A couple of years ago George Strait had a number one song entitled “I Saw God Today.” It’s about a man who is walking down the street after his wife has just had a baby, and he notices things like a flower growing out of a crack in the sidewalk and a couple expecting a baby. The songs ends back in the hospital nursery, as he looks through the glass at his baby girl. He sings about the things and people he saw – the flower, the couple and now his newborn daughter – as examples of how he saw God on that day.
Now I like George Strait a lot – and this song has a truly beautiful melody. But the words of that song are bad theology. Really, really bad theology.
We’ll get back to George Strait in a few minutes, but first let’s go back roughly 2,800 years and talk about the man who is the focus of our Old Testament lesson, the prophet Elijah. When we first meet him in today’s reading, Elijah has been running – running for his life. He’s had multiple run-ins with King Ahab, arguably the most evil king in the long, sad and sinful history of the Northern Kingdom, the Kingdom of Israel. Ahab’s wife Jezebel was even worse than him, and together they had actually forbidden the people of Israel to worship the true God of their fathers, the God of Israel, and they were methodically killing off every one of God’s prophets. Now Jezebel had personally and publicly ordered Elijah’s death, too, and shortly before the words of today’s text we are told that Elijah “was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life.” He began a 40-day journey that took him south to Mount Horeb – also known as Mt. Sinai – and when he got there Elijah hid in a cave. And then we read these words: “Behold, the word of the Lord came to Elijah, and he said to him, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’”
It seems like a simple question, doesn’t it? And of course, God isn’t asking that question for His own benefit. God already knows why Elijah has fled from the death sentence proclaimed for him, God knows about the evil taking place in the Kingdom of Israel – God knows everything. After all, it was God who gave Elijah the strength to make that 40-day trip with no food or water. No, God asked the question so that Elijah could pour out his troubles to God – and so that God could remind Elijah that he was never truly alone. God has been with him, God has protected him, all along.
But before Elijah can understand that, God does something that might seem somewhat strange to us today. Listen again to these words: “And he said, ‘Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.’ And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’”
If I may be so bold as to paraphrase the words of God, I’d like to ask you that same question. What are you doing here, members of St. Paul Lutheran Church? What are you doing here today? How is God revealed to you on this Sunday morning in Pana, Illinois?
Luther and many others have written about what is called the natural knowledge of God – the innate human understanding that there must be some kind of higher power that is superior to us humans. Throughout history, virtually every civilization – virtually every group of people, no matter how large or how small – has known that there must be some kind of god. But those same peoples and civilizations were at a distinct disadvantage, because the true God had not always been revealed to them. In the absence of that revelation – when they either rejected the true God or were ignorant of Him – they did what sinful people have always done. They created their own gods. They made idols and they created legends about so-called gods and goddesses. But those idols were powerless. Those legends were just fictional stories and nothing more. In Elijah’s day the people of Israel were being forced to worship Baal, a pagan god of rain and thunder whose wife Asherah was called the “queen of heaven.”
The situation was so bad in Israel that Elijah convinced himself that he was the only one left in that entire nation who had not abandoned God. A death sentence had been placed on his head. Elijah felt defeated, he felt helpless, he felt hopeless. He felt very alone. He ran to the wilderness of Sinai to hide from Queen Jezebel – and to find God. At a time like this, it might be reasonable to expect to find God in the powerful things we associate with God – the wind, the earthquake, the fire. But that is not how God chose to reveal Himself to Elijah on that day. Instead, he found God in a low whisper. “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
We believe, teach and confess that God reveals Himself to us in two basic ways, through what we call the Means of Grace. The term “Means of Grace” is defined as the divinely instituted means by which God offers, bestows and seals to mankind the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. The Means of Grace – the ways that God comes to us – are the Word of God and the Sacraments. In God’s Word, he reveals His Son Jesus Christ as the one who died for our sins, rose from the dead and gives all believers the promise of eternal life with Him in heaven. And in the Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, we receive the forgiveness of sins won for us by Christ’s death and His triumph over sin.
Earlier I asked: “What are you doing here, members of St. Paul Lutheran Church?” And the answer is this: we are here on this morning because in our worship service, God – Jesus – comes to us. Jesus speaks to us. Jesus reveals Himself to us, not in wind or earthquake or fire, but in the simple words we hear in our worship service. Jesus comes to us in the words of absolution we hear following our confession of sins: “I forgive you all your sins.” Jesus comes to us when His word is read in our Old Testament, Epistle and Gospel lessons and when we sing the Introit and Gradual. Jesus comes to us when His words, the words of Scripture, are proclaimed from this pulpit. Jesus comes to us when someone – someone young or old – is washed by the waters of Holy Baptism and we hear these words: “I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Jesus comes to us when we kneel before this altar to receive the Lord’s Supper: “Take, eat, this is my body. Take, drink, this is my blood.”
A lot of people today mistakenly believe that we come to church so that we can “do something” for God – so that we can praise Him, so that we can honor Him, and in doing so feel good about ourselves and have a good time. But that’s not really why we come to church. In the Divine Service, our Lord speaks – and we listen. His Word bestows exactly what it says – forgiveness and life. The rhythm of our worship is from Him to us – and then from us back to Him. Jesus speaks, and we listen. He may not be speaking in a low whisper, but He’s not speaking to us in wind, earthquake or fire, either. He is speaking to us, quite simply, in His Word and in His Sacraments.
A lot of people today think that you don’t need church at all. But it is clear from Scripture that God wants His faithful to meet together regularly. As the writer of the Book of Hebrews says, “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another.”
Technically speaking, we can and should read and study God’s Word outside of the Sunday worship service. Technically speaking, once a person has been baptized in the name of the Triune God, that person need never be baptized again. But technically speaking, we all need to receive Christ’s body and blood in the Lord’s Supper as often as we possibly can receive it. I can and do give Communion with our shut-ins who are unable to join us here for the worship service. But as a general rule, it is here – in God’s house – that we gather together to receive Christ’s body and blood. And there’s no substitute for that – not anywhere else.
A lot of people today think that they don’t need church because they can – just as George Strait sang in his song – see God in so many ways and so many places. Now my purpose here is not to bash George Strait – he’s one of my favorite singers – but the words of his song that I mentioned earlier are just plain wrong. We see the evidence of God’s creation and God’s love and God’s great mercy in the beauty of a flower or the joy of a woman who will soon give birth or in the precious face of a newborn child – but that’s not how or where we see God. God is not present in a flower or a pregnant lady or a baby or an earthquake or wind or fire.
God is present in the Means of Grace. God is present in His Word and Sacraments. That’s how God has chosen to reveal Himself to us. So if I ask, “What are you doing here, members of St. Paul Lutheran Church?” the answer is simple. We are here because God comes to us. We don’t need to run to Mt. Sinai or anywhere else. God is here with us today, with all of His people who come before Him in simple, humble faith.
He whispers to us this morning. I love you. I sent my Son to die for you. Your sins are forgiven. I have a place prepared for you – with me – in heaven. He is speaking to us right now. And that’s all we need.
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