What does it take to be a man?  Rugged toughness?  Virility?  Independent spirit?  When televangelist Jim Bakker went to prison for financial mismanagement of his television church, he thought he'd lost everything.  His family was torn apart and his life was in shambles.  But prison taught him a few things about priorities.  One day, his son Jamie spent the whole day with him at the prison.  Afterwards, Jamie hugged his dad and said, "All I ever wanted is to have you all to myself for one whole day.  Today was like a dream come true for me!"

          Those words almost broke Jim Bakker's heart.  He had never realized that while he was building his empire, he had neglected his family so much that spending a day in prison with Dad was a highlight of his son's life.  There in prison, Jim Bakker learned an important lesson in what it meant to be a man.

          On this Father's Day weekend it's good for us to reflect on what it takes to make a man.  We've even been considering this question in our Saturday Men's Bible Breakfast.  A few weeks ago on Mother's Day we considered the value of being a woman of God.  Today we'll do the same for men.  God made human beings male and female, and all of creation was very good until sin came along.  Now, however, men and women don't understand each other and men often don't even know what it means to be a man.

          The pages of our Bibles are filled with accounts of men that seem larger than life -- Moses the leader, great King David, fearless Daniel, and courageous Apostle Paul.  All these men seem to dwarf us regular people.  But I'll let you in on a little secret:  all these men were just that: men!  Even one of the most powerful people in the Old Testament, Elijah, was just an ordinary man made extraordinary because he obeyed the call of God.

          When I read about the life and ministry of Elijah, I am amazed at his courage before kings, yet also his fear in hiding in a cave.  James, the brother of our Lord, reminds us in his letter, "Elijah was a man just like us.  He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years." (James 5:17)   Elijah was just a man whose greatest act was being obedient to God.  He was from the mountains of Gilead.  "Gilead" means "rugged."  Elijah was a tough guy, a mountain man.  When he stepped onto the scene, his mannerisms were as rugged as the place he called home.

          Elijah was a man of great faith and a man of prayer - not formal prayers, but God cares little for those.  He just wants men talking to Him -- and often.  God also doesn't worry much about appearance.  Elijah wore a sheepskin tied on with a belt (2 Kings 1).  This is good news for those guys who wear a dirty t-shirt as they go about their physical tasks.  But we guys had better not forget the part about his faith and lots of prayer.  Elijah did what God wanted -- most of the time.  His obedience was his greatest strength.

          God is not looking for spiritual giants to work for Him.  He's simply looking for people who hear His Word and live by it.  "Blessed are those who hear the Word of God and keep it." (Luke 11:28)   Nothing at all is known about Elijah until he steps onto the scene and challenges King Ahab.  He was a nobody from nowhere, yet he was handpicked by God to carry His message to a wayward nation.

          God doesn't need the rich, the educated, the intelligent, or the movers and shakers of this world to get His work done.  He works through the lives of men and women who yield themselves to His will.  The bottom line is that God wants us to surrender to His will more than He wants anything else we can give to Him.

          Elijah was a man of courage.  He defied King Ahab, that wimp of a king who married an evil wife named Jezebel.  Ahab sinned more against God than all the kings before him, and he seemed to glory in it, despite God's warnings.  It's almost as if Ahab had no ears, only eyes to do evil.  God talked and talked to Him through Elijah, but Ahab listened to everyone else except God.

          So it was to this king that God sent the rough prophet.  Elijah walked right into the presence of royalty and delivered the message of the Lord without flinching.  He told Ahab that there would be no rain or dew until he said there would be.  It took courage to defy the wicked ruler!

          He also denounced their religion.  Ahab was a Hebrew but he'd converted to worship Baal, his wife's fertility god.  Baal worship said when you were sexually joined to a priest or a priestess, that helped make your life more successful.  Baal worship even condoned child sacrifice, something also condoned today, but called by a different name.  So Elijah declared war on Baal.  He said, "My God is greater than yours, and to prove it, there will be no rain for three and a half years."

          Chuck McIllhenny, Presbyterian pastor from San Francisco, has written a book titled "When the Wicked Seize the City".  This is a man whose home has been fire-bombed because he spoke against the evils of his society.  The bedroom for his children is a fireproof bunker so his children can survive as he stands up and speaks actively for the truths of Jesus Christ.  He also ministers in the area hospitals to those dying of AIDS, and he shares the truths of God, that the only hope beyond this life is faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.

