Out of the dark; into the light
Commentary
Object:
Our story from 1 Kings relates what happened immediately after Elijah had his famous showdown with prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. The narrative begins in chapter 18 where the legendary prophet proved the power of Yahweh and exposed Baal as a fraud. It moves to chapter 19 where the victorious prophet is hiding in a far away cave on Mount Horeb. The good news is that God came to Elijah in his self-imposed imprisonment in the cave and re-empowered him for ministry and service.
We read in our epistolary lesson that before Christ came humankind was living in a different kind of imprisonment. "We were imprisoned and guarded under the law" (Galatians 3:23b). We were delivered from this imprisonment when Jesus rose from the dead and exited his tomb (cave) in Jerusalem.
Our gospel text relates the story of the Gerasene Demoniac. Here we have a man who lived among the tombs (caves) in the land of the Gerasenes "opposite Galilee." God comes once again to meet the man at his point of need. His needs were very different from those of the prophet Elijah. Whatever our needs are God will come. God is willing to meet us in the darkness and deliver us into the light. He comes in different ways and uses different people. He doesn't force himself into our lives. But he is always willing to come.
1 Kings 19:1-4 (5-7) 8-15a
In the previous chapter Elijah had just won an enormous victory over the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. It would appear that God's intervention had been so miraculous and the triumph so conclusive that Elijah would have lived happily ever after. However, King Ahab and Queen Jezebel were not pleased with the outcome of the contest. No doubt, the prophets of Baal served as legitimizers for the crown. The king and queen recognized that Elijah's actions were a threat to their rule and Jezebel went to work immediately to do something about it.
Our Old Testament lesson begins with Ahab reporting to Jezebel all that Elijah had done on Mount Carmel. While Ahab seemed to feel defeated, Jezebel was in no mood for surrender. She immediately sent word to Elijah that she would have him killed by the next day at the same time.
One might assume that since God had just intervened on Elijah's behalf in such a miraculous way that the prophet would not have been afraid of one woman. After all, he had just stood up to 450 prophets of Baal and untold numbers of other men who could have killed him. We are told that he was afraid and fled for his life.
Sometimes we are the most vulnerable spiritually when we think things are going well in our lives. Many of the spiritual giants through the ages have warned of this danger. The moment we think we have arrived on some spiritual mountaintop we have probably already fallen prey to spiritual attack by dark forces.
Ahab and Jezebel appear only in the first two verses of chapter 19. But the queen's threat set into motion a series of events in the life of the prophet that reveals his humanness as well as his faith and courage. Elijah hastily fled Israel and traveled to Beersheba in Judah in order to get outside the jurisdiction of Ahab and Jezebel.
Beersheba was the southern most city in the territory given to the Israelites by God. The "Holy Land" was sometimes described in the Bible as the area "from Dan (in the north) to Beersheba (in the South)." Here the prophet is safe from Ahab and Jezebel. He left his servant in Beersheba and went alone another day's journey out into the hot and dry wilderness. Sitting under a tree he began to feel so sorry for himself that he asked God to take away his life. This great man of God had lost sight of the divine work going on in his life. Even great prophets can forget that it's all about God and not about them!
Elijah must have arrived in the wilderness exhausted. He had spent a great deal of energy on the contest with the prophets of Baal. He had just completed a long and arduous journey. The anxiety from Jezebel's threat must also have taken a lot out of the prophet. He was tired, discouraged, and dispirited. In the two previous chapters he was a larger than life hero of the faith. He was a man of miracles even raising the dead and calling down fire from heaven. Now the prophet is panic-stricken and suicidal. From triumph to defeat, from the mountaintop to the wilderness, and feeling completely over whelmed the weary prophet finally fell asleep in the wilderness.
An angel came and instructed Elijah to eat in preparation for a long journey. He then traveled forty days to Mount Horeb. This mountain, according to Deuteronomy was the mountain on which God gave Moses the Ten Commandments. The actual location of this mountain is not known. Upon arrival here he spent the night in a cave. The text indicates that "the word of the Lord" came to the prophet asking, "What are you doing here?" Elijah responded with a litany of self-righteous self-pity.
