A prophet in crisis

In the Old Testament lesson for next Sunday, Elijah is a prophet in crisis. He has run away from everything because he feels persecuted and unappreciated. He has found shelter in a cave and now he's sulking.

God speaks to him in the cave. He says, "Elijah, what are you doing here?"

Elijah pouts, "Everyone is out to get me. It's all your fault that I'm so miserable."

God tells him to go out and stand on the mountain, because he is going to pass by. Elijah doesn't go out. He's pouting. So God sends a great wind, so great that it hurls boulders off the mountain. No response from Elijah. Then God shakes the earth with a great earthquake. No response. Then God sends a fire that rages over the mountain. Still Elijah sulks. He's not coming out.

Then God sends a silence. This silence is so deep and so profound that even Elijah knows that it is God. He comes out.

God says a second time, "Elijah, what are you doing here?"

And Elijah says the same thing, word for word, that he said the first time. But this time it sounds silly and unconvincing. "Everyone is out to get me."

God says to Elijah, "I'm taking all the responsibility off you. Go now, run away from this place and give the mantle of responsibility to Elishah and Jehu and Hazael. You're free now. I take this burden from you."

And starting on this day, Elijah becomes a man of utter peace, beyond all suffering and all strife. Even when he dies, he is taken up to heaven in a chariot because death can't get hold of him.

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