Elijah’s
Three Mistakes! Part 1
Sermon Notes
February 28, 2010
Jim O’Neal, Senior Pastor
1 Kings 19:1-18 NRSV
1Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how
he had killed all the prophets with the sword.
2Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the
gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life like the life of one
of them by this time tomorrow.” 3Then
he was afraid; he got up and fled for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which belongs to
4But he himself went a day’s journey into the
wilderness, and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die: “It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my
life, for I am no better than my ancestors.”
5Then he lay down under the broom
tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel
touched him and said to him, “Get up and eat.”
6He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot
stones, and a jar of water. He ate and
drank, and lay down again. 7The
angel of the LORD came a second time, touched him, and said, “Get up and eat,
otherwise the journey will be too much for you.” 8He got up, and ate and drank;
then he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God.
9At that place he came to a cave, and spent the night there.
Then the word of the
LORD came to him, saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 10He answered, “I have been very
zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your
covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the
sword. I alone am left, and they are
seeking my life, to take it away.”
11He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the
LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.”
Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains
and breaking rocks in pieces 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; 12and
after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the
fire a sound of sheer silence. 13When
Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at
the entrance of the cave. Then there
came a voice to him that said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 14He answered, “I have been very
zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your
covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the
sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking
my life, to take it away.” 15Then
the LORD said to him, “Go, return on your way to the
wilderness of
A.
Introduction
1. Dr.
Norman Vincent Peale
a. Doctor Norman Vincent Peale was asked
to speak at a meeting of the Adirondack Women’s League. A musical group had also been asked to
perform. On the way there the musicians’
car was involved in a slight fender-bender, and the band would be a little
late. The Chair Lady stood up and said.
“Ladies we are forced to change the order of our announced program. While we are waiting for the talent to arrive,
we shall hear from the minister.”
b. Too often the world puts us down, and
at times beats us up. This can cause us
to lose faith in ourselves, others, and even God.
2. Today’s
Scripture: 1 Kings 19:1-18
a. This is what happened to Elijah. He lost faith, even though he was a man very
much in tune with God’s Spirit, and a man through whom God had done marvelous
things. Elijah let wicked Queen Jezebel
get to him. Her vile words, her threats,
and the might of her armies scared Elijah, and caused him to doubt himself, his
nation, and even God.
b. Now if Elijah the Prophet of God, who did
such marvelous things as calling down fire from heaven to light an altar, could
lose faith, then so can you and I. This
morning Elijah reminds us not to make his three mistakes, and I shall talk
about two of these today. Next Sunday, I
will deal with Elijah’s third mistake.
B.
He lost faith in himself.
1.
Workman’s Compensation Claim
a. A bricklayer fixing a chimney made a
claim with Workman’s Compensation for some injuries. He had a dislocated shoulder, a broken
finger, broken femur, cracked ribs, numerous cuts on the arms and buttocks that
required stitches, and a concussion.
When asked to explain how it happened this was his tale: When I got to the work site I discovered that
the hurricane had knocked some bricks off the top of the chimney. So I rigged up a beam and pulley at the top
of the building and hoisted up a couple of barrels of bricks. When I had fixed the chimney, there were a
lot of bricks left over. So I hoisted
the barrel back up, secured the line at the bottom, climbed back up to the
roof, and filled the barrel with the extra bricks. Then I went to the bottom and untied the
rope. Unfortunately, the barrel of
bricks was heavier than I was, and before I knew what was happening the barrel
started down, jerking me off the ground. I decided to hang on and half way up I met
the barrel coming down and received a sharp blow to the shoulder. I then continued to the top, banging my head
against the beam, and jamming my fingers into the pulley. When the barrel hit the ground it burst its
bottom, allowing the bricks to spill out.
I was heavier than the empty barrel, and so I started down at high
speed. Halfway down I met the barrel and
received a severe injury to my shins.
When I hit the ground, I heard a snap in my leg, and I landed on the
broken bricks, getting a number of deep cuts to many parts of my body. I set there for the longest time, relieved
that I was still alive. I stood up on my
one good leg, and not thinking let go of the rope. The barrel came down apparently knocking me
out, and the next thing I remember is being in the hospital.
b. Now we laugh and quietly say, “What an
idiot!” Yet if we are honest we have to
admit that we too have had days like that where nothing we do seems to work or
to please anybody else. And it’s easy to
lose faith in yourself.
2. Abraham
Lincoln
a. Most of us would probably consider
Abraham Lincoln to be one of the greatest Presidents. But he would have never obtained that
distinction, if he had given up on himself.
And Abe had lots of reasons to give up and quit. Before becoming President of the
b. All this happened before he was
elected President. Abe didn’t give up on
himself!
3. Today’s
Scripture: 1 Kings 19:4
a. That was Elijah’s first mistake. “Take my life,”
he laments in verse four, “I am no better
than my ancestors.” (1 Kings 19:4 NIV) Elijah lost faith in himself. No matter how many victories he had enjoyed,
or how many enemies he had defeated, he stumbled over one little stone in his
path and is ready to quit! But Elijah
would see his mistake and go on and do great things for God! After Chapter 19 he reigns fire on some
worshippers of Baal-zebub, condemns both King Ahab
and Ahaziah for their evil, parts the River Jordan
with his cloak, and rides a fiery chariot into Heaven!
b. How about you? Have you given up on yourself? Have you allowed one or several setbacks to
blind you to your successes? Do you
doubt that God has great things in store for you? My friends, God does not make junk. You are handcrafted by a loving Father in
Heaven. God believes in you. So believe in God, and get ready because
someday you too will ride that fiery chariot to victory!
