Sunday March 15, 10:30 a.m.

After the high drama of Elijah’s confrontation on Mount Carmel with the priests of Baal, this morning we explore a much quieter scene (I Kings 18:41-46). And yet it is a scene that is filled with great spiritual strength, one that moves me deeply. The Lord God has proven the claims of other gods empty, and now the prophet Elijah waits on the mountain for the Lord to act. He waits for rain promised by the life-giving God in whom he trusts.

The very posture of the prophet was one of trust and patience – ‘Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he bowed himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees’. Elijah sent a boy to scan the horizon for the clouds that would bring the rain. The boy return to report only a clear sky. Elijah sent the boy again, and again there is no cloud in sight. Seven times the prophet sent the boy, and only on the seventh time was the wisp of a cloud seen.

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Elijah, on the top of Mount Carmel, announced the impending rain before any single cloud in the sky appear (I Kings XVIII, 41-46) – Marc Chagall, 1956 – Musée national Message Biblique Marc Chagall, Nice, France

As a Christian, I wait for God’s ‘rain’ of justice and peace for humanity promised in Christ Jesus. There may be little evidence of the arrival of the Kingdom of God, yet Elijah reminds me of the profound perseverance of life in faith. We continue in our posture of trust – we continue to extend water to the thirsty and food to the hungry, we continue to embrace the refugee and care for this creation – not on the basis of what we do or even see, but because God is faithful to God’s promises.

So be it. Amen.

May it come soon
to the hungry
to the weeping
to those who thirst for your justice,
to those who have waited centuries
for a truly human life.
Grant us the patience
to smooth the way
on which your Kingdom comes to us.
Grant us hope
that we may not weary
in proclaiming and working for it,
despite so many conflicts,
threats and shortcomings.
Grant us a clear vision
that in the hour of our history
we may see the horizon,
and know the way
on which your Kingdom comes to us.

                                                      A prayer from Nicaragua in Bread of Tomorrow

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