Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
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Introduction
Introduction
Jesse Whitlock was the prettiest girl in the first grade.
She had blonde hair, blue eyes, and the coolest giant Snoopy pencil you’ve ever seen.
And, she was my girlfriend.
Of all the dudes, I was her favorite dude.
The timing was really great, too.
I was just learning to read and write, which meant I could develop my Shakespearean English by writing love sonnets to my Juliet.
That is, until I realized she was telling my best friend, Mark, the same things she was telling me.
One day on the playground, I see Jesse — my Juliet — holding hands with that traitor I used to call my friend.
And, that’s when I realized that I loved her but she didn’t love me back.
There’s no worse feeling than loving someone who doesn’t love you back.
To realize that you’re giving of yourself to someone who is only interested in taking and not returning.
God’s Word
Like me chasing Jesse Whitlock in the first grade, it seems we’re always chasing love only to never be loved back.
That’s what’s happening with Israel in 1 Kings 18.
Over and again, they keep chasing after these false gods — especially Baal.
And, they keep chasing after Baal because Baal offers them more money, more success, more achievement than God seems to.
That’s what leads to the big confrontation that’s happening here between Elijah — God’s prophet — and Ahab — Israel’s king.
This confrontation makes clear that this A Story with Three Different Types of Love (Headline):
A story of “half-hearted” love.
1 Kings 18:21 “And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions?
If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.”
And the people did not answer him a word.”
You know, the thing about Jesse is that she was leading me on.
She would give me just enough attention to keep me interested, but never enough to show me real love.
This is the common approach to faith in Jesus today.
I’ll give him a little.
I’ll acknowledge that the evidence of his resurrection is impressive.
I’ll be baptized in case it’s true.
I’ll jump into a church service if nothing else is going on, but I can’t give him everything.
And, that’s exactly where Israel is in 1 Kings 18 in their relationship with the Lord.
When Elijah is able to confront all of Israel, he asks them: “How long will you go LIMPING between two opinions?”
“Limping” is an interesting word that will come up again in verse 26.
It can mean to be on two crutches so that you’re not on solid ground, or it can be the picture of hopping from one leg to the other.
It’s having one foot in two different camps.
It’s a description of half-hearted love.
It’s an attempt to love two opposing realities at the same time.
You see, half-hearted love...
Half-hearted love keeps its “options” open.
That’s how we should see this “limping”.
Isreal is open to the possibility of more gods, even better gods than what they would have thought of as their ancestral God.
That’s why the “people did not answer him a word.”
They didn’t want to decide.
They wanted the ability to jump at a better opportunity if it should present.
Did you know that 30% of Tinder users are married?
30% have made a vow to another person, but are keeping their options open.
Is that love?
Is it love when we reduce God to the margins of our lives so that we pay attention to him only if nothing more exciting or seemingly more advantageous comes along?
Are you keeping your options open with the Lord?
Because, it’s also true that...
Half-hearted love refuses to “commit”.
Elijah assures Isreal that their indecision really is a decision.
The very nature of God demands a decision.
So, Elijah asks them: Are you all in?
If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.”
You see, what Isreal really wanted was to be able to have both Baal and YHWH.
They wanted to keep their long history with YHWH and add to him the success and influence and wealth that Baal offered.
God had told them that He was the only God and they should love him, but they kept their hearts open to more.
That’s what we do, too.
We live in a world with a lot of gods, don’t we?
You can take some people’s social media posts about little league or sports or exercise or education or sex, and you could substitute the name Jesus, and the post would still make sense.
Our commitment to our own success and the achievement of our dreams is religious in nature.
Jesus becomes a contributor to our well-roundedness, just one slice of the pie rather than the blazing center of our lives, which is really just a way to say that He’s one god among many.
We want Jesus and we want popularity.
Both matter to us.
We want Jesus and to live like our friends too.
We want Jesus and every rusting treasure this world can offer us.
But, Is that love?
A God this great demands decisive faith.
He wants to set you free from worrying with all of that.
He wants to set you free from winning everyone’s approval and attaining success as this world defines it.
But, you have to decide: Will you go all in with him?
Not just a slice, but your whole life!
A story of “unanswered” love.
So, Elijah issues a challenge, a proposal.
There will be a contest between the LORD and Baal.
If Israel believes that Baal is a rival and competitor to the LORD, then we’ll settle this on the field.
They meet at Mt. Carmel, which is right on the edge of Baal territory.
Baal is given a bit of home-field advantage.
Baal’s 450 prophets will have first pick of the animal to sacrifice.
Double advantage Baal — they have more prophets and first pick in the draft.
Then, they’ll call down fire from heaven, which should be Baal’s specialty since he supposedly controls lightning.
Advantage Baal.
Elijah stacks the competition in Baal’s favor because dead men can’t dunk, even if it’s a six foot goal.
And, Elijah was proving to them that Baal didn’t love them back.
In both cases, the love had been one-sided.
As the prophets of Baal seek to prove his power, you see the tragedy of loving a god that doesn’t love you back.
Other gods are “absent” from the chase.
1 Kings 18:26-29 “And they took the bull that was given them, and they prepared it and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “O Baal, answer us!”
But there was no voice, and no one answered.
And they limped around the altar that they had made.
And at noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry aloud, for he is a god.
Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.”
And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their custom with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them.
And as midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice.
No one answered; no one paid attention.”
The day I found Jesse and Mark walking on the playground holding hands, I got off of the bus at home, and I cried as I walked up my driveway.
I wanted her to love me so badly, but she didn’t.
Thankfully, my mom did, and she made me some pizza and I got over it.
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