WAVERING

1 Kings 18:16-40

This passage gives the well-known account of the power encounter between Elijah and the 450 priests of Baal on Mount Carmel.  I think many of us know the story.  Elijah challenged Ahab and the prophets of Baal to a power demonstration.  Baal’s prophets would prepare a bull for sacrifice and Elijah would do the same.  Then they would call upon their gods and the one who answered their prayers with fire consuming the sacrifice would prove he is god. 

Baal’s prophets went first but nothing they did resulted in any fire.  They shouted.  They danced.  They cut themselves.  Nothing happened.  Elijah built his altar and laid his bull on it and then had men pour jars of water on the whole thing three times.  Then he prayed, “O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. ³⁷ Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”  God sent fire and his fire consumed the sacrifice, the wood, the stones of the altar, and the water that had been poured on it.

The people of Israel saw this and fell on their faces crying out, “The LORD—he is God! The LORD—he is God!”  God revealed himself in the power encounter and the people of Israel saw and believed.

But the thing that caught my attention this morning is found earlier, in verse 21, Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.”  The people of Israel were not committed to God.  They allowed for the possibility that Baal was god.  They wavered.  As long as they entertained the possibility that God was not who he claimed to be they could never be his people.  And Elijah confronted them saying, “How long will you waver?”

Does it seem to you that our society is full of people who waver?  It seems like I meet them all the time.  Our conversations go something like this…

“Do you believe in God?”

“Yes!”

“Is your God the God of the Bible?”

“Yes, I guess so.”

“What do you know about him?  What does he want from you?”

“Um, well, I’m not sure…”

“Do you go to church to try to find out about him?” 

“No.  Not really.”

“Why not?”  (There is often an increasing level of discomfort by this point.)

(The answers vary widely here.)  “I don’t know…I’m not sure he’s the only god…I don’t know if he is really god…”

Wavering.  People don’t seem to know what they want so they waver back and forth. 

We’re in the middle of Holy Week.  Jesus of Nazareth entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and revealed himself to vast crowds of people in the Holy City.  He revealed himself to the religious leaders and even to Pontius Pilate.  He was crucified and died.  This upcoming Sunday, Easter, we Christians celebrate his resurrection from the dead. 

Are these things true?  If so, then the events in Jerusalem two thousand years ago were the greatest power encounter in history!  Those events were a far greater demonstration of the sovereignty of the God of the Bible than what happened with Elijah on Mount Carmel.  What more could people ask for?  How can we continue to waver?

Jesus, he is God!  Jesus, he is God!