CONSUMED
1 Kings 18:21-24, 26, 29-30, 36-39 September 14, 2003
CCI: We are being consumed, what is consuming us?
Intro: On Wednesday morning at 7:00 local time, more than 2 ½ million students from all 50 states and numerous countries around the world, will gather around the flag poles at their schools to pray. This student organized, student led movement is in it’s 14th year and continues to grow in leaps and bounds. As a result of this prayer gathering, hundreds of High School Bible Studies have sprung up in schools. In addition, God has used this movement to draw thousands to Christ, transforming their lives. Some schools have 75-200 students in attendance, others may have only one, but each and every student that gathers, knows that they are not alone and can testify to the Power of God through this event.
Each year a passage of scripture is selected as a theme for SYATP. This year the theme passage take from I Kings 18. Listen now for the Word of the Lord as I read selections from the Showdown on Carmel:
Elijah went before the people and said, "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him."
But the people said nothing.
[22] Then Elijah said to them, "I am the only one of the LORD'S prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets. [23] Get two bulls for us. Let them choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. [24] Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the LORD. The god who answers by fire--he is God."
Then all the people said, "What you say is good."
Then they took the ox which was given them and they prepared it and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon saying, "O Baal, answer us." But there was no voice and no one answered. And they leaped about the altar which they made.
And it came about when midday was past, that they raved until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice; but there was no voice, no one answered, and no one paid attention.
[30] Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come near to me." So all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD which had been torn down.
Then it came about at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, "O LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, today let it be known that Thou art God in Israel, and that I am Thy servant, and that I have done all these things at Thy word. [37] "Answer me, O LORD, answer me, that this people may know that Thou, O LORD, art God, and that Thou hast turned their heart back again." [38] Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. [39] And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, "The LORD, He is God; the LORD, He is God."
Intro continued: There are two phrases in this passage that have captured my attention. They are words of conviction. The first is a question of decision, How long will you waver? The second is a declaration of God’s actions, “The fire of the Lord consumed the sacrifice.” These phrases raise questions that we must each answer.
I. The Question
A. How Long will you waver?
The first question comes at the very beginning of what we just read: How long will you waver between two opinions? It was a challenge. When Elijah met the priests of Ba’al on Mt Carmel the Northern Kingdom of Israel was in religious turmoil. Economically, they were quite successful, but they had turned their backs on God. Instead of faithful worship, they had turned to worship of the gods that the people of the land worshiped.
There were times they felt regret, and would return to the Lord briefly, but it never lasted. They were like grain in the fields that is blown by the wind. From opinion to opinion they swayed, from God to god. When Elijah asked this question he was declaring that it was time to decide.
Years before, as the people settled into the land, Joshua had posed a similar question. He said, “Choose today who you will serve, the gods your forefathers served, or the gods of the Amorites, but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord!” That day, the people declared their desire to serve the Lord, but as generations passed, their commitment became less and less until now, they could not decide between the Lord and the local god, Ba’al.
Choose! Don’t waver! It is almost as if the prophet would rather see them commit themselves completely to Ba’al rather than waver.
B. The Reality of Wavering
Wavering is dangerous. When we waver, no one is sure of where we stand. Indecision is decision. Many times I have had people say, “I am thinking about joining the church, or about committing my life to Jesus, or I’m thinking about being baptized, or teaching Sunday School, or volunteering in the community. But they never get beyond the thinking stage. Perhaps it is more accurate to call it the wavering stage.
When we waver, our indecision can begin to control us. Where do we go? What will we decide? How do we decide? Perhaps we are afraid to commit. Or maybe we don’t want to offend. There may be many reason for us to waver, but the result of wavering is never good.
Without a clear commitment to God, they could not follow, their witness to the world was worthless and though they had left the wilderness many generations before, they were still wandering. Why do you waver? The indecision of the nation, was consuming them.
And that takes us to the second phrase “Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt offering. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, "The LORD, He is God; the LORD, He is God."”
II. The Response
A. Consumed!
The word consumed is for me a powerful word. When I have watched people who are starving eat their first meal in days, they do not simply eat it, they consume it. I have also watched the effects of infection or cancer on people I have loved, and I have watched those loved ones be consumed by the sickness.
In the same way, each of us are being consumed by something.
The Prophets of Ba’al were consumed by their lust for power. They had the backing of the queen and they had the acclaim of the people. They were consumed by the sincerity of their worship. They did not simply pray, they were sincere and passionate. They shouted, they danced and they cut themselves. They really believed. But their belief was misdirected and it ate them up. The prophets were consumed.
Elijah was consumed by his love for the Lord. That passionate love gave him courage to stand before the king who was surrounded by “yes men” and speak the truth. The love of the Lord that consumed him, gave him the faith to believe that God would provide for him during a famine. The love of the Lord which consumed him, ultimately brought him to a place where God caught him up into heaven and so he would not face death. Elijah was consumed.
Each of us are being consumed by something today. And the reality is, most of us do not even know it. It is like a slow growing cancer that silently moves through the body, until it is too late. It may be bitterness that is consuming us. When anger and hurt are permitted to grow, and forgiveness is extended, the result is a cancer of bitterness that consumes our soul. When the desire for things motivates us, greed grows like a cancer that consumes our love and leaves us with an emptiness that the things we acquire will never satisfy.
Even relatively good things can consume us and keep us from living full lives that bring glory to God. Some people are consumed by their hobbies. Perhaps you find yourself so entangled in school, golf, fishing, reading, sewing or television that there is no time for anything else. We can be consumed by our work, or our families to such a degree that there is little left of us.
But God also seeks to consume us. On Mt Carmel, when Elijah prepared his sacrifice and placed it on the altar, God accepted that simple offering and with fire from heaven, claimed it as his own by consuming it completely. In the same way, God had consumed the heart and soul of Elijah, and on that day, he consumed the hearts of the people because when the fire fell, the people also fell on their faces and declared, "The LORD, He is God; the LORD, He is God." They had seen him move and they were willing to let him move in their hearts.
You see, the things which consume us, become the things we will worship. And that is why we must not waver between two opinions. When God consumes us, we are then free to live life fully.
While the sacrifice on Carmel was instantly taken, our lives are more often consumed by God piece by piece. Sometimes it is painful as God cuts out the infections of greed and jealousy. But if we will choose not to waver between two opinions, but follow God without holding back, he will consume our love and give us his own. He will consume our will and give us his will. He will consume our goals and give us his goals.
Are your current pursuits bringing you lasting joy? Or do they leave you with an emptiness that will not go away? What is consuming you? Jesus said, “I have come that you may have life and have it abundantly.”
On Wednesday, 2.5 million students around the world will gather at their schools and offer themselves to God. They will ask God to consume them this year. They will ask God to let his fire fall on their hearts and on the hearts of their friends. They will challenge one another to no longer waver between serving God and serving status or popularity or peer pressure, but to choose to serve God.
As these students come together, I would challenge the rest of us stop wavering. God has given us a mission to carry out. We are called to be the body of Christ, Christ’s own presence in this community, will you welcome his fire in your life that you may be consumed for Christ?
