Who Do You Turn To?

“Help Me Please!Authentic Worship”
 Message @ Jericho Ridge Community Church – Sunday, Aug 27, 2017
Text: 2 Kings 1 // Series: Elijah: Bold Faith

Prayer

Lord our God, we Your people come to You this day

fully aware that we need your presence and your help in our lives,

yet aware as well that we often fail to stop and to turn to you for that help. 

We get caught up in the troubles and the turmoils of daily living—

we become busy with the goals that we have set for ourselves

and those that come to us from our work and our families and our friends.  

We strive to be loving,

we seek joy and peace,

we desire to be gentle and patient and kind,

to show goodness, and to have self-control—

and yet these things all too often elude us.  

Help us, Lord, to root ourselves more deeply in you;

to seek your will for our lives;

to stop and to listen for your voice when we are troubled;

to fully rely on you  when we strive to do what is right;

to remember you and trust in you when we are frazzled;

to meditate on your goodness and your gracious will when we begin each day—

so that like trees by a stream which send down their roots to the water,

we may produce by your power the fruit of your Spirit.

Gracious God,

we remember the concerns and prayers

that have been lifted up this past week

by members of this congregation and our community—

concerns & prayers so of which You alone know;
* For all those who are lonely, fearful or in pain

* for those who struggling with addictions and dependencies

that cripple their living and harm the world about them...

Lord, hear our prayer...

Thank you, Lord, for being our God and making us your people. 

Thank you for growing helping us to grow.  

Thank you for the ministry you entrust to us.  

May your will be done in us and by us,

both now and forevermore.  Amen.

~ from the Kir-shalom website. http://www.rockies.net/~spirit/sermons/c-or13su.php

Good morning, friends.  As I shared last week, it’s so good to be back from our summer sabbatical. I want to again thank the elders team for shepherding and leading well and also our amazing staff team.  It’s a privilege to be part of what God is doing here amongst us & in our city.

If you’ve been around Jericho for a while, you’ll know that in the past number of summers we have been moving through the Old Testament – book by book narrative by narrative, character by character.  And so this morning we are coming close to the end of the stories of Elijah, the prophet who demonstrates such bold faith and also such human frailty.  The book of James 5:17 reminds us that Elijah was a human being, just like you and I and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and half years.  Then, when he prayed again the sky sent down rain and the earth began to yield its crops.”  This summer we’ve seen Elijah display amazing faith, stunning cowardice, & incredible courage as he engages in some epic confrontations.  This morning, we are in 2 Kings 1 where Elijah confronts yet another king, this time it is Ahab’s son, King Ahaziah. 

Our story begins with a serious injury. Which seem to happen more frequently in the summer.  Do you find that in our house?  [take mic around] This summer, for example, I dislocated my pinky finger.  I was up at Camp Bob speaking, and I was playing a game called 9 square which is a kind of volleyball.  So I was poised like this defending my square, when some of the leaders in training thought it might be fun to spike the volleyball at incredible speed at the speaker to try and get him out of the game.  The ball jammed my finger so that it looked like an Allen key.  Not wanting to give them the satisfaction of knowing that they hurt me, I simply popped it back into place and stuck it in the cold stream beside the 9 square court for a few minutes and then rejoined the game.  My doctor says the swelling will go down in 6-8 weeks & the bone fragment will disappear in 6-8 months.

Another of my summer injury stories also happened at summer camp. I grew up attending camp in Northern Alberta and one summer,  I arrived early and they were putting in a new underground tank.  One of the really large round metal ones. They have hooks on the side so the cranes can lift them into place.  But a bunch of us got up on the tank and started rolling it back and forth and back and forth.  And it was fun… until I fell off.  And the metal tank kept coming at me because of the momentum of those on top rolling it!  I got almost all of me out of the way but at the last minute, my thumb got caught and twisted behind me and sliced right open so I could see the bone.  I filled two sinks with blood and had to be airlifted to the hospital for stiches.

But my very minor summer inquiries pale in comparison with King Ahaziah.  He fell through the lattice work of an upper room at his palace and was seriously injured.  So the text says in 2 Kings 1:2 that he “sent messengers to the temple of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, to ask whether he would recover”.  Now before we go any further, we have to pause and look at what is going on here.  The King of God’s people, the ancient nation of Israel, the leader, the one in charge, the one who is commanded in Deuteronomy to memorize God’s law and to be an example of righteousness and godliness to the people under his charge – King Ahaziah, instead of seeking the Lord in prayer or asking for a prophet to come and pray for him, he sends off messengers to the Philistine territory to ask after a demonic idol in a foreign temple if he will recover from his summer injury!  This is a problem.  And it has significant roots in Ahaziah’s family life and significant consequences for him personally. 

So I’ll tip my hand and tell you the point of the whole message today:  It’s contained in this little lyric about how what we do in challenging situations is incredibly telling about what is going in in our spiritual lives. 

Help Me, Please

If you want to know the status of someone’s soul,

In times of trouble, look where they go…

Ahaziah shows right away that his trust and confidence is NOT in God at all.  In fact, I Kings 22 gives us insight into his spiritual condition and how it mirrored that of his father: Ahaziah But he did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, following the example of his father and mother… who had led Israel to sin.

53 He served Baal and worshiped him, provoking the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, just as his father had done.”

