Sermon Tone Analysis
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Attention getter:
in the early 1940’s there was a polish catholic nurse who lived in Poland name Irena Sendler
during WWII She was social worker who stood opposed to Nazi Germany.
Not only was she opposed, but she was convinced that she had to do something to try and save the jewish children that were being shipped to concentration camps and were doomed to die in the Holocaust
during the war she developed a plan and a strategy to rescue kids from the holocaust by loading them into trash cans, shipping boxes and tool boxes so they could be shipped out out of danger.
She found convents and catholic families throughout Poland that would take the children and protect them.
Her efforts saved the lives of over 2500 jewish children
Attention getter:
This sort of bravery came from a deep faith in God.
For Irena Sendler to obey God was to risk everything, and trust that God was in Charge.
God called her to save these kids, and she had to obey, and trust that God was in charge.
And this sort of obedience and faith is what God calls all of us too.
God calls us to obey and trust that He is in charge
I saw this put into action while I was in seminary.
Tell the story of TOM
For Zach and Carie, they knew what God was calling them to do, so they obeyed, and trusted that God was in charge.
So Zach and Carri invited his friend to come and and live with them while in seminary.
So much of living the Christian life wrapped up in this idea
Zach and Carrie only had Beniah at the time, but Carrie was pregnant with Judah.
God calls us to obey and trust that he is in charge.
They had a two bedroom appartment and they were turning beniah
And we see this playing out over and over in the story of Elijah
Last week we met the characters in the story of Elijah
King Ahab
Queen Jezebel
Baal
Elijah
Elijah prophesied a drought to King Ahab which was a blatant attack and threat against their god, Baal.
The drought came, and Elijah had to get out of Israel.
So God sent him into the wilderness where God miraculously provided for him by having ravens bring him bread and meat each morning and evening.
Eventually the drought got so bad that it dried up Elijah’s water source.
What is there for Elijah to do now?
he can’t go home or Ahab and Jezebel will kill him
So we find in verse eight that God does not leave him to die in the wilderness but speaks to him and gives him instructions on what to do next.
Sidon: The Devil’s Den
God wants him to go where?
God is calling Elijah to go into the Devil’s Den, to Sidon which is the Baal’s home turf.
Did you pick that up?
Elijah’s prophecy against Baal has caused a drought that has spread beyond Israel and has affected the surrounding countries including Sidon.
Which we will get into in a little bit.
Sidon is also the home of Jezebel, this is where she is from and her father Ethbaal is king of Sidon.
God is sending Elijah into the heart of Baalism, and sending him into the presence of the enemy.
God doesn’t just tell Elijah to go there, but he tells Elijah to dwell there
God calling Elijah to dwell in Sidon is not a call to spend a few days there.
God is calling Elijah to settle down in Sidon, make this your home until you are told otherwise.
This is not week long stay, this is the sort of settling down to where Elijah needs to change his shipping address.
And update all his personal information.
This is not week long stay, this is the sort of settling down to where Elijah needs to change his shipping address.
And update all his personal information.
But what makes this even more difficult is whats been happening back home in Israel.
Jezebel who moved to Israel from Sidon brought Baal worship with her.
Israel now looks not much different than Sidon.
And when Elijah prophesied and caused the drought, Jezebel did not respond very well.
The evil queen and her evil husband did everything in their power to find and kill Elijah.
Not only that, but she also killed all the prophets of God in Israel (except for 100 who were hidden)
In fact, She proceeded to massacre all the prophets of God in Israel (except for 100 who were hidden)
Jezebel and Ahab sent messengers to all the kingdoms in all the nations looking for Elijah, making them swear oaths that they had not seen him.
Elijah is number one on Jezebel’s most wanted list.
And God, in his wonderful sense of humor sends Elijah to live in Jezebel’s home town while she is out turning the world upside down looking for him.
EXAMPLE
God telling Elijah to go and dwell in Sidon would have been like Irena Sendler sending kids to hideout in Berlin.
Irena Sendler lived in Poland during WWII.
She was social worker who stood opposed to Nazi Germany.
Not only was she opposed, but she was active in rescuing Jewish children from the Holocaust.
Her efforts saved the lives of over 2500 jewish children
She would send these children to safe places trying to hide them from the Nazis.
God sending Elijah to Sidon would have been like Irena Sendler sending jewish children to Berlin.
And yet, this is exactly what God does.
He sends Elijah into the Devil’s Den to live for over three years.
God tells Elijah that he has commanded a widow there to feed him
Food is a really big deal right with the famine because of the drought.
We have seen that God has supernaturally provided for Elijah by having ravins feed him
And now he assures Elijah that he will provide food for him in Sidon as well
This time its not ravins that will feed him, rather its a gentile widow.
For Elijah which one would be harder to believe, being fed by ravins or being fed by a widow?
To be honest, you might have better luck getting a good meal from ravins
But, God called Elijah to obey, and trust that he was in charge.
Widows were always in need, they were poor and relied on others to sustain them.
A widow in Iron Age Israel didn’t attend night school, they didn’t have programs that would help widows find a sustaining career
A widow in Iron Age Israel didn’t attend night school, gain computer skills, and nail down a position on the office staff of the local medical clinic.
She didn’t open up her own Kiddie Kare in her home to care for the children of mothers in the work force.
Widowhood was usually a dead end street, an existence of dirt under the fingernails, of scratching out the barest of livings.
If one could choose, ravens sounded more dependable than widows.
A widow in Iron Age Israel didn’t attend night school, gain computer skills, and nail down a position on the office staff of the local medical clinic.
She didn’t open up her own Kiddie Kare in her home to care for the children of mothers in the work force.
Widowhood was usually a dead end street, an existence of dirt under the fingernails, of scratching out the barest of livings.
If one could choose, ravens sounded more dependable than widows.
She didn’t open up her own home business to help pay the bills
Widowhood was a dead end street, an existence of dirt under the fingernails, of scratching out the barest of livings.
If one could choose, ravens sounded more dependable than widows.
Yet God, as happens over and over in the story of Elijah, flexes on behalf of his people.
He uses the most unlikely sources to provide for his people.
and he provides for his people in this most
He uses that which is unclean and weak to bring maximum glory to himself
And this is how God works, and this is good news for us!
Paul writes,
1 cor 1
God is not looking for the biggest and the strongest,
He’s not looking for the smartest and and richest
He’s not looking for the best looking and most talented
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