The text from 1 Kings can hardly be read apart from the rest of the narrative (specifically, 1 Kings 17-19): from Elijah deciding that it wouldn't rain upon the earth, to imposing upon the widow at Zarephath who has no food (likely as a result of the famine because there has been no rain) to his meeting Obadiah (who has sworn he has not seen Elijah and whose life will be risked when Elijah meets Ahab), to Elijah swearing he is the only faithful one left, despite Obadiah's having protected 100 of the prophets of the LORD (where did they all come from? Most people regard Elijah as the first of the prophets). From all of this to Elijah besting the prophets of Baal at their own game, and insisting he alone remains faithful to God, and the LORD telling the whiny prophet that he has preserved 7,000 faithful. The twists, the turns, and the irony in the narrative are lost when we just read a snippet of it. Of course, I suppose the same could be said for the whole biblical narrative, but there is my plug for reading 1 Kings. Lest we take ourselves too seriously as people of faith, Elijah should serve as a reminder that God has a sense of humor.
Elijah's complaint throughout is: "I alone am left." So often, when we identify as people of faith, we find ourselves on a lonesome journey. I cannot help but wonder if the journey is lonesome because we are truly alone or because we fail to see the other peregrini (wanderers) along our path. We meet Christ in the least of these, but we would rather donate money than travel with them. God places opportunity for relationship right in front of us, but we tend to prefer (especially in American society) connections that aren't quite so close. We can choose levels of intimacy on Facebook, determining how much of ourselves another person can see. While I understand Facebook can be an effective social media for remaining connected with many different communities, I think it cannot take the place of actual relationships. Even though people post all matter of personal information on the site, it cannot take the place of the vulnerability of showing up when a friend's life has begun to fall apart, or calling upon a friend when yours has begun to. It is here that we begin to see that we are not alone. We walk with the other peregrini God has placed on our paths.
"I alone am left," suggests that it is our faithfulness that inspires God's faithfulness, and not the other way around. It is God's faithfulness that connects us with the least of these, with those sojourning among us as different, as alien, as foriegn, as those on the fringes of our society; it is God's faithfulness that utilizes even a prophet who struggles to see that God's faithfulness is one that preserves us, even unto death.
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