The "word of the Lord instructed Elijah to go outside and wait for the Lord to pass by -- verses 11-18 are popular verses for the preacher. Most Christians will be familiar with the story. God was not in the great wind nor in the earthquake nor in the fire. The Lord came in the "sound of sheer silence" (NRSV, "gentle whisper"; NIV, "still small voice" KJV).
God does not always come in the way we expect. Sometimes he comes in the fire or the rainstorm or the drought. We may even experience God in the aftermath of a storm like Hurricane Katrina as I have personally experienced. Sometimes he comes in the still small voice of a quiet friend.
As I was sitting in my office writing this page on a Saturday morning the church phone rang. On the other end of the line was a young woman who had been visiting our church. In tears she asked if she could come to see me. In a few minutes she and her husband entered my office and began to tell me their story. She had had three miscarriages in the last year or so. She was nineteen weeks pregnant and the doctor had just informed her that the baby's heart was beating at only half the normal rate. In tears she expressed her feelings that God had once again let her down.
I shared with them my own story of losing my daughter who had been murdered by her fiancé. I wish God had saved my daughter. He did not. But he was with me through that experience and delivered me from anger. He comforted me in the midst of my almost unbearable pain. Just as God came to Elijah in the wilderness God came to me in the midst of my wilderness experience. He spoke to me in the midst of my fire and through the still small voices of friends and family. I assured this couple that God would not forsake them.
I also told this couple that, if they would allow us, there would be those in our church who would come along beside them in their wilderness journey in the name of Jesus Christ. Sometimes God comes through his people. The church is the body of Christ and we are often called to "embody" the presence of God, especially for those who may need God's presence in their lives.
Galatians 3:23-29
Paul has in mind here the role that the law given to Moses has played in the lives of God's people. The law serves as a schoolmaster (KJV, "tutor"; NASV, "disciplinarian"; NRSV, "custodian" RSV). This word, paidagogos, was used by the Greeks for a trusted slave who cared for a child and made sure the young one acted appropriately and was properly trained and educated. The job of this "custodian" included accompanying the student to school and making sure they arrived home safely. Paul is suggesting that once a person has come to Christ they can put away childish things (1 Corinthians 13:11). They no longer need the law to serve as a guardian.
Paul is proposing the idea that we are in a new eschatological age. He surely does not mean, however, that there is now no need for the law. Jesus clearly stated in his Sermon on the Mount, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:17-19).
Paul suggests the law serves as a prod, revealing humankind's inability to keep the law completely. It reveals the specific composition of sin and exposes our corrupt nature. It cannot save us but helps us realize our need for salvation. It also serves as a paidagogos -- a custodian who connects us with the teacher and -- a disciplinarian who corrects us as needed.
Perhaps few of Paul's words are more famous than "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." We may not be equal under the law, but we are equal in Christ Jesus. The ground is level at the foot of the cross. Paul would have been very familiar with prayer prayed every day by many Jews: "Blessed art thou, O God, for not making me a Gentile, slave, or a woman." Here Paul turns this upside down as he moves from law to grace.
Luke 8:26-39
The text tells us this story takes place across the lake from Galilee. This would have been in Transjordan, likely in what is today the disputed territory of Syria known as the Golan Heights. In the previous verses of this chapter we have seen Jesus demonstrate power over the forces of nature. Here he demonstrates power over evil spirits. As members of the scientific age some might suggest that Luke has already revealed Jesus' power over physical illness; here he demonstrates his power to heal mental illness.
Imagine for a moment the plight of this man. He lived naked among the tombs. He apparently had no friends or any family that would claim him or give him any assistance. The townspeople were so afraid of him they had tried to keep him locked up. But like a wild man, he always managed to break his bonds and go back into the "solitary places" (NIV; "the wilds" NRSV). He must have been a very lonely, defeated, dispirited man with no hope for things ever getting better. But, just like we read in the story of Elijah, God came!
