Isolated: God in the Silence | May 10, 2020 Sermon

May 10, 2020 is the fourth and final week of our Isolated sermon series. This week, we’ll hear about a time when the prophet Elijah was overwhelmed. His life was falling apart, and he was trapped in despair, to the point of telling God he was ready to die.

But God isn’t done with him. God has not abandoned him. God tells him to eat (and even miraculously provides the food), then God comes and in a moment of sheer silence, Elijah recognizes God is truly present with him. Today’s text is 1 Kings 19:1-18.

Isolated: Meeting God When We Think We’re Alone

April 19 – “Peace in a Locked Room”

April 26 – “A Lonely Journey”

May 3 – “The Gospel Can’t Be Confined”

May 10 – “God in the Silence”

Here’s the worship service video:

Since Easter, we’ve been looking at stories of isolation in the Bible, times when people encountered God while feeling alone. We started with two stories from that first Easter Sunday, hearing about the disciples hiding in a locked room afraid for their lives, and Jesus coming and standing among them, speaking peace to them. 

Then we heard about two other disciples leaving town after Jesus’ death, and encountering the risen Jesus on the road, and how they recognized him in the breaking of the bread. 

Last week, we looked at the apostle Paul, writing letters of joy and encouragement from his prison cell, giving thanks that God was working through him despite his terrible circumstances. 

Today, we’re going back about 800 years to the story of the prophet Elijah. Elijah is one of those incredibly important prophets in the Old Testament whom we really don’t hear a whole lot about. 

At this time in Israel’s history, there’s been a whole string of bad kings who have led the nation away from the Lord. The current king is Ahab, and 1 Kings 16:30 says, and I quote, “Ahab son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord more than all who were before him.” His wife’s name is Jezebel, and she’s pretty awful too. 

During this time, God keeps sending prophets to speak against the evil of the kings and call the people to repent from their sin. And of course, evil kings don’t like pesky prophets calling them out. 

As a prophet, Elijah preaches against Ahab and Jezebel, but he does more than just preach. Ahab and Jezebel have been worshipping the idol Baal, and in 1 Kings 18, Elijah challenges the false prophets of Baal to a contest, sort of a pray-off. They’re going to pray and see whose god will answer their prayers by sending down fire to burn up a sacrifice, and when God sends down fire and wins the contest, Elijah and his followers kill hundreds of Baal’s prophets. Understandably, this causes Ahab and Jezebel some distress.

That’s where the first part of our reading today starts: 

Reading: 1 Kings 19:1-9

So in this first section, Elijah flees for his life from Ahab and Jezebel, and he goes off into the wilderness by himself, and he’s just overwhelmed. He’s tired. He’s exhausted. He tells God, “That’s it. I’m done. I’m ready to die.” And he lays down and falls asleep.

I don’t know if you’ve ever been tired enough to tell God you’re ready to die, but I think all of us have had times where we felt overwhelmed. I’ve had a few times during these first 8 weeks of pandemic where I’ll hear someone say this might last for months or even years, and it’s just overwhelming. 

But God’s not done with Elijah. Through an angel, God provides food, and Elijah eats it, and for a moment it looks like a good meal will do the trick…and then Elijah lies down again. So God gives him more food. God provides what he needs. Notice, by the way, that Elijah doesn’t ask for food. He might not even know what he needs, but God knows, and God provides. 




The second time he eats, it is enough, and he travels on the strength of that miraculous food for forty days and forty nights to a sacred place, the mountain of God. It’s called by a different name, Horeb, but most scholars think this is Mount Sinai, where God gave Moses the 10 commandments. It’s about the safest place possible for a prophet of the Lord. There’s a cave, and it’s the perfect hiding place for a tired out prophet.

Elijah gets there and again, he goes to sleep. Then the word of the Lord came to him, and this is one of my favorite moments in the Bible. God says to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 

What are you doing here? 

So, Elijah explains to God why he’s there. “God, I did my best for you, I was very zealous for you even though the rest of the Israelites abandoned you and killed the rest of your prophets, and it’s all fallen apart. I alone am left, and they’re hunting me, trying to kill me too.” 

Don’t you wonder what Elijah’s tone is here? I hear him as exasperated, frustrated with God, almost a bit like a petulant child. What do you mean, what am I doing here? It’s all your fault, God! 

And then, God answers. Here’s the second half of the reading, verses 10-18.

Reading: 1 Kings 19:10-18

What are you doing here, Elijah? 

I’ve done my best, and it’s all fallen apart, and it’s not my fault, and they’re going to kill me. 

God interrupts Elijah’s pity party to tell him to get up out of his cave and stand there, on the side of the mountain. I’m coming by. There’s wind, there’s an earthquake, there’s a fire, but God is not in any of those. 

The interesting part that I hadn’t noticed until now, is that Elijah doesn’t get up for any of that. He stays hiding in the shelter of the cave, maybe because he knows it’s not God yet, maybe out of fear, or maybe because he’s still ticked off at God.  

But then, after all the dramatic, terrifying things we expect to herald God’s appearance, there’s one more thing. Some translations call it a still, small voice, or a soft whisper. I actually really like how our NRSV translation puts it: “A sound of sheer silence.”

And that gets Elijah up. Again, the Lord asks, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 

Elijah answers with the exact same words, but something’s different this time. He has met God. He knows God will provide for him, whether he likes it or not. The pity party is over; he’s done hiding in a cave. This time he’s on his feet, ready to go. God has new instructions. It’s time to get back to work. 

Nothing has really changed; Ahab and Jezebel are still trying to kill him, but now he knows God is with him. He knows he’s not alone.

In this time where all of us are doing our best to stay at home, to stay isolated, not out of fear, but as the best way to love and care for our neighbors, may you know that you are not alone. May you know God’s presence with you.

In the moments when you wonder, “What am I doing here,” may you remember that God is present with you, and that you still have a calling to serve, even if that serving looks different than it ever has before. 

And in the times of silence, may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Amen