But The People Said Nothing

I Kings 18:21 "Elijah went before the people and said, "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal is God, follow him." But the people said nothing."

Jonah 3:4 "On the first day, Jonah started into the city. He proclaimed: "Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned." The Ninevites believed God. They declared a fast and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth."

I give up. Not on preaching. Not on witnessing. Not on pouring my heart out to the lost. But I give up trying to figure out what method, what song, what sermon, what type of service, what impassioned plea will get people to listen, to care, to turn to God with all of their heart. It is one of the most frustrating aspects of ministering: The Sea of Blank Faces.

On Mt. Carmel, Elijah gave one of the most concise, challenging sermons recorded in Scripture. "Make a decision! Cross the line!" Who would not have been moved by the sight of this Spirit-filled holy man coming in from three years in the desert and laying out that challenge? He was a fellow Israelite - a brother - pouring his heart out for his people. He loved them and desperately wanted them to turn back to God.

Shhhhhh. . . . quiet . . . let's listen to the sound of the response. (Insert the sound of crickets.) Huh? I don't hear anything. Oh, that's right - the people said nothing. Nada. Zilch. Not one word of agreement or disagreement - the ultimate in apathy (or confusion). It was probably the most 'ineffective' sermon ever preached, in terms of salvations. (At least tied for first with all of mine.)

Man, it doesn't take long to be in the ministry to experience that response. It can send one home in deep despair. (see DCap's blog at this point.)

Now let's take a look at Jonah! Here was a man who didn't even want to preach to these Ninevites, lest they turn and be saved. After much prodding, God got him to go, and he went into the city preaching one line over and over. "Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned."

"Wow! Gee thanks, stranger! What a heartfelt sermon. What love, what depth! I'm glad you went to the trouble to put so much time into your message. I can tell you really care about us."

He probably even said it more in derision than in love and urgency. Again, he didn't want them to believe it! So what happened? Only that 120,000 people repented and turned to God and were saved. It is without a doubt the most 'effective' sermon ever preached, if you go by the sheer number of salvations.

What's up with that?

Simply this: IT IS NOT IN MY HANDS.

If it were, then their belief, their fire, would depend on me. And God never puts that burden on any of His children. He simply tells us to live a life on fire and deliver the message without altering it to make it more palatable or exciting. It is His Word and His power that convict a person and change them. We think much too highly of ourselves when we think their salvations depend upon us.

I Corinthians 2:1 - 5 "When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power."

Oh, by the way. Elijah's story didn't end there. God rained fire down from heaven and then they all turned to Him. It wasn't the sermon. It's never the sermon or the song. It is the power of God that changes an individual and shakes a nation. So don't grow weary in doing good - for in due time the harvest will be reaped.