This time it was Jesus who came, not an "angel of the Lord." We don't know if Jesus crossed the lake and came to this place only to rescue this man but immediately after this event Jesus "got into the boat and returned" (v. 37). Also, it seems that he came straight to this man and immediately commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man, even before he had met him. At any rate, Jesus had compassion on this man and met him at his point of need.
Isn't it amazing that when the townspeople came out and saw the demon-possessed man "clothed and in his right mind" that they became afraid? They wanted to part of Jesus and his miracles. They apparently saw this stranger as an even bigger threat than the demon-possessed man.
Application
We are told in our gospel lesson that when the people of the town "came out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man ... And they were afraid." Fear is probably the number one reason for our failures as Christian disciples. I know without a doubt that this is true in my own life.
Imagine this scene. My life is over and I'm standing before God and the dialogue goes something like this:
"Hello, Gary. How are you?"
"Fine, I suppose, this being dead business is all new to me."
"I suppose you would like for me to let you in to heaven?"
"Yes. Yes. I think I would like that."
"So, Gary, tell my why I should let you in?"
"Well, God. I believe in Jesus. I've been a pretty good person. Don't you think?"
"Okay, since you mention it, when you worked for those big corporations why did you go along with those questionable business practices?"
"I guess I was afraid I'd lose my job."
"Why weren't you more generous with the material resources that I gave you?"
"I was afraid an emergency might come along and I might need it when I retired."
"Why didn't you share your faith with others and help them cope with the problems I their lives?"
"I was afraid that they might think I was sticking my nose in their business."
"Well, Gary, I think you spent far too much of your life being afraid."
Fear is the opposite of love. It keeps us from being able to love fully. Fear locks us up. It keeps us defensive and protective. It encourages us to build walls around our selves. It destroys marriages and damages friendships. It robs the serenity of a peaceful heart.
Alternative Application
1 Kings 19:1-4 (5-7) 8-15a. There are a number of important lessons found in this pericope. Older pastors can testify to how easy it is to burn out when you seriously commit yourself to ministry. This is especially true if you rely on your own power and emotional energy. Many of the saints of old warned that it is when we are on the mountaintop that we are the most vulnerable. "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall" (Proverbs 16:18).
This story is about a prophet who wants to quit. He is ready to give up the fight and turn in his commission. He feels alone and helpless. His victory on Mount Carmel is not enough. He is tired and weak. Many pastors and other faithful disciples of Jesus Christ can easily identify. But God came. He came as he always does in one way or another when we reach out and call on his name.
Preaching the Psalm
Psalm 42 and 43
These two psalms paint an intense portrait of one who is beset and challenged. Enemies approach from every side and oppression haunts every breath. Yet the "disquieted soul" that sees not the vindication of God insists, incredibly, on continuing to trust in God.
The cynic, of course, would chortle and laugh at someone who continued to have faith in a God was wasn't showing up when (he) was needed. And let us be candid. At moments like these, there's a piece of us that wants to stand with those cynics. Everyone knows it's much easier to succumb to cynicism than it is to trust in times of trial. All we need do is look around us to find proof of this. Cynicism has never been more in fashion. Everywhere we turn we hear the veiled sneer or see the roll of the eyes when someone is naïve enough to actually participate in the act of trusting.
All this leads, of course, to some serious thinking about the true nature of trust. When the electric light is on and the house is bright with light we all trust in electricity. But in the storm when the power is knocked out by a falling tree and the house falls into darkness, it's a different matter. That's when we start complaining about the power company. That when we start wondering about the guy who did electrical work. Very quickly our trust dissolves into criticism and blaming. How easily our trust is shaken. But real trust doesn't work like this. Real trust hangs around when the going gets tough. Real trust continues even when the evidence suggests that maybe that trust is misplaced.
This is the kind of trust that people of faith seek to have in God and in one another. It's interesting to note that in the Christian scriptures the Greek word that we translate into the English word "believe," is pistus, which means literally to "trust."
