"Elijah suffered because he alone was faithful to the true God of Israel. Like Job, he showed patient endurance."
The four
stained glass windows (two on each side) at the bottom of the north and south
walls of our church temple are the major prophets of the Old Testament:
Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel and Isaiah. Together with the twelve apostles (six on
each side) this demonstrates the intimate link between the faithful of the Old
Covenant in Israel with the faithful of the New Covenant in Christ, also known
as the Church or the Body of Christ. The four major prophets are recognized as
such because their books form the longest prophetic writings that appear in the
Old Testament of the Bible. Shorter books of the Twelve Minor Prophets also
appear in the Old Testament: Hosea, Amos, Micah, Joe, Obadiah, Jonah, Nahum,
Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. And there are even more
prophets that played a major role in the life of Israel.
One of
those prophets is celebrated today, July 20th, every year and is very well
known in Greece. He is the prophet Elijah. That is his Hebrew name. His Greek
name is Elias. He is such an important figure in the life of the Orthodox
Church that three Old Testament readings are appointed to be read at the
Vespers service of his feast and the Epistle reading selected for his feast
supersedes the customary epistle assigned for the Sixth Sunday of Matthew. That
may not mean much to those not familiar with the details of our lectionary
system but let it be known that this typically only occurs for the major feasts
of the Lord, the Virgin Mary and a very few major saints. Thus, Elijah is very
highly esteemed in the Orthodox Tradition. Why is that? What is about Elijah
that makes him worthy of such attention.
Well
today’s Epistle reading for Prophet Elijah is from James 5:10-20 and it
provides a template for us to learn about this prophet and to learn from him as
well. First, Elijah is mentioned specifically in verse 17: Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed fervently that it might
not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then
he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth yielded its harvest.
This is
referring to Elijah warning King Ahab of the drought to come. He says, “there
shall not be any dew nor rain during these years except at my word” (1Kings
17:1). At that time, Ahab and his wife Jezebel were leading the Israelites to
the worship of the false god of Baal including child sacrifices. This drought
will set the stage for the dramatic victory of Elijah over the false prophets
of Baal. We will return to that in a moment.
The
second lesson mentioned in today’s Epistle of James is in the following verses
(13-15): Are any among you suffering?
They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. Are any
among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them
pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of
faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has
committed sins will be forgiven.
In our
Orthodox Christian Faith, this is exactly what we practice. The elders
(presbeteroi) are the presbyters or priests whom we call when we are sick. They
visit us if we cannot come to the church. They pray for us. They anoint us with
the oil of the Sacrament/Mystery of Holy Unction (Euchelaion = literally the
good/blessed oil). The prophet Elijah visited the widow of Zarephath (1Kings
17:8-24) whose son had died. Elijah takes the boy into his arms and prays over
him three times and raises him from the dead. This dynamic is reemphasized in
James 5:16 “The prayer of the righteous
is powerful and effective.”
Thirdly,
let us now return to the drought in Israel. The people had strayed so far from
their traditional faith to the false worship of Baal that Elijah was the only
prophet left of the true God, the Lord of Israel. In dramatic fashion, Elijah
challenges Ahab (1Kings 18:18) to a contest to see whose God could end the
drought. Elijah tells Ahab to bring the 850 false prophets (v.19) and they were
given an ox to sacrifice to their god (v.23). The false prophets placed their
ox on wood and called upon their God from morning till noon to send down fire
from heaven but nothing happened (v.26). Elijah mocks them (v.27) and then he
rebuilds the abandoned broken down altar of Israel (vv.31-32). He lays the wood
and the ox on the altar and then drenches the sacrifice three times with water
(vv.33-35). Then Elijah prays and (vv.36-37) and God sends fire down from
heaven and consumes the ox, the wood and the water (v.38). After this dramatic
victory, Elijah and the people gather all the false prophets and execute them
(v.40). Elijah then prays seven times and the drought ends (vv.41-46).
How did
Jezebel respond to this demonstration of Elijah’s faith and God’s power? Did
she turn from her idolatry to the true God? No, she sets out to capture and
kill Elijah. Here we see the fourth example of Elijah. In first verses of
today’s Epistle it says, As an example of
suffering and patience, beloved, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the
Lord. Indeed we call blessed those who showed endurance. You have heard of the
endurance of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is
compassionate and merciful. (vv.10-11)
Elijah
suffered because he alone was faithful to the true God of Israel. Like Job, he
showed patient endurance. Not only did he suffer persecution, but somewhat
unjustly, he was taken from earth before the earthly destruction of Ahab and
Jezebel.
In
conclusion, can we imitate Elijah in his great and deep faith in the one, true
God? Like him, do we turn to God in fervent prayer with abiding trust? When
those prayers are not answered do we give up or do we continue to implore God,
seeking to understand and accept His will? When we are sick, whether in soul or
body, do we turn faithfully to the priest and ask for his righteous prayers and
the anointing of Holy Unction Oil? Do we pray for others who are sick and
encourage them also to receive the great Mystery of Healing? Are we willing to
take them up into our arms and carry them to the upper room of the Church? Will
we be like the friends of the paralytic who brought him to Christ in today’s
Gospel from the Sixth Sunday of Matthew (9:1-8)? When we realize the continuing
and constant illness our soul is due to our sins, will we follow the
commandment of James in today’s Epistle when he says, “Therefore
confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be
healed”?
Can we
face the fact that we have set up many false gods in our lives and the lives of
our children, sacrificing them to sports and all sorts of other entertainment
at the expense of a growing, maturing, intimate relationship with God the
Father, His Son Jesus Christ, and the All-Holy Spirit? And, are willing to
eliminate the false prophets who tell us lies and deceive us into abandoning
our true Creator?
Finally,
let us remember today on the Feast of Elijah, that he also appeared in the New
Testament with Moses next to Christ when He was Transfigured on Mount Tabor
before James, Peter and John (Mt.17:1-3; Mk.9:2-8; Lk.9:27-36). Elijah’s
appearance at this moment is traditionally interpreted as him representing both
the prophets of Israel and all the living because he was taken up alive into
heaven on the fiery chariot (2Kings 2:1,6-14). Thus, Christ is the God of the
Law (Moses) and the Prophets, as well as the God of the living and the dead
(Moses). Ask yourself, is Christ the God of me? Amen!
Source: http://stgeorgegoc.org/pastors-corner/fr-ricks-sermons/example-of-prophet-elijah
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