Sermon for July 3rd, 2016

1 Kings 17:1-7

1Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.” 2The word of the Lord came to him, saying, 3“Go from here and turn eastward, and hide yourself by the Wadi Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. 4You shall drink from the wadi, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” 5So he went and did according to the word of the Lord; he went and lived by the Wadi Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. 6The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the wadi. 7But after a while the wadi dried up, because there was no rain in the land.

Elijah Rock: Elijah the Tishbite

Our story begins not in Ancient Israel, but in El Paso, Texas sometime around the year 1992, in the choir room at Coronado High School. The choir director had just handed out to the choir a new piece of music--an arrangement of the Negro Spiritual, "Elijah Rock." I happened to be in that choir, and I remember two questions going through my head as the music was passed around: Who's Elijah? and What's the Rock?

As much as I enjoyed learning and singing the song, it doesn't really answer either question. Most of the lyrics to the song consist of unrelated phrases, "Elijah rock, shout! Shout! Elijah rock, comin' up Lord!" At some point there's another line about a rock: "If I could, I surely would stand on the rock where Moses stood." But that's not much help, either.

After a lifetime of Bible study and four years of seminary, I think today I can probably come up with a halfway decent answer to the question of "Who is Elijah?" And in fact, that's part of what this sermon series will attempt to do.

But if you're waiting for the answer to the other question, "What's the rock?" I have to admit, I still have no idea. There's no shortage of theories out there, and I'm sure you'll come up with your own, but as with many old folk songs that have entered into the popular imagination, we will probably never know for sure. I chose to call this series "Elijah Rock" simply because in my own mind, in my first encounter with Elijah, those two things went together. And because the character of Elijah, like the words to the song, is enigmatic, mysterious, and perhaps not completely explainable.