Last evening a dear friend and I met on the phone to do Evening Prayer together, as is our custom every Wednesday evening. The Old Testament reading for the first Wednesday after Epiphany was 1 Kings 22:51 through the end of the first chapter of 2 Kings.
Having fallen gravely ill, Ahaziah sent his messengers to inquire after Beelzebub, the god of Ekron about the prospects of his recovery. The Angel of the Lord told Elijah to intercept the messengers and ask them the following question:
“ Is it because there is no God in Israel that you have to enquire of Beelzebub the god of Ekron?”
The Angel is conveying a divinely ironic message in response to Ahaziah’s faithless behavior. Essentially God is saying, “ I AM your God who gives you everything: life, breath, and salvation; and you are seeking out Beelzebub, the “lord of the flies which circle dung piles” about your life, health and well-being? Really? This is whom you seek?”
Whom do you seek? These were the first words spoken by Jesus in the Gospel of St. John. He spoke those words to the disciples of John, who dropped everything and ran to Jesus when John the Baptist pointed to Jesus and declared, “Behold the Lamb of God!”.
In these turbulent times we want answers, peace, and a return to normalcy. However, in searching for these, the question must be asked, “Whom do you seek?”. What do we really want to find? What are we really searching for? What do our hearts need? Friends, you will not find these things in the dung heap of political pundits or social media influencers.
Whom do you seek? Behold the Lamb of God! Seek Him. He alone is the source of our peace.
