We’ve been discussing for the past few weeks what it takes to really serve God. Courage, trust, our prayers and today we will see how it takes loyalty to serve God. What better subject to talk about as we have just recognized a national holiday that we call Veterans Day. I never served in the military but I have great respect for anyone and everyone who did or does. If you are a veteran or are serving now in the military service, would you please stand so that we can recognize you?
Recognize each by what war they were involved in. (Attachment)
Last Thursday, our nation honored men and women who have served our country. Even today, veterans are coming home from war with scars, injuries, and some of them are having a very hard time. We also should take time to honor families who have stood by husbands, wives, sons, daughters, and others who make a great sacrifice when their loved ones serve our country.
We who have never had to be directly involved wonder. What is it like to sign your name to a paper that could possibly mean the end of your life? What is it like to walk down the cold hallways of a processing station? What is it like to sleep in a squeaky bunk bed where men have laid down their lives to never come home again? It takes the faith of a soldier – great faith! And I want to say from all of us, “Thank you for your service.”
The cost is great. Greater than any of us can really know or realize. Serving our country takes faith, it takes courage, it takes prayer, and it take loyalty. LOYALTY
Does loyalty mean anything in today's world? The United States Marine Corp motto since 1883 has been Semper Fidelis which is Latin for “always faithful.”
True story: Marine corporal Matthew Bradford exemplifies that motto. Serving in Iraq in January 2007, he was on patrol along the Euphrates River when he stepped on an improvised explosive device. Shrapnel blew into Bradford's eyes, took off one leg, severely mangled the other, damaged his left arm and right hand, and caused serious internal injuries. 3 weeks later, he woke up from a coma to discover he was blind and had lost both legs. Yet incredibly, in April 2010, Bradford reenlisted in the Marine corps. Becoming the first blind, double amputee ever to do so. Talk about always faithful.
Marines engaged in battle though understand the importance of unwavering loyalty. I want to use that idea of unwavering loyalty as we talk about serving our God with our loyalty. PRAYER
The prophet Elijah has shown us what unwavering loyalty to God looks like. In 1 Kings 18, we find Elijah embroiled in a battle of sorts. His loyalty to God was on display, and he challenged others to that same loyalty. His challenge still confronts us today.
Today's Scripture passage in 1 Kings 18 is probably one of the best-known stories about Elijah. If you have been with us the past few weeks you know that in our Scripture passage, we are still in a three-and-a-half year drought. But even after three and a half years of drought, Ahab, Jezebel, and the people of Israel still held to their Baal worship. Spelled B-A-A-L. Baal being a false god.
Even though Yahweh had proven himself supreme by causing the drought and the resulting famine, they remained stubborn in their affection for the false god. But Yahweh wasn’t done with them. He continued to speak through the prophet Elijah. Don’t let the name YAHWEH confuse you. YAHWEH was the most supreme name that could be given to God. He is YAHWEH, the GREAT I AM.
1 Kings 18:20-21 – “So Ahab summoned all the Israelites and gathered the prophets at Mount Carmel. Then Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him. But if Baal, follow him.”
But the people didn’t answer him. When you give someone the right to choose you are giving them the opportunity to be unfaithful. They may choose not to remain loyal. God has the power to force our allegiance, but he has never done so - and he never will. God could make us love him, but He never will. After all, if love is coerced it's not really love at all. And amazing as it is, the God of this universe, who spoke the world into existence and has no need of anything, still wants our love.
Throughout scripture, God made it plain that He wants our love, but that He will not tolerate our divided loyalty. To love God is to love Him first and foremost, above anything else. Loyalty to Him means surrendering any semblance of devotion to lesser gods.
This was the choice Elijah set before God's people in verse 21.
They had been wavering too long between two opinions, wavering in their loyalty.
That term waiver literally means limping along or limping between two twigs. It's a picture of someone hobbling, using two sticks is crutches. That was Israel. Israel had not renounced their faith in God, but they hadn't let go of their idols either. They wanted to maintain these competing loyalties, as if God were just one of the multiple gods they served. Elijah insisted you can't have it both ways.
Let's back up a little in chapter 18 for a moment and bring it up to date. When God decided it was time, He informed Elijah the rain would return. He told Elijah to give Ahab the news.
1 Kings 18:1-2 – “After a long time, the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year: “Go and present yourself to Ahab. I will send rain on the surface of the land.” So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab.”
Ahab greeted Elijah with an outburst of pent-up anger. He blamed Elijah for the drought. In verse 16 Ahab accused Elijah of being the one ruining Israel. But Elijah countered that it was Ahab and Ahab's family who had destroyed Israel by abandoning God and worshiping false gods.
So Elijah invited the king to meet him on Mount Carmel and bring all Israel, along with the 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah.
1 Kings 18:17 – 19 – “When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is that you, the one ruining Israel?” He replied, “I have not ruined Israel, but you and your father’s family have, because you have abandoned the Lord’s commands and followed the Baals. Now summon all Israel to meet me at Mount Carmel, along with the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel’s table.”
So, in verse 21, Elijah challenged the people: stop wavering and choose to be faithful. So, the challenge begins.
1 Kings 18:22-26 – “Then Elijah said to the people, “I am the only remaining prophet of the Lord, but Baal’s prophets are 450 men. Let two bulls be given to us. They are to choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and place it on the wood but not light the fire. I will prepare the other bull and place it on the wood but not light the fire. Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The God who answers with fire, he is God.”
