WEBVTT 00:00:00.479 --> 00:00:06.320 One of the most dangerous places a Christian can live is not in outright rebellion against God. 00:00:06.480 --> 00:00:08.000 It is indecision. 00:00:08.240 --> 00:00:12.480 It is in trying to keep one foot in the kingdom and one foot in the world. 00:00:12.720 --> 00:00:16.960 That's exactly the situation Elijah confronts in today's first reading. 00:00:17.280 --> 00:00:26.320 He stands before the people of Israel on Mount Carmel and asks one of the most important questions How long will you straddle the issue? 00:00:26.640 --> 00:00:30.960 If the Lord is God, follow him, if Baal, follow him. 00:00:31.679 --> 00:00:33.280 The people want both. 00:00:33.520 --> 00:00:36.159 They want God, but they also want Baal. 00:00:36.640 --> 00:00:39.840 They want faith, but they also want comfort. 00:00:40.079 --> 00:00:45.119 They want to worship, but they also want to fit into the surrounding culture. 00:00:45.439 --> 00:00:47.759 And Elijah exposes the problem. 00:00:48.000 --> 00:00:50.240 You cannot serve two masters. 00:00:50.479 --> 00:00:52.960 Eventually a choice must be made. 00:00:53.200 --> 00:00:56.159 And what's fascinating is the response of the people. 00:00:56.719 --> 00:01:00.640 Scripture says the people, however, did not answer him. 00:01:01.439 --> 00:01:05.599 Silence, because deep down they knew he was right. 00:01:06.319 --> 00:01:13.040 The greatest spiritual battles are often not between good and evil, they are between total commitment and partial commitment. 00:01:13.519 --> 00:01:17.200 Most people in Israel had not formally rejected God. 00:01:17.439 --> 00:01:20.000 They had simply stopped putting him first. 00:01:20.560 --> 00:01:24.640 And if we're honest, that temptation is still alive today. 00:01:25.040 --> 00:01:29.439 We can believe in God and yet structure our lives around something else. 00:01:29.680 --> 00:01:36.079 We can come to mass and say all of our prayers and still make success, things, achievements. 00:01:36.400 --> 00:01:39.599 That's our God, the real God. 00:01:40.159 --> 00:01:44.480 We can pray and still make money our security, our comfort. 00:01:44.719 --> 00:01:49.920 We can profess faith and still seek the approval of others more than the approval of God. 00:01:50.879 --> 00:01:54.959 Modern idols don't usually look like statues. 00:01:55.200 --> 00:02:02.560 They look like careers, popularity, possessions, politics, entertainment, control, or even ourselves. 00:02:03.040 --> 00:02:06.400 Anything that takes God's place before an idol. 00:02:07.280 --> 00:02:12.639 Elijah's challenge is just as relevant today as it was three thousand years ago. 00:02:12.879 --> 00:02:15.360 Who's really first in your life? 00:02:15.680 --> 00:02:19.360 That comes down to a very dramatic showdown. 00:02:19.840 --> 00:02:28.319 Four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal spend the entire day shouting, dancing, pleading, and even cutting themselves, and nothing happens. 00:02:28.560 --> 00:02:31.039 No fire, no voice, no answer. 00:02:31.360 --> 00:02:33.439 Why because Baal is not real? 00:02:34.080 --> 00:02:36.080 Then Elijah steps forward. 00:02:36.319 --> 00:02:37.680 Notice the contrast. 00:02:37.840 --> 00:02:42.560 There's no frenzy, no manipulation, no spectacle, just a simple prayer. 00:02:42.960 --> 00:02:47.360 Answer me, Lord, that this people may know that you are God. 00:02:47.919 --> 00:02:50.960 And immediately fire falls from heaven. 00:02:51.280 --> 00:02:56.159 What strikes me most about this story is that Elijah first repairs the broken altar. 00:02:56.400 --> 00:03:00.000 Before the fire comes, the altar must be rebuilt. 