May 23, 2004 2 Kings 2:7-14
Fifty men of the company of the prophets went and stood at a distance, facing the place where Elijah and Elisha had stopped at the Jordan. 8 Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up and struck the water with it. The water divided to the right and to the left, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground.
9 When they had crossed, 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. 10 “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.”
11 As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. 12 Elisha saw this and cried out, “My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them apart.
13 He picked up the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. 14 Then he took the cloak that had fallen from him and struck the water with it. “Where now is the LORD, the God of Elijah?” he asked. When he struck the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over.
When a church or a denomination is led by a strong spiritual leader - it can be a great gift and a powerful tool. For instance, it’s hard to think of any Reformation without the leadership of Martin Luther. Luther provided strength and courage to the people to overthrow the tyranny of the Catholic Church. Many years later Dr. C.F.W. Walther was a key figure in making Lutheranism a solid church and foundational denomination at the turn of the 20th Century. This happens in many denominations. If you think of what Billy Graham has done for the Baptist Church, I don’t think anyone could deny that he has been a key figure in the Evangelical movement - making them as powerful as they are today. Just like the Israelites of old, people like to have strong and powerful leaders who stand head and shoulders above the rest.
However, this isn’t always good. King Saul started out as a reluctant, humble, and yet powerful leader of his people. But when he let his power go to his head, and tried to anoint himself as a priest as well, he ended up falling flat on his face. A powerful leader by the name of Jim Jones led over a hundred people to drink poisoned Kool-Aid over in Guyana. Jimmy and Tammy Faye Bakker made an embarrassment of televised religion when he was held up on a pedastal by his people and then fell on his face with his sex scandals. Even when the leaders are good and faithful leaders, that doesn’t mean there won’t be problems either. Sooner or later, the leader will have to leave - either with a call to another congregation or to heaven or God forbid a scandal of some sort. When that happens, people feel as if they’ve been deserted on an island - left to themselves - as if God Himself had left them. That’s how the Israelites felt in 2 Kings, when Elijah went up to heaven. Why did they feel that way? What would they do? How would they survive? We’ll find out today as we see how -
Elijah’s Cloak Gives Believers Hope
I. Don’t seek the man
It’s kind of strange, but all the prophets knew when Elijah was going to leave them. Throughout the day he and Elisha had visited three prophet schools. According to 1 Samuel 10:5 and 19:20, these were evidently schools of religion and music conducted by an inspired prophet. At each or these schools in Gilgal, Bethel, and Jericho all of the prophets went to Elisha and said, “did you know that the LORD is going to take your master from you today?” Elisha knew, but he didn’t want to talk about it. It must have been too depressing for him to think about. Elijah had been such a strong spiritual leader for all of them. King Ahab had set up Baal worship in Samaria - and Queen Jezebel put a bounty on Elijah’s head. Both were renowned for their brazen wickedness. Elijah stood as the lone ranger of their times who challenged the 450 prophets of Baal to a showdown on Mount Carmel and won an impressive victory. Elijah prayed for a drought and caused no rain to come on the kingdom for three years. He provided strength and courage against his ungodly opponents in the government. God had miraculously revealed Himself through the words and actions of Elijah. The believers had come to rely on him, but now they all knew by revelation from God that it was time for him to go.
So today’s text brings us to the point after Elijah had visited his final school in Jericho. Fifty prophets also followed at a distance. They just didn’t want to say good-bye. Elijah tested Elisha in telling him to stay behind, but Elisha would have none of it. “As surely as the Lord lives,” he said, “I will not leave you.” So Elijah took his cloak and struck the water, making it split and become dry. Elijah and Elisha crossed the Jordan on dry ground. This was their last moment together. Elisha would savor every moment.
This situation is very similar to the disciples at Jesus’ resurrection. In an even more glorious way, God had revealed Himself through His one and only Son. Jesus had performed mighty miracles, raising the dead, walking on water, and even calming a storm. Instead of being taken to heaven alive, Jesus performed a greater miracle of dying and raising from the dead. For forty days Jesus had appeared to his disciples. Right prior to His ascension, they asked Jesus, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6) They wanted to remain as close to Jesus for as long as possible. The last thing they wanted was for him to leave.
Can you blame them? If you had a pastor who spoke under direct inspiration of the Holy Spirit - wouldn’t you love to listen to him as often as possible? If you had a teacher that could raise your dead, feed your poor, and walk on water - what an awesome thing that would be! If you had an immensely charismatic and confident leader to help to strengthen your faith and explain God’s Word in a way that made you on fire for Jesus - it would be a wonderful gift of God. Why wouldn’t you want fellowship with such a person and pray for that kind of leader? They don’t come by very often. But notice what happened to the prophets and the disciples once that leader left. When Elijah was taken up to heaven, the prophets wanted to go looking for him on the mountain. The disciples stood staring up at the sky - wondering what to do. They had that deer in the headlights look, just sitting in the middle of the road, not knowing what to do. Their rock, their hope, and their anchor in life was no longer by their side, and they were lost.
