1. Elijah runs away
This year, we are reading the books of Kings and learned about the idolatry of Baal last Sunday. It was conducted by Ahab, the king of Israel, and his wife Jezebel. Against that idolatry, the prophet Elijah stood up. He carried out alone a duel to defeat 450 prophets of Baal. Then Elijah made those prophets executed to establish his ultimate victory. In that way, the war between God and Baal should have ended. And the idolatry should have been thrown away from Israel. Nonetheless, Jezebel, as the leader of the idolatrous worship, gave the order to arrest and kill Elijah. Her decision altered the situation totally. Elijah, in his turn, had to escape and hide himself. In those unacceptable circumstances, Elijah despaired and even wished to die. But God encouraged him. Elijah was empowered by God¡Çs words to rise up once more as an authentic prophet. Today¡Çs reading portion 1 King 19 also teaches us how to make our mind up to try again, regardless of present misfortune or failure.

Elijah defeated prophets of Baal on the Mount Carmel. Nevertheless the balance of power in the nation didn¡Çt change. The rulers were still Ahab and Jezebel. And Jezebel, the leader of Baal-worship, get furious about the result of the duel. The book of 1 kings keep telling the following part of the story. ; - So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “May the gods punish me terribly if by this time tomorrow I don’t kill you just as you killed those prophets.¡É When Elijah heard this, he was afraid and ran for his life, (1 Kings 19:2-3)

Just after the duel, the people had cried ¡ÈThe Lord is God! The Lord is God! ¡É But they kept silence hearing the order of Jezebel. The reaction of Elijah seems unsuitable for the prophet who had fought alone against idolaters so courageously.

Anyway, Elijah escaped form Israel and run away to Beersheba in Judah, which was beyond the dominance of Jezebel. Elijah felt exhausted and hopeless then. ; - He sat down under a bush and asked to die. ¡ÈI have had enough, Lord,¡É he prayed. ¡ÈLet me die. I am no better than my ancestors.¡É(1 Kings 19:4)

Elijah felt strongly luck of energy and get desperate. Despite whatever he did, any surrounding situations were altered. Or, rather they worsened. Even after his victory over prophets of Baal Jezebel, the idolater, kept the ruling power over Israel. Elijah couldn¡Çt understand what God intended for. In short, his faith became fragile.

But the messenger of God appeared before Elijah. ; - Suddenly an angel came to him and touched him. “Get up and eat,” the angel said. Elijah saw near his head a loaf baked over coals and a jar of water, so he ate and drank. Then he went back to sleep. (1 Kings 19:5-6)

Then, the same thing happened again.; - Later the Lord’s angel came to him a second time. The angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat. If you don’t, the journey will be too hard for you.¡É(1 Kings 19:7)

The act of the angel indicated that the journey of Elijah didn¡Çt end in Beersheba though it was a safety place. Indeed, God gave him another mission to accomplish. So, after eating and sleeping enough, Elijah resumed his journey. The next destination was
Mount Sinai (or Mount Horeb*1), the mountain of God. The distance from Beersheba to the Mount Sinai was 300 kilometers. And it was the place where Moses received the calling from God. Besides, the Ten Commandments and the Old Covenant were also accorded there by God to the Jewish people. As those facts show, Elijah was led to the starting point of Judaism.
The experience of Elijah makes us aware that life is a journey. And we are all time on a halfway of that journey, until our physical end, the death. For instance, even though our children grow up to be independent, another task to achieve should be given. Or, after the retirement of job, we should aim at the next activity. As log as we are alive, we must keep facing new challenges courageously, even though reluctently.
*1 Mount Horeb http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Horeb

2. Encouragement to an exhausted man ~ a new calling
Arriving at Mount Sinai (or Horeb), Elijah found a cave and he passed one night inside. God voice came to him there. ; - ¡ÈElijah! Why are you here?¡É(1 Kings 19:9)

God reproached him for hiding himself to avoid the authority. In fact, he was scared of their oppression. So Elijah explained his situations. ; - …¡ÈLord God All-Powerful, I have always served you as well as I could. But the people of Israel have broken their agreement with you, destroyed your altars, and killed your prophets with swords. I am the only prophet left, and now they are trying to kill me, too.¡É(1 Kings 19:10)

His explanation is filled with excuses. He tried to stress what he had done for God before. God listened to and gave him a new order, then disappeared. ; - The Lord said to Elijah, “Go, stand in front of me on the mountain, and I will pass by you.” Then a very strong wind blew until it caused the mountains to fall apart and large rocks to break in front of the Lord. (1 Kings 19:11 )

God reminded Elijah of what he must to do. Elijah was pushed to stand firm again in front of God. He must get out of the cave to begin with. Getting out of psychological hiding place is very important for us too. Because, facing hard difficulties, we often want to isolate ourselves inside. Then, we look at only negative facets of ourselves. That attitude generate easily new problems which are more difficult to resolve than original ones. In that way, we surrender to the present circumstances.

