t know how to discern truth from error. There is only one way to do this. Read your Bible. Sit in these pews. Attend a Bible class. Ask questions. Mine the depths for the treasures in God’s Word. The Holy Spirit will lead you into truth and allow you to point out error.

Once you know the truth, Jesus says that the truth will set you free. Peter says since you have been called out of darkness, now you have the responsibility to call others away from their casual sins and warn them of the dangers of their stubborn unbelief.

Don’t turn a blind eye to your daughter who is living together with her fiancé. Don’t ignore the unscriptural divorce your brother is getting. Don’t excuse that gossip about a coworker. Don’t accept your friends who feel the need to get drunk every weekend. Don’t overlook the cheating on taxes, the lies, the foul language, the casual sex, the false ideas about God that flow freely in our culture, have infiltrated our homes, and have filtered into our own minds. If we allow these sins to continue without speaking up, then we are guilty, too! We cannot be like those indecisive people on Mt. Carmel unsure about what to do or say, so they did nothing.

About the year A.D. 400, the great Coliseum of Rome was often filled to overflowing with 80,000 spectators. Part of the sport consisted in watching as human beings battle with wild beasts or against one another until someone or something was killed. The crowds cheered when blood was spilled and death reigned. It was on one such day that a humble monk named Telemachus was at the gladiatorial games and was deeply disturbed by the utter disregard for the value of human life. He thought to himself, “Here we are, four centuries after Christ, in a civilized nation, and people are killing one another for the entertainment of the crowd. This isn’t Christian!”

Telemachus got up out of his seat, ran down the steps, climbed over the wall, walked out to the center of the amphitheater, and stood between two large gladiators. Putting his hands up, he cried out, "This thing is not right! In the name of Christ, stop!" Because he was interfering with their pleasure, the authorities gave the command for Telemachus to be run through with a sword. He died on the amphitheater floor.

He died, but in dying he kindled a flame in the hearts and consciences of thinking persons. History records that because of this within a few months the gladiatorial combats began to decline and not long after they passed from history altogether. Why? Because one man dared to speak out against what was wrong.

Telemachus changed the course of history. So can you. You are to call people to repentance, forgiveness, and salvation in Jesus Christ. In a world of "I'm OK-You're OK," saying, "Awake, the enemies of sin, death, and devil, are at your door. Repent, today is the day of your deliverance," is not going to make you popular. When some people hear that message, they will roll over and go back to sleep. Others will say, "It's my life, nobody is going to tell me what to do. I’ll believe what I want to believe." Some will want to run you through with the sword.

What people do and don't do; how they respond or don't respond is not your concern. Your responsibility is to continue to call the warning, to keep on pointing to the enemy; to keep sharing that deliverance and hope can be found in Jesus Christ. The message is all-important. The messenger is unimportant. If people are to be saved, the truth must be delivered; God's eternal, unending call to sleeping, sinful souls must be proclaimed as plainly and as powerfully as possible.

Loyalty to God's message is what allowed three men to bravely face a fiery furnace and allowed Daniel to be at peace in a lion's den. Preaching the message of the true God is what put Elijah on Mt. Carmel and John the Baptist in prison. Loyalty to God's Word and the salvation which comes only through faith in the crucified and risen Savior is what allowed Paul to continue on through storm, shipwreck, and stoning; tempest, trial, and thorns in the flesh. Knowing that he was nothing and the message was everything is what allowed Luther to stand fearlessly before a church which had forgotten that we are saved only by God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Knowing the messenger is nothing and God's message everything is what has sent God's faithful messengers across uncharted seas; down unexplored paths, into unknown places.

And today, God's warning still needs to be proclaimed proudly and fiercely by God's faithful. God's warning needs to be heard by those of you who find themselves continuously confronted by pains, problems and prejudice, sadness, sorrows and sickness, disgrace, distress, and depression. God's warning needs to be heard by all who have worries about health, family, and finances. Jesus proclaims, "I am your Answer, your Deliverer, your Hope. I am your Way, your Truth, and our Life. I am the One who has prepared a room for you in heaven. I am the One who has made you my chosen people, royal priests in my temple, and a baptized people who belong to God. Repent of your sin, be turned to Me, and believe. Believe and receive the forgiveness your heart so desperately longs for; receive the peace your soul so sincerely needs."

Proclaim that the wages of sin is death. But then reveal that there is also salvation. Announce that the birth of Jesus Christ is more than endless music being played in department stores to put you in a buying mood. The birth of Jesus Christ is God's Son come to earth to be one of us. True man so He might take our place; so He might understand our pains; so He might carry our sins. True God, so He might destroy those sins; so that He might resist those temptations; so that He might die for you and, in so doing, defeat death itself. Declare that Easter Sunday is more than a day filled with colored eggs and a sugar high from chocolate bunnies. It is the day that Jesus won the final victory over the enemies that would, even now, wish to occupy and enslave your heart.

We are often afraid to speak the truth and let it be known that God is God. Yet the apostle James reminds us, “My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins” (James 5:19).

We are too often silent because we don’t want to “judge.” We are all too aware of our own failings and don’t want to be hypocrites. We don’t want to risk a friendship or risk rejection. 

Speak up anyway. As long as your words of correction are drawn from God’s words and come from a loving heart, they can only heal, not destroy. Speak up. If people are saved because of you, they will have an eternity in heaven to get over their irritation.

In our classrooms, from this pulpit, from our pews, in your homes and in your lives – let it be known that God is God. Amen.