At the core of our identity as a people of faith lies this issue of trust. We insist on trusting in a God that the rest of the world finds laughable. We persist in leaning into this God even when evidence suggests that (he) may have taken a powder and left us holding the bag. Still, we trust. And our trust is vindicated by the redemption we find in this wonderful God of justice, this powerful God of grace.
We read in our epistolary lesson that before Christ came humankind was living in a different kind of imprisonment. "We were imprisoned and guarded under the law" (Galatians 3:23b). We were delivered from this imprisonment when Jesus rose from the dead and exited his tomb (cave) in Jerusalem.
Our gospel text relates the story of the Gerasene Demoniac. Here we have a man who lived among the tombs (caves) in the land of the Gerasenes "opposite Galilee." God comes once again to meet the man at his point of need. His needs were very different from those of the prophet Elijah. Whatever our needs are God will come. God is willing to meet us in the darkness and deliver us into the light. He comes in different ways and uses different people. He doesn't force himself into our lives. But he is always willing to come.
1 Kings 19:1-4 (5-7) 8-15a
In the previous chapter Elijah had just won an enormous victory over the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. It would appear that God's intervention had been so miraculous and the triumph so conclusive that Elijah would have lived happily ever after. However, King Ahab and Queen Jezebel were not pleased with the outcome of the contest. No doubt, the prophets of Baal served as legitimizers for the crown. The king and queen recognized that Elijah's actions were a threat to their rule and Jezebel went to work immediately to do something about it.
Our Old Testament lesson begins with Ahab reporting to Jezebel all that Elijah had done on Mount Carmel. While Ahab seemed to feel defeated, Jezebel was in no mood for surrender. She immediately sent word to Elijah that she would have him killed by the next day at the same time.
One might assume that since God had just intervened on Elijah's behalf in such a miraculous way that the prophet would not have been afraid of one woman. After all, he had just stood up to 450 prophets of Baal and untold numbers of other men who could have killed him. We are told that he was afraid and fled for his life.
Sometimes we are the most vulnerable spiritually when we think things are going well in our lives. Many of the spiritual giants through the ages have warned of this danger. The moment we think we have arrived on some spiritual mountaintop we have probably already fallen prey to spiritual attack by dark forces.
Ahab and Jezebel appear only in the first two verses of chapter 19. But the queen's threat set into motion a series of events in the life of the prophet that reveals his humanness as well as his faith and courage. Elijah hastily fled Israel and traveled to Beersheba in Judah in order to get outside the jurisdiction of Ahab and Jezebel.
Beersheba was the southern most city in the territory given to the Israelites by God. The "Holy Land" was sometimes described in the Bible as the area "from Dan (in the north) to Beersheba (in the South)." Here the prophet is safe from Ahab and Jezebel. He left his servant in Beersheba and went alone another day's journey out into the hot and dry wilderness. Sitting under a tree he began to feel so sorry for himself that he asked God to take away his life. This great man of God had lost sight of the divine work going on in his life. Even great prophets can forget that it's all about God and not about them!
Elijah must have arrived in the wilderness exhausted. He had spent a great deal of energy on the contest with the prophets of Baal. He had just completed a long and arduous journey. The anxiety from Jezebel's threat must also have taken a lot out of the prophet. He was tired, discouraged, and dispirited. In the two previous chapters he was a larger than life hero of the faith. He was a man of miracles even raising the dead and calling down fire from heaven. Now the prophet is panic-stricken and suicidal. From triumph to defeat, from the mountaintop to the wilderness, and feeling completely over whelmed the weary prophet finally fell asleep in the wilderness.
An angel came and instructed Elijah to eat in preparation for a long journey. He then traveled forty days to Mount Horeb. This mountain, according to Deuteronomy was the mountain on which God gave Moses the Ten Commandments. The actual location of this mountain is not known. Upon arrival here he spent the night in a cave. The text indicates that "the word of the Lord" came to the prophet asking, "What are you doing here?" Elijah responded with a litany of self-righteous self-pity.
