Fifth Sunday after Trinity – July 20, 2025

Grace to you and peace from God our Father, from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Our text for today is the Old Testament reading from 1 Kings chapter 19.

1 Kings 19 · chapter mention

There is a difference between a theology of glory and a theology of the cross.

The theology of glory seeks wisdom, power, and fame.

It preaches a message of health and happiness and prosperity.

It promises life free of all problems.

The theology of the cross, on the other hand, teaches that salvation is by means

of a cross, the cross of Christ.

It also teaches that suffering is a reality in our fallen world.

And yet in the midst of trial and tribulation, God will be with us.

It promises hope and peace and the forgiveness of sins that's found in Christ alone.

We will learn today that the prophet Elijah was tempted to follow a theology of glory.

Yet in the end, God taught him to trust in God's word and to trust in the many promises of God.

To begin with, let me take you back to 871 BC.

Elijah is a prophet and Ahab is the king over Israel.

Ahab is married to wicked Jezebel.

Ahab had done more evil than anyone before him, any other king before him.

He worshipped the false gods of Baal and Asherah.

Sexual immorality was rampant at that time, as well as sacrificing children to Moloch.

Needless to say, God was very angry, and he had Elijah and the other prophets

warn the people and call them to repentance. sentence.

Because of Ahab's wickedness, God administered a drought for three years.

Can you imagine?

Now, during this time, even Baal could not cause it to rain because Baal does not exist.

So it happened that Elijah told Ahab to gather the 450 prophets of Baal and

the 400 prophets of Asherah on Mount Carmel.

And Elijah told them to slaughter an ox, put it on the wood of an altar,

and pray to your God that he would respond with fire.

And so they did so, and they prayed morning and evening, but there was no answer.

There was no fire.

Elijah then cut a bowl in pieces and laid it on the wood, and then he poured water on it three times.

Then Elijah called to the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and said,

O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God.

Then God answered immediately.

He fired down fire, and it burned up the offering and the wood and the stone, and even the water.

Elijah then killed the prophets of Baal and Asherah.

This miracle proved that God is the one and only true God and that Baal and

Asherah do not exist, that God alone reigns supreme.

And so also today that there is only one true God, the Father,

the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

No matter how powerful the forces of evil are in this world,

God is still in control for your sake and for the good of his people.

When wicked Jezebel heard of what happened, she was furious and she threatened to kill Elijah.

Elijah was afraid of Jezebel. He panicked.

He feared for his own life. And so he ran away.

Why was Elijah afraid of Jezebel? For gods do not exist.

God fed Elijah for three years during the time of drought.

Elijah raised the widow's son of Zarephath from the dead. God gave Elijah victory

on Mount Carmel, and there was no reason for Elijah to be afraid?

Was Elijah hoping that after what took place on Mount Carmel,

that Ahab and Jezebel will be converted from unbelief to faith?

Was Elijah hoping that there would be some religious revival and that the numbers

of people toward faith toward God would increase?

Does Elijah think that the war against all false prophets, oh, it's now over.

Does Elijah think that success in ministry depends on him?

If so, then he was following a theology of glory.

Do we waver in our faith, especially in opposition to an evil world? Yeah, sometimes.

Do we think that success depends on us? Yeah, sometimes.

Do we want a heaven on earth with no problems? Yeah, sometimes.

Are we tempted to follow a theology of glory? Yeah, sometimes. times.

Elijah ran away to Mount Horeb, the mountain of God.

It's about a 200-mile journey, and he finally has a chance to talk with God.

And right away, Elijah talks about all that he has done.

He focuses on himself, and he even thinks that he is the last surviving prophet.

It's now time for God to gently correct Elijah and to encourage him in ministry.

God reminded Elijah that he's not alone, that God is with him,

and that God is in control.

So God sent a wind and then an earthquake and then fire.

But God was not in the wind or the earthquake or the fire.

Sometimes we look for God in all the wrong places. It's easy for us to think

that God speaks to us directly and not from his word.

It's easy for us to think that true faith depends on our emotions or our experiences,

and not from the gospel and the sacraments.

God's word came to Elijah in a small and quiet voice, a low whisper.

It was God's word, his voice, and Elijah heard it with his own ears.

There are times when God dealt with his people in the Old Testament through

might and majesty, such as the plagues in Egypt, the cross in the Red Sea,

the man in the quail in the wilderness,

the crossing of the Jordan River, and the contest there on Mount Calvary.

But God's usual way of dealing with people, calling them to repentance and faith

in the coming Messiah, is through his word.

And so it is today as well. He communicates to us through his word.

In our holy gospel for today, Jesus was preaching the word.

And Peter's boat was a pulpit. And people were listening to Jesus and were converted

from unbelief to faith in Christ.

And when Jesus asked Peter to put the boat out and drop the net for a catch,

Peter thought this was ridiculous. But he said, nevertheless,

at your word, at your word, I will do it.

Before Jesus ascended, he commanded his apostles, saying that repentance and

the forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations.

