Daily Lectionary: 1 Kings 19:1-21; Ephesians 3:1-21
"Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him." (1 Kings 19:18)
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. It's easy to think we're alone in the world as far as the faith. For one thing, Lutherans aren't a very big chunk of those who call themselves Christians. Perhaps as you look around you wonder if anyone is really a Christian. Look at the way people who go to church live. Maybe you even wonder some days if YOU are a Christian. After all, you go to church and how do you live? It's easy to have a pity party over being a Christian in a world surrounded by people who really hate God and you, too.
The Lord told Elijah, who was upset about that very same problem, that He had reserved 7,000 in Israel who had not fallen into the worship of false gods. Maybe that wasn't a lot, but it was some.
When we confess the “one, holy, Christian and apostolic church” in the Creed, we are confessing the fact that Christ's people are all over this world. We don't always see them and know who they are, but we are joined to them in the Body of Christ.
The real Good News is that Christ died for all people and has sent his preachers into the whole world to preach repentance and forgiveness in His name. This is good news, because it means the Lord has even died for the despair and worry we often feel because of the way the world hates Christ's church. Notice that the Lord doesn't punish Elijah or scold him, but comforts him with His Word and then sends him back to do his job: preaching the promises of God in His Word.
God's Word teaches us that we can find His church wherever Christ is being preached and people are being baptized and His Body and Blood are being given to eat and drink. That means right there, in your own congregation, the Lord has given you a place and a family along with all the other sinners He has called into His church. There, Christ Himself is present to comfort you and keep you in the true faith, even when this world is passing away. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.
Preserve, O Lord, Your honor, The bold blasphemer smite; Convince, convert, enlighten The souls in error's night. Reveal Your will, dear Savior, To all who dwell below, Great light of all the living, That all Your name may know. (LSB 658:2)