A TRANSFER OF POWER
How many of you came to our play? Do you remember when Steve came in at the beginning of the 2nd Act, dressed as Samson with hair almost down to his waist? Did you laugh?
If you did, you better watch out for bears.
That’s what happened to the boys of Bethel who made fun of Elisha on his way back from seeing Elijah off. “Go away, baldhead!” they cried, or more likely the Hebrew equivalent of, “shoo, baldy!” Elijah didn’t take it in good humor, as Steve certainly took all the teasing we gave him. Far from it. Elisha cursed the boys, and two bears attacked them. Forty-two kids got mauled. Now, mind you, they were unruly, and disrespectful, and maybe threatening, and maybe Elijah was scared. Wouldn’t you be, with 42 juvenile delinquents harassing you? Perhaps a little chastisement would have been in order, but mauled by bears? I mean, really.
Not the sort of behavior you expect from a prophet, is it? Hardly a good role model for us to follow. He certainly hadn’t heart of turning the other cheek. And he was just fresh from being anointed with a double portion of Elijah’s spirit, too. Does this kind of behavior really honor God? Why on earth would God choose someone who would do that kind of thing? How can God use someone who would lose his temper like that? Don’t God’s people already have enough trouble from our opponents - even when we bend over backwards to keep the peace? What is going on here?
I think the point - at least one of them - is that God uses imperfect people. And he uses them best when they are passionate, even when their passion sometimes leads them in the wrong direction.
Let me explain what I mean.
In this morning’s passage, the part that has stuck in people’s minds for the last couple of millennia is the fiery chariot. From Milton’s Paradise Lost to “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” we’ve been fascinated by the spectacular images of the chariot of fire and the horses of fire, and Elijah being swept up into heaven on a whirlwind. Did you know that Enoch and Elijah are the only two people in the Bible who don’t die? “Enoch walked with God,” it says in Genesis 5:24, “and then he was not, for the Lord took him.” These are the holiest men in Scripture, except of course for Jesus, the ones closest to God. Not even Abraham, the “friend of God,” or David, “the man after God’s own heart,” have the reputation for whole-hearted, single-minded zeal for God that Elijah did.
It is, after all, Elijah that Malachi said would return before the “great and terrible day of the Lord.” It is Elijah for whom Jews set an extra place at the table during Passover. It was Elijah that the people of Judea compared John the Baptist to, and asked Jesus about. And it was Elijah who appeared with Moses on the Mount of Transfiguration. Elijah is the superstar, the all-time highest scorer on God’s team. Elisha, bad-tempered Elisha, was quite a comedown, hardly worth spending our time on after the blazing radiance of Elijah’s example, right?
Wrong.
First of all, when he asked for a double portion of Elijah’s spirit, Elijah granted it. Some rabbinical commentators argued that Elisha performed twice as many miracles as Elijah, 16 to 8 or 24 to 12, depending how you count them. Modern scholars are more likely to put it in the cultural context of Ancient Israel: the first-born son would get twice as much as the other sons, and along with it the father’s authority. In this view, the phrase is just an idiom meaning succession. But however you interpret the words, there’s no question that Elisha is a legitimate and at least equally powerful heir to Elijah’s power and position.
Secondly, Elisha preached for 50 years, during the reigns of Jehoram, Jehu, Jehoahaz, and Jehoash. Unlike Elijah, he didn’t stay out in the wilderness but circulated among the towns and cities of Samaria. He had access to the highest nobles and officials in the land and was even sought out by foreigners for advice and help. His ministry was characterized by healing, miraculous provision, even raising a young man from the dead.
And yet it starts with what looks like an unconscionable display of vindictiveness.
All of the historical books of the Bible pick and choose among the hundreds of events, selecting the ones that best communicate the message the author is trying to get across. Why do you suppose this one is included?
Some try to explain it away.
Others claim it is simply an illustration that Elisha did indeed receive power from God - both to bless and to curse.
Still others portray it as a warning that all those who mock God’s representatives are in for big trouble. After all, didn’t Elijah kill far more many after the defeat of the prophets of Baal on the slopes of Mt. Carmel?
I think the answer is simpler than that.
I think that it shows, like so many other Old Testament stories do, that God uses ordinary people with ordinary faults to accomplish his extraordinary purposes. I think that it shows that we cannot point to Biblical heroes and say, “Oh, I couldn’t be like that, I’m not holy enough, or gifted enough, or brave enough, or smart or strong or whatever enough.” They’re all flawed.
Elijah suffered from depression. After his flight to the desert that we talked about last week, he never got up the steam to do what God had told him to do. He didn’t anoint Hazael king of the Aramaeans, and he didn’t anoint Jehu king of Samaria, either. He left it both for Elisha to do. Well, he did do one thing he was told: he called Elisha to be his replacement and trained him into the job.
And it’s in the story of his handing over the reins of the prophetic office that we can learn some lessons about some of the things that go into becoming an effective servant of God that still apply today.
The first is loyalty. The second is ambition. And the third is decisiveness.
Let’s go back and look at the passage again.
On their way to Gilgal, ‘Elijah said to Elisha, "Stay here; the LORD has sent me to Bethel." But Elisha said, "As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you."’ And later, when they were at Bethel, Elijah said ‘"Stay here, Elisha; the LORD has sent me to Jericho." And he replied, "As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you." And a third time, when they were at Jericho, ‘Elijah said to him, "Stay here; the LORD has sent me to the Jordan." And he replied, "As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you."’
