It’s Remembrance Day next Saturday… A day set aside to remember all men, women and children who have died and who continue to die as a result of war. They lost their tomorrows… And we lost their tomorrows. The world lost and continues to lose the potential of so many people. Not just people living in this mostly safe country of ours… but people all over the world.
My father was in the Air Force, I grew up on air force bases in various parts of the country… my ex-husband and all of my brothers-in-law were in the navy… I have a nephew who served in Afghanistan and one who is currently in the army. All that it is say, I have the utmost respect and pride in our forces… but I wish they weren’t necessary…
As it was written in the gospel of John, “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Indeed that is true… but I long to live in a world where that is not necessary. I long to live in a world where all people live in peace. I long to live in a world where all the barriers between people are lifted and we can see each other as beloved of God.
Fighting about God and land goes back to ancient times. You may remember from last week that the kingdom has split into two: Israel and Judah. In today’s reading, Ahab, the king of Israel, encounters the prophet Elijah and accuses him of being a troublemaker for Israel. Elijah responds, stating that it’s not he but Ahab and his family who have troubled Israel by forsaking the commandments of the LORD and following the Baals (false gods).
Elijah proposes a challenge to determine the true God: He asks for a gathering of all Israelites at Mount Carmel along with the prophets of Baal and Asherah (850 in total). The people assemble, and Elijah challenges them to make a choice between the LORD and Baal. Elijah suggests a test: Two bulls will be prepared, one for the prophets of Baal and one for himself. The God who answers with fire will be proven as the true God. The people agree to this challenge, and the prophets of Baal go first. The prophets of Baal attempt to call upon their god, but there is no response despite their fervent efforts, including self-harm. Elijah taunts them, suggesting that their god might be preoccupied or asleep. Despite their continuous cries and self-inflicted injuries, there is still no response from Baal.
This passage sets the stage for the famous contest on Mount Carmel, where Elijah will later call upon the LORD, and God will respond with fire, demonstrating His power and authority over the false gods of Baal and Asherah. Let’s listen, as the story unfolds in 1 Kings 18:
17 When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, ‘Is it you, you troubler of Israel?’
18 He answered, ‘I have not troubled Israel; but you have, and your father’s house, because you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and followed the Baals. 19 Now therefore have all Israel assemble for me at Mount Carmel, with the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.’
20 So Ahab sent to all the Israelites, and assembled the prophets at Mount Carmel. 21 Elijah then came near to all the people, and said, ‘How long will you go limping with two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.’ The people did not answer him a word.
22 Then Elijah said to the people, ‘I, even I only, am left a prophet of the Lord; but Baal’s prophets number four hundred and fifty. 23 Let two bulls be given to us; let them choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it; I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it. 24 Then you call on the name of your god and I will call on the name of the Lord; the god who answers by fire is indeed God.’
All the people answered, ‘Well spoken!’
25 Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, ‘Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many; then call on the name of your god, but put no fire to it.’
26 So they took the bull that was given them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, crying, ‘O Baal, answer us!’ But there was no voice, and no answer. They limped about the altar that they had made.
27 At noon Elijah mocked them, saying, ‘Cry aloud! Surely he is a god; either he is meditating, or he has wandered away, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.’ 28 Then they cried aloud and, as was their custom, they cut themselves with swords and lances until the blood gushed out over them. 29 As midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice, no answer, and no response.
We don’t really hear the end of the story in this passage… we just hear the silence… we don’t hear what happens when Elijah calls upon the Jewish God. But that’s not the point of the story… this is not a story that you will find in a children’s Bible and then read before bed. It’s a story of two political powers calling upon their separate ideas of God to win. A story of my God is bigger and better than your God.
And yet… as the writer Anne Lamott says a priest once told her, “You can safely assume you’ve created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people as you do.”
Have any of you read I Shall Not Hate by Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish?
He is now known simply as “the Gaza doctor” who captured hearts and headlines around the world in the aftermath of horrific tragedy: on January 16, 2009, when Israeli shells hit his home in the Gaza Strip, killing three of his daughters and a niece.
“I know that what I have lost, what was taken from me, will never come back. But as a physician and a Muslim of deep faith, I need to move forward to the light, motivated by the spirits of those I lost. I need to bring them justice… I will keep moving but I need you to join me in this long journey.” – from I Shall Not Hate
I heard him at St. Mary’s University a few years ago… His powerful testimony in the face of such anguish… his refusal to hate… I have never forgotten. When asked what can we do? His response was, “Start with your community… create peace in your community…”
“What can you do? You can do a lot. You can support justice for all by speaking out loudly to your family, friends, community, politicians and religious leaders.
You can support foundations that do good work.
You can volunteer for humanitarian organizations.
You can vote regressive politicians out of office. You can do many things to move the world toward greater harmony… http://www.amazon.ca/Shall-Not-Hate-Doctors-Journey/dp/0307358887
Those words bring a poem by David Whyte to mind, it’s entitled Start Close In
Start close in,
don’t take the second step
or the third,
start with the first
thing
close in,
the step
you don’t want to take.
Start with
the ground
you know,
the pale ground
beneath your feet,
your own
way of starting
the conversation.
Start with your own
question,
give up on other
people’s questions,
don’t let them
smother something
simple.
To find
another’s voice,
follow
your own voice,
wait until
that voice
becomes a
private ear
listening
to another.
Start right now
take a small step
you can call your own
don’t follow
someone else’s
heroics, be humble
and focused,
start close in,
don’t mistake
that other
for your own.
Start close in,
don’t take
the second step
or the third,
start with the first
thing
close in,
the step
you don’t want to take.
~David Whyte, River Flow: New and Selected Poems
You and I can’t solve the all problems of the world… or at least I don’t think we can.
But we can make the world a better place.
We can start close in… listening to one another…
We can support our Mission and Service Fund as it does amazing work on our behalf, both locally and around the world.
We can support other organizations that do peacemaking work.
We can write our MPs calling for a ceasefire in that very troubled land that three religions call holy.
Thanks be to God, for the challenge and the opportunity of being the church today, amen.
1 Kings 12: 18-39
St. James
November 5, 2023
St. James United Church Dartmouth 