1Now when the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven
by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from
Gilgal. 2Elijah said to Elisha, Stay here; for the Lord
has sent me as far as Bethel.
But Elisha said, As the Lord lives,
and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.
So they went down
to Bethel. 3The company of prophets who were in Bethel
came out to Elisha, and said to him, Do you know that today the
Lord will take your master away from you?
And he said, Yes, I
know; keep silent.
4Elijah said to him, Elisha, stay here; for the Lord has
sent me to Jericho.
But he said, As the Lord lives, and as you
yourself live, I will not leave you.
So they came to
Jericho. 5The company of prophets who were at Jericho
drew near to Elisha, and said to him, Do you know that today the
Lord will take your master away from you?
And he answered, Yes, I
know; be silent.
6Then Elijah said to him, Stay here;
for the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.
But he said, As the Lord
lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.
So the two
of them went on. 7Fifty men of the company of prophets
also went, and stood at some distance from them, as they both were
standing by the Jordan. 8Then Elijah took his mantle and
rolled it up, and struck the water; the water was parted to the one
side and to the other, until the two of them crossed on dry ground.
9When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, Tell me
what I may do for you, before I am taken from you.
Elisha said,
Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit.
10He responded, You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you
see me as I am being taken from you, it will be granted you; if not,
it will not.
11As they continued walking and talking, a
chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them, and
Elijah ascended in a whirlwind into heaven. 12Elisha kept
watching and crying out, Father, father! The chariots of Israel and
its horsemen!
But when he could no longer see him, he grasped his
own clothes and tore them in two pieces.
(2 Kings 2:1-12, NRSV)
Elijah, whose story is told in 1st and 2nd Kings, is one of the great prophets of Judaism. It is Elijah who appeared with Moses on the mountaintop the day that Jesus was transfigured in front of his disciples, demonstrating to them that Jesus was among the most elite of the Jewish leaders. It is Elijah for whom a chair is left empty each Passover, in hopes that he may return to lead Israel once more. Elijah was known for his great moral wisdom, his miraculous spiritual power, and his national leadership. Even now, it is hard to find another Jewish prophet who holds the same authority. Elijah was one of a kind.
And yet, Elijah was also human, which meant that at some point in time, he would no longer walk this earth and his work would need to be carried on by others. Today's story tells of that moment when Elijah passed out of history.
Long before we get to today's text, if we've read
the story we know that a successor has already been chosen to take
over Elijah's leadership role when the time came. Elisha,
his young apprentice prophet, has received Elijah's mantle
of leadership several chapters earlier and has been his loyal helper
ever since. Now, the text makes it clear that both Elijah and
Elisha know that the end is near. We don't know how they
know, but we are told the Lord was about to take Elijah
up to heaven by a whirlwind.
In Scripture, whirlwinds are
often signs of God's presence. It was out of a whirlwind
that God spoke to Job, for example.
So it is time for Elijah to return to God. Elijah knows it, Elisha knows it and all the prophets of the region know it. Today's reading is the poignant story of Elijah's final journey. Here is Elisha, in deep grief over the inevitable loss of his beloved leader, but following him to the bitter end. Elijah, the wise elder continues to encourage Elisha to stop and stay behind, to not be with him at the very end. But Elisha will not leave his side. He insists on walking that final journey every step of the way.
Along this way, the two prophets come to various villages, each
of which has its own set of local prophets. Each time the local
prophets come up and take Elisha aside and say, Hey, you know your
master is going to go to God today, right?
And each time, Elisha
pushes them aside and tells them to be quiet. Perhaps they are
trying to be helpful, by sharing their prophetic insight. Or
perhaps they are trying to get in politically with Elijah's
successor by taking him aside for a little chat. Or perhaps they
are just nervous and worried and not sure what else to do. But
whatever their motives, Elisha wants nothing to do with them through
this lonely and difficult journey. Shut up and leave me alone,
he
tells them, over and over. Each person's grief is a personal and
unique path.
Finally, they reach the end. It is the Jordan river and it is
time for Elijah to cross over. Once again the older prophet tries
to discourage the younger from following, but once again, Elisha
insists that he will stay with Elijah. As the Lord lives and as
you yourself live, I will not leave you,
he promises. And so they
stand together, across the Jordan, facing the final moments of
Elijah's time on earth. Elijah says to his young protege, Ask what
I shall do for you, before I am taken.
