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May 01, 2022

Wisdom has Left the Building

Wisdom has Left the Building

Passage: 1 Kings 16:29-17:1

Speaker: Patrick Lafferty

Series: Easter Egg, the hidden figure of Elijah in the life of Jesus

In film, “easter-eggs” are little recognitions of other stories which directors subtly sprinkle into their own work. Through our study of Mark’s gospel, we heard frequent references–easter-eggs you might say–to Elijah, the bold and still human prophet of the northern kingdom of Israel during its spiral into dissolution. We’ll be introduced to him this Sunday, hearing a word of necessary confrontation to a situation–particular but universal–in which a compromise has led to catastrophe. It’s an ancient account of a timeless human experience. What does God do when wisdom leaves the building?

readings & Scripture

PREPARATION: Psalm 84:1-4

LEADER:
How lovely is your dwelling place,
O LORD of hosts!
My soul longs, yes, faints
for the courts of the LORD;
my heart and flesh sing for joy
to the living God.

Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young,
at your altars, O LORD of hosts,
my King and my God.

ALL: Blessed are those who dwell in your house,
ever singing your praise!

CENTRAL TEXT: 1 Kings 16:29-17:1
1 Kings 16:29 In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab the son of Omri began to reign over Israel, and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years. 30 And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD, more than all who were before him. 31 And as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he took for his wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal and worshiped him. 32 He erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria. 33 And Ahab made an Asherah. Ahab did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him. 34 In his days Hiel of Bethel built Jericho. He laid its foundation at the cost of Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the LORD, which he spoke by Joshua the son of Nun.

1Kings 17:1 Now 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.”

NEW TESTAMENT READING: Mark 15:33-39
And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.” And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”

BENEDICTION: Jude 1:24-25
LEADER: Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever.

ALL: Amen

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

  1. Read if you will, and if you have a bit of time, the article by Haidt. (Fair warning:It pulls no punches to those who identify strongly with either left or right.) What do you make of his analysis? How would you summarize his sense that we’ve left wisdom behind through the well-intentioned advances we’ve made?
  2. Without looking, what all do you know about Elijah? What mentions of him do you recall from our study of Mark’s gospel? 
  3. Refresh your memory: what’s a compromise? What are examples of necessary, unobjectionable compromises we make? What are those that we may in time regret? What might be one you’ve made that you never dreamt would’ve had a negative impact on you? 
  4. Why are the compromises King Ahab has made understandable even though indefensible as a king of Israel?
  5. What in this passage does the author identify as a consequence of Ahab’s and Israel’s compromises?
  6. What are examples of the fallout from compromises—whether personal, political, or cultural?
  7. What is God’s response to Ahab through Elijah? What function did it serve?
  8. Why is that kind of intervention sometimes necessary—maybe not an actual drought, but something that alerts us to misplaced priorities and hopes?
  9. How does Jesus speak words of judgment like Elijah, and yet is also greater than Elijah?
  10. The compromises we are still making, and those we made and cannot undo: how does Jesus speak to both? How does he speak to yours right now, do you think?

ILLUSTRATIONS:

QUOTES: 

  • Social scientists have identified at least three major forces that collectively bind together successful democracies: social capital (extensive social networks with high levels of trust), strong institutions, and shared stories. Social media has weakened all three.
    - Jonathan Haidt
  • Recognition is the first human quest. - Andy Crouch, The Life We’re Looking For

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