The "word of the Lord instructed Elijah to go outside and wait for the Lord to pass by -- verses 11-18 are popular verses for the preacher. Most Christians will be familiar with the story. God was not in the great wind nor in the earthquake nor in the fire. The Lord came in the "sound of sheer silence" (NRSV, "gentle whisper"; NIV, "still small voice" KJV).
God does not always come in the way we expect. Sometimes he comes in the fire or the rainstorm or the drought. We may even experience God in the aftermath of a storm like Hurricane Katrina as I have personally experienced. Sometimes he comes in the still small voice of a quiet friend.
As I was sitting in my office writing this page on a Saturday morning the church phone rang. On the other end of the line was a young woman who had been visiting our church. In tears she asked if she could come to see me. In a few minutes she and her husband entered my office and began to tell me their story. She had had three miscarriages in the last year or so. She was nineteen weeks pregnant and the doctor had just informed her that the baby's heart was beating at only half the normal rate. In tears she expressed her feelings that God had once again let her down.
I shared with them my own story of losing my daughter who had been murdered by her fiancé. I wish God had saved my daughter. He did not. But he was with me through that experience and delivered me from anger. He comforted me in the midst of my almost unbearable pain. Just as God came to Elijah in the wilderness God came to me in the midst of my wilderness experience. He spoke to me in the midst of my fire and through the still small voices of friends and family. I assured this couple that God would not forsake them.
I also told this couple that, if they would allow us, there would be those in our church who would come along beside them in their wilderness journey in the name of Jesus Christ. Sometimes God comes through his people. The church is the body of Christ and we are often called to "embody" the presence of God, especially for those who may need God's presence in their lives.
Galatians 3:23-29
Paul has in mind here the role that the law given to Moses has played in the lives of God's people. The law serves as a schoolmaster (KJV, "tutor"; NASV, "disciplinarian"; NRSV, "custodian" RSV). This word, paidagogos, was used by the Greeks for a trusted slave who cared for a child and made sure the young one acted appropriately and was properly trained and educated. The job of this "custodian" included accompanying the student to school and making sure they arrived home safely. Paul is suggesting that once a person has come to Christ they can put away childish things (1 Corinthians 13:11). They no longer need the law to serve as a guardian.
Paul is proposing the idea that we are in a new eschatological age. He surely does not mean, however, that there is now no need for the law. Jesus clearly stated in his Sermon on the Mount, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:17-19).
Paul suggests the law serves as a prod, revealing humankind's inability to keep the law completely. It reveals the specific composition of sin and exposes our corrupt nature. It cannot save us but helps us realize our need for salvation. It also serves as a paidagogos -- a custodian who connects us with the teacher and -- a disciplinarian who corrects us as needed.
Perhaps few of Paul's words are more famous than "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." We may not be equal under the law, but we are equal in Christ Jesus. The ground is level at the foot of the cross. Paul would have been very familiar with prayer prayed every day by many Jews: "Blessed art thou, O God, for not making me a Gentile, slave, or a woman." Here Paul turns this upside down as he moves from law to grace.
Luke 8:26-39
The text tells us this story takes place across the lake from Galilee. This would have been in Transjordan, likely in what is today the disputed territory of Syria known as the Golan Heights. In the previous verses of this chapter we have seen Jesus demonstrate power over the forces of nature. Here he demonstrates power over evil spirits. As members of the scientific age some might suggest that Luke has already revealed Jesus' power over physical illness; here he demonstrates his power to heal mental illness.
Imagine for a moment the plight of this man. He lived naked among the tombs. He apparently had no friends or any family that would claim him or give him any assistance. The townspeople were so afraid of him they had tried to keep him locked up. But like a wild man, he always managed to break his bonds and go back into the "solitary places" (NIV; "the wilds" NRSV). He must have been a very lonely, defeated, dispirited man with no hope for things ever getting better. But, just like we read in the story of Elijah, God came!
This time it was Jesus who came, not an "angel of the Lord." We don't know if Jesus crossed the lake and came to this place only to rescue this man but immediately after this event Jesus "got into the boat and returned" (v. 37). Also, it seems that he came straight to this man and immediately commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man, even before he had met him. At any rate, Jesus had compassion on this man and met him at his point of need.