Three times Elijah told Elisha to stay behind, and three times Elisha refused. We don’t know why Elijah tells him to stay behind; perhaps this is still more of the depression that we saw when Elijah was sulking down in the desert. We’ve all known cases when people refuse an offer of company or help when they really want it, sometimes because they don’t want you to put yourself out, or possibly because they don’t want to be under an obligation to you, or maybe they think you didn’t really mean it. We don’t know why Elijah is so emphatic about telling Elisha to stay behind. Could it be Elijah’s continued reluctance to carry out God’s plans for the future? It’s clear that he knows Elijah has to be with him to receive the promised inheritance of his spirit. Maybe he’s just testing Elisha’s loyalty. But whatever the reason, Elisha refused to abandon Elijah even though told to do so. Whether it was personal loyalty to Elijah that made him stick, or a commitment to his calling as Elijah’s successor, Elisha refused to jump ship. And we have to do the same.
Sometimes, when you are taking over the responsibility for a role or function that someone else has occupied before you, there can be conflict. The conflict doesn’t necessarily have to take the same shape as Elijah and Elisha’s did. In fact, I’m sure there were many times in Elisha’s training period when he and Elijah clashed. It might have been disagreements over what to do, or over how to do it, or over how much responsibility Elijah would let him assume. But he stuck it out. He learned everything that Elijah had to teach him, and treated Elijah with courtesy, and waited for God’s timing for the baton to pass to him. Because Elisha was sure that God had called him to be in that place, and knew that even if Elijah was not the firebrand he had been in his heyday, that he was still worthy of respect.
Loyalty is a key characteristic of God’s best servants.
The second trait that Elisha exhibits is ambition. That has a negative connotation, doesn’t it? Perhaps I should say aspiration, instead, or vision. But I think ambition is the right word. What makes it useful to God is that he was ambitious for God, not for himself. He longed to do great things for God. And that’s a far different thing. Perhaps it was this trait taken to extremes which betrayed him into overreacting to the boys’ taunts, but all traits have both a bad and a good side.
After they had crossed over the Jordan - incidentally, this part of the passage shows Elijah as a second Moses and Elisha as a second Joshua, as both men part the waters as Moses and Joshua had done during the Exodus - anyway, after they had crossed over the Jordan and were waiting for the Lord to come get Elijah,
Elijah said to Elisha, "Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?" "Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit," Elisha replied. "You have asked a difficult thing," Elijah said, "yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours--otherwise not."
You see, Elisha doesn’t hem and haw and say, “whatever you want to give me,” or the honor of having been trained by you is enough for anyone,” or any other polite formula. He comes right out with his vision for the future and asks to be equipped for it. He wants to do great things for God. He sees a need and is not only willing but eager to let God use him. And he’s honest about it, as well. And God asks us to be honest with him about our vision for the future, and to be bold about asking for opportunities to be of use to him.
The lesson here is not to go badgering the people around you for the resources you need to pursue your particular passion. You’ll note that Elijah didn’t respond to Elisha’s request with, “I’ll leave it to you in my will,” or anything like that. He clearly tells Elisha that it’s up to God whether or not he’ll get what he’s asked for. But be clear to God about what you want, be straightforward about asking for it, and be in the right place to get it when it comes. A word of caution, though - the same word that Elijah gave to Elisha: "You have asked a difficult thing." It’s the same thing that Jesus meant when he cautioned his followers not to look back once they had set their hand to the plow, or to sit down and count the cost before beginning a building. This is not a light request, one that can be wiggled out of if the going gets tough. The mantle that Elijah inherits from Elijah is not one that can be later put down when things begin to hear up.
So the first trait is loyalty, and the second is ambition. The third trait that Elisha exhibits is decisiveness. Again, perhaps a better word might be single-mindedness. But the point I want us to focus on is that he didn’t dither. Elisha stayed and watched until Elijah had disappeared. He cried out in awe at the sight of the chariots and horses. He mourned, tearing his garments as the custom was.
But then he picked up Elijah’s mantle, turned around, and without any further ado took the Lord at his word. Elijah had said that if Elisha could see him being taken up then he would receive the spirit of prophetic power that he had asked for. And you will note that Elisha doesn’t ask for any further sign, but simply walks to the river and repeats Elijah’s action, striking it with the mantle - the same cloak that Elijah had struck it with to cross it the first time - and expects God to act.
And God does. God does act, when we step out boldly, in faith, having sought him in prayer, searched the Scriptures, and prayed for guidance. How often do we hang around waiting for signs when God is just waiting for us to act on the promises already made?
Elisha does give in to the pleading of the Jericho prophets to go searching for Elijah; after all, they had not seen what Elisha had seen although clearly they were aware that God had taken him. But they weren’t yet willing to take Elisha’s word for it that Elijah was gone for good. Or perhaps they were searching for his body for burial. At any rate, he is decisive, but not arrogant (at least, not until he meets up with those pesky boys).
We are not all called to be prophets.
We are not all called perform miracles.
We are not all called to high-profile leadership positions.
But we are all called to loyalty to those who have gone before us - a loyalty that is first of all obedient to God’s leading, but even when it must disagree remains courteous, respectful, and grateful. We are also all called to be ambitious to do great things for God. He may call us to do those great things right where we are - but only God knows how many battles have been won by, as the song goes, “a housewife on her knees.” And we are called to make decisions, to make commitments and follow through with them, not only to get started but also to keep going. If we know what it is that God has called us to do, let us get on with it. By all means listen to the advice of others, but don’t let their misgivings turn you aside from the road God is preparing for you to walk.
Elijah’s power and authority was handed over to Elijah. The mission and authority of Jesus Christ was delegated to the church. And within the church the reins are handed over from year to year, from generation to generation, sometimes even from day to day. The principles of successful transfer always remain the same. Be loyal to those who have gone before. Desire to at least surpass the achievements of your predecessor. And step out in faith. You can count on God to do his part; can he count on you to do yours?
