Of Modern Need for Ancient Lessons
Seeing many of today's Christians in Elijah
A version of this sermon was preached on Sunday, June 22, 2025 at Rock Forge and Canyon Community Presbyterian churches in Morgantown, WV. The scripture was 1 Kings 19:1-15a and Galatians 3:23-29.
Good morning, church. A lot has sure happened since we were last together, and like you probably, I’m still trying to process it, including last night.1 There is so much pulling us one way or another and challenging us to think deeply about what we think this nation and world should be. Tied up in that is how we see God’s purpose for us and this world.
Those are heavy thoughts, especially when there are so many people and opinions out there telling us how it should be done, and how we should live. There are at least two sides to this coin, but in reality, there are many more pulling us in multiple directions.
At least for me, as someone who believes it is best to look at all options and opinions and come to my own conclusions, it can be especially disturbing because, as we all know, there is no perfect plan. Trying to sort it all out and leave only a structure that attempts to meet the approval of the One who made us, can be overwhelming and depressing, regardless of our basic success.
Well, we’re not alone in that, of course. Let me introduce you to Elijah.
Our Hebrew Testament scripture comes from 1 Kings19:1-15a.
Before we read those verses, however, let me set the scene.
This is one of several stories about Elijah, a prophet of “remarkable strength and energy” who was active in the 9thCentury BCE while King Ahab, one of the great political rulers of the northern kingdom of Israel was on the throne.2
In the chapter just before our reading, Elijah has shown who’s boss – in other words that God is God and Baal, the major competing deity of the area and favored by Jezebel, Ahab’s wife, is not.
You may remember the scene: Elijah challenges the prophets of Baal to a duel of sorts. Both the numerous prophets of Baal and Elijah – the only prophet of God – set up a sacrifice of bulls. The challenge is for each side to pray to their god for fire to come down and set the sacrifice ablaze.
If you know the story, and probably even if you don’t, you can guess what happens: the Baal prophets spent from morning to noon calling on Baal. Of course, nothing happened. Then Elijah upped the stakes, he had multiple buckets of water poured on the sacrifice – so much that it filled a trench around the altar. When he asked God, Yahweh, to prove to the people that he was the true God, “[T]he fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, and the dust and even licked up the water that was in the trench.”3
Needless to say, this was a great triumph for Elijah. Not so much for the Baal prophets who ended up being slaughtered. Jezebel was not happy, and that’s where our reading today takes over.
Elijah is a significant figure in the Hebrew scriptures. If you recall the story of Jesus’ Transfiguration, you’ll remember that Elijah was one of the two figures who appeared to Jesus; the other was no less than Moses.
So he ranks right up there. But in the story we read today, we see an Elijah who in the space of just a few verses, goes from the conquering hero to a person running away to hide and wishing he could die. You may also recall that Elijah never did die, being taken up to heaven in a chariot pulled by fiery horses. Even today, during Passover Jews often leave a glass of wine or an empty chair during the Seder meal awaiting Elijah’s return.
So there is little chance of overstating the importance of Elijah. And yet, and yet, here we encounter him not as a symbol of strength and certainty, but a man hiding in a cave, in fear of his life and begging God to let him die, until finally God interrupts his malaise and sends him on his way, where he will anoint his successor, Elisha.
There is a lesson in here for us, especially as we look at the future of the Christian church – and it’s not limited to the mainline churches but is affecting them all.
Since 2007, persons in the United States identifying as Christians have fallen from 78 percent to 63 percent, although the decline has slowed and even shows slight growth in the last couple of years according to the Pew Research Center. Also, 7.1 percent of Americans say they follow a religion other that Christianity – up from 4.7 in 2007. The largest group are Jews, at 1.7 percent, with Muslim at 1.2 percent; Buddhist, 1.1 percent; Hindu, 0.9 percent; and others, 2.2 percent.4
As for Presbyterians, last year the denomination reported 1,045,848 members of the PCUSA, down 48,885 since 2021.5 That compares to an estimated 2.6 million in 2005.6
The number of Presbyterians in West Virginia has followed a similar path. When I was stated clerk back in the late 2000’s, there were almost 12,000 of us in the Presbytery of West Virginia. Today that number is 5,753 and the number of congregations has fallen to 115 from almost 145.
Daunting numbers, right? Well, not necessarily, and perhaps this story about Elijah going from grand success to wishing for death may have a lesson to teach us about this.
Here is why I say that:
Since its beginnings in Geneva with John Calvin, and its refining in Scotland with John Knox, Presbyterians have been an influential and growing group up through at least the mid-1950s and into the 1960s. The same is true by and large of all Christians, especially in the United States among those we label the mainline denominations; along with the Presbyterian Church (USA) those are the United Methodist Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Episcopal Church, American Baptist Churches USA, United Church of Christ, and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).7
But over the past 50 years or so, there’s been a slow and then increasing decline. One might liken that to the change in Israel under King Ahab, who wanted to keep Jezebel pleased, so allowed the growth and eventual supplanting of Yahweh followers by the Baal worshipers, even building a temple to Baal.
Just look at our own broad Christian faith. In the so-called “good old days,” which really weren’t as good as we think, being a member of a church was considered a “must-do” if you wanted to fit in, and especially if you wanted to succeed in most aspects of life.
But here’s the thing: many Presbyterian and other mainline leaders actively advocated – even to the point of getting arrested – for civil rights and protested against the Vietnam War. Members of those churches made up a majority, or near-majority, of the Supreme Court and the U.S. Congress. (It even goes back to before there WAS a United States of America, but I’ll pass on reminding you that Presbyterian minister the Rev. John Witherspoon was the only clergyman to sign the Declaration of Independence or that British leaders called the Revolutionary War “the Presbyterian Rebellion.”)