Elijah might hesitate at first. But there was no alternative for him but obeying God. Tough he couldn¡Çt see physically, God let him feel Himself in divine ways. ; - … the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind, there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake, there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. After the fire, there was a quiet, gentle sound.(1 Kings 19:11-12)

To listen to the sound more clearly, Elijah gat out of the cave. It was again a voice of God.; - Then a voice said to him, ¡ÈElijah! Why are you here?¡É He answered, “Lord God All-Powerful, I have always served you as well as I could. But the people of Israel have broken their agreement with you, destroyed your altars, and killed your prophets with swords. I am the only prophet left, and now they are trying to kill me, too.¡É(1 Kings 19:13-14)
God would help him through tangible humans beings, not by supernatural effects. ; - The Lord said to him, ¡ÈGo back on the road that leads to the desert around Damascus. Enter that city, and pour olive oil on Hazael to make him king over Aram. Then pour oil on Jehu son of Nimshi to make him king over Israel. Next, pour oil on Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to make him a prophet in your place.¡É(1 Kings 19:15-16)
It means that the war against the idolatry would be victorious thanks to the help of those three persons. ; - Jehu will kill anyone who escapes from Hazael’s sword, and Elisha will kill anyone who escapes from Jehu’s sword.(1 Kings 19:17 )
the message might be interpreted this way:
— Hazael, a general of Aram, will kill the king of Aram and take over the throne. Then he attacks Israel to weaken the monarch of Ahab. As a result, Jehu, a general of the king Ahab, can uprise successfully against the family of Ahab and kill them. Then Jehu becomes the king of Israel. All prophets of Baal must be executed and temples of Baal be destructed. —

As a matter of fact, the idolatry of Baal was banished in 842 BC. However, the prophet who fulfilled God¡Çs will was not Elisha but Elisha,his successor. I think that the end of the story is very symbolic. We have no need to achieve the final goal. Even though we die before the achievement, someone must keep carrying out our project.

The Lord gave a new mission to Elijah who had been depressed. Seemingly hopeless situations can be a start of new life.
We cannot be stay always strong. Because all of us necessarily face certain boundaries. Even Moses, the greatest prophet, was once desperate and cried. ; - He asked the Lord, “Why have you brought me, your servant, this trouble?…. It is too much for me.15 If you are going to continue doing this to me, then kill me now…. (see Numbers 11:11-15)

Jeremiah also complained bitterly.; - Mother, I am sorry that you gave birth to me since I must accuse and criticize the whole land…..(see Jeremiah 15:10)

Nonetheless, they were given new missions by God and responded again to God¡Çs calling, as Elijah did. At that time, God gave Elijah consoling and encouraging words. That is today¡Çs invocation verse, 1 Kings 19:18 ; - ¡ÈI have seven thousand people left in Israel who have never bowed down before Baal and whose mouths have never kissed his idol.¡É

¡ÈSeven thousand¡É has a symbolic meaning. ¡ÈSeven¡É signifies ¡Èperfection¡É and number zeros represent uncountable quantity. The whole of them suggests that Elijah was not alone but have numerous supporters. Even though he cannot see them directly, many persons would share his wish and work for him. God promised him those spiritual partners.
Being encouraged by the promise, he set bak to Israel. He wasn¡Çt then hesitant to follow God¡Çs instructions. He overcame the inner crisis and his faith became totally firm. He was already filled with hope. Thus he set out to the place indicated by God to carry out what he must do.

3. Seven thousand people were left
God said to Elijah, ¡ÈI have seven thousand people left in Israel who have never bowed down before Baal.¡É It means that whatever happened, Elijah would always have supporters. God assured that he would never be a lonely worrier. The same words encouraged numerous preachers too, not only Elijah. We should count Paul first among them. We chose Romans 11:3-5 as today¡Çs invocation verses which shows how Paul was empowered by the same words of God.; - ¡È ¡ÆLord,¡Ç he(Elijah) said, ¡Æthey have killed your prophets, and they have destroyed your altars. I am the only prophet left, and now they are trying to kill me, too.¡Ç But what answer did God give Elijah? He said, ¡ÆBut I have left seven thousand people in Israel who have never bowed down before Baal.¡Ç It is the same now. There are a few people that God has chosen by his grace.¡É

Paul was a Jew. So he hoped that all the Jewish people arrived to believe in Jesus Christ though they had rejected and killed Jesus before. But they persecuted and chased Paul as a betrayer due to his ministry. They even wanted to kill him. It is true that God chose the Jewish people as his own people. And, for that reason, the future savior Jesus was born as a Jew. Nonetheless that very people rejected divinity of Jesus Christ. Why? When Paul was confused by that question, he remembered the fact that Paul¡Çs ministry converted at least a few Jews to Christianity. Then he recognized that those Jews were left by God, regardless of the others¡Ç refusal of the Good News. Thus he understood that, trough the faith of those faithful Jews, God intended to save all the people.

Paul was convinced that he had still have some who ¡Èwould never bow down before Baal.¡É That belief pushed him to continue the journey of ministry.

It seems that, to some extent, Japanese people interpret the life in the similar way to conservative Jewish people. They think that they live off their own ability and aptitude, not thanks to the love of Jesus Christ. Those persons won¡Çt admit that only Jesus¡Ç love can make humans live authentically. They consider their working company or bureau to be sources of life because of wedges. They are sure that they won¡Çt have big problems to live without God¡Çs love. When they face difficulties, they go to shrines or Buddhist temples to to get personal protections or material advantages in exchange of donation and prayers. However, once problems are resolved, they forget those regional divinities. That idolatrous attitude is the same as worship of Baal. In contrast, the church should¡Çt promise any resolution to secular problems or physical healing of illness. Therefore the majority of japanese take the church as powerless or even worthless. They have no intention to come to church. Or, even if they come to, they leave soon. Still, a few Japanese who ¡Èwould never bow down before Baal¡É must be left. So much so, we keep preaching.

We spread the Good News in looking for and finding those persons. Our congregation consists of 40 believers. The number is small but not completely regrettable. Because the fact that those 40 persons keep getting together ever Sunday to worship God is still encouraging. And, as long as each of us works as the salt of the earth, our whole ministry should launch a certain movement in this neighborhood. Tiny quantity of salt can make food tasty. The Gospel teaches always that the salvation would be given through such a few people. Those ¡Èwho will never bow down before Baal¡É are real treasures. We must not regret for the small size of congregation. Rather, we¡Çd better give thanks to God for gathering 40 here, despite difficulties of ministry.