OPEN: The story is told of a University professor who told his class he was going to prove that there was not a God. Then he looked up at the ceiling and shouted, “God if you are real, then I want you to knock me off this platform. I’ll give you 15 minutes!” He kept taunting God… 5 minutes went by… and then 10 minutes, “Here I am God, I’m still waiting.” After 13 minutes of this, one of the football players at the college happened to walk by the door and heard what the professor was saying. The football player walked into the class room and then RAN at the professor and knocked him off the platform. The professor got up, obviously shaken and said “Why did you do that?” The football player smiled, “Well, God was busy; so He sent me!”
God… sent him??? Hmmm.
In our story today, we read about another man that God sent - a man named Elisha. Now, we hear a lot more about Eli -JAH than we do about Eli- SHA. In the book of Malachi it was prophesied that Eli -JAH would return to usher in the Messiah. To this day, there’s a special place set at Passover tables in Jewish homes in anticipation that Elijah will come. And (in the day of Jesus) the Jews were so eager for the coming of the Messiah that they often asked if John the Baptist and Jesus were Elijah. Later, when Jesus went up on the Mt. of Transfiguration, Moses and Elijah were there standing next to Christ. And in the book of James we’re told that should pray the way Elijah prayed.
But Eli -SHA doesn’t get near as much press. He seems to dwell in the shadow of Elijah
One man noted that the 1st time he heard about Elisha, he wondered if Eli -SHA was just a different way to say “Eli -JAH.” Eli -SHA doesn’t even have a song written about him. I mean, you never hear people singing: “These are the days of ELISHA.”
But while Eli -SHA seems to have dwelt in the shadows, God was impressed with him. Eli-JAH had been a great prophet for a number of years, but the strain of ministry was wearing him out. So God sends Eli-JAH on a mission to find a partner/ a friend/ co-worker/ someone who can help carry the load. A man named Eli -SHA.
In 1 Kings 19:16 God tells Eli -JAH “you shall anoint … Elisha … to be prophet in your place”
What’s interesting is, there were a whole bunch of other prophets in Israel at that time, but God didn’t send Elijah to anoint any of those men. No, God sends Elijah to a FARMER out plowing in the field someplace! In fact, it appears - EliJAH had to WALK about 300 miles to get where Eli-sha was.
So, why would God do that? Why pick Eli -SHA to serve Him? Well, first, it appears that Eli -SHA was a man who was totally sold out for God. Eli -SHA was God’s man … long before Eli -JAH ever came to visit.
In 1 Kings 19:18 God told Eli -JAH: “I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.” Now 7000 is not a lot of people. I mean, Logansport has approximately 18,000 residents, but in Israel only 7000 were faithful to God. That’s not a lot in a nation the size of Israel. But one of those 7000 (apparently) was Elisha.
Eli-SHA stood for God… and refused to bow to Baal.
But that was a dangerous decision for Eli -SHA to make, because a number of people had lost their lives – they’d been murdered - because they refused to worship Baal.
ILLUS: About a month or so ago I got an email from a missionary in Burma. He told me that thousands of civilians have been killed by the military… but the military especially went after Christians. He wrote: "the number of deaths continue to increase (156 were killed by snipers on Saturday alone, and even children were targeted). The military is invading neighborhoods and breaking into homes, shooting people in their homes, robbing people's money and precious possessions, burning down homes, arrest young ladies and raping them in prisons, using military jets to bomb three refugee villages, taking food from stores, shooting at teenagers and young men they see on the road, spreading lies, using spies in the communities to inform on civilians. They’ve even been using grenades against the unarmed protesters today.” SINCE THAT EMAIL I’VE NOT RECEIVED ANY FURTHER COMMUNICATION
Could you still be God’s man/woman in that kind of a culture, where it’s basically illegal to be a Christian? That’s essentially what Elisha had been. Elisha was a man who stood up for God in a land where it was illegal to do so.
The 2nd thing that catches my attention is that he burned his plow and roasted the cow. Well, they were actually oxen but plow and cow rhyme. What can I say? But the point is this is that was a lot of money tied up in that sacrifice. This was Elisha’s livelihood. He was a farmer. This is how he made his living. And yet he was willing to surrender it all in order to serve God.
Most of you know that one of my favorite verses is 2 Chronicles 16:9 “The eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him...” What that verse is saying is that God is looking for someone who is sold out for Him. He's looking for someone who’s willing to burn their bridges with the past, so they can serve God NOW! Anything that would sidetrack them from serving God, they just throw that stuff in the trash because it’s just a distraction.
ILLUS: I just heard about a young man who’s a senior in High School. He’s REALLY good at track – running, jumping, hurdles… whatever. And he was asked to write down advice he’d give future kids in track. And he wrote: “Whatever you want to be… be sure to do THAT. If you’re in track for the friendship and fun… do that and enjoy it. But if you want to be a good at your sport, you’ve got to be totally focused on that. Do whatever you have to do to be good at what you want to be – But Do That.”
