The Contest

Introduction

Not everyone likes sports. Not everyone can relate to the idea of human competition. Not everyone enjoys sports analogies or stories. But sports is one of those areas of life from which we can learn all sorts of life lessons. Learning to play by rules; the idea of sportsmanship; learning to give your all; perseverance; success; learning that hard work is its own reward—these are some of life’s lessons that we can learn from sports. But there is something to be said about competition. The pitting of one participant against another with both giving every ounce of strength to succeed.

Competition is found in a variety of places not just in sports. There is competition in school. Students compete for the attention of certain groups, grades, and for position. There is competition in the workplace as employers have to compare employees looking for who will get the promotion. There is competition, unfortunately, spiritually. There are times when other gods capture our attention and we find it difficult to concentrate on following God. There are times that we subconsciously have a contest between God and something else which is attracting our attention or some other god. 1 Kings 18 speaks to such a competition. In the days of King Ahab, a contest is held. The participants are God and Baal. And with all the enthusiasm of the World Cup or the World Series or the Super Bowl, Elijah and the prophets of Baal compete openly so that all can see and cheer.

It was a contest with far reaching consequences. It was God who challenged Baal. It was a contest which would decide once and for all who was truly God. So much was at stake. Ahab was confident that his god would win. Elijah was sure that God would win. And the people were watching to see who was telling the truth. You may already know the story. You may already know the outcome. You may already be confident of who is God, but let’s see the story again in its simplicity and be renewed in our faith.

The Story

Elijah and Ahab meet. Remember it has been three and a half years since rain has fallen on Israel. It was by Elijah’s word that the rain stopped and it would be by Elijah’s words that it would rain. Ahab hates Elijah. He wants him dead, but when Elijah demands a contest, Ahab complies. In 18:17, Ahab blames Elijah for the troubles in Israel. In 18:18, Elijah tells the truth that the troubles are Ahab’s responsibility. Let me make a quick point here. One of the best things we can do for people is make sure that they assume responsibility for their own actions and consequences. I don’t think as parents we help our children in the long run by bailing them out. Teach your children to be responsible people. Teach them to admit their failures and to confess their faults. Don’t accept excuses. Elijah does not accept responsibility for Ahab’s sin.

Elijah throws down the challenge. He is going to Mt. Carmel. If Ahab is up to the challenge then have the prophets of Baal meet him. Mt. Carmel is more of a plateau hill than a mountain. Look at verse 21. The prophets come to the meeting place but so do the people. This is a real contest and the people are welcomed to be spectators. From the start Elijah calls for a decision. “It is time to get off the fence. If God is the true God then follow him. If Baal is the true God then follow him.” The contest rules are presented. Two altars; two bulls; two requests for fire to burn up the sacrifice. The God which answers is the true God. Elijah defers to the prophets of Baal and decides to take the kick-off in the second half. The contest begins.

From morning to noon, the prophets of Baal call on their god. They beg, plead and shout for Baal to answer them. Nothing happens. They dance around the altar. They jump and shout. Still Baal does not answer. At noon, Elijah begins trash talking. He taunts the prophets of Baal. It is similar to things like today “you are so ugly that your momma had to tie a pork chop around your neck to get the dog to play with you.” Picture the scene. Three hours have passed. Lots of yelling and pleading has been going on. Elijah begins to offer some help. Maybe your god is deep in thought or busy or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and he must be awakened. Elijah is making fun of their god. But determined as they are, the prophets of Baal shout louder and beg more. They begin to cut themselves hoping that the flow of blood will show their intensity and determination to be heard. Another three hours passes before they finally exhaust themselves.

Now Elijah takes over. He takes 12 stones from a ruined altar and builds a proper place for a sacrifice. He dug a trench around it deep enough to hold about 4 gallons of water. Three times four large jars of water are poured on the altar and the sacrifice. Elijah is making sure that no one can claim this was rigged in any way. And then with a simple prayer asking God to honor his own name—God sends fire from heaven to consume the sacrifice. So intense was the heat that everything including the stones are consumed. The people are convinced that God is the real and true God. The prophets of Baal are killed.

So What?

The point of this story is obvious. Everyone must decide about God. Is he the real and true God or is he just one of many to choose from. Most of us have already decided that God is the one true God. But we struggle with following God on a day to day basis. We believe God. Ask us directly and we will confess that God is our God. But it is the daily life that gives us pause. The daily idols pose the bigger problem.

Sometimes we can be like Ahab and blame God for our problems. God let me down. He didn’t heal, protect, or care for me the way he should have. Our expectations become our idol. Philip Yancey wrote: “Most of my struggles in life circle round the same two themes: why God doesn’t act the way we want him to and why I don’t act the way God wants me to.” Isn’t that the case? We expect God to act in certain ways never recognizing that we haven’t met God’s expectations. So who is God for you when God doesn’t meet your expectations? Yancey goes on to write: “Prayer is the precise place where those themes converge.” Like Elijah we pray. We pray knowing that grace is all we have because of our failings. Let’s not allow our expectations to be our idol.

Look at 18:21. “And the people said nothing.” How is that possible? How can such a fundamental and yet monumental challenge be met with silence? How can a group of people remain silent when presented with a clear decision to be made especially when it is a decision which affects one’s eternal destiny? How many times have we been silent when given the challenge? How many times have we been faced with the challenge in front of school mates and coworkers and we remained silent? How many times in front of our families have we silently chosen to ride the fence rather than make it absolutely clear about who our God is? Sometimes parents take the easy way out and let our kids have their way so as to avoid conflict when we know in our hearts that what we are letting them do is not godly. Sometimes teens will go along with the crowd when they know that silence means another god wins.

Are we silent because we are afraid? Have we made comfort our idol? Let’s not allow our comfort to be our idol.

Look at 18:40. When we have decided that God is indeed God then we must rid ourselves of that which captured our attention. We understand that the addict must rid himself of drugs or alcohol to follow God. What about the greedy man? What about the stubborn one? What about the sexually immoral? Whatever it is that has captured your attention and led you away from God must be put away. We cannot follow God and continue to hold on to our pride, greed or immorality. We must put these things away.

Who is God to you? There is a contest for your heart and you must decide who you will follow. There isn’t any room for fence sitting. We must decide who is God and follow with our lives and heart.

Follow Jesus

If you’d like to respond to this message or learn more about following Jesus, please reach out.