Elisha responds, I pray
you, let me inherit a double share of your spirit.
As I read this passage in the lectionary for this week, it struck me what a metaphor we have here for the United Parish. Carl has been your Elijah. He was the prophet who began a new church. It was his wisdom and humor and passion that led this congregation over its many years. He was a one-of-a-kind leader. And now, he has crossed the Jordan river and been taken up in a whirlwind. And you, his chosen followers, are left to turn back and take on the mantle of his leadership. You will have other pastors over the coming months and years. I will be here with you for the immediate future. There will most likely be a strong interim to help you grieve the past and plan for the future. And eventually, in time, the congregation will pick a new pastor.
But it is you, the congregation, who are the heirs of Carl's legacy. You are the ones who have walked with him, as Elisha walked with Elijah. You are the ones who have learned first hand from his passion and compassion.
Elisha knew how difficult it would be to go on without Elijah.
He knew that he would need more than just his own strength and
wisdom to make it work. And so he asked of Elijah one last thing,
let me inherit a double share of your spirit.
In the coming days, that can be your prayer as well. May the same spirit that so enlivened Carl, so permeated his ministry, be passed along to you. May this congregation, as a body, as a community, inherit a double share of that spirit.
When Elisha crossed back over the Jordan, it was obvious to those
he met that what he had asked had come to pass. The spirit that was
in Elijah had been passed down to Elisha. Everyone could see it in
him. They looked at his actions and said to themselves, He has
Elijah's spirit in him.
Can you think of a nicer thing that might be said of the United
Parish? What if, a year from now or five years from now, a visitor
who used to know Carl came to worship. What if that visitor looked
at this congregation and said, They have Carl's spirit in them!
They certainly inherited a share of Carl's spirit.
What a blessing that would be. What a compliment! And what a responsibility as well. Elisha inherited the spirit, not as a prize or a badge of honor, but because he needed it to do God's work. He needed it in order to be a leader in his community. He needed it to bring healing and compassion for the people around him. He needed it so that he could fulfill his mission.
This is true for this congregation as well. You need a double share of the spirit not for your own sake, but for the world's sake. The world needs more of it. The mission of this congregation did not die with Carl. And the mission of this congregation is not simply to meet your own spiritual needs, but to be equipped here, in this community, to leave this building every week and to go out and be God's people: in your families, in your schools, in your work-places, in your neighborhoods, in Bowie, for this nation.
Let me inherit a double share of your spirit,
Elisha asked. He
said it to Elijah and Elijah knew that this was not his to give. So
the older prophet said, You've asked a hard thing. But if you see
me being taken up, then you will have it.
In other words, the gift
Elisha was asking was not a gift that Elijah could give. It was a
gift of God. It was a gift of spiritual discernment, that would
allow Elisha to see the world with God's eyes. If you can see
that,
Elijah says, "Then you will know that you have God's spirit
in you."
God's spirit. Because that is what Elisha was really requesting. The spirit that was in Elijah, that led him to be the finest prophet in Jewish history, was not his own spirit, but God's. It was the power of God that gave him the ability to perform miracles. It was the power of God that gave him the voice to speak the truth to the powers of this world. It was the power of God that gave Elijah the wisdom to know what was needed. It was God's power, working in Elijah, that brought passion and compassion in such abundance through his ministry.
It was God's spirit and so it wasn't Elijah's to give. It was God's to give and God did not hold back. God poured out his spirit on Elisha and everyone who met him could see it in him.
Let me inherit a double share of your spirit.
What an
astounding prayer for the spirit to offer to this church on this
day. Let us inherit a double share of your spirit.
Your spirit, God. Your spirit, that we saw so clearly through Carl's ministry.
Your spirit, which has the power to work miracles in our midst and in the world.
Your spirit, which is full of wisdom and humor and passion and compassion.
Your spirit, Lord. Give us your spirit.
Give us your spirit so that we may turn back from the Jordan river and go about the business of your work and your mission in our world.
The foregoing sermon was preached at the United Parish of Bowie on February 26, 2006, by Rev. Laura Collins.
© 2006 Laura Collins
