1 Kings 18:20-39, Luke 7:1-10
Miraculous fire
The only way I can light a fire is by using a lighter or a match. My only question is, “Which do I use?” It was a bit different for Elijah, who had set the false prophets an impossible task: to call down fire upon an altar and a sacrificed bull as a way of proving that their god existed. Of course they failed. One wonders that they accepted the challenge – but they had little choice since they were there at the king’s command for just this purpose. At the same time they probably figured that Elijah had as little chance as they. Fatal mistake.
Anyway, Elijah built his altar and prepared his sacrifice but made it extra hard for God by drenching altar, firewood and bull with water. And then, when he called on his God to send fire to set it all alight, God did just that. The water didn’t make it harder, it made it more impressive. The people looking on then knew who the true God was. They had needed convincing.
Elijah was angry that the prophets of Baal had such an influence over the king and queen and the people. He was angry that they were not single-mindedly following God. They were trying to cover their bases by following both God and Baal and who knows who else. So he challenged God’s people to stop sitting on the fence, wobbling between two opinions. He was utterly convinced that the true God could and would prove that he was not only true but was all-powerful. The immensely powerful demonstration of God’s power did convince the people to believe in Elijah’s God. While such dramatic action is not our normal experience of God at work in the world, he does still cause extraordinary things to happen.
People today are very similar to Elijah’s compatriots. People put their faith in all sorts of thing expecting their ‘god’ to save them and solve their problems. Look at the way so many put their faith in the economy, for example. We hear it all the time: “get the economy straightened out and all will be well.” “A growing economy will solve our problems.” “O economy god, save us.” We may be crawling our way out of the last recession but, face it, economic salvation ain’t coming.
But people are wondering if the God of Jesus is any better. You see it in the wavering nature of many people’s ‘faith’ in our culture today. With the proliferation of faith options people are taking this from here and that from there and putting together their own faith in whatever gods they feel might help them. They’re wanting a dramatic demonstration to prove God true and they’re not seeing it. They’re definitely wobbling between two opinions, as Elijah said. Have a read of Bruce Prewer’s poem, Putting it in a Nutshell.
Miraculous healing
The faith response of the centurion in Luke 7 is in stark contrast to the Elijah story. He came from another culture, a wealthy man who had respect for the Jewish traditions. Yet having heard of Jesus he did not use his position to curry favour and did not even go himself in search of the itinerant miracle-worker. He just needed Jesus to speak the word from a distance and he believed his slave would be healed. His faith was rewarded and he has been held up for posterity as someone who was not Jewish yet whose faith Jesus saw as exemplary. Unlike the people with Elijah, he did not need a dramatic sign.
They say that seeing is believing but there are many things that we believe in without being able to see them. Like electricity for example. Ok, we’ve seen a bit of lightning recently. We can’t see electricity but we can see what it does. Ok, you can feel it. What about love? We can’t see love – but we can see what it does. And we can feel it. What I’m saying is that seeing isn’t everything.
The Bible doesn’t tell us if the centurion himself ever saw Jesus in person perform a miracle. In that sense, he is like us. He believed what he had heard and he expected Jesus to do something because he figured – rightly – that that is the kind of person Jesus is.
We all have things to cope with. Right now a number of us are going through situations that are difficult, awkward, painful, embarrassing, and/or making us feel guilty. Other people have done things that have made it hard for us and we fear the consequences of their actions and of our own. What can we do? What can we do that will make things better again? What can we do that won’t make things worse?
Think of the centurion. There was nothing more he could do to prevent his slave from dying. He knew he needed a greater power to intervene and he looked to the God of Israel. He figured that Jesus was using God’s power to heal and the only thing possibly in the way was that he (the centurion) was not a Jew. That hadn’t really been a problem in the past so he gave it a go. What did he have to lose? He sent messages to Jesus laying it out the way he saw it. Jesus welcomed what he said and granted his request.
Your situation is no worse than what the centurion faced. Do what he did – take it to Jesus. Jesus has the power to see you through. Whatever you are facing, know that with God you will get through it. Bron and I faced a situation this week. Early on, when we were trying to figure out what was happening and what we needed to do, I said, “We will get through this.” I said it to encourage us to persevere – to keep going and not give up. And I say it to encourage you: “You will get through this.” There is nothing we and God together can’t handle.
What helps us believe that God is able to do amazing things in our lives and in the world around us? What helps us have faith like the centurion? Imagine these symbols and consider.
An ear: we listen to what people tell us about what God has done. The people of God at the time of Elijah were not prepared to listen to what Elijah said about God, but the centurion had listened and he acted on it.
An eye: we look around to see what God is doing and we read the Bible to discover more about what God has done in the past. The people of God at the time of Elijah were not looking around for evidence of God’s goodness or power.
A mouth: we speak about God’s great deeds to others, for it is often in telling others that we become convinced ourselves. In Psalm 96 the psalmist encourages people to sing to the Lord and declare his salvation and wonders to the world. The centurion told lots of people why he could have such deep faith in Jesus.
Do you feel you haven’t the faith for this? Your faith will grow as you put your trust in God.
An ear: if we listen to what others tell us about Jesus, then our faith can grow.
An eye: if we look around us, we can see evidence of God at work in our world and so our faith can grow.
A mouth: if we tell others about Jesus, then we can see how they too respond to him and our faith can grow. To keep a blessing share it.
It helps when we recognise that faith grows when we see God do something extraordinary and when we simply trust Jesus. And when we simply trust Jesus and he does something – be it extraordinary or ordinary – tell the story giving him the credit for what he’s done.