Isn't it amazing that when the townspeople came out and saw the demon-possessed man "clothed and in his right mind" that they became afraid? They wanted to part of Jesus and his miracles. They apparently saw this stranger as an even bigger threat than the demon-possessed man.
Application
We are told in our gospel lesson that when the people of the town "came out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man ... And they were afraid." Fear is probably the number one reason for our failures as Christian disciples. I know without a doubt that this is true in my own life.
Imagine this scene. My life is over and I'm standing before God and the dialogue goes something like this:
"Hello, Gary. How are you?"
"Fine, I suppose, this being dead business is all new to me."
"I suppose you would like for me to let you in to heaven?"
"Yes. Yes. I think I would like that."
"So, Gary, tell my why I should let you in?"
"Well, God. I believe in Jesus. I've been a pretty good person. Don't you think?"
"Okay, since you mention it, when you worked for those big corporations why did you go along with those questionable business practices?"
"I guess I was afraid I'd lose my job."
"Why weren't you more generous with the material resources that I gave you?"
"I was afraid an emergency might come along and I might need it when I retired."
"Why didn't you share your faith with others and help them cope with the problems I their lives?"
"I was afraid that they might think I was sticking my nose in their business."
"Well, Gary, I think you spent far too much of your life being afraid."
Fear is the opposite of love. It keeps us from being able to love fully. Fear locks us up. It keeps us defensive and protective. It encourages us to build walls around our selves. It destroys marriages and damages friendships. It robs the serenity of a peaceful heart.
Alternative Application
1 Kings 19:1-4 (5-7) 8-15a. There are a number of important lessons found in this pericope. Older pastors can testify to how easy it is to burn out when you seriously commit yourself to ministry. This is especially true if you rely on your own power and emotional energy. Many of the saints of old warned that it is when we are on the mountaintop that we are the most vulnerable. "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall" (Proverbs 16:18).
This story is about a prophet who wants to quit. He is ready to give up the fight and turn in his commission. He feels alone and helpless. His victory on Mount Carmel is not enough. He is tired and weak. Many pastors and other faithful disciples of Jesus Christ can easily identify. But God came. He came as he always does in one way or another when we reach out and call on his name.
Preaching the Psalm
Psalm 42 and 43
These two psalms paint an intense portrait of one who is beset and challenged. Enemies approach from every side and oppression haunts every breath. Yet the "disquieted soul" that sees not the vindication of God insists, incredibly, on continuing to trust in God.
The cynic, of course, would chortle and laugh at someone who continued to have faith in a God was wasn't showing up when (he) was needed. And let us be candid. At moments like these, there's a piece of us that wants to stand with those cynics. Everyone knows it's much easier to succumb to cynicism than it is to trust in times of trial. All we need do is look around us to find proof of this. Cynicism has never been more in fashion. Everywhere we turn we hear the veiled sneer or see the roll of the eyes when someone is naïve enough to actually participate in the act of trusting.
All this leads, of course, to some serious thinking about the true nature of trust. When the electric light is on and the house is bright with light we all trust in electricity. But in the storm when the power is knocked out by a falling tree and the house falls into darkness, it's a different matter. That's when we start complaining about the power company. That when we start wondering about the guy who did electrical work. Very quickly our trust dissolves into criticism and blaming. How easily our trust is shaken. But real trust doesn't work like this. Real trust hangs around when the going gets tough. Real trust continues even when the evidence suggests that maybe that trust is misplaced.
This is the kind of trust that people of faith seek to have in God and in one another. It's interesting to note that in the Christian scriptures the Greek word that we translate into the English word "believe," is pistus, which means literally to "trust."
At the core of our identity as a people of faith lies this issue of trust. We insist on trusting in a God that the rest of the world finds laughable. We persist in leaning into this God even when evidence suggests that (he) may have taken a powder and left us holding the bag. Still, we trust. And our trust is vindicated by the redemption we find in this wonderful God of justice, this powerful God of grace.