But as the 50s turned into the 60s which turned into the 70s, the youth in those churches began to see a disconnect as what they heard on Sunday, or learned in Sunday school, was missing the other days of the week. Many church leaders and church-goers vigorously opposed integration and the rest of the Civil Rights Movement. The same was true about Vietnam.
This led to Christianity being labeled by many with what may have been the worst criticism possible at that time – hypocrisy. This led to a growing rejection of Christianity as those youth turned into adults, many of whom saw no reason to join or be associated with Christianity or, frankly, any other religion.
Couple that with the increasing view of Christianity as being judgmental as well as hypocritical, and the decline set in.
To say that those who left had only been in church to enhance their personal and corporate image might be unfair, but it is fair to say that meant those still left in the pews were likely more serious and more committed to being faithful. As churches shrank, they also became more involved in authentically living out the faith. Another factor was the reluctance of people to join or commit to anything. (Read Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community by Robert D. Putnam.)8
I don’t have statistics for it, but I would not be surprised if the slowing decline suggested by the Pew Research Center is directly tied to that.
It may come across as boasting, but this is the church I know best right now, so I offer First Presbyterian, Morgantown as one example.
For a variety of reasons, a number of years ago, the church split almost exactly in half, although it wasn’t mainly because of denominational decisions as happened in so many congregations.
But now, for an entirely different variety of reasons, First Morgantown is growing. It’s growing not only in official numbers but also in actual attendance. Many of those – let’s call them participants –are also young families with children, the Holy Grail for which churches yearn.
I suggest that rejuvenation is directly tied to the increased visibility of First Morgantown in our area as a place which is truly welcoming to everyone, as we say every Sunday morning, “without condition.”
What you hear from the pulpit on Sunday about God’s love and grace, and God’s vision for the world, is the same that church members try to live and reflect in their daily lives. At least to the best of their ability.
This is not unique to First Presbyterian Church of Morgantown. There are others in our community and around the state and country, who do the same thing.
I acknowledge that this is not universal among U.S. Christians. There are many out there who decry the activism of others, saying “the church should not be political.” They have loud, prominent and powerful voices and are fighting with what I hope is a last gasp to return to the “old days.”
But the church has always been political, from the time God agreed to let there be a king over the Jews (even though God didn’t think it was a good idea) through Jesus overturning tables in the temple to the civil rights and anti-war movements to standing up for a safe environment to LGBTQIA+ acceptance.
What the church cannot be is partisan, advocating one politician or political group over another. It’s issues that matter, not party.
Many may argue that the church’s job is to “save souls” and get people to heaven. I and others will counter that the church’s job is to reflect and build the Kingdom of God on earth today.
As Paul wrote to the Galatians more than 2,000 years ago: “[In] Christ Jesus [we] are all children of God through faith. As many of [us] as were baptized into Christ have clothed [ourselves] with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek; there is no longer slave or free; there is no longer male and female, for all of [us] are one in Christ Jesus. And if [we] belong to Christ, then [we] are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.”
God wouldn’t let Elijah sulk and give up. Just so, God is not letting us withdraw into a cave of despair about a world that seems to have been taken over by a 21st Century Baal. Regardless of how we hear God, in “a great wind,” in an earthquake, in a fire, or even in the “sound of still silence,” God is telling us to return to the core of God’s word.
Perhaps the corporate church’s embryonic renaissance in faithfulness to Jesus’ teaching can be seen as a collective Elijah, calling down God’s fire. Only this time, the fire is in God’s people to do what the Lord requires of them, i.e. “to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with [our] God.” (Micah 6:8)
To God alone be the glory. Amen.
Epilogue
An interesting happened yesterday (June 22, 2025) as I was preaching at one of the small churches I serve monthly and moderate their Sessions. It also had a lesson for me. During my sermon — I think around the part on political vs. partisan — one of the congregation members got up and walked out. Of course there’s no way short of asking him if that was in reaction to what I was saying, but coupled with noticing his body language earlier, it’s what it felt like. That was the first time that has happened to me, even though I’m pretty consistent in reflecting that thought.
Then later, during “joys and concerns,” another church member, who was not aware of the other’s departure, said what she had was not exactly a joy or concern, but she was inspired to say it: “I really appreciated your sermon. After last night (the U.S. bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities), I just kept wondering ‘what has he gotten us into’ and ‘what happens now.’ That was the exact sermon I needed to hear. Thank you.”
It was a clear reminder that there is no way to know what the Spirit is going to do with your words between your mouth and the listeners’ ears.
That, in turn, is further validation that as preachers, we should say clearly what the Spirit is leading us to say and not try to dance around with veiled suggestions or watered down words (especially Words).
And as I write this, it occurs to me that tendency is perhaps one of the reasons our number have declined.
U.S. bombing of Iranian nuclear plants.
Beth Glazier-McDonald, “Elijah,” in Eerdmanns Dictionary of the Bible, David Noel Freedman (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmanns Publishing Co., 2000), 395
1 Kings 18:38.
Gregory A. Smith, et al, “Decline of Christianity in the U.S. Has Slowed, May Have Leveled Off.” HTTPS://www.pewresearch.org, Feb. 26, 2025.
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A), “2024 Comparative Summaries of Statistics,” https://pcusa.org/sites/default/files/2025-05/2024_IV-B1_Comparative_Summaries_Statistics.pdf, Accessed, June 20, 2025.
Pew Research Center, "Members of the Presbyterian Church (USA) | Religious Landscape Study," Retrieved March 10,2025.
Wikipedia.org, “Mainline Protestant,” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mainline_Protestant, Accessed June 20, 2025.
This development may also be behind some, although certainly not all, of the statistical decline. It’s not unusual for people to attend a church, but not join, so – depending on the denomination, especially Presbyterians – don’t get counted.