1 Kings 19:9-18
Romans 10:5-15
Matthew 14:22-33

Our three readings this morning have a common theme. The theme is staying faithful through the storm. Since it’s hot and the church doesn’t have A/C, we’ll get right to the point with each of the three stories. We’ll begin with our Old Testament reading from 1st Kings.

The Old Testament reading involves a few characters: a prophet (which was like a pastor, theologian, and community leader in those days) named Elijah; a woman named Jezebel, who was the Queen and married to Israel’s (the people of God) King; God; and the people of Israel. The story of Elijah, Jezebel, and Ahab is like a political soap opera. It’s a good read if you want to read it this week – the whole story begins in 1st Kings 16. 

The basic summary of the story is that Ahab is a wicked king, one of the worst that the people of God had, and his wife, Jezebel, is an even worse queen. Their main sin is that they lead the people into idolatry. Idolatry is one of the most serious sins in Scripture. The basic definition of idolatry is this: idolatry is worshipping something or someone that is not God Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

The caricature of idolatry is the Israelites bowing down and worshipping a statue of a golden calf in Exodus or ancient civilizations worshipping pictures of gods, flags, or poles with religious markings, or animals. That’s idolatry, for sure. But idolatry rears its ugly head in many ways: serving money and profits above everything else; seeing a political leader as a savior and someone who can do no wrong as if they were your god; your version of a perfect family; or wanting a place to only include the kind of people you want included. Idolatry is taking any created thing and giving it ultimate meaning and ultimate power in the place of God. St. Paul defines idolatry like this in Romans: They chose a lie instead of the truth about God. They worshiped and served created things. They didn’t worship the Creator.” (Romans 1:25)

Jezebel and Ahab used their power as King and Queen, not for good, but for evil. They led the people of Israel to worship a deity [god] named Baal. And Elijah, who was a prophet of the Lord (one of the good guys) stood up to them. And this made Jezebel in particular, very angry. Why? Because Elijah’s insistence that the people worship God Almighty alone and not these idols threatened them. Try taking something away that people have made into an idol. What happens? They go crazy.

That’s what happened to Jezebel. She went crazy when she found Elijah opposing her idols and leadership. So much so that she put a bounty on his head and ordered him killed. That is where our Scripture reading picks up this morning. Elijah is on the run. Very few people agree with him. Most of his supporters have been killed by Ahab and Jezebel. And Elijah is ready to give up. He cries out to God in desperation, “Lord God who rules over all, I’ve been very committed to you. The Israelites have turned their backs on your covenant. They have torn down your altars. They’ve put your prophets to death with their swords. I’m the only one left. And they are trying to kill me.”

Elijah is on the edge of giving up. How will he stay faithful through the storm? The Lord’s answer to Elijah is to get up, pay attention, and then get back to work. In a very mystical and mysterious part of the Bible, what happens next is that the Lord passes by (which is the way the Bible describes the Lord’s presence coming in a very unique and powerful way). The wind picks up and howls, splitting the rocks. But the Lord is not in the wind, the Scripture says. There was an earthquake on the mountain where Elijah was. But the Lord was not in the earthquake. There was fire on the mountain. But the Lord wasn’t in the fire. And then a sound of sheer silence.

Whatever that sound of sheer silence was like, Elijah knew he was in the presence of the Lord God Almighty in a powerful and special way. He covered his face with his coat (remember, no one can see God face to face because God is that holy). The Lord, who is in the sound of sheer silence speaks next, “Elijah, what are you doing here?” Elijah gives God the story again. And God’s answer is not sympathy, or permission to give up, or whining with Elijah how terrible these people are. It’s basically a ‘get back to work’ message. God says that Elijah should go and get new leaders for Israel, with the assumption that God will provide the leaders it needs.

How do you remain faithful and obey God through the storms of life? There is no really spiritual secret answer other than you just have to do it. You have to go through the storm. The choice is either to obey God or not obey God. Both have consequences – one leads to life, even if that life is hard and difficult (the apostle Paul called these thorns in the flesh and God’s answer to his prayer for relief was ‘my grace is sufficient for you’). But not obeying God leads ultimately to death, whether spiritual or moral or physical death.

Our other Scripture this morning is the story of Jesus walking on water. Jesus and the disciples had just wrapped up teaching and feeding a large crowd (our miracle story from last week). After that, the disciples traveled by boat to the other side of the Sea of Galilee and Jesus retreated up the mountain for time alone to pray. 

A wind picked up on the Sea of Galilee (it’s a large lake) such that the disciple’s boat was rocking back and forth. When suddenly they see the Lord Jesus walking towards them on the water. They are terrified, they initially thought it was a ghost. But Jesus speaks to them and says, “Be brave, it is I; do not be afraid.”

The disciple Peter does his thing and sort of doubts, sort of questions Jesus.  “Lord, is it you?” Peter asked. “If it is, tell me to come to you on the water.”

“Come,” Jesus said.

So Peter gets out of the boat. He starts walking on the water toward Jesus. But when Peter saw the wind, he was afraid. He begins to sink. He cries out, “Lord! Save me!”

Right away Jesus reaches out his hand and catches him. “Your faith is so small!” he said. “Why did you doubt me?”

Then we are told that when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those in the boat worshiped Jesus. They said, “You really are the Son of God!”

Bravery and courage are important parts of the Christian life. But it isn’t just physical bravery and courage like running into danger that is needed. I think our readings this morning are mostly about spiritual and moral courage. Spiritual courage is about trusting in God even when the situation seems impossible and it would be easier to trust in someone or something else, and moral courage is about obeying God even when that obedience is costly and no one else seems to want to obey God and do what is right and just.

You may not think of yourself as a particularly brave or courageous person. I know I don’t think of myself that way. But the promise of the gospel is that God will supply our every need. The Lord’s supply of bravery and courage might look like an order to get back to work like he did with Elijah, sort of like God saying to you, ‘I hear you with your fears and problems, but it’s really time to get up, get over yourself, and get back to work. I never promised this whole being a Christian thing would be easy or carefree.” There is a lot of grace in that. Or the Lord’s supply of bravery and courage might look like Jesus reaching out to rescue Peter from sinking into the sea. There’s grace in that too.

Regardless, the promise of the gospel is that God helps us. We come to our final reading from Romans where we will close this morning. Paul is writing about how salvation, God’s rescue and help, is for everyone. He writes this:

Say with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord.” Believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead. Then you will be saved. With your heart you believe and are made right with God. With your mouth you say what you believe. And so you are saved. Scripture says, “The one who believes in him will never be put to shame.”  There is no difference between those who are Jews and those who are not. The same Lord is Lord of all. He richly blesses everyone who calls on him. Scripture says, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Amen.