Psalm 74
1 Kings 18:17-20
Revelation 20:7-15
Perhaps it is because one of my favorite professors taught me the Elijah narrative; perhaps it is because I, too, am a snarky servant and can see a lot of myself in Elijah; the story has crept up into my life, and I find myself being drawn into the story, into the lives of the characters, standing with Elijah and snottily mocking the prophets of Baal: "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.’ Now, this is not very nice of Elijah. I don't think I would like him as much - or identify with him as much - if he were more nice. He says what everyone else is thinking: "Your god is not worth his salt as a god if he doesn't show up when it's go time."
"Surely he is a god." Surely not...
"Either he is meditating..." To whom?
"Or he has wandered away..." Like an old man who thinks he's going out to milk the cows, but winds up in the food service area of the dementia unit...
"Or he is on a journey..." Even a god needs a vacation, right?
"Or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened." Must have forgotten to set the divine alarm...
The crowd must be roaring at this point in time. Like a sort of Monty Python sketch in which all of the characters form a spoof that is so exaggerated it helps us to see the reality and ridiculousness of the situation.
One of my favorite blessings is Psalm 121:
A Song of Ascents.
I lift up my eyes to the hills—
from where will my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot be moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.
He who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord is your keeper;
the Lord is your shade at your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.
The Lord will keep you from all evil;
he will keep your life.
The Lord will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time on and for evermore.
1 Kings 18:17-20
Revelation 20:7-15
Perhaps it is because one of my favorite professors taught me the Elijah narrative; perhaps it is because I, too, am a snarky servant and can see a lot of myself in Elijah; the story has crept up into my life, and I find myself being drawn into the story, into the lives of the characters, standing with Elijah and snottily mocking the prophets of Baal: "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.’ Now, this is not very nice of Elijah. I don't think I would like him as much - or identify with him as much - if he were more nice. He says what everyone else is thinking: "Your god is not worth his salt as a god if he doesn't show up when it's go time."
"Surely he is a god." Surely not...
"Either he is meditating..." To whom?
"Or he has wandered away..." Like an old man who thinks he's going out to milk the cows, but winds up in the food service area of the dementia unit...
"Or he is on a journey..." Even a god needs a vacation, right?
"Or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened." Must have forgotten to set the divine alarm...
The crowd must be roaring at this point in time. Like a sort of Monty Python sketch in which all of the characters form a spoof that is so exaggerated it helps us to see the reality and ridiculousness of the situation.
One of my favorite blessings is Psalm 121:
I lift up my eyes to the hills—
from where will my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot be moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.
He who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord is your keeper;
the Lord is your shade at your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.
The Lord will keep you from all evil;
he will keep your life.
The Lord will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time on and for evermore.
Surely our God is a God.
God does not slumber or sleep.
God is our keeper, our protector, and the One in whom we hide.
God does not wander off, not even away from the cross.
God does journey; God journeys with us.
If we can talk of our God the same way in which Elijah talks about Baal, we have traded the Maker of the Universe for an object we have created. We often trade the Unknowable for the known, the Ineffable for that which we can grasp, the Omniscent for the understandable, the Other for the self. This god is far too small to handle the problems of the world, but the Unknowable, Ineffable, Omnsicent, and Other finds no difficulty in sustaining the earth and us in it. With a flick of the wrist, the morning sky is painted anew. With a touch of the baton, the birds begin their song. With the breath of the Spirit these bones, however dead, spring to new life.
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