Elijah
“Baal Worship vs True Worship”
The Gospel of Matthew is a fascinating book.
It has all these patterns and shapes to it.
For instance – the Gospel begins with the name of Jesus (Immanuel) and ends with His promise that He will be with His disciples until the end of the age.
For our purposes today – there is another pattern evident.
One of these is how the Gospel begins with shepherds and wise men worshipping Jesus; and the Gospel ends in a similar way.
[Read Matt 28:16-17]
A question then.
Imagine you are one of those eleven there that day.
You have seen Jesus at work for three years.
You saw Him die.
You now see Him in the flesh – alive again.
And – like the comment here – you worship Him.
Right there on that mountain.
The question – how would you worship Him? What form would your worship take?
Think about it.
(What posture would you adopt? Would you look Him in the eye? Would you sing? Would you quote scripture? Would you pray to Him?)
Would your worship be any different to what we do here week-by-week?
What would you do in that situation that you do here?
What wouldn’t you do?
But you might say – “But it would be different! I would be before the Living Christ. Face-to-face with Him. It would be different.”
Really.
So you don’t worship today with a sense that He is present with you and you worship Him “face-to-face”?
And some in this story in Matt 28 doubted.
There it stands.
A bald comment.
We know Thomas had his moment of doubt – but Matthew is referring to more than just Thomas here.
So – in the presence of the Resurrected Christ; some worshipped and some doubted.
The comment about those who doubted just sits there. Unresolved.
An acknowledgement of the struggle that is the life of discipleship.
Worship.
Doubt.
Christ.
God on mountains.
It is a theme which runs throughout Scripture and this incident between Jesus and His disciples has its predecessors.
Maybe in a way all pointing to a moment like this.
Maybe in a way all pointing to a moment when God and His people can be together.
God being worshipped.
God and mountains.
Whatever else Elijah is known for – the incident on a mountain is one he is famous for.
It was about God on a mountain and worship.
[Read 1 Kgs 18:16-46]
We have the people of God summoned to a mountain.
Much like what we read in Matt 28.
And much like the scene in Matt 28, it is a place of worship and decision.
Elijah squares off against the Baal and the prophets of Baal and all that they represent.
He stands there alone in the Name of the God of Israel.
Two kinds of worship were demonstrated that day.
Baal worship and the worship of the God of Elijah.
First Baal worship.
It is not easy “reading” because it may be that as we consider the features of Baal worship, it might cause us to squirm.
Remember – Baal was the nature god. The fertility god.
A pagan god.
Eugene Peterson (The Way of Jesus: A conversation in following Jesus. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 2007) puts it like this.
Biblical formed worship says – “Let’s worship God”.
Baal worship says – “Let’s have a worship experience”.
Baal worship begins with the person.
That person could be happy, frightened, sad, excited – and from that – they wrap up that feeling and experience and put spiritual clothes on it.
Like prayers, readings, songs whatever.
They start with their feelings and connect with God based on that.
So – as Peterson so powerfully describes it – in Baal worship “if you are terror-stricken you offer a sacrifice; when you are anxious about the crops you make a visit to the temple prostitute; when you are joyful you ingest the wine god. You do what you feel like doing when you feel like doing it. In between, you get on with your ordinary life” (Peterson 2007, 112).
Or this:
Baal worship is worship that says “I will give you satisfaction. You want religious feelings? I will give them to you. You want your needs fulfilled? I’ll do it in the form most arousing to you…Baalism reduces worship to the spiritual stature of the worshipper. Its canons are that it should be interesting, relevant, and exciting – that “I can get something out of it”.
The “experience” is everything.
A Biblical form of worship – worship of the God of Elijah is quite different.
You do not start with your feelings.
In a Biblical form of worship – there is always something that sets that kind of worship apart from all other types of worship.
Do you know what it is?
Both Old and New Testaments start with it.
Word.
God speaking.
Genesis begins with God speaking and saying “Let there be…”
The New Testament begins with “In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God and the Word was God…” (John 1).
What does this mean for the person who wants to worship in a Biblical way?
Biblical worship is in response to the Word of God with the people of God.
Regardless of our feelings.
Worship is something we do – regardless of how we feel.
Because we are responding to the Word of God. His spoken invitation, if not command.
We obey.
To be sure we are present in every way.
Body, soul and mind.
But we do not set the worship agenda.
We do not come seeking the experience and measure the so-called success of the worship service on whether we experienced anything or not.
We come seeking God and do so in faith.
As Peterson says – experience may well develop out of the worship – but is not the other way around.
Like he says – Isaiah did not go into the temple to have a “seraphim experience” (Isa 6). He went to worship God.
Experience came out of worship – but that was not why he went.
How does all this compare with your answer to the original question about how you would worship Jesus on that mountain?
How does it compare to your/our worship here every week?
Consider the picture on Mount Carmel.
The prophets of Baal.
Desperate. Loud. Frenetic. Shouting.
Fruitless.
Elijah.
(After mocking them…)
Faith.
One simple prayer reaching back to the origins of the Biblical faith – the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel (Jacob).
Then the fire of God.
The word of Elijah that day.
“"Elijah then came near to all the people, and said, “How long will you go limping with two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” The people did not answer him a word." (1 Kings 18:21)
Elijah came near with the Word of Lord.
A challenge in the context of worship; about worship.
It is a hard word.
“A fierce conversation making brutal points.”
On a mountain.
The people of God.
The prophet of God draws near.
The Word of God.
The Presence of God.
He calls for a response.
About 800 years later.
A mountain.
The people of God.
God draws near.
The Word. Spoken. Present. Living.
He calls for a response.
"Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”" (Matthew 28:16-21)
2000 years later.
A mountain.
The people of God.
The Spirit drawing near.
The Word of God.
The presence of God.
He calls for a response.
Think back to the original question.
How would you worship Jesus on that mountain?
Would it be any different to what you do in church week-by-week?
“In Yahwism worship is defined and shaped by God’s authoritative and clear Word. Nothing is dependent on feelings or weather. All is determined by Scripture and Jesus. No person is left to do what he or she simply feels like doing. God has revealed who He is and demands obedience. Worship is the act of attending to that revelation and being obedient to it.” (Peterson 2007, 112).
Presented By: Rev GM New