September 2, 2026
Today's Reading: 1 Kings 18:20-40
Daily Lectionary: 1 Kings 18:20-40; Ephesians 2:1-22
“Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.” (1 Kings 40:38)
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
Take that, false prophets of Baal. You, who outnumbered Elijah 450 to 1, still lost. What a wimpy god you cried out to to show his so-called power. It didn’t matter how you cried out loudly for him to hear. It didn’t matter how much you limped (though it was funny for the faithful to see, we’ll grant you). It didn’t matter how much of your own blood you stupidly shed when you cut yourselves. Wouldn’t you know, false gods always demand the blood of their followers. But it didn’t work. Your sacrifice that looked oh-so-nice on that altar that morning was untouched by any divine being. The meat just sat there and stank, drawing who knows how many flies.
That’s because the real God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The God of the Israelites, who is also known as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—this is the God of your downfall, O prophets of Baal. This is the God who hides Himself so that no one by his earthly human wisdom will ever find him. You guys sure couldn’t. God hid Himself so well that it seemed like Elijah was the only believer left. Yet God’s weakness is greater than all your power, all your political influence, all your earthly advantages. So it is that God may hide Himself even now. Maybe He is making those who hate Him think He is weak and powerless, yet He plans to overturn them when their strength is at its strongest.
The true God poured out His sacred fire on an offering drenched in water. Here, He proves that what is impossible for man is no sweat to the God who made all things from nothing. Oh, so no one can make a wet sacrifice burn? Pour some more water on. God’s got this. After all, this sacrifice is also like the sacrifice that would save sinners: Jesus’ death on the cross! This is the ultimate sacrifice of God, the one that fulfills all other sacrifices—even this sacrifice of Elijah. Elijah’s sacrifice was drenched in water and yet still burned completely when God sent the fire. And Jesus also was drenched in water—drenched at the Jordan River when He was baptized. But this watered-down sacrifice still faced the fire of God’s anger at the cross, that your sins would be atoned for and your salvation secured. Your false god Baal can do nothing, O prophets. And at the end, you tragically see what following a false god gives - that is, only death. Meanwhile, the God of Elijah gives life.
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
Lord, keep us steadfast in Your Word and faith until our end. Amen.
Rev. Robert Mayes, pastor at Immanuel Lutheran Church and Zion St. John Lutheran Church, Beemer and Wisner, NE.
