25424 Aldine-Westfield, Spring, TX. 77373

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Leon in the Army in Korea

SYMPATHY:

To Ramon and Coco at the death of Ramon’s mother last Wednesday

To Ralph and Janet Royse, friends of the Mearns’, at the death of Janet’s dad this past week.

NOVEMBER BIRTHDAYS:

Philip Hale (1^st), Karey Hudson (3^rd), Doris Hale (5^th), Wilma Anderson (18^th)

"I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn 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" (1 Kings 19:10).

Elijah was having a very good week. He had challenged King Ahab with the message of God concerning idolatry and then challenged eight hundred and fifty prophets of Baal to call on their god and he would call on Yahweh. Elijah won and the prophets of Baal were destroyed. Next we see him bringing rain for the first time in three and a half years. One would think that he would be on top of the world. Then came a little message from Queen Jezebel. She said, "You are dead meat" (1). This took all the wind out of Elijah’s sails and he flees into the wilderness. There we find him under a bush saying, I have had enough, Lord. Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors" (1 Kings 19:4). He was having a pity party by himself. He only saw what he saw, the immediate, and did not consider anything else. Sometimes we get that way thinking we are the only ones going through something. "Woe is me."

An angel of the Lord taps a sleeping Elijah and tells him to get up and eat, which he does. After sleeping, he is told to eat again. Then he takes a long journey of forty days into the wilderness to God’s mountain, Mt. Horeb, or Sinai as we know it. Forty is often used in scripture as a time of struggle, especially in the wilderness. We see Noah and forty days and nights of rain (Genesis 7). Israel spent forty years in the wilderness. Elijah and Moses have something in common in that Moses spent forty days on Mt. Sinai, the one Elijah is headed for. Jesus spent forty days in the wilderness being tempted. We also see Jesus, Moses and Elijah on the mountain of transfiguration together (Matthew 17). Interestingly, they all have something in common here and in the wilderness alone.

We often see the wilderness as a difficult place, and it is. But we also see some other things in the wilderness as well. We see God’s grace toward and provision of His people. It is in the wilderness that we can reflect on God and His wisdom. "What are you doing here, Elijah" (vs. 9)? Elijah repeats his "woe is me" complaint. God then tells him to stand on the mountain because the Lord is about to pass by. Notice what happens. First there is a "great and powerful wind" that "tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind" (vs. 11). This was followed by an earthquake. Then came fire but no Lord. Finally there was a whisper, the voice of God, asking Elijah again what he was doing there, followed by the same answer. Why do this? "Elijah needed to blurt it out, to speak before his Master the puzzlement, the frustration, the shattering sense of failure that has followed so swiftly upon the heady sense of success" (2). John the baptizer had a similar experience; while in prison he sent some of his followers to Jesus to ask if Jesus was the one (Matthew 11:1-6) (3). Paul and his thorn in the flesh is another (2 Corinthians 12:1-10). Sometimes we need wilderness experiences to hear the word of the Lord where we can be humbled and reassured. "God’s purposes are going forward" (4).

As we examine all the Biblical references, we see in each character that God will accomplish his purposes even though there is sin in the camp (Moses), that someone wants them dead (Elijah and John), or that we need to keep our focus on God and not ourselves (Paul). What we see God not doing is saying things like "there, there, poor old you, been having a bit of a bad time?" or "you’re right; you’re a failure; you might indeed just as well die" (5). What does God say? Go and anoint two kings, one of the dreaded enemy of Aram. And on your way get Elisha and anoint him as a prophet. Then God says, "by the way, there are seven thousand in Israel who do not serve Baal" (vs. 18). No pity parties. No gloating over what has been done. There is work to be done. Was Elijah depressed? Yes. Did he have an over inflated ego? No doubt. Now in this humble and frightening meeting with God, both become manageable. Among the ideas that Elijah needed to realize, and there are a number, was that he was not alone. He had seven thousand fellow travelers.

