After a respite from The Story to explore The Advent of Peace throughout December, we talked through how being in relationship with the Prince of Peace begins within ourselves and carries out into our congregation, community, and world. Being in relationship God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit is key in our journey of faith and throughout ?The Story? of the Bible from beginning to end. Our Story with God began as creation was formed and continued to where God would walk with Adam and Eve. The pursuit of knowledge won and the beginning of a journey that would be filled with many twists and turns began. As I reflected on our journey through the Old Testament, I realized that it has been rough. There have been many passages where we have asked ?Really, God??? And, ?Did you have too?? And we have struggled with the God of the Old Testament and God?s ways, asking questions about how all this connects to now. But I realize that just because I want to make them make sense to our lives today, sometimes they don?t. Sometimes it is just important to know the stories because we never know when they might apply to a situation in our lives or someone else?s life. Because there are times when we have a message to share, and we get to be the messengers for God. Sometimes there is a direct correlation to something happening in our world today. And today we land in the part of the story where there is an emphasis on those prophets who were messengers of God. God has always worked through people?wanderers, murderers, kings-good and bad ones, prophets, prostitutes, fisherman, tax collectors, men, women, children, you, and me?to be messengers for God. It lines up nicely because it is also the time when we celebrate Epiphany. Epiphany is that time when the wise men came and brought Jesus 3 gifts. These gifts?gold representing his kingship, frankincense a symbol of his priestly role, and myrrh a prefiguring of his death and embalming are all were significant for the life of Jesus. After they presented their gifts, they went another way and shared the message with those they met that a new king had been born. Yet, as is true with all people who share a message, not everyone wants to hear what has to be said. That could be true for us as I share today. So I invite you to join me in prayer over the sermon titled, ?The Messengers.?
Many of you might have heard this story, but as an oldie, it is still a goodie. ?A very religious man was once caught in rising floodwaters. He climbed onto the roof of his house and trusted God to rescue him. A neighbor came by in a canoe and said, ?The waters will soon be above your house. Hop in and we?ll paddle to safety.?
?No thanks? replied the religious man. ?I?ve prayed to God and I?m sure he will save me?
A short time later the police came by in a boat. ?The waters will soon be above your house. Hop in and we?ll take you to safety.?
?No thanks? replied the religious man. ?I?ve prayed to God and I?m sure he will save me?
A little time later a rescue services helicopter hovered overhead, let down a rope ladder and said. ?The waters will soon be above your house. Climb the ladder and we?ll fly you to safety.?
?No thanks? replied the religious man. ?I?ve prayed to God and I?m sure he will save me.?
All this time the floodwaters continued to rise, until soon they reached above the roof and the religious man drowned. When he arrived at heaven he demanded an audience with God. Ushered into God?s throne room he said, ?Lord, why am I here in heaven? I prayed for you to save me, I trusted you to save me from that flood.?
?Yes you did my child,? replied the Lord. ?And I sent you a canoe, a boat and a helicopter. But you never got in.?
Sometimes we receive messages, but we don?t pay attention to them. This is what the Hebrew people did. Year after year, God was sending them messages through many different kings and prophets, but they didn?t change their ways and they didn?t follow God more faithfully. After King Solomon died, the nation and kingdom of Israel split into the Northern and Southern Kingdom. In the Northern Kingdom, 10 of the 12 tribes of Israel were there and they were under the rule of King Jeroboam. Rehoboam remained king as well, but only over Judah and the tribe of Benjamin. Now there was a divided kingdom and God was still trying to bring the people closer in relationship with him. Getting that message through was going to be harder because of the various tyrannical kings. Prophets continued their work to share the message that God had for the people. Yet fewer and fewer people are listening to them. In our chapter for this week, we meet four prophets. Elijah, Elisha, Amos, and Hosea. All of these prophets are sharing God?s message to the tribes in the Northern Kingdom who are not worshipping God as much as they are worshipping Baal. These prophets share God?s message for a period over 200 years.
And to me, this is when the Old Testament gets confusing. Most of what we have read so far is in chronological order. But now we are getting into the books of the bible that have over lapping time periods and prophets are prophesying at the same time to different kingdoms and each kingdom is experiencing different exiles, kings, prophets, and interactions with God. A key thing to remember, just like it is with the entire bible, is that the prophets are sharing a message geared towards that region and how their actions and inactions impact their relationship with God. Knowing that context, it is important to remember that everything that is written, has much application for us today, regardless of where we are on our walk of faith.