          One day Chuck went to a San Francisco City Council meeting which was going to deal with the issue of homosexual rights.  He didn't take anyone with him; he didn't take any placards to picket.  He just went to the City Council meeting.  As the Council was about to take a vote, the chairman said, "Is there anyone who has anything to say?"  No one moved, so Chuck stood up and said, "I would like to say nothing for myself, but I would like to quote three individuals that I've respected for years."  And he read to them from Moses in Leviticus, from the Psalms of David, and from Paul in Romans.  Then he closed his Bible and sat down.

          Someone said, "Wait - before you sit down, who are those people--Moses and David and Paul?"  Another said, "You're reading from the Bible, aren't you?"  "Yes I am," he said.  Then one of the council members said, "Then I vote no," and another voted no and another.  And the resolution granting special rights to homosexuals didn't pass that night, due to the courage of one man armed with the Word of God.

          Elijah was committed to God.  His very name means "Jehovah is God".  Chances are great his parents had no idea how he'd live out the name they gave him.  Somewhere along the line Elijah came to have a personal relationship with the true God.  This is the first and most crucial step in becoming a man - having a personal relationship with God in Jesus Christ.  Until we know Him we cannot serve Him!  And the best way of knowing Him is through Jesus Christ.

          By walking into the presence of Ahab and Jezebel in the name of God, Elijah showed he was totally dependent upon the Lord.  He was not trusting his strength or his power or his talent.  In an act of faith, he laid his life in God's hands.  Success as a man of God living in a wicked world comes when we yield ourselves to God, being totally dependent on Him for all things.  You see, only one thing matters to God.  And it's not our correct doctrine or even our obedience -- it's our faith.  We must come to the place in life where we kick out all the props and rest our life totally in the hands of the Lord.  We must stop trying and start trusting!  Plenty of people out there live by plastic, or by their job, or their education, or their intellect, or their whatever.  What God seeks is a man who lives by faith, depending on Him to meet their needs.

          A question for us all - Elijah's God was alive; is yours?  Don't be fooled.  You don't have to bow down to Buddha to be an idolator.  You don't have to join a pagan religion to be an idolater.  You and I have our closets stuffed full of idols -- our club memberships, our computers, our property, our financial portfolios, even our families.  Whatever we place before God is our idol, and God doesn't tolerate idolatry in His people for long.

          Today's little text tells us, "Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah."  Through a chain of events, Elijah became a man of God.  He stood up for God.  He trusted God and he obeyed God -- that's what made him into a man of God.  He wasn't always strong, but God made him strong enough.

          Elijah's life somewhat mirrors the life of Jesus Christ.  Jesus came with a message from God.  He was sent to a wicked people to tell them great change was coming.  He was not afraid to speak to the high and mighty.  He lived completely by faith in God.  The big difference was that Jesus was God's Son.  He put his very life into the hands of God and went to the cross.  How many of us could say we are like Jesus?  How many of us trust God, no matter what?  How many of us are taking our stand for God in the midst of this wicked world?

          The bad news is that we can't do it.  We're too sinful and weak.  The Good News is that Jesus Christ has done it all for us.  He went to the cross of Calvary for our sins and weaknesses.  He took upon Himself the weight of the world and it cost Him His life.  Jesus died and rose again for us, the Son of God dying for the children of men, the innocent sacrificing Himself for the guilty.  And now all who trust in Him have eternal life.  That's God's promise to us all.

          And so now when we fall, Christ is there to pick us up.  When we fail, He succeeds for us.  Now when we are afraid, He gives us courage.  And when we sin, He forgives.

          God made Elijah into a great man.  Great men like Elijah are not always those who do great things, but those who have great faith in a great God.  1 Kings 17 tells us it all started when "The word of the Lord came to Elijah."  This Word comes to each of us too.  It comes through the Bible and through the sacraments.  This Word is in our worship today and in our private Bible reading tonight.  May God grant each of us -- men and women -- faith in Christ.  Happy Father's Day!  Amen

Copyright © 2004 by Pastor Bob Tasler.  All rights reserved.