Jesus wants pastors to preach the word of God. because this is how faith is

nurtured, created, and nurtured.

This is how there is repentance and the forgiveness of sins.

Preaching involves words, words of sin and grace, words of law and gospel,

words of repentance and the forgiveness of sins, words about the cross and the

resurrection, words about death and life.

God communicates with us through his word.

His word was attached to water during your baptism.

You heard the word of God earlier from the lectern. You are hearing the word

of God preached from this pulpit now.

And the word will be connected to bread and wine, giving us his body and blood.

Jesus' words are always life-creating and powerful.

They always accomplish what they say. They remove sin. They cleanse the heart.

They refresh and restore, and they bring life.

After all, Jesus is the Word incarnate. He is the Word made flesh.

Jesus came to fulfill the law in our place.

He died upon the cross as a payment for our sin, and he rose from the dead on the third day.

Sin is now paid for, and our enemies of death and Satan are defeated,

and heaven is now open for all who believe.

Our crystal lesson from 1 Corinthians says, For the word of the cross is foolishness

to those who are perishing,

but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.

The world thinks that the way of salvation by means of the cross is foolish.

The world seeks a message of power and success and fame, not a message of the cross.

But for us poor sinners, we are not ashamed of the gospel.

For it is our source of life and our salvation.

So don't look for God in the heart or through your feelings or your emotions.

Don't look for God in the miraculous or in the mighty.

Don't look for God among signs or human reason.

Rather, go to where God has promised to be.

Water, word, bread and wine.

In this simple and lowly means, God gives to us forgiveness,

life, and salvation on account of the cross and the resurrection.

Elijah will now learn that God will deal with the wickedness of the people in

the northern kingdom in his own way and time. It's not on Elijah's shoulders, but it is in God's hand.

God will work through Elijah.

God told Elijah that there are 7,000 people who have not bowed down to Baal or kissed him.

In other words, Elijah is not alone. There are many others who have faith in

the one true God and who are looking forward to the coming Messiah.

God has preserved them in saving faith through his word.

And so also today, it is easy for us to be depressed as we see Christianity decreased.

It's easy for us to be discouraged as wickedness increases and hostility against Christianity rises.

It's easy for us to think that we should take matters into our own hands.

But just as God saved a faithful remnant in the Old Testament,

so also he saves a remnant today, the faithful.

God will deal with wickedness in his own way in time. It's not on our shoulders, it's in God's hand.

Oh, we have the duty to speak out against false doctrine, them to be sure and to confess the truth.

But God gives the increase.

There are many Christians today who have not bowed to idolatry and who have

faith in Jesus as their one and only Savior.

God then basically said to Elijah, get back to work. Go back.

Anoint Haziel, king of Syria, and Yehu, the king of Israel, and Elisha will take your place.

In other words, God has and will maintain control over the nations and even over history.

God will deal with the wicked who rejects the truth.

And the word of God always has its results. It accomplishes that for which God has sent it.

And so also today, God has and will maintain control over the nations and of

history, even today. Things may not

go our way, and we're according to our timetable, but God is in control.

He will deal with wicked people who reject the truth on the last day, on the day of judgment.

The word of God always has results according to God's purposes,

and the results may or may, we may or may not see them, but we have hope for

God who calls us to be faithful.

Even today, it's through the simple preaching of the crucified and risen Savior

that people are converted from darkness into light,

from the world into the church, from death into life, from unbelief to faith in Christ.

Just as Elisha was Elijah's successor, so also God provides ministers today for his church.

God will raise up faithful servants of the gospel to minister to the next generation.

God's word will endure forever.

No human or satanic force can exterminate God's word.

The gates of hell will never prevail against our Lord's church.

God will make sure that the teaching and preaching of Christ crucified for our

salvation will continue.

In our Old Testament reading for today, Elisha left his vocation as farmer and

he followed Elijah as a prophet.

In our Holy Gospel for today, Peter, James, and John left their vocation as

fishermen and followed Jesus.

And after the resurrection, Jesus made these fishermen into apostles.

They and the other apostles eventually brought the gospel to the world.

They were eyewitnesses of the death and resurrection of Christ.

They were willing to die a martyr's death on the confession that Christ rose from the dead.

Jesus calls us to follow him.

He says, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself,

pick up his cross, and follow me.

By God's grace and with faith in Christ, we deny the world's definition of success.

We put on our cross of suffering for the sake of Christ, and we follow Jesus

on his path of righteousness all the way to heaven.

We repent of our sin, and we receive the forgiveness of sins,

and we confess Christ as our one and only Savior.

So the power of God to save is not in spectacular signs like wind and earthquake

and fire, nor is it to be found in human intelligence or wisdom.

The church is not about glory, power,

success, and fame but the power of God to save comes in the still small voice

of the preaching of the gospel the preaching of Christ crucified.

We are saved by means of the cross and this gives us poor sinners comfort,

and peace in Christ alone. Amen.