Off Script

 

On Monday we ponder the Elijah size question, what’s feeding you?  I pray you are still paying attention to what you are consuming and what’s consuming (eating or gnawing) you.  Yesterday we tried to find ways like Elijah to listen for God’s holy prompting, realizing that sometimes we need to put our smart devices down for God to move in different ways.  Today, I want to talk about going off the script.  In 1 Kings 18, God tells Elijah to go to King Ahab with the weather forecast that the drought is over, we are about to be singing and dancing in the rain.  Elijah says, “Well, I could do that.  But this is the Bible after all, this could be my moment to shine and you only get one shot and I am not throwing away my shot” ~ thank you to the musical, Hamilton for that reference.  It is Elijah, not God, who comes up with the March Madness showdown on Mt. Carmel.  It is Elijah, not God, who dreams up this contest of seeing whether Baal or God will rain down fire first ~ although since Baal is the god of rain it seems a bit unfair for Baal to be asked to do something outside Baal’s lane.  It is Elijah, not God, who preaches to the people about going astray.  It is Elijah, not God, who then kills the priests of Baal ~ 450 of these priests…which tells us something about how violence lives in each of us. 

This makes me wonder when have I gone off script recently?  When have I had a God-idea that I thought I could improve?  When have I said to God, “Great, I’ll take it from here God.”  When have I tried to be more than human size?  There is a long list and it’s only Wednesday, friends. 

This isn’t about blame or shame.  The invitation of God is for us to offer both the ways we shine our light and the shadows that light casts.  I am both (as Pastor Steve Wiens says) limited and limitless.  I am both infinity and eternal in the image of God.  To be sure, most of the time we live in the messy middle between those polarities.  I tend to lean one way or the other.  When I fail, I want to say, “I’m only human”.  And when someone compliments me, my ego pats me on the back, “Jolly good job, old chap!”  Yes, my ego is British…I don’t know why. 

Where have you gone off script recently?  Where has the story of your life written you into a corner you can’t creatively come out of?  Where do you, like Elijah, want to run away from life, the mistakes and miscues and missed opportunities? 

I pray you are playful with this question.  I pray you do not get blogged down with blame.  I pray you don’t let your inner critic come roaring out, like you’ve released the kraken you can’t put back.  I pray you will cling to the truth that even when Elijah went off script, God showed up with cake and water and in a still small voice of love calling Elijah back to himself.  May this story be your story today.  Amen.