1 Kings 19: I, even I only am left.

[The Sermon below was written for my preaching class at Canadian Mennonite University, This is the first sermon I wrote for the class, so it is less polished than some of the sermons I've written since (see A Transformed People of God, or Psalm 137:9 A Hard Beatitude), however it's a message of hope for those suffering from ministry Burnout, something that I'll talk about in more depth in the future]


When we look at 1 kings 19 we read a story of Elijah struggling.
Elijah, the mighty prophet of God who had defeated 450 prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel
Elijah, the mighty prophet, who's God answered his prayer with fire from heaven
Elijah, the mighty prophet of God who ran after Ahab's chariot, taunting him all the way back to Jazreel
Elijah, the mighty prophet of God, was broken, and tired, and confused
After the events at mount Carmel Ahab went and told his wife Jezebel about Elijah
Jezebel responded by sending her messenger to the mighty prophet, telling him that by the time the day was finished, she would have him killed the way he had killed Baal's prophets
Faced with opposition that can't be stopped by a show of force, Elijah is unsure of himself
So what does he do?
[pause]
He runs.
The Mighty Prophets runs
Within three verses He leaves the northern kingdom, and he travels all the way down to Beersheba, a town right where the southern Kingdom meets the wilderness.
Elijah is afraid for his life, he's dropped everything and he ran
The Mighty prophet has become a refugee
When he gets to Beersheba, he leaves his servant behind, and spends a day walking in the wilderness. There he crashes down under a tree and cries out to God, "It is enough, Oh Lord, Take away my life for I am no better than my fathers."
He has abandoned all hope
He is saying that he's failed, that he should be dead and in his tomb like those that went before him.
Jezebel's threat is the end of his ministry

Like Elijah, you might be tired
Maybe you are tired because Everytime you share your faith with your friends you get ridiculed
maybe you are tired because you've been strong for too long
Maybe the program you volunteer for isn't reaching as many people as you'd like
Maybe you are ready to give up
to give up on serving God
to close your door, and give up on hoping that people will respond to the ministry that you do
It's easy to experience burn out, with papers piling up around, tests and exams coming it's easy to forget that you are here because this is where God wants you to be.
Like Elijah, you might be unsure of yourself, maybe you felt God leading you into ministry, but now that you are here, you are no longer sure
Like Elijah, you might not have the strength to carry on.
Elijah, sitting in the desert, goes to sleep,
while he sleeps, an angel woke him up and feeds him
Elijah doesn't get it, there's an angel feeding him, and what does he do? he goes back to sleep, He's completely given up.
But the angel isn't finished, he wakes Elijah up, and feeds him again, telling him that he has a long journey ahead of him.
Elijah gets up and the food feeds him for fourty days and nights as he travels in the wilderness.
Eventually he gets to Mt Horeb
Now Mt Horeb is another name for Mt Sinai, the mountain where God met Moses and Commissioned him.
God is going to commission Elijah again
This is what's called a Theophanous commision story. A story where elijah is given  the power to prevail over institutional rivals, enhancing belief in prophetic authority to challenge usurpations of God's Supremacy.
but this authority comes in a peculiar way.

Elijah enters a cave on Mount Sinai, and God asks him "what are you doing here, elijah?"
Elijah's response is one of dispair "I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, , and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away"
Elijah's seeking pity, he thinks he's the only one left, he thinks that everything is going to hell in a handbasket
And he wants a sign, he wants God to respond dramatically, to show that God is powerful  but God's response is not power.
God takes him outside the cave, and Elijah sees 3 powerful things
He sees the wind blow past so fast that rocks are breaking
He sees an earthquake shake the earth around him
and he sees a fire, like the one used in the previous chapter to defeat baals prophet
God could have been present within any of them, but God isn't
Instead of these acts of power, God chooses to reveal Godself through the sound of a low whisper.
and again God asks "What are you doing here Elijah?"
Elijah gives exactly the same response "I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, , and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away"
God responds with a command and a message of hope
The commmand is to go back and continue his work,
God has recommissioned Elijah to go back and annoint Hazael as King of Syria, Jehu king of Israel, and Elisha as his own successor.
Elijahs doubts will cease when God puts him to work
He needs to continue the struggle against Baal. He needs to put people into power who will stand up for whats right. It's not going to be easy, but Ahab and Jezebel's dynasty will fall, and Israel will return to the Covenant.
God's message to Elijah, is that he isn't alone, God still has 7000 people who haven't bowed before Baal.
The numbers 7and 1000 both symbolize wholeness and completion. God has enough people to get the job done.
Elijah isn't alone.

Likewise you aren't alone
You have a community of faith that surrounds you
When you are weary, there are people there who will support you
There are people who will care for you and walk with you
Elijah thought that he was the only person who was Jealous for God
but there were others
God doesn't always act in Giant flashes of miraculous power
This doesn't mean he can't or he won't
but more often then not we need to listen for that still soft voice
God will guide you
Elijah thought he had won at mount carmel, and wasnt ready for resistance
We will also face resistance as we seek to live out the gospel message in the world today
but in the moment of doubt, God will give you the strength to face the day
Elijah's story doesn't end in complete and utter victory, Ahab is still king for three more chapters, and maybe it's okay if ours doesn't either
instead maybe we just need to continue to be faithful to the plan that God has for us, and follow what God tells us to do.