1 Kings 19:14-21

“All Is Lost!”

At its peak the organization counted millions of members, over 2 million donors and huge influence through its lobbying efforts in government. Founded in 1979 by Reverend Jerry Falwell, the Moral Majority set out to influence public policy more in line with what it felt were the Christian beliefs of a significant portion of Americans.1 In 1989 the organization disbanded after announcing their goal had been achieved: “The religious right is solidly in place and … religious conservatives in America are now in for the duration.”2 Jerry Falwell passed away in 2007, but if he were alive I wonder what he would say today. Would he say the Moral Majority is still intact today? Would he be pointing to all the victories in the causes championed by the organization he founded? Or would he cry out All Is Lost? Would he crash the way did?

When we get a glimpse of Elijah in 1 Kings chapter 19, we get the opposite of someone who stands back and admires the completion of all his goals. We see a servant of the Lord who crashes down from a mountain top victory into a heap of despair, who essentially gasps out in hopelessness: All Is Lost!

It helps to understand how Elijah got to this point. When we are first introduced to Elijah in 1 Kings chapter 17 he is tasked with announcing a national drought because King has led God’s people into and unfaithfulness. Elijah is miraculously cared for and gets to see God’s power first hand. Then God tells Elijah to come out of hiding for a very public display of power. He is to host a ’s duel of sorts on Mount Carmel. God tells Elijah to challenge all the of the false god to bring fire down onto the altar on which their sacrifice rests. Hundreds of prophets are met with less than cricket chirping after crying out to their idol all day long. Then God decisively and convincingly stole the show by raining down fire from heaven to consume Elijah’s entire sacrifice and even the altar.

So now everything will go back to the way it’s supposed to go, right? Wrong. Unfaithful King Ahab isn’t moved. His evil queen is filled with hateful rage and threatens violent retribution. But if she actually wanted to murder Elijah, would she really have wasted her time warning him advance? No, she just wanted to scare him off. And she succeeded. Elijah flees in fear. Propelled by profound disappointment and retreating into depression he travels 200 miles down to . That’s where the Lord tracks him down and tries to snap him out of his funk. Instead, all we hear is Elijah sulking: “I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” (19:14)

But we can’t really blame him for this retreat or coming to this end-of-the-rope conclusion. We have all felt like all is lost at some time. When we heard about head-scratching Supreme Court decisions; when new laws are passed that go directly against our beliefs; when the media turns sin into something to be proud of and morality into something we should be ashamed of we can’t help but throw up our hands and want to give up like Elijah did.

1 Wilcox, Clyde (1996). Onward Christian Soldiers?, p. 96. Boulder: Westview Press.

2 Allitt, Patrick (2003). Religion in America Since 1945: A History, p. 198. New York: Columbia University Press. One of the worst parts about living in America is that we feel like these defeats are out fault. Every message we hear tells us to follow our dreams. Self-help tells us to set our minds to i