All the people answered, “That’s fine.” Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Since you are so numerous, choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first. Then call on the name of your god but don’t light the fire.” So they took the bull that he gave them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “Baal, answer us!” But there was no sound; no one answered. Then they danced around the altar they had made.”
Elijah proposed a contest, one in which he would demonstrate who was the one, true God. This would have been a bold proposition had the contest been between Elijah and just one prophet of Baal. But the 450 prophets opposing him made Elijah's challenge seem even more daring. Each side would prepare a bull for sacrifice and place it on an altar. Baal’s prophets would call on their god, and Elijah would call on the Lord. Whichever deity responded with fire to burn the sacrifice would be proven to be the true God.
It became Elijah's mission to debunk the lie that Baal was a real God like Yahweh. The contest was fitting and fair. It was a reasonable test. Baal was called the storm god, who could summon lightning at his command, while followers of Yahweh maintained he held power over nature.
Being confident in their idol, the prophets of Baal entered the contest with great determination. For hours they called on Baal to send fire. They tried dancing to entice him to take notice of their cries. In the end, it doesn't matter how sincere you are in your belief if you believe in the wrong thing--a lie is still a lie. The myth that Baal was a powerful deity worthy of worship had been busted.
In modern America, we don't typically worship idols of wood and stone, but we still have our false gods. One Pastor put it this way. He said, “What is an idol? It is anything more important to you than God, anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God, anything you seek to give you what only God can give. Family and career can become idols. So can achievement, power, money, and possessions.
What is your idol? Even when we take something good and make it an idol, it can never compete with God. And when we compare it to eternity, it is meaningless.
1 John 2:16 – 17 – “For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one’s possessions—is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the world with its lust is passing away, but the one who does the will of God remains forever.”
What God is trying to tell us is if we look to some created thing to give us meaning, hope, and happiness that only God Himself can give, it will eventually fail to deliver and will break our hearts.
1 Kings 18:31-37 – “Elijah took twelve stones—according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “Israel will be your name”— and he built an altar with the stones in the name of the Lord. Then he made a trench around the altar large enough to hold about four gallons. Next, he arranged the wood, cut up the bull, and placed it on the wood. He said, “Fill four water pots with water and pour it on the offering to be burned and on the wood.” Then he said, “A second time!” and they did it a second time. And then he said, “A third time!” and they did it a third time. So the water ran all around the altar; he even filled the trench with water. At the time for offering the evening sacrifice, the prophet Elijah approached the altar and said, “Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, today let it be known that you are God in Israel and I am your servant, and that at your word I have done all these things. Answer me, Lord! Answer me so that this people will know that you, the Lord, are God and that you have turned their hearts back.”
When it became Elijah's turn, he invited the people to come close. Elijah rebuilt a broken altar to Yahweh. It was in a deteriorated state, and had become more of an artifact but also a visible sign of the people's broken commitment to their covenant with God.
Elijah used 12 Stones to signify the 12 of tribes of Israel, God's people prior to their division into two kingdoms. Then, to remove any possibility of trickery on his part, Elijah dug a trench around the altar and ordered that the altar be completely soaked in water. When water ran around the altar and even filled the trench, it was plain to see only an act of God could cause the sacrifice to burn. Then, Elijah simply called on God in prayer. He didn't petition God to send fire or tell God how to do his job. Instead, he asked three things:
1. Prove you are God in Israel.
2. Confirm I am your prophet.
3. Turn back the hearts of your people.
God heard and answered Elijah's prayer.
1 Kings 18:38-39 – “Then the Lord’s fire fell and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. When all the people saw it, they fell facedown and said, “The Lord, he is God! The Lord, he is God!”
When God sent fire from the skies to burn up the sacrifice Elijah had laid on the altar, He far surpassed what anyone could have anticipated. The fire consumed wood, stone, sacrifice, soil, and even the water. In the presence of this overwhelming evidence, the people were completely smitten. They couldn't do anything but acknowledge Yahweh as the one, true god.
Let me sidestep for a moment. As you can see from our equipment here on stage we have quite a bit of technology. Linda does a lot of work to bring it all together for our worship service and I am so appreciative of her. But as many times as we have done this, it still makes us a little nervous.
Technology is great when it works. But it can be awful when it doesn't. Right when you're ready to deliver your big “tada” moment, the page may not load, or it decides to update at the last minute, or something just doesn't work.
When Elijah came to his big “tada” moment on Mount Carmel, he had no reason to feel nervous or afraid. There was no reason to doubt the outcome. He stood with the God who never fails. He was relying on the only One in the universe who is 100% reliable. Elijah had learned to be loyal and faithful to God because God had always been faithful to him.
And finally, toward the end of the Mount Carmel shutdown, God finally sends the rain just as he had promised.
1 Kings 18:45a – “In a little while, the sky grew dark with clouds and wind, and there was a downpour. . .”
We know God has an unwavering dependability. That's why God assures us, I will never leave you or abandon you. He will never fail to show, and He'll always succeed in His purposes. God's power is unmatched.
There are things that occur that only God can accomplish. I urge you as you share your testimony with someone in witnessing to them, tell them about something that God has done for you recently that only He could accomplish. What a powerful witness that is.
Yes, God demands our undivided loyalty, but He has earned it. Nothing and no one else we depend on is that reliable. Be loyal to God. Place Him above everything else in your life.
