Who here has never been burnt out? Who has never felt emptied of strength, energy, and motivation? It could be overwork and “underplay.” It could be one stress after another, draining your reserves past empty, leaving you gasping on fumes.
That was Elijah in our Old Testament reading. He had just faced down the prophets of Baal, testifying to whom the real God was. And the Lord had shut the naysayers’ mouths. One for God; zero for Baal. But that victory wasn’t total—and that lead to Elijah’s burnout.
Even though the King of Israel, Ahab, saw the showdown between God and Baal, it was as if God’s victory lasted only half a day. For King Ahab left, went back to his palace, and did nothing. Jezebel, his wife, still worshiped her pagan gods. And when she learned what Elijah had done—that her prophets of Baal were no more—she put a bounty on Elijah’s head. And, in fear, Elijah ran.
God had just performed a miraculous victory! Elijah knew, first hand, what God could do. And, yet, he still ran. Why? We find out when we read the part of 1st Kings before our Old Testament reading for today. When Elijah ran, he went much farther than he needed to go just to be safe. So, it wasn’t just that Elijah feared for his life.
And Elijah, far from Jezebel and her agents, hiding out in the hinterlands all by himself, collapsed in exhaustion. He then asked the Lord to take his life. He wanted to die. The threats from his enemies had stirred fear within him—but it was his spirit that buckled, even breaking. Elijah became disillusioned and plunged into despair.
So the angel of the Lord came to Elijah and gave him food and drink. He told that broken, burnt-out prophet not to quit. Elijah thought that he had gone out into the middle of nowhere to die, but the Lord still had more for him to do.
So, over the next 40 days, Elijah traveled about 200 miles, all the way to Mount Sinai. That was where God revealed Himself to Israel after He rescued them from Egypt. There, God had given them the Ten Commandments.
And the Lord brought Elijah to a particular cave on the mountain, maybe even the place where He had put Moses in the cleft of a rock. That was when God showed Moses His back, for no sinful being could see God’s full glory and still live. At that cave, God had let His goodness go before Moses as He proclaimed His name and His undeserved love (Exodus 33:18-23).
God was repeating history, at that same mountain, at Sinai. Just like God let Moses know that He had tasks for him to do, so it was with Elijah. And so, the Lord asked Elijah, two times, what he was doing. And Elijah answered, both times, with a string of complaints: “The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and killed your prophets” (1 Kings 19:10).
And to rub salt into that wound, Elijah finished, “And I’m the only one left, and now they’re trying to kill me!” (1 Kings 19:10). Yeah, Elijah was burnt out. He was sick to death. He just wanted to call it quits and go home to heaven. How could God have any use for him in a creation that seem beyond repair? And even if God still had tasks for Elijah to do, he no longer wanted any part of it.
You and I: We’ve all been there. For whatever reason, you just want to pack it in and quit. You’ve done what you can, and you don’t want to go on. Like Elijah, you’re burnt out. Like Elijah, disappointment has become your closest friend. Maybe, you’re even indignant with God, presuming that He should dance to the tunes of your choosing.
So, the Lord had Elijah go and stand on the mountain. There, he experienced the terrifying forces of nature, what people often identify with the power of God and His might. After all, didn’t God use powerful rain and explosive thunder and lightning to put the prophets of Baal in their place? Yes!
So, Elijah felt a fierce wind tear into the mountain that it cracked the rocks. A severe earthquake distressed the land. Then, an intense fire burned. But that day, God was giving Elijah—and us—a lesson on how He usually chooses to do His work.
For God was not in any of those events—not the wind, the earthquake, or the fire. No, God was present in what came next: the “sound of a gentle whisper” (1 Kings 19:12). Then the Lord spoke to Elijah, and Elijah heard. For God’s normal way of doing His work is to humble Himself, making Himself accessible to us.
For the sinner, a God blazing in glory is a God who brings you death. That’s why God hid His glory from Moses. That’s why God showed to Elijah that He comes to us, as He humbles Himself, all so we may have life, instead of death.