Pastor Wally last week talked about God’s patience with us and how he is merciful but how there is also a clear accountability for sinful, wilful actions that take us out from under God’s gracious protection.  Ahazhiah was in that dangerous spot.  There’s not a ton of real estate in the Bible about his reign but we know that as a result of forsaking God he was beginning to experience political consequences (the country of Moab rebels), economic consequences (his business partnership with Judah is a failure) and now personal health consequences.  And his inquiry after Baal was simply another expression of his willful disdain for the Lord.  But his defiance catches up with him.  Look with me at 2 Kings 1:3… I’ll be reading from the New Living Translation. You can also follow along in your Bibles or on your smart phone – the Jericho Ridge app has a Bible section built into it.

Slide – 2 Kings 1:5-6
Slide 1:7-8 “He was a hairy man & he wore a leather belt around his waist”

Here’s the thing that astounds me about this confrontation.  Think about it for a moment… The secret musings of Ahaziah’s heart are known to God.  God knows that Ahazhiah is sending messengers to Baal and so He gives Elijah that info and sends Elijah to confront the king’s messengers.  So now King Ahaziah knows that Elijah knows that God knows what could only be known if you were present in the Kings court that day.  God demonstrates to the king that if he wants insight into the future, into his health condition, into his spiritual condition, that God is the One that is to be sought!  But remember our main point, if you want to know the status of someone’s soul, in times of trouble, look where they go.  Ahazhiah does not return to the Lord or repent and say “God, I want to change & seek insight and advice and forgiveness from You.”  No. He persists & deepens his sin.

So, now that the King knows that the disruptor of his mission was Elijah the prophet who made so much trouble for his parents and now is making trouble for him, what does he do?  Look with me at 2 Kings 1:9-10. 

We have to understand something here.  These men are not innocent bystanders that Elijah somehow uses some kind of superpower to incinerate.  These are soldiers of the king acting willingly under orders from the king.  Their approach lets us know that they don’t believe that Elijah is a man of God.  They act as if God is not real and Elijah is not really God’s servant.  And God judges them for their insolence and their refusal to disobey the orders of the wicked king Ahaziah.  There’s a saying in business & leadership “Speed of the Leader , Speed of the Team”.  King Ahaziah is setting the pace for wickedness & disbelief and those under his leadership are running at the same pace and speed. And so they experience in this instance the judgement of God.  It would have been wise for these soldiers to think about conscientious objection & civil disobedience but they plow right ahead with their assignment (indicates the conditions of their hearts!) 

So then the king sends a second group of 50 soldiers. They are more bold than the first & also, a little bit stupider because you know what happened to the first company of soldiers sent to this errand to arrest the prophet. But yet the captain goes anyway.  “Man of God, the king demands that you come down at once!”  Elijah replies again – If I am a man of God, let fire fall from heaven and destroy you and your 50 men”  And again the fire of God falls from heaven & kills them all

So now the king sends a third captain with 50 men. But this time, the captain is smart. And humble.  And he approaches Elijah with a recognition and affirmation that Elijah is indeed a man of God. [read v 13-14] And so the angel of the Lord says to Elijah “God down with him.  Don’t be afraid of him” So Elijah gets up and goes to the king.  ““And Elijah said to the king, “This is what the Lord says: Why did you send messengers to Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, to ask whether you will recover? Is there no God in Israel to answer your question? Therefore, because you have done this, you will never leave the bed you are lying on; you will surely die.” So Ahaziah died, just as the Lord had promised through Elijah.”

Is there no God in Israel?  The obvious answer is yes, BUT Ahaziah chose not to turn to Him for help in his time of trouble.  Which ought to prompt us to ask the question of our own lives: where do we turn when things are hard? When times are tough?  When life doesn’t go as we plan?  Who do we run to or what supports do we reach for when we are in a time of crisis?  There are lots of options available to us…  We can reach for unhealthy things: abusing alcohol or narcotics to numb the pain.  We can turn to things like gluttony or over-shopping to make us feel better.  We can spend endless hours on social media in a mindless daze trying to escape reality.  But today, the Lord is inviting you, reminding you and I, that when we need help, He is a very present help in times of trouble.  He is our refuge and strength.  Perhaps today you are here and have never turned to God.  You have lived life on your own strength & power.  But you are realizing the limitations of that strategy.  Today is the day for you to come and say to God “I need You.  I can’t do this on my own”  Confess, repent, receive   

An expression of our confidence in Him is reaching out to God and to other people in prayer.    As Chris and the team come to lead us in two songs of response, Mike Ryder and __________________ are making their way to the sides or the room.  Every week here at Jericho we have people who can pray with you.  There’s no special potency in their prayers.  This is just an expression of community.  That we are your faith community want to stand with you as you reach out to the Lord and invite Him to be your help and strength.  Go to them.   

You may want to respond just personally where you are.  Take a moment and think of a circumstance that is challenging for you.  You may have been trying to solve it every way you know how.  Like Ahaziah, you may be searching for help from everything and everyone, and today the Lord is reminding you “I want you to come to me with your heavy burdens. With you stressors and struggles and I will give you the rest you need”  I will give you the healing you seek.  Think of that circumstance – it might seem small. Maybe you are nervous about starting a new school.  Maybe it is a financial challenge that you are not sure how you’ll overcome it.  Maybe it’s a health challenge.  Big or small, when we turn to God in our time of need, it is an expression of our confident trust in Him as as provider, our Father, our friend.  Psalm 121 says I look up to the mountains— does my help come from there? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth! 3 He will not let you stumble; the one who watches over you will not slumber. 4 Indeed, he who watches over Israel never slumbers or sleeps. 5 The Lord himself watches over you! The Lord stands beside you as your protective shade. 6 The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon at night.