1 Kings 19:1-15
Semi-continuous Revised Common Lectionary
Second Sunday after Pentecost
June 22, 2025
In times of scarcity, it is tempting to think God must be in the first thing that comes along that could conceivably get us out of the mess we’re in. This wouldn’t be so bad if we didn’t live in a world that runs on the imposition of scarcity. The forces that rule over our lives depend for their survival on us feeling like we don’t have enough time, money, community, bandwidth, status, attention, and on and on.
Our news outlets are judged not by their veracity but by clicks. Our feed is curated based on its likelihood to get our attention, which is to say it is biased toward what is most outrageous. One notable political strategist correctly predicted that “flooding the zone” with garbage would lead people to be overwhelmed and have no idea how to respond.
People of good faith everywhere are feeling the squeeze: too many emails to respond to, too many news stories to be outraged by, too little money to pay the bills, too little time with the spouse or kids. Too much of the bad stuff. Too little of the good stuff. Come to think of it, maybe my life could be saved by that productivity app, for which I would pay a monthly fee.
In 1 Kings 19:1-15, Elijah is fleeing in the wilderness and his prospects for living genuinely are scarce. He has just defeated and executed the prophets of Baal and their patroness, Queen Jezebel, intends to kill him. He is sent deeper and deeper into the wilderness, beyond cell service, where eventually he hears that the Lord is about to pass by. Then, three starkly obvious signifiers for God – a wind, a fire, and an earthquake – occur. Yet somehow, Elijah knows that the Lord is not in any of them. Finally, in the sound of “sheer silence” (1 Kings 19:12), Elijah encounters God.
If I were in Elijah’s position, I would have done whatever that wind told me to do and been long gone from the cave before the fire could come along. There is no chance I would have been able to wait around long enough to find God in the sheer silence. I am amazed at the capacity, even in a time of existential peril, to slow down, listen well, and discern where God can really be found.
Amid the totalizing scarcity of late-stage capitalism and the ever-expanding assault on liberal democracy, it is tempting to grasp desperately at the wind, at the fire, at the earthquake, at anything. Our capacity to attend all the way through to the presence of God in the sheer silence feels vanishingly faint. And yet, that is precisely our call as disciples of the living God. The Lord may not be in the first thing that promises a way out, but the Lord will pass by.
Questions for reflection on 1 Kings 19:1-15
- Where are you tempted to find God that might not really be God?
- What resources do you have to help you discern where God is passing by?
- What can you do to slow down and listen to where God may be speaking?
View the corresponding Order of Worship for Second Sunday after Pentecost.
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