I’ve seen that same look in the faces of those who have lost husbands, wives, daddies and mommies. It’s a state of shock - an awe - a completely helpless look. When I see people go through these things - let me tell you - it makes me real hesitant to be reliant or to enamored with anyone. I don’t want that pain - that sense of loss in my life. I don’t want to be a deer in the headlights. The truth of the matter is that people - even strong Christian leaders - are only people. They’re still sinful. They still die. They still make mistakes. They still have weaknesses. It’s better if you don’t get too enamored with leaders - too dependant on them. Don’t rely on mom and dad to always be strong in faith - to be good and faithful examples to you. Because more often than not - they’ll let you down. When the Israelites demanded to have a king like all the other nations, God was upset with them. He didn’t like what the people wanted. They were just being weak and humanistic. So if you’re sitting there and wishing for a Billy Graham or a C.F.W. Walther in your pulpit - I believe you’re making a mistake. I believe you’re showing a weakness in yourself - a need to be led by someone else. If you’re really a strong Christian - you don’t need someone else to cheer you on and keep you motivated. You don’t need some strong spiritual leader to keep you motivated. Strong Christians don’t need leadership.
II. Seek the cloak
Elisha didn’t seem ready to be a leader on his own. He even admitted as much - that he didn’t have the gifts of Elijah. Yet he did something very wise in today’s text. He first of all recognized his weakness. Second of all, he passed Elijah’s tests. When Elijah told him to stay behind - he didn’t. Third of all, he went to the only person he knew could give him the strength he needed to be the next leader - and that was Elijah. When they had crossed, 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. Elisha sought a double portion of the same Spirit that Elijah had. Either he wanted twice of Elijah’s spirit, which seems like even more abilities to prophecy and perform miraculous signs - or that he wanted twice as much as the modern day prophets. Either way, Elisha knew one thing for sure. He couldn’t be a leader on his own. He needed a special gift of the Holy Spirit to do so. He knew that the only place He could get the gift was from the man who had it - the prophet of God. So he stuck with him no matter what.
Jesus didn’t leave His disciples empty handed either. They wanted Him to stick around and continue to be their leader. Jesus knew they weren’t ready to be leaders on their own. So Jesus said to them, “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with a water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. . . . But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Ac 1:4-8) So do you know what the disciples did? They went to Jerusalem and they waited. For ten days they waited, and waited and waited. They didn’t do too much else but wait. Why? Because they knew - that’s where the Holy Spirit would be. Like it or not, Jesus was leaving. So they had only one chance left - to get the gift of the Holy Spirit. Without HIS strength, they couldn’t get very far at all.
My friends, you may like the different style of one preacher over another. You may like the looks and methods of one teacher over another. One may connect with you much more personally than another. That’s the way life is. But no matter what preacher you may like more than the other - there’s only ONE Spirit who works through them all - and that’s the Holy Spirit. The truth of the matter is that He works through the Gospel. Whether you’re reading at home, hearing it in the pulpit, or listening to it on the radio - the Holy Spirit works through the Word. It doesn’t matter if the preacher is boring or exciting. He is not the one who converts you or keeps you strong - the Holy Spirit does it through the Gospel in the Word of God and the sacrament. That’s it. So you need to have that same focus in life as Elisha and the disciples. Go where the Holy Spirit is. He’s not bound just to my message. He’s not limited to a pulpit. He’s found in the Word and sacrament. That’s what we need to be seeking. That’s what we need to be concentrating on. Thirst it like a baby craves milk from it’s mommy. If it’s on the Rockies, then climb the mountains. If it’s in the bottom of the sea, then get some scuba diving equipment. If it’s on the moon, then enroll at NASA. Get on a quest. Get seeking. Don’t let anyone hold you back. Don’t let anything stop you. Go where the Christians go. Seek the Gospel. That’s your responsibility as a Christian.
III. Get the hope
Imagine what it was like for Elisha to see his leader go floating away in that whirlwind. There he stood, helpless as could be, separated from him by a fiery chariot and horses. Try as he did to stick with Elijah - he could do so no more. God was taking Elijah away from him. The disciples must have had the same feeling as they saw Jesus ascending. There was nothing they could do.
