Nineteenth Ordinary Sunday, Year B
Theme: Remain Poor To Do God’s Will 貧窮行主旨
Something must have happened to the confident Elijah to make him flee for his life. When he emerged on stage to begin his prophetic career, he proclaimed a drought in this manner, “As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, during these years there shall be no dew or rain except at my word” (1 Kings 17:1). True to being a prophet, a spokesman for God, Elijah arrogantly passed on God’s message. He had had strong backup from God and was able to defy kings and soldiers. Elijah was able to raise the dead child of a Gentile widow (17:22). After proving to Israelites that Yahweh was the one true God on Mount Carmel, Elijah was able to outrun Ahab’s chariot before the long awaited downpour could them up in Jezreel which is some 34 km from Mount Carmel1(18:46). Therefore, it puzzles me why when queen Jezebel, who brought in the worship of Baal and those false prophets, threatened to kill him, “Elijah was afraid and fled for his life” (19:3a). What made Elijah feel that God no longer supported him so that he prayed to God for death, “Enough, LORD! Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors” (19:4b)? “My ancestors” might refer to King Saul who lost God’s favour and support and died an inglorious death (1 Samuel 31:9-10). Indeed, meeting God on Mount Horeb, Elijah’s ego must have further been shattered. He had always thought that “the Israelites have forsaken Your covenant. They have destroyed Your altars and murdered Your prophets by the sword. I alone remain” (1 Kings 19:10b, 14b). But the LORD corrected him after giving him his last missions, “Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him” (19:18). Perhaps after seeing the truth, Elijah regained his confidence and later even called fire down to consume 50 soldiers and their captain sent by king Ahaziah twice (2 Kings 1:10, 12)! But his manners were different. This transition from being over-confident to despair and back is worth meditating.
Wait! Had Elijah been too overzealous in executing the justice of God? Had God instructed him to kill all the Baal prophets? Look at King Ahab at a later time. God sent Elijah to announce His punishment on Ahab’s murder of Naboth and taking possession of Naboth’s vineyard, Ahab humbled himself and showed remorse (21:27). God suspended His punishment until after Ahab’s death. Unlike the Israelites who had a covenant with God, meaning it was justifiable for the Levites to follow Moses’ command to kill 3,000 worshippers of the Golden Calf (Exodus 32:28), those Baal prophets were brought in by queen Jezebel and had not entered into any meaningful relationship with Yahweh. Would God not want to give them an opportunity to repent and live (Ezekiel 18:32) like Ahab? Perhaps that night, God showed His displeasure of Elijah’s massacre and consequently, Elijah felt that he had lost favour and support from God. Though on the previous day he was able to outrun Ahab’s chariot, Elijah was afraid that he would not be able to outrun again Jezebel’s assassins and had to flee for his life.
After meeting God on Mount Horeb, Elijah had become a mild person and less imposing. When he made Elisha his successor, he went over to the ploughing Elisha and threw his cloak on him (19:19). When Elisha wanted to return home to kiss his parent good-bye, unlike Jesus (Luke 9:61-62), Elijah did not dissuade him. He did not insist but simply says, “What have I done to you?” (19:20). Later, when the two captains of king Ahaziah passed on the king’s command, saying “Man of God, the king commands you, ‘Come down’” (2 Kings 1:9, 11), Elijah replied, “If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men” (1:10, 12). Elijah did not force God to bring fire down from heaven to destroy the soldiers. Finally, he was able to acknowledge God’s supremacy. It was Yahweh who restored the breath of life of the dead child, withheld and showered rain, sent fire down to consume the altar and the soldiers. What can we learn from Elijah’s coaster roaster journey of life?
The second reading today is able to shed lights on how we should discharge our prophetic ministry received from our baptism. Paul says, “All bitterness, fury, anger, shouting and reviling must be removed from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ” (Ephesians 4:31-32). Was Elijah not an embodiment of these two verses, turning from a bitter, angry and arrogant man to a compassionate and forgiving prophet? Being Christians, we should go beyond what Elijah has achieved. Paul continues, “As beloved children of God, live in love, as Christ … as a sacrificial offering to God for a fragrant aroma” (5:1-2). To do God’s will, Christ obeyed and suffered a shameful death on the cross as a fragrant sacrificial offering. Thus, in discharging our prophetic ministry as God’s spokesmen to proclaim God’s love, we Christians should be prepared to suffer blasphemy, defeat, disappointment, rejection and ridicules etc. as a fragrant sacrifice to please God, instead of imposing our superior morality upon others, forcing them to be Good Samaritans. Our intentions are insufficient to justify our means!
Beloved brethren! We are our own greatest enemies and obstacles. Our ambitions, greed, jealousy, pride and vanity tend to push us to overdo God’s will while sloth and lust tend to pull our legs to aim at lower targets. Jesus has already told us how to accomplish God’s work, namely to believe in Him (John 6:29). The Jews demanded miracles from heaven. We do not. Yet, how difficult it is to believe in Jesus in modern societies! Besides overcoming the prevalent scientific superstition in modern times, we need to remove our ambitions, greed, jealousy, lust, pride, sloth and vanity as well. In short, we need to renounce ourselves and remain in poverty financially, emotionally, intellectually and spiritually in order to do the will of God authentically. Otherwise, we will be doing evil in God’s name.
God bless!
1https://www.distancesfrom.com/how-far-is-mt-carmel-Israel-from-Jezreel-Valley/HowFarHistory/5962533.aspx
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