And that’s what God is saying for those who want Him to give their lives meaning. Do whatever you have to do to be what you want to be. If you want to be MY man/ MY woman - Do That!
There’s an old invitation hymn … that goes this way: “I have decided to follow Jesus, I have decided to follow Jesus, I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back, no turning back.”
That’s a VERY simple song, isn’t it? We sing it all the time. But I suspect that we often don’t understand what that REALLY means. When we sing this song, we’re declaring we want to be someone who’s totally sold out for God. Someone who won’t compromise our faith. Someone who will not turn back. If you want God to do something special in your life, that’s the kind of person you WANT to be. DO THAT!
The 3rd thing that caught my attention here was – Elisha had a servant’s heart. People mattered to him. In I Kings 19:21 we read that Elisha “took the yoke of oxen and sacrificed them and boiled their flesh with the yokes of the oxen and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and went after Elijah and assisted him.”
Did you catch that? He sacrificed his oxen to God, and then invited everyone over to eat. It was kind of like one of our “Free Lunch Thursdays” we hold every month. Last month we served our ladies served 261 people. Now, I don’t think they went out and slaughtered a cow, but somebody had to have… that was a lot of Sloppy Joes.
But my point is - Elisha didn’t have to do what he did. He didn’t have to share his offering to God with others. But he did! And that was because Elisha had a servant’s heart. People mattered to him, and people mattered to him the rest of his life. He Served God, and he Served People the rest of his life.
And that’s what God wants us to be like.
ILLUS: I was teaching the Elementary 4th and 5th graders on Wednesday Night, and I taught them about Philippians 2:3-8 “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others MORE SIGNIFICANT THAN YOURSELVES. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
When I explained that Christians should consider others more significant than themselves, the kids were confused by that. “How does that work”? one of them asked. So I went on to explain Jesus taught His disciples: “… whoever would be great among you must be your servant” (Matthew 20:26) Then I put my hand on each of the kids’ shoulders in turn and said, that means, “I am your servant. I consider YOU more significant than I am. I will do anything I can to serve you and help you realize how important you are to God.”
Now, the beauty of this church is that we have a number of people who are like Elisha. They’re sold out for Jesus. They’ve burned the plow and butchered the cow, and they have a servant’s heart. In part I am preaching this sermon to encourage you. But as with all churches, there are a few here that may need to think seriously about this. Everyone should ask themselves… Am I being used by God?
ILLUS: Someone once said: “I cannot believe that the purpose of life is to be ‘happy.’ I think the purpose of life is to be useful, to be responsible, to be compassionate. It is, above all, to matter: to count, to stand for something, to have made some difference that you lived at all.” (Leo Rosten “Passions and Prejudices” McGraw/Hill)
ILLUS: I talked to a young lady this week who was telling me about a FB conversation she’d had. She was upset about the way Britney Spears had been treated. For the past 10 years her assets, estate, and business affairs have been put into a court ordered conservatorship where her dad and some lawyer were in near total control every aspect of her life. And this young lady was very upset because that just wasn’t right! Britney Spears had been robbed of the ability to run her life. And she’d been in an extended argument online about it. I looked at her and said “You do realize you can’t change anything about Britney Spear’s life?” “Yes,” she said “but I can at least make people aware of the injustice of it all.” “That may be true,” I replied “but in the end that won’t make any difference. The only person who can change that conservatorship is the judge, and I'm pretty sure he's not going to read your FB posts." She sighed and said… “I know. But I just want to do something meaningful with my life.”
Now, notice what she just said - she felt she was doing something meaningful by arguing with people on Facebook over issues she was never going to change or effect.
“Well (I said) if you want to do something meaningful, arguing with people on FB isn’t going to get that done. If you want to make your life meaningful, you need to do is get involved with Emmaus (a local organization that houses homeless people and helps them get jobs and homes), or the Food pantry or the Clothing Ministry at Church. And I mentioned several other ministries.” And she decided THAT was something she was going to do. She’s going to DO something for GOD so that her life will have meaning.
So, does your life have meaning? Do you stand for something? Have you made a difference with your life for God?
ILLUS: The story is told of a woman who dreamed that she was having a conversation with God. She was angry about all the suffering and evil she saw around her, so she complained to the Lord. “Why don’t You do something about all this?” And God gently said: “I did. I created you.”
God created you. You have special abilities that you can use to serve God. In 1 Peter 4:11 “If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ”
So, does your life have meaning? Do you stand for something? Have you made a difference with your life for God?
CLOSE: During WW II, a church bldg in Strasbourg Germany was destroyed. After the bombing, the members surveyed the area to see what damage was done. They were pleased that a statue of Christ with outstretched hands was still standing. It had been created centuries before by a great artist. But on taking a closer look, they discovered that both hands of Christ had been sheared off by a falling beam. When word got out about the damage to the statue, a sculptor in the town offered to replace the broken hands as a gift to the church. So, the church leaders met to consider the offer and decided not to accept it. They felt the statue without hands would be a great illustration that God’s work is done through his people.
INVITATION
Footnote: The sermon title was "borrowed" from a sermon by John Gaston
