Homily for Sunday 20 July 2014, the Feast of the Prophet Elias--"The Prayer of the Righteous is Powerful and Effective"

Homily for 20 July 2014:  The Holy Prophet Elias the Thesbite

(James 5:10-20)                    (Luke 4:22-30)

 

Today is the feast day of the Holy Prophet Elias.  He is called the “Thesbite” or the “Tishbite” from the place he came from.  Sometimes he is called St Elias “the Living” because he was taken into heaven in a fiery chariot, apparently without dying.  After Moses, we consider him the greatest of the prophets.

Both of today’s readings mention Elias.  The Letter of St James says, “The prayer of the righteous person is powerful and effective.”  And James uses Elias as an example of this truth.  Elias was a human being like us, but he prayed to God to stop the rain from falling in Israel, and it stopped for three and a half years.  He prayed again and the rain came back.

The Bible (in the First and Second Books of Kings) gives us many other examples of the power of St Elias’ prayers.  He prayed that the widow’s son would return to life—and he did.  He prayed that God would send fire from heaven upon the altar of sacrifice to demonstrate the He is the True God—and God did.  He went into the desert to escape from the Lord, but an angel brought him food and water so that he could continue to Mt Horeb to encounter the Lord.  There God revealed God’s self to Elias in a “still, small voice,” not in wind or earth­quake or fire.

We enjoy these stories of what Elias did, and we honor him as a wonderworker and a protector of the people.  But we need to remember that it’s not his “miracles,” not his mighty deeds, that are important.

What is important is that Elias was a righteous man, and he prayed.

So his prayer was “powerful and effective.”

But the mighty deeds were done by God’s power and accomplished God’s will.  By himself, Elias had no power.  Speaking to God in the desert, he said, “I am no better than my ancestors.”  And even though he was doing God’s will, he was always harassed and chased and attacked by the soldiers of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel.  Even the widow of Sarepta, who was kept alive because God sent Elias for her to care for, accused him of bringing judgement on her and letting her son die.

And when Elias tried to do what he wanted instead of what God wanted, he didn’t succeed.  He ran away into the desert and prayed for death, but God sent the angel to feed him and get him moving.  His work for God wasn’t finished.

St James’ point is that we Christians face many temptations and hardships in life, but if we have faith God provides what we need to persevere and to strengthen our relationship with God.  He says that the suffering should pray, the cheerful should sing songs of praise, the sick should call the priests to anoint them and pray for them, and we should confess our sins and pray for one another.

If we do these things, we will be righteous—not in our own eyes, but according to our relationship with God.  We will be in right relationship with God.

And then our prayer will be powerful and effective—like Elias’ prayers—because “the prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.”

God called ordinary people—like Elias, like us—to be prophets and they accomplished mighty works of power by their prayers because they were righteous:  they were doing what God wanted, not what they wanted.

God has also called us to be prophets.  God has called us, ordinary people, to stand up and show others by our actions and teach others by our words that God is our Creator and Father, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and Savior of the world, and that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father to lead us into all truth.

When we live what we believe, we are righteous and our prayers are powerful and effective.  For this, and for everything, we give thanks and praise and glory to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and ever and unto ages of ages.  Amen.