“In many portions and many ways, God spoke to His people of old,” begins the book of Hebrews. But then it continues: “But now in these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son” (Hebrews 1:1-2). God’s Son, when but a baby at Bethlehem, must have seemed such a quiet whisper. And then He grew up in poor, working-class conditions.
As a man, Jesus preached, healed, and pointed people to the reign of God—to Himself. And, yet, that must’ve seemed anemic against the overwhelming needs of the world. Jesus in the flesh must’ve looked powerless compared with the colossal evil defiling this world. What was this man next to the towering guilt that suffocates us all?
But Jesus of Nazareth was the Voice. St. John called Him the Word. In Him, we have the Word from God, the Word of God, that we need most. “It is finished,” He cried from the cross. And that cry may have been no more than a whisper when He said it (John 19:30), as the physical embers of His life had finally burnt out, bereft of all being.
But the evening He rose from the dead, Jesus breathed on His Apostles and said: “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain them, they are retained” (John 20:22-23).
Oh, that seemed such a quiet and feeble voice next to the noise and clamor of this world. But no matter what, that’s the Word we need to hear. The Lord is in that Word, that seemingly unimpressive Word of forgiveness, with all His saving power.
Elijah may have thought that he was the only one left, but he was wrong. Jesus turned out to be the only One left. He was the only One, who hadn’t gone over to the other side. Only He had not failed God, rebelled against Him, or sinned against Him. And so, only He could bring about our salvation—and He did!
Today, Jesus brings His Word of forgiveness and life to you and me, right now, no matter how disheartened or broken we’ve become. He comes to us in a quiet way, hiding His glory, as He did so long ago to that broken, burned-out Prophet, Elijah.
Like Moses and Elijah, God comes to us, hiding His glory so that we won’t die in His presence. For He comes to bring life, not death. And so the way He comes is not impressive; it lacks the pyrotechnics that dazzles our sinful flesh.
Elijah had fallen for the idea that it was the big stuff, the stirring and the striking, that lets you know how connected you are with God. And so, when the fireworks weren’t there when the death threats came, he thought he was no more. Silly prophet, God has even called you, yes you, to walk by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). That was what God was teaching you in the gentle voice that day.
And to Elijah’s surprise, there were still 7,000 people in Israel who had neither bowed the knee to Baal nor kissed that idol. By God’s grace and the life that He gave them through the forgiveness of sins at the Temple, 7,000 still had faith.
At Mount Sinai, God told Elijah to anoint two kings and one prophet. They would shed much blood in the days to come. But that wasn’t the big news. Nor was it the new prophet or even the new kings.
The big story from God, who kills to make alive (Deuteronomy 32:39), came wrapped up in that group of 7,000. They were going about their daily, unimpressive lives, serving God and neighbor quietly, like a gentle whisper. They could do this because they had heard the Lord’s voice in His Word, and His Word did what it said.
It’s the same today. God’s Word does what is says, even when you feel disillusioned. When life becomes hard, know that God is still with you, even in your difficulties. Like Elijah, you may not like where you’ll find yourself after hardship has had its way with you. But don’t underestimate God. And don’t make the same mistake that Elijah made. He wanted God in the fireworks. But God directed him somewhere else.
“In many portions and many ways, God spoke to His people of old. But now in these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son” (Hebrews 1:1-2). Seek God where you find His Son speaking to you. And where is that? Jesus told His Apostles that “repentance into the forgiveness of sins is to be preached in His name” (Luke 24:47). And where you find the name of Jesus, there Jesus is.
That’s why the Apostle Paul said to the Corinthian Christians: “While I was with you, I resolved to know nothing except Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). Here, you get Jesus. Here, He comes in a way that gives life and salvation; that’s what it means to be brought into the forgiveness of sins, by that gentle whisper of God.
Yes, God has even forgiven you, burnt out that you may be. After all, like Elijah, God isn’t yet finished with you. Amen.