As he looked up in the sky, suddenly he saw something come floating down. What was it? It was Elijah’s cloak. Imagine that - just an empty and lifeless piece of cloth. So there Elisha stood, holding this piece of cloth, wondering to himself, “now what!” If that were me I would have been saying, “that’s it! All I got was this lousy cloak! It’s all dirty and used! It’s not like one of those Harry Potter cloaks that makes you invisible! What good is this thing!” You can almost sense this attitude in Elisha. What did he say when he grabbed the cloak? He took the cloak that had fallen from him and struck the water with it. “Where now is the LORD, the God of Elijah?” he asked. Can you sense the doubt in these words? He didn’t say, “where is my God, our God, or even Israel’s God,” but “where is the LORD, the God of Elijah?” You can almost feel the skepticism in his words. He must have been wondering, “is this lifeless piece of cloth going to really do me any good or not?”
I would imagine that the disciples were wondering the same thing after a day or two of sitting around in Jerusalem. “What good is this doing us?”, they must have asked. “Are we really going to receive a gift of the Holy Spirit just by sitting around here? Isn’t there something else we could do? This is ridiculous.” Nonetheless, they waited.
I can sense that same attitude in some Christians. When they’re having a hard time I tell them, “read the Psalms. Read your Bible. Pray about it.” But I can sense in their reaction that they’re skeptical of such an approach. It’s seems too simple - too easy. There has to be something more. Like the disciples who were just told to wait, it seems too passive. We’d rather have a leader do some magnificent thing to grab us by he britches and light a fire underneath us.
Elisha struck the water, even in his unbelief. He still struck. And God didn’t disappoint. When he struck the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over. Suddenly Elisha and the prophets who were watching immediately knew the truth. God hadn’t abandoned them. He simply gave His Spirit to a new leader - who could perform the same miracles as Moses, Joshua, and Elijah - just with a different face. The power wasn’t in the person - but in the God who worked through the same cloak.
God has a different but similar cloak for you to wear this morning. It isn’t made out of cloth, but out of blood. It isn’t just for one of us - the strongest and the highest - but it’s for all of us. It’s called the righteousness of Christ. God provides it to all of us free of charge - through baptism. You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. (Ga 3:26-27) You’re wearing it right now. If you came doubting in God’s love - God’s care for you - then take a second look at your clothing. It’s more powerful than you think. Jesus holds out His hands to you and says, “I know you have doubts, I know you have concerns, but just trust me! I’ve died and raised from the dead. You may not see me - but I’m surrounding you. I’ve become you! I’ve entered you! And I’ll be here for you!” You need to remember where God truly and directly reveals Himself. The most direct revelation we have of God is in His Word and sacrament - not in His preachers, fathers, mothers, and leaders. The most solid place we find God is in Christ crucified and risen. Here we see a God who would go to all lengths to keep us as His own. Like Elijah’s cloak - it may not look very flashy on the surface. It may not seem like much - just like it didn’t seem any good just to sit in Jerusalem and wait. But God declares unto this morning -
Isaiah 55:10-11 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
God’s Word has never failed. It will never pass away. When you’re sitting on your death bed - the promises in Jesus Christ will still be there. When you’ve outlived and gone to the burials of all your friends and your spouse and even some of your children - Jesus Christ and His salvation will still be there for you. you can still take comfort in your baptism. Faith through the Word is a gift you can’t touch, that can’t decay, and noone can steal from you. So go to the Gospel in the Word. Go to the Gospel in the sacrament. It won’t disappoint. This is your Rock.
When I was in college I was asked to MC a talent night. I did a lot of preparation for it, and thankfully I felt that I did a very admirable job. People laughed, the show went along nicely, and everyone left entertained. Several months later, I was asked to MC another one. I declined. Why? Because I didn’t think I could top the last performance. I didn’t want to disappoint myself or others. I figured I would quit while I was ahead.
God had performed many miracles through Elijah. He miraculously devoured Elijah’s and Baal’s sacrifices with fire from heaven. He provided a widow with continuous food while Elijah was there, also raising her son from the dead after he died. Jesus also performed many miraculous signs. He’d walked on water, stilled storms, raised the dead, and even raised Himself from the dead. How in the world could you end such ministries without there being somewhat of a let down? How could He outdo such a performance? He couldn’t. But He could keep the show going. He did it with ascensions into heaven and a promise of the Holy Spirit! These final acts gave their disciples and us HOPE in the face of loss. They give us fulfillment at a time of loss. For we know that our religion does not end in the ground - it continues in the sky. If our leaders went to heaven, we too will go to heaven through faith in Christ. We know that ours is not a dead end religion - but a religion of hope and a future. The ascension assures us of this. If you ever start doubting it - go back to your cloak - the Gospel of Christ. It will assure that God is still with you - until the end. It will take you across the river - to the other side of life. Amen.
