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SUCCESS IS GOD'S JOB; LOYALTY IS OURS

You know, I read a story the other day — kind of a pastoral diary, I guess — and you honestly wonder how the Christian Church gets anywhere with these kinds of anecdotes happening all over. A young minister was assigned to a rural congregation, and admittedly it was small. There weren't more than about a dozen people coming to church regularly, and most of them were really rather flaky. The church had a lot of infighting, power struggles, bickering among the saints. And you would think with such a small church body — twelve or so — that they could get along, but no, not really.

So I was reading through the board meeting minutes, and I have to confess that the minister did his part. He worked hard; He taught classes on witnessing and evangelism. His sermons were very good. (Some transcripts were included in the report, and the pulpit messages were exceptional.) And this relatively unknown preacher stayed in that district for something like three years: toughing it out, making the visits, going to see sick people in the hospital, holding prayer seminars.

But down at the end of the report, there were some stats on how the church had grown. And basically it hadn't gone anywhere. The church started with about 12, and now it was going out with a whimper: still 12. In fact, you might as well make that 11, because one of the original charter members of the church went to the denominational headquarters and helped them get rid of the pastor. And then he quit too.

Well, I finished reading that report, and it was just stunning how the work of the Lord goes so slowly sometimes. You work and you work and you work, and what do you have to show Jesus for all your efforts? Will He understand when you sadly hand Him the progress reports showing no progress?

Actually, do you know something? Friend, I believe He will understand . . . because the pastor I described to you just a moment ago WAS Jesus Christ. It was Jesus who had a "church" of just 12 guys. And after three years of nonstop work, He still had just 12 guys. They were essentially as selfish and pride-filled and egotistical as they were the day He first invited them: "Leave your nets and follow Me." And as we all know, after all that labor in the fields of sin, one of the original 12 betrayed the pastor there in the dark of Gethsemane following the church board meeting in the Upper Room.

And here you and I have been studying the story of Elijah these past three weeks on the radio. How does it end up? With failure. God demonstrates His power on the top of Mount Carmel, and it doesn't even make a dent in the national conscience. Evil Queen Jezebel is just as determined in her opposition to God as she's ever been. And Elijah, who for three long years had been so faithful, realizes that he's a failure. All his preaching has been for nothing. All his courage has been for nothing. His great sermon, "Choose ye this day . . .", has been for nothing. And he runs for his life, out into the desert. As we studied yesterday, God finally came to him and in a still, small voice asked him: "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

And Elijah gave Him the litany: "Lord, I did this and I did that. I preached, I taught, I worked, I labored. But Israel's gone down the drain despite my best efforts. I'm the only one left, and now they all want to kill me too."
Here's the interesting thing. God acts like he doesn't even hear him. Here in I Kings 19, now starting in verse 15, after Elijah's poor-pitiful-me speech, God just gives him new instructions and essentially says: "Keep on going." And then adds, in a kind of by-the-way: "Just so you'll know, Elijah, I have a good seven thousand followers who haven't worshiped Baal. So you're not all by yourself in this battle. You just keep on truckin'."

I guess here in Day 15 of our radio Bible study on the topic of Elijah, there are two lessons we could glean from this story. The first one is that loyalty matters to God. It really does. That showdown on the top of Carmel was about loyalty. Who are you going to serve? Who are you going to have as your God? Who will you bow down to? And all through the saga, Elijah had been on the Lord's side. He'd obeyed when God asked him to do the hard things. He'd risked his life when God challenged him to confront evil.

But there's a second lesson right here at the close, in this story that seems to end with failure and flight. Because Elijah was right: Ahab and Jezebel were still on the throne. They were still brazenly leading the nation to ruin. In fact, it's clear over to chapter 22 before Ahab is finally killed at Ramoth Gilead; Jezebel doesn't meet her end until halfway through the book of II Kings, where Jehu has her thrown out of a window to her death, the same day her son, King Joram, is also assassinated. What a continuing, messy, bloody story . . . and Elijah had long since left the scene and wasn't around to see any of it.
And the second lesson is this, friend: when you're in the service of the Lord, and when you're actively being loyal to Him, then the results of all your work . . . are HIS responsibility. He's the Commander of the armies; He calls the shots. Your job as a foot soldier is to simply march in the campaigns He directs you to be in.

So here on Mount Horeb, where it looks like everything is crashing down, God simply carries on. He gives Elijah new instructions and tells him: "Don't be discouraged. I have My plans; I know what I'm doing. You get on the road, and go anoint Hazael king of Aram, Jehu king of Israel, and Elisha son of Shaphat to be your successor as prophet. The battle continues, and I'm going to make sure it all comes out right in the end."

We've borrowed some good study materials from a recent Bible study curriculum authored for use in my own Adventist denomination. Theologian Beatrice Neall, who used to teach Bible at Union College in Nebraska, invites us to read through some of the lofty spiritual dreams outlined in Luke chapter 1. And all through that beautiful messianic chapter, we read how the soon-to-be-born Redeemer was going to sit on the throne of King David. He would rule forever. The Messiah would provide salvation from all enemies. He would rescue the people. They would live without fear. They would be a light to the Gentiles. He and His kingdom would bring great glory to Israel. And then the lesson asked this quiet question: Did all these things come to pass? Did all these glorious goals reach fulfillment? And the answer is no. Dr. Neall takes us down 18 chapters later to where Jesus Himself, overlooking Jerusalem, begins to weep.

"If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace," He laments, "but now it is hidden from your eyes."

And then that Bible study curriculum I mentioned includes an encouraging quotation from the classic old book, The Desire of Ages, which was written about the life of Christ. Here it is:

"In the heart of Christ, where reigned perfect harmony with God, there was perfect peace. He was never elated by applause, nor dejected by censure or disappointment. Amid the greatest opposition and the must cruel treatment, He was still of good courage."

In a companion volume, the same writer, E. G. White, shares another observation which would be good for every modern-day Elijah to commit to memory:

"When we give ourselves wholly to God and in our work follow His directions, He makes Himself responsible for its accomplishment. He would not have us conjecture as to the success of our honest endeavors. Not once should we even think of failure." And then this marvelous truth: "We are to cooperate with One who knows no failure."

Isn't that tremendous? I remember back at the beginning of 2001 when Newsweek had a special "New Millennium" issue. And there was a report on religion in Europe, which is basically becoming a "post-Christian" society. Cathedrals stand empty; faithful preachers who have worked for Jesus their whole lives minister to tiny, straggling congregations in magnificent buildings that used to seat thousands. Should they be discouraged? Should they decry the global influences, the Internet competition, the legalized drugs, the busyness of life which has stolen away their flock? No — as long as they're loyal. Filling up those cathedrals is God's job. Finishing up the work is God's job. Bringing in a bountiful harvest is God's job . . . and it's our job to stay on the job. To do what we're told. To leave Mount Horeb and go over to Damascus because our Commander has given us a map and a set of car keys to get to that destination.

So that's what our friend Elijah did. He came down from the mountain and got back to work. He went where God told him to go. He gave the messages the Lord moved upon his heart to deliver. He was loyal to the cause; he was faithful to the end.
And when it was all said and done . . . he rode home to Jesus in a chariot of fire. The End.