George Reeves played Superman on television back in the 1950s (the dark ages to some of you). It was, and he was, very popular. He even appeared on an I Love Lucy episode. But he was not a happy man. A movie about the last years of his life just came out called Hollywoodland (6). George Reeves was found dead in his home with a gun shot to the head. While the police ruled it suicide, others have thought he was murdered. By the time of his death, he was a very disappointed and depressed man. As an actor, he wanted more. He wanted the respect and admiration of his peers and though he was well liked by numerous children, he did not want to be known as a children’s entertainer. Three of his co-stars give us some glimpse into his depression. Phyllis Coates, who played Lois Lane, was toasted by Reeves with "Here’s to the bottom of the barrel." Jack Larson, who played Jimmy Olsen, remembered him lamenting about "this monkey suit." Noel Neill, who played the second Lois Lane in the series, described him "as a quietly desperate man, spending his offstage hours alone with a bottle in his motel room" (7). Ben Affleck, who plays Reeves in the movie said that he was a very unhappy guy. Gary Robinson writes that Reeves was bound by a limited view, living in the here and now, and not looking beyond. Had he lived, he might have been pleased by the fan base of now adults who see him as the only Superman.

Reeves ended up in his wilderness alone with no one to lean on, no one to challenge him to a bigger goal. It reminds me of another Hollywood star, Greta Garbo, and her famous line, "I vant to be alone." She lived and died that way. We read, and maybe know, loners, those who do not "fit in" anywhere. Unfortunately they sometimes become destructive both to themselves and others. God’s people are not immune to this as we see in Elijah and the others.

What do we do today? Do we run to Mt. Sinai to encounter God? Do we sit alone in our pity parties waiting and hoping? What Elijah needed to realize, and what we need too as well, is that we are not alone. Elijah and Elisha became a team and there were seven thousand on their side. Jesus formed a group of twelve and send them and other disciples out two by two. Jesus Himself had three very close friends, James, John and Peter. Barnabas worked with Paul who in turned worked with a variety of people traveling throughout the Roman world. The one time Paul was alone, in Athens (Acts 17), we get a picture of Paul struggling somewhat at what he saw.

Today we are not alone. That is what the assembly is all about. Our Mt. Sinai today is the church. We come together in the face of our struggles to encourage each other. We are in a wilderness between slavery (sin) and the Promised Land (eternity). We are not alone in this wilderness; God is with us. It is here that we learn the disciplines of life, trust, faith, hope, and love. It is here that we can stand along side of others who understand what the wilderness is like and the pressures of life that come our way. It is here that we learn humility and courage. It is after we come together that we can go out and face the world once again. There will be victories and there will be defeats. It is often tempting to say that we are alone and no one cares, that few are committed like me and if I wasn’t here all would be lost. Woe is me. Yet when we come together we find that none of that is true. Elijah was working in the power of the Lord, and yet he was also doing it on his own. A letter from a wicked Queen shattered him. What did he expect? A letter of praise? Repentance? Maybe so. How the mighty have fallen. Elijah needed time to reflect. He needed someone who could put things in perspective. He need Mt. Sinai. And so do we.

Have you been to Mt. Sinai lately? We don’t harp on attendance and giving like many. That’s not our point. What we need to see, and sometimes it is the difficulties and disappointments of life that cause us to see, is our need for God and for those fellow travelers in the wilderness. God has given us Mt. Sinai, the church, to humble us and to cause us to stand together in the wilderness on our way to the promise land.

George B. Mearns

(1) That is a rather free translation - "May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them" [the prophets of Baal] (1 Kings 19:2). The Message puts it this way: The gods will get you for this and I’ll get even with you!"

(3) Interestingly, Jesus, in answer to the question about Elijah coming, states that it was John the baptizer; seeing yet another similar connection of characters.

(4) Wright, ibid.

(5) ibid.

(7) ibid.