00:03:00.400 --> 00:03:02.560 I think that's the lesson for all of us. 00:03:02.800 --> 00:03:04.639 Many people want the fire of God. 00:03:04.800 --> 00:03:12.639 They want the passion, they want spiritual renewal, they want a deeper relationship with Christ, but they do not want to rebuild the altar. 00:03:12.960 --> 00:03:16.560 They do not want to return to prayer, to commitment, to structure. 00:03:16.719 --> 00:03:18.400 They don't want to return a confession. 00:03:18.479 --> 00:03:22.639 They don't want to forgive that impossible relationship. 00:03:22.879 --> 00:03:26.400 They do not want to reorder their priorities. 00:03:26.719 --> 00:03:33.759 Yet something that is throughout Scripture is that renewal always begins with rebuilding the altar. 00:03:34.319 --> 00:03:37.680 It begins with putting God back where he belongs. 00:03:37.919 --> 00:03:42.080 And when that happens, the fire comes, it rains down. 00:03:42.960 --> 00:03:46.080 Now, if we look at the gospel, it sheds even more light on this. 00:03:46.240 --> 00:03:50.319 Jesus says, I have come not to abolish, but to fulfill. 00:03:50.639 --> 00:03:57.439 In other words, Jesus is not creating a new religion disconnected from the Old Testament. 00:03:57.680 --> 00:04:03.120 No, everything that God began in Israel reaches its fulfillment in Jesus Christ. 00:04:03.439 --> 00:04:09.199 The law, the prophets, the sacrifices, the covenant, all of it points towards Jesus. 00:04:09.680 --> 00:04:13.439 And then Jesus says something that many people today need to hear. 00:04:13.840 --> 00:04:19.600 Whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:23.680 Notice that Jesus does not separate love from obedience. 00:04:23.920 --> 00:04:30.319 In our culture, people often say, I love God, but I don't want anyone telling me how to live. 00:04:30.560 --> 00:04:32.800 I think I know what I need to do. 00:04:33.439 --> 00:04:35.680 Jesus never speaks that way. 00:04:36.160 --> 00:04:38.879 For him, love and obedience belong together. 00:04:39.040 --> 00:04:43.120 Not because God wants to control us, but because God wants to save us. 00:04:43.360 --> 00:04:47.040 Every commandment is ultimately an expression of God's love. 00:04:47.279 --> 00:04:50.639 Every commandment is a path towards freedom. 00:04:50.959 --> 00:04:56.560 The problem with idols is that they always promise freedom and eventually produce slavery. 00:04:56.959 --> 00:05:01.680 God's commandments sometimes feel demanding, but they always lead to life. 00:05:01.920 --> 00:05:06.639 So perhaps today, our readings invite us to ask two questions. 00:05:06.879 --> 00:05:10.639 First, what is competing with God for first place in our life? 00:05:10.879 --> 00:05:14.000 What is the Baal I am tempted to serve? 00:05:14.319 --> 00:05:17.120 And second, what altar needs rebuilding? 00:05:17.360 --> 00:05:18.800 Maybe it's my daily prayer. 00:05:18.879 --> 00:05:21.040 Maybe it's a deeper commitment to the Lord. 00:05:21.199 --> 00:05:24.720 Maybe it's returning to Sunday Mass faithfully every week. 00:05:24.959 --> 00:05:31.120 Maybe it's confession after being away for so long, or maybe even repairing a broken relationship. 00:05:31.439 --> 00:05:36.560 The people on Mount Carmel finally fell to their knees and cried out, The Lord is God. 00:05:36.959 --> 00:05:38.399 The Lord is God. 00:05:39.439 --> 00:05:48.399 That is the decision every disciple must eventually make, not just with our lips, not just on Sundays, but with our whole lives. 00:05:48.720 --> 00:05:52.480 Because Christianity was never meant to be one commitment among a many. 00:05:52.720 --> 00:05:56.800 It is meant to be the very center for which everything else flows. 00:05:57.120 --> 00:06:01.759 And when God is truly first in your life, the fire will reign down. 00:06:02.319 --> 00:06:02.959 Amen.