Transfigurized
Transfiguration Sunday. Remembering when Jesus took
Peter and John and James up the mountain. On top he meets Moses and Elijah, who
the preacher reminded us this morning, also had mountaintop experiences: Moses
on Sinai where he saw God’s backside and again on Pisgah where he looked into
the Promised Land; and Elijah on Carmel where he bested the prophets of Baal. Moses
came down with God’s glory, Elijah with blood on his hands.
So the preacher had more to say about
Moses than Elijah − naturally. But the story of Elijah on his mountain was one
of my favorites as a kid. My mother read it to me from Hurlbut’s − with commentary.
She always read with commentary. She wasn’t only a wonderful, paitent reader, she was always looking
for the odd bit of odd in any story, and she liked to share what she found.
This
one starts when Elijah just shows up. He’s not there and then he’s there. Also,
there’s rain and then there’s not rain. That’s when this part of the whole
story happens, when there hasn’t been rain for three years.
God tells Elijah: “Go to King Ahab,
and I will make it rain again.” Elijah goes.
In the meantime, Ahab is looking for water anywhere, so he sends his servant
Obadiah off one way and he goes off another, looking and looking. Otherwise his horses are going to die.
Obadiah runs into Elijah, who tells
him to go tell Ahab. Obadiah isn’t sure he wants to do that. He’ll tell Ahab,
but by the time they get back, Elijah will be gone – that’s the way he is: he’s
there and then he’s not there. “No,” “I’ll be here,” Elijah says. Obadiah probably thinks, Easy for you to say,
you’re not betting your life.
But when Ahab comes, Elijah is there, though
the king isn’t really happy to see him. Elijah is nothing but trouble, as far
as he’s concerned. The trouble isn’t with him though, Elijah says. “You brought
this on yourself, forgetting God and taking up Jeze-baal and so Baal and so his
prophets.
“Get them all together and meet me at
Mount Carmel.”
When
everyone is there, Elijah starts preaching to the people, who have come, too,
apparently by the thousands. “Listen. You can’t have it both ways. If Baal is
god, you should stick to him, but if the Lord
is God, then what.” When the people sit
there like dummies, he says, “Why don’t we test it out?”
He wants two bulls, one for the 450
prophets of Baal and he’ll take one. They’ll cut the bulls up in pieces, put
them on two piles of wood, but they won’t light a fire. Then the prophets of
Baal will call on Baal, and Elija will call on the Lord. And the one that lights the fire: that one is God.
Elijah gives the Baal prophets first
choice and first go. They cut up their bull, put it on their wood, and start
the farse.* They’re praying out loud like the preachers on the radio. No answer.
They’re dancing around the non-fire like they’re on fire. Nothing.
Elijah starts laughing. “Hey,” he
says, “where’s he?” − meaning Baal. “Is he fast asleep? Yell louder, ‘Wake up!’ Or maybe he’s on the john.” That’s what she
said, for sure, I remember. “Then, knock
on the door. Tell him to hurry up and finish.”
But nothing happens.
Then it’s Elijah’s turn. And he gets
twelve stones to build an altar, and he arranges them in a certain way; and he
puts the wood on top of the altar in a certain way, and he cuts the bull apart
in a certain way and puts it on the wood. Then he has some people fill up big
jugs of water and pour the water over everything – three times, till it’s
soaking.
Then he prays. And the fire comes and
burns it all up, the wood, the bull, the water – everything but the stones. And
the people say, “Yes. Your God is God.”
And Elijah says, “Get them” – the prophets of Baal. And they do, they
round up all 450; and Elijah kills them every one.
And the rain came a-tumblin’ down. She sang that.
It’s
getting ready tumble down here, and it may bring snow with it. And we’ll be
stuck again, if there’s more than a bit.
The preacher said something about that,
too, at the end of the service − after she’d gotten Jesus down off his mountain
after he’d gotten Peter down, because he wanted to stay up there, and James and
John. Then they were all going to Jerusalem, where, not long, Jesus was going
to be killed. She said about the rain, “Be careful. Be safe.”
We got home before it started.
I’ve
written about writing about wine a couple of times [February 25 and February 27]. More about that in
today’s “poem.”
V
Notes:
*Probably
not what she said, but I didn’t misspell it. She probably said “mass” or “meetin’,” depending on the night. She was Presbyterian and this was more than a
little while ago. I didn’t take offense
in either case. Then. I’m carefuller now.
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