Here is how we meet the prophet Elijah in 1 Kings- Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, ?As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word (1 Kings 17:1).? Elijah takes on the role as the voice of prophetic judgment. It is also Elijah that offers one of the best challenges and tests to God and Baal. ?Then Elijah said to them, ?I am the only one of the Lord?s prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets. Get two bulls for us. Let Baal?s prophets choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers by fire?he is God (1 Kings 18:22-24).? Who wins? God does. And the prophets of Baal are killed. The people begin to turn back to God, but Elijah fears for his life and runs into the wilderness. During that time, God let?s Elijah know his plans for the next king and prophet.

So we meet Elisha in the following manner. ?So Elijah went from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen, and he himself was driving the twelfth pair. Elijah went up to him and threw his cloak around him. Elisha then left his oxen and ran after Elijah. ?Let me kiss my father and mother goodbye,? he said, ?and then I will come with you.? ?Go back,? Elijah replied. ?What have I done to you?? So Elisha left him and went back. He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. He burned the plowing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out to follow Elijah and became his servant (1 Kings 19:19-21).? Now Elisha was the prophet who asked for a double shot of Elijah?s spirit, which gave Elisha all of Elijah?s prophetic powers and God blessed him for his wisdom in asking for this instead of something else. Elisha took a different angle on being a prophet and was constantly performing miracles to show the power of God and the importance of faith through all situations.
Amos was another prophetic voice that was from the Southern Kingdom and preached to those in the Northern Kingdom. Amos preached messages of social justice, God?s power and presence, and God?s judgment. Amos shares the sins of every tribe and offers God?s judgment against them. After pronouncing their sins, Amos shares these words: ?Hear this word, people of Israel, the word the Lord has spoken against you?against the whole family I brought up out of Egypt: ?You only have I chosen of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your sins (Amos 3:1-2).?
Then Hosea followed as a prophet in Israel. Hosea was asked to marry Gomer, a prostitute. The first three chapters of Hosea talk about their relationship. It is a story about sin, children, deceit, unfaithfulness, stealing, love, and reconciliation. Gomer and Hosea?s relationship represents the relationship that the Hebrew people have had with God. Listen to these words: Hear the word of the Lord, you Israelites, because the Lord has a charge to bring against you who live in the land: ?There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land. There is only cursing, lying and murder, stealing and adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed (Hosea 4:1-2).? Yet as Hosea continues to share the prophesy of God, there is always hope for repentance. Here these words: Return, Israel, to the Lord your God. Your sins have been your downfall! Take words with you and return to the Lord. Say to him: ?Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously, that we may offer the fruit of our lips (Hosea 14:1-2).?
Every prophet was offering the people a way back to God. The theme of repentance continued into the New Testament when John the Baptist told people to turn from their ways and repent. John proclaimed the coming of the new king?and the Wise Men sought out the new king. These men were considered messengers as well. They came to celebrate the birth of the long awaited Messiah and share the message that a new king was born in the city of David. Prophets and messengers share messages of truth and of things to come, even when it is hard to hear.
Today, there are many different people who take on the role of the prophet. Pope Francis is someone who is taking on the role of a prophet in a positive and encouraging way for people of faith. While, the members of ISIS are taking the role of the prophet in a very negative and hateful way. But God is still speaking through people and using the stories of the scripture as foundation for what is currently happening in our world. Although there is a lot of judgment and condemnation in what the prophets speak about in the Old and New Testament, there is so much that we can learn about ourselves and God through these stories.
As we venture into 2016, many of us have made different resolutions or goals. Maybe we just have a few hopes for what could come. Or prayers of things we don?t want to come. Throughout the month of January, I will share some different hopes and dreams for our congregation. I have spent much time in reflection, thought, and prayer as 2015 wrapped up and 2016 approached. And one of the things that kept coming to my mind was the word stability. I feel that is a message I have been receiving. So I need your help to think about what stability means for Wintergarden. As I think about stability, I think about it in a very large sense. I also think that is what God want for the people. Out of a deep relationship with God, everything else would be stable. Socially, economically, financially, physically stable. Stability. If you have thoughts today, I invite you to write it on a piece a paper and put it in the offering plate. But over the next few weeks, I would like to invite you to pray with me about what stability looks like for Wintergarden in 2016. In your prayer time and reflections, I hope God will give you a message as well. For each week, we will hear a different part of God?s Story. It is my prayer that as we read through the scriptures, hear the word preached, hear the story sung, that we will see how ?Our Story? is connected to ?God?s Story? and learn more how to be in deep relationship with God. And unlike the ?religious man? in our opening story, I hope that we can all see the messages and the messengers that God is giving us as we enter this new year together. Amen.