C.
He lost faith in others.
1. Peanuts
Comic Strip
a. One year around Christmas time Charles
Schulz told this tale in the Peanuts Comic Strip: In panel number one, Lucy and Linus are holding hands and smiling. Lucy says loudly, “We’re brother and sister
and we love each other!” In panel two
Charlie Brown just can’t believe his eyes and ears. After all, Lucy and Linus
never get along. Lucy is always picking
on her little brother and very often mean to him. They show very little love to each
other. So Charlie Brown says, “You’re hypocrites, that’s what you are! Do you really think you can fool Santa Claus
this way?” In the next panel Lucy and Linus are still smiling and holding hands. As they walk away Lucy says quietly, “Why
not? We’re a couple of sharp kids, and
he’s just an old man.” In the final
panel Charlie Brown cries out, “I weep for our generation!”
b. A lot of us weep for the hypocrisy,
the unfaithfulness, dishonesty, selfishness, cruelty, and greed of not only our
generation, but of society and the world in general. It is hard at times to watch the daily news
and not become a skeptic. Perverts
molest and kill children. Parents kill
their children. Neighbors argue over a
hedge and one shoots the other.
Terrorists continue to kill innocent people. And at times there seems to be no justice as
clever lawyers get lawbreakers off. And
even in our own everyday lives, people disappoint us. A co-worker belittles you. A relative fails you. A friend lies to you. It is easy for us at times, because we focus
just on the negative events, to lose faith in others.
2. Woman
who returned Jason’s wallet
a. Every so often someone restores your
faith in human nature. A number of
summers ago I was working at my home office.
The doorbell rang. There stood a
woman holding a paper sack. She asked,
“Is this where Jason O’Neal lives?”
“Yes,” I replied, “he’s my oldest son.”
She said, “Then I’ll just leave this for him. I found it in the road.” “What is it?” I asked. “It’s his wallet,” she replied. “Then could I have your name and address so
that he can thank you?” I asked. She
turned and as she left replied, “It’s not necessary. I just believe as my Lord said, ‘Do for others as you would like them to do for you.’”
(Luke 6:31 NLT) Sure enough in the sack
was Jason’s wallet. And everything was
there: His identification, his driver’s
license, his credit cards and money!
b. A young adult stopped to see some
friends, goofed off in their front yard and forgot that he had left his wallet
on the hood of his car. A woman returned
it. There are a lot of good people out
there. Sometimes it is a stranger, but
quite often the caring person is someone we know as family or friend. And they have been there for us even at the
tough times.
3. Today’s
Scripture: 1 Kings 19:10 & 14
a. Elijah’s second mistake was that he
lost faith in others. Twice in today’s
Scripture lesson he says, “I have been
very zealous for the LORD God Almighty.
The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and
put your prophets to death with the sword.
I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” (1 Kings 19:10 & 14 NIV) Poor Elijah. He is saying, “I am the only one left… I am
the only decent, moral person left. The
rest are a bunch of bums you can’t trust.”
b. We’ve all been there. And like Elijah we’re wrong. God in verse 18 reminds Elijah that there
were still some 7,000 people who had not bowed down to Baal. There were still 7,000 people who believed in
God! Elijah was not alone. And neither are you and I. There are still some decent, loving, God
fearing folks out there! And look
around, you can find them right here in the Sanctuary.
D.
Conclusion
1.
Recap: Elijah made three
mistakes. Today, we talked about two of
these.
a. He lost faith in
himself.
b. He lost faith in
others.
2. Next Sunday:
We will talk about how he lost faith in God.
3. Affirm your faith!
a. Elijah learned
from his mistakes, and once again he had faith in himself, others, and
God! And Elijah would leave this life
triumphantly in a fiery chariot!
b. You and I, also,
can have faith and live victoriously!
Believe in yourself, trust that there are those who do care, and above
all trust in God!
1 Kings 19:1-18 NRSV
1Ahab
told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets
with the sword. 2Then Jezebel
sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me, and more also,
if I do not make your life like the life of one of them by this time
tomorrow.” 3Then he was
afraid; he got up and fled for his life, and came to Beer-sheba,
which belongs to
4But he
himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a
solitary broom tree. He asked that he
might die: “It is enough; now, O LORD,
take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.” 5Then he lay
down under the broom tree and fell asleep.
Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, “Get up and eat.” 6He looked, and there at his head
was a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and lay down again. 7The angel of the LORD came a
second time, touched him, and said, “Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will
be too much for you.” 8He got
up, and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food forty days and
forty nights to Horeb the mount of God. 9At that place he came to a cave,
and spent the night there.
Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “What
are you doing here, Elijah?” 10He
answered, “I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the
Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed
your prophets with the sword. I alone am
left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.”
11He
said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD, for the LORD is about
to pass by.” Now there was a great wind,
so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces 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; 12and after the earthquake a
fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer
silence. 13When Elijah heard
it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of
the cave. Then there came a voice to him
that said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
14He answered, “I have been very zealous for the LORD, the
God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your
altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my
life, to take it away.” 15Then
the LORD said to him, “Go, return on your way to the
wilderness of
Elijah’s Three Mistakes:
1.
He lost faith in himself.
2.
He lost faith in others.
3.
He lost faith in God.
The
Lesson Elijah learned:
(Affirm your faith!)
1. Believe in yourself!
2. Trust that there are those who do